Once you know for sure that you are on sound footing in pursuing a patent, there are several things you can do to protect your interests as soon as possible.

Provisional Patent
You can file for a Provisional patent application quickly if it does not have claims. Claims are the legally operable part of a patent application, though other parts of the application (in particular the detailed description) may be used for purposes of claiming a priority date. The Provisional patent application has a lesser filing fee than the Utility patent application and will expire if it is not upgraded to a utility patent application within one (1) year of filing. The Provisional patent application does give the inventor(s) a priority date and patent pending status this alone is a goal for many inventors.

Document Disclosure
You can file a Document Disclosure to prove that you came up with an idea on a particular date. This disclosure, though it does not give the inventor a priority date as does the Provisional patent application, will allow the inventor a modicum of peace of mind as the PTO will hold on to the disclosure for two (2) years. The importance of this disclosure is the fact that in the US, the right to an invention lodges in the first person(s) to invent and not necessarily the first person(s) to file a patent application. The disclosure is only good so long as a patent application is diligently filed in the PTO, and the inventor makes no public disclosure of the invention.

Go to Step 4
File your patent application(s), track application
progress and keep you informed.

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Contact our Patent Professionals to ensure you complete the patent filing process correctly or for violation of your patent rights.