Provisional Application

A type of U.S. utility patent application that is used to establish priority of invention. It need not contain a claim and cannot issue as a patent. MPEP 201.04(b), MPEP 601, MPEP 601.01(b).

As a result of GATT, an applicant can file a patent specification complying with U.S. disclosure standards and get the filing date as a priority date for a complete patent application filed within one year thereafter claiming the benefit. The provisional application does not have to contain claims. The effective filing date of the full application for purposes of avoiding prior art will be the filing date of the provisional application, but will have the benefit of the date of filing the full application for purposes of the 20 year patent term.