In recent years, inventors have turned to the provisional patent application as an inexpensive means of protecting their inventions. Sometimes this is necessitated because an upcoming product release or trade show does not allow enough time to prepare and file a regular patent application before disclosing their invention to the world. Instead, they rely on the provisional patent application to protect their invention until they have the time or money to prepare and file the more detailed Utility Patent Application.
Additionally, the inventor may take advantage of the patent pending status of a provisional to present the invention to companies for the purpose of marketing. Moreover, patent pending status can serve as a warning sign to competitors and indicate that the invention already has legal standing. Finally, patent pending status confers credibility and thus increases the chances of enticing investors to support the endeavor.
