Methods For Preparing A Provisional Patent Application

A provisional patent application must include a detailed description of the invention’s operation and a set of technical drawings that support that explanation to be correctly written. The main idea is that a provisional patent application must completely describe how the invention functions, including the parts it is made up of and how those parts are arranged. A portion of an invention is not protected if it is not fully described.

Write as much as possible because you can only protect what you can explain.

The idea that a provisional patent application does not need to be written in-depth is popular. After all, it’s only a temporary or provisional patent application. Wrong! Unspecified information is not protected. Consider this: Would you believe that I could prevent anyone from ever creating the time machine or from claiming to have invented one before me if I submitted a patent application that contained only the phrase “The machine that can travel through time”? Naturally not. I cannot even get provisional patent protection if I understand how to construct a time machine and connect all of the necessary parts. Therefore, the first thing to remember is that you must fully explain how the invention functions.

Have you got the technical knowledge to explain how the invention works?

Not all inventors have the skill to describe the invention’s parts and arrangement correctly. For instance, if your innovation contains an operator, do you know what other factors it is connected to and how it affects how your invention functions as a whole? Can you elaborate further? A provisional patent application should be written in enough detail to allow someone to reproduce the invention after reading it.

If you lack engineering experience, you should have a patent lawyer or agency prepare the patent application. To prepare the patent paperwork, even patent attorneys and agents frequently request the assistance of engineers who are experts in the field of your invention. This is because the effectiveness of the technical description of the invention has a significant impact on the quality of the patent application.

It is best to have someone else prepare the patent application as a professional, even if you have engineering experience. Remember that the patent application must disclose the invention sufficiently to allow someone else to make it. You are already familiar with your idea. Therefore you might exclude information from your patent application that you believe is unimportant, but the person reading the application might not be. To ensure that others, not just you, can understand how your innovation works, it is best to have someone else write the application.

Instead of describing what the invention does, explain how it works.

The invention’s functionality, not its features, must be the primary emphasis of a patent application. These two are highly dissimilar. When I claim to have created a device capable of time travel, I am referring to the device’s functionality. However, a patent application needs to disclose how it functions. Specifically, how the invention functions, its components are put together, and what parts make up the invention.

Many innovators go overboard when describing their invention’s capabilities, greatness, and potential to change the course of human history. The Patent Office, however, is more interested in how an invention functions than what it can achieve. Your invention will not be appropriately protected by the patent if you don’t include enough information about how it works.

Design and Build Technical Patent Drawings

As we’ve already mentioned, the protection of a provisional patent application is based on how effectively the patent application enables someone to comprehend how the invention works. Visuals are vital in helping readers understand how an invention works. Drawings are a core part of the provisional patent application because of this.

Technical drawings are necessary for people with technical expertise to comprehend how an innovation functions. Technical computer-aided design (CAD) drawings used for patents are commonly used to describe an invention’s parts and their arrangement. Sometimes, to further explain how the parts are put together, patent drawings depict the invention cut apart or destroyed. Suppose you are unable to create technical patent drawings. In that case, it is advised to hire a patent expert to guarantee that your invention is properly covered in the patent application.

Summary

Only the information you clearly describe how your invention functions is protected by a provisional patent application. It covers less information you include. Less technical writing or technical drawings means less protection. Recall the last “time machine” illustration. I won’t be protected if I submit a provisional patent application that states that I created a time machine in a few short phrases. Ask a patent expert to completely comprehend your innovation and create a set of patent text and patent drawings that clearly describe how it functions.