Patent Filing Dates: Proper And Beneficial Date

The “patent filing date” is when you applied to the Patent Office for a patent on your idea. It is essential because it decides who has priority or the right to receive a patent first.

If two people file for a patent on an identical or comparable idea, who has focused on acquiring the patent? That will depend on whose filing date is sooner. The actual filing date and the effective filing date may differ, though, because the filing date of your patent application may not match the date you filed your patent application.

Proper Filing Date

The “patent filing date” is when you applied with the US Patent Offices of the application. The use of filing dates to determine who created a specific invention first and so was first in line to receive a patent makes them crucial in the field of patent law. In the well-known tale, Alexander Graham Bell hurried to the patent office in 1876 to apply for a telephone invention before Thomas Edison.

The filing date also establishes the duration of your patent rights. Beginning on the day when the US Patent Office accepted your non-provisional utility patent application, you enjoy 20 years of patent rights.

Beneficial Filing Date

A patent application can use a filing date from another one. That is what you submitted earlier to get an actual filing date. For instance, you can quickly and cheaply save a filing date. And that is by presenting a provisional patent application before deciding to proceed with a complete non-provisional patent application.

Take the example of offering a provisional patent application on January 1st, 2000. After the expiration of the provisional application, a non-provisional applicant must submit it within 12 months.

Suppose you submit the non-provisional application on January 1, 2001. On the last day, the provisional application is still valid. Your non-provisional application may claim the provisional application’s starting date. In other words, even though your non-provisional patent application was submitted on January 1, 2001, it had an effective filing date of January 1, 2000, which it received from your provisional patent application.

You would still have precedence over the other applicant. Also, be the first to meet the requirements for a patent; You submitted a provisional and non-provisional application if the same invention was the basis of a patent application between the dates.

This is because your non-provisional patent application “claimed” (or inherited) the provisional patent application’s filing date. Despite not having filed your non-provisional patent application earlier than the other party, The US Patent Office considers you as having the advantage. This is because you filed a non-provisional application before the other individual. And a provisional one before the latter’s deadline.

This is the capability of the provisional patent application to effectively “store the date” for later use by a non-provisional patent application. In our post, Understanding Provisional Patent Applications, you may read more about provisional patent applications.

In the same situation, if your non-provisional patent application is accepted and you are granted a patent, your 20-year term would still be decided as the non-provisional application’s actual filing date.