Disclosure provisional patent

A United States provisional patent disclosure was submitted in April 2002 for nitrided Ni-Cr and related base alloys. 

Metallic Bipolar Plate Alloys Amenable to Inexpensive Surface Modification for Corrosion Resistance and Electrical Conductivity , M.P. Brady, J.H. Schneibel, B.A. Pint, and P.J. Maziasz, United States Provisional Patent Disclosure, April 2002. 

The idea is disclosed to the patent office and the idea is held confidential for up to a year while the idea is further refined by the inventor. Public disclosure of the idea is permitted after the Provisional Patent is filed. Individuals may independently file a Provisional Patent for a nominal fee. However, it is recommended that inventors proceed with the assistance of a patent attorney or agent. 

In most jurisdictions, the Provisional Patent or PCT is published 18 months after first disclosure (initial fifing). At tfiis point, the world can see your idea, but you have established a priority date as to when you (invented) disclosed the idea. 

After filing the provisional patent the inventor should be trying to license, sell or otherwise exploit the invention on a confidential non-disclosure agreement with the view that an interested company would within the 1 year period of grace, file the necessary patents in various countries on behalf of the inventor and, or course, pay all the application fees and maintenance fees. If this does not transpire, then it is up to the inventor to pay the application fees which would be classed as a small entity status and is therefore usually half of the regular filing fee. 

Patent, provisional A temporary patent that establishes a file date for the disclosure. The provisional patent expires at the end of one year, at which point a utility patent with disclosures and claims should be filed. 

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