Q: What is a provisional application for an American invention?

In the United States, a Provisional Application is a patent application that is "provisional." This is a type of patent application that an applicant uses to establish a priority date in the United States. As the name suggests, the application is provisional and will not go to trial and will not ultimately be granted a patent. Provisional application can establish a valid filing date for future non-provisional applications, and is also a form of application often used in practice. In the event that the application documents are not sufficient, the USPTO allows the applicant to file a provisional application first, and within 1 year after filing the provisional application, the applicant can file a formal application after the application documents are fully prepared. In this way, it can prevent applicants from delaying the application time due to the preparation of application documents.

Q: What materials should I prepare for a provisional patent application in the United States?

A: An interim application is a domestic (as opposed to U.S.) application filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Formal Claims, oaths or declarations, relevant information and prior technical disclosure are not required in provisional applications. Under 35 U.S.C. 119(e), a provisional application establishes a priority date for the applicant, but it is valid for one year, during which time the applicant of the provisional application may file a non-provisional application in which the provisional application is an earlier application. Here, the non-provisional Application (or "formal Application") refers to the United States Invention Application (Utility Application) and International Application (PCT Application).

The required materials include: specification, cover sheet (inventor information, must have all inventor names), application fee;

Confidentiality review request (place of invention in China) - filed in China;

Non-essential materials: Claims and drawings.