USPTO Proposes Extension to Provisional Patent Application Period

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is asking for public comments on a proposed change to extend the 12-month provisional application period by another 12-months through the missing parts practice in nonprovisional applications. As USPTO Director David Kappos explains in the USPTO's press release, "The existing 12-month provisional period may provide too little time for inventors to test the marketplace. Giving applicants a 12-month period to reply to a missing parts notice would effectively give applicants more time to evaluate the value and market potential of their inventions. It not only helps applicants decide whether to incur the additional costs involved in pursuing a patent, but also, makes the patent office more efficient in enabling the delivery of new products and services to market." Click here for the Federal Register notice.