Recent events and changes in the law have brought into question the practice of provisional patent applications. Whereas before, inventors could write up a really quick an sloppy provisional patent application and send it off the the USPTO, it is now the case that you may be putting the value of your patent in serious jeopardy. For, a patent's true value lies in its ability to be enforceable in a court room. And most provisional patent applications do just that: they undermine the validity of the ensuing patent.

One of the central concepts of patent law revolves around enablement. In order for a patent to issue, an inventor must disclose enough detail about his or her invention to enable one skilled in the art to reproduce their invention by following the specification and drawings of the patent. In fact, the enablement issue is one of the points of contention in many patent litigation cases.

Getting back to the central issue is provisional patent applications and enablement. In practice, oftentimes inventors use the provisional application to get their foot in the door. And, at best, they may have a patent agent or attorney proof read and edit their application. The problem is that more often than not, the provisional is not enabled for want of detail and non compliance with patent statutes. Exacerbating the problem is the prevailing notion that one can add new matter to the nonprovisional and add any other details to polish it up in the subsequently filed nonprovisional patent application.

Further compounding the problem is the idea of cost savings. By making an end run on attorney's fees, it is thought, that provisional applications will be far less expensive. Truth is, that in order for a provisional patent application to be properly drafted, a client may save, at best, 25% of the fees because the attorney will not have to draft the claims.

As such, in order to properly get a patent application through the USPTO, and to get it enforceable and thereby retain its value, it is strongly recommended to file a nonprovisional patent application from the start. However, if it is absolutely necessary to file the provisional patent application, the inventor should have it properly drafted by a licensed and experienced patent attorney.