With a provisional patent in hand, you can feel confident that your idea cannot be stolen. You can present it to multiple companies without fear. The enthusiasm and excitement that you have about your revolutionary idea will be your best selling feature.

A provisional patent is only a temporary patent. It is only good for one year. If you have not filed a non-provisional patent within one year, your patent will expire worthless. As you can see, time is of the essence. The big advantage of filing a Provisional Patent is the speed of filing and the low cost.

Filing Your Patent

Consider this scenario: You have an idea that is a disruptive innovation. You feel that it could change a whole industry. If you disclose your idea inappropriately, then the moment (and the money) is gone. It belongs to the public domain. However, you know about provisional patents, and you prepare a detailed description of your idea or invention. The one caveat is that your description of your invention must be accurate or the protection is not there. You must describe your idea accurately. If a person in your industry can't duplicate your invention, then it is invalid. You then submit everything to the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) with a $100 filing fee and you have patent-pending status.

Provisional Patents Are Options to Wealth

Now the fun begins. You can contact the companies in your industry to show them how their products are going to be obsolete with your new technology. When they realize that their business is threatened, if your technology falls into the hands of a competitor, it is very likely that a bidding war will ensue between competitors. Don't you just love a competitive auction when they are bidding on your property. Your reward will be a healthy stream of royalties flowing to you for the rest of your life. Of course, those royalties can be passed down to your heirs.

Using Provisional Patents to Leverage Your Fortune

While this scenario is idealized, it is by no means impossible. Even a smaller result can be very lucrative. The final result depends on the quality of your idea-invention. Another factor is that you don't disclose information about your invention before you get the protection of a patent. Your provisional patent effectively gives you an option that you can use to leverage your way into the realm of big business.