I own some VDRM shares, so I am trying to take care of this problem regarding provisional patent. I really don't want to post this again.
quote from myself:
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Provisional patent is a very important step if you have something creative but not ready for the final patent application. In this way, nobody could steal your idea during this one year before your final filing is ready. Provisional patent is a temporary protection on the IP.
Many people are using provisional patent to protect their innovations just in case somebody claims the technology before they get ready to file an official patent. Of course, get patent approved takes time. However, if your provisional patent is valid, you are the one who owns the technology, and nobody could steal from you.
This is why people have to file a provisional patent before they are ready to file the formal one.
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I am a professional in a high-tech area, and we meet patent issues a lot. As I explained in my previous post, professional patent secures the ownership of a high technology before a formal patent application is filled. I have a friend who needs help for all the details regarding the design and implementation for an innovative idea presented by him through years of experience in a governmental application area. He knows the governmental system very well, but he is not familiar with the technology. On the side, some tech people who also see the application in the same area knows the technology, but their design couldn't work because they don't know the governmental system. Thus, my friend filed a provisional patent in order to get this one year time to get all the details needed for the formal patent filing. In this way, nobody could steal his idea while he is working on the completion of the final patent filing.
Therefore, since VDRM filed a provisional patent for its idea on a technology, nobody could claim or file another provisional patent for the same idea/technology. This is the goal for a provisional patent to be designed.
I really don't know how a provisional patent could cause so much confusion here.
