Replies to post #15114 on American Energy Partners Inc (AEPT)

[lrice]

Filing a provisional patent application protects your invention while buying time to file a regular patent application.
www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/article-29856.htm



If a provisional patent application is filed first, then a regular U.S. patent application may be filed within one year claiming priority from the provisional application. The patent subsequently granted on that regular U.S. application will then also have a lifetime of 21 years from the filing date of the provisional application, provided the regular application is filed at the end of the one year time period. It is to be noted that the provisional patent application does not mature into a patent -- rather it expires after its one year lifetime. It simply gives a subsequently filed regular patent application the possibility of a 21 year lifetime measured from the filing date of the provisional application.
http://www.ladas.com/Patents/ProvisionalPatentApps.html