A provisional patent application lasts for 1 year from the day it is filed. This means you have 1 year to followup and file a non-provisional patent application. But what if the provisional patent application ends on a weekend or holiday? What if you missed the expiration date and didn’t file a full non-provisional patent application?

Let’s go over the typical scenario first. You file a provisional patent application and before it expires in 1 year, you file a non-provisional patent application to use the provisional application’s date. For example, if you filed a provisional patent application on October 4, 2018, you would need to file a non-provisional patent application before October 4, 2019. If you do so, the non-provisional patent application will be able to inherit the October 4, 2018 date saved by the provisional patent application. Easy.

If the provisional patent application’s 1 year expiration date falls on a weekend or a federal holiday, you can file the non-provisional patent application on the next business day and still inherit the date saved by the provisional patent application. No problem.

Keep in mind that you cannot renew a provisional patent application. If you need more time to file a non-provisional patent application, you can extend the provisional patent application by filing a PCT patent application, but it’s somewhat costly. Or, you could file a brand new provisional patent application and get a brand new date but this has risks. Filing a brand new provisional patent application gets you a new date, your old date will still be lost. Your place in line with the Patent Office is now pushed back because you have a new date. Chat with us if you are considering extending your provisional patent application or filing a new provisional patent application and letting your old one expire.

What if you missed the 1 year deadline of your provisional patent application and did not file a non-provisional patent application? If you missed the deadline by accident, it may be possible to still file a non-provisional patent application late, within 2 months of your provisional patent application expiring. We would need to request late filing with the US Patent Office. Have us review such a situation promptly.

To read more about the risks of filing a new provisional patent application and letting your old one expire, see Can I Renew a Provisional Patent Application?

To read more about extending the time of a provisional patent application using a PCT Patent Application, see What is a PCT Patent Application?