Provisional Patent Resources
Online resources
The guide to patents and provisional patents on About.com is fairly complete and should be
read through carefully (including clicking on all the related links) before starting to write
your own provisional patent.
Books
The following two books are strongly recommended reading:
- Patent It Yourself by David Pressman
The 2006 edition is available for 2.009 student use from Professor Wallace or the 2.009 TAs, Rm. 3-458. The book and CD-ROM versions of older editions are available in the Barker Library.
- How to Make Patent Drawings by Jack Lo and David Pressman
Electronic version of the most recent edition is available from MIT Libraries through Books24x7.com
Examples
A good provisional patent will look just like a regular, non-provisional patent, except the "claims"
section is not required for provisional patents (and is generally not recommended for do-it-yourself
applications). So, instead of looking for examples of provisional patents as models, one should
study actual, issued patents. A list of patents which are generally clear and easy-to-understand
are available from the PatentWizard software (see below).
Templates
Templates are useful for seeing how the different parts required for a provisional
patent application go together.
- Provisional Application Template in Word format from the Law Office of Joan I. Norek.
- PatentWizard software.
The free trial of this software allows you to see what kinds of information is needed and how they all go together as well as sample patents.
Other resources
The Inventors Association of New England meets at MIT on a monthly basis.
Disclaimer
This information is provided for personal, non-commercial, educational, and informational purposes only, and is not legal advice. Please consult a registered patent agent or patent attorney for legal advice.
