By Tony N. Woolard, USPTO-registered patent attorney (Reg. No. 79,956) and founder of Harborage Law, PLLC, Westbrook, Connecticut. Updated November 2026.
A provisional patent application is the most common first step for an inventor who wants an official filing date without the cost of a full application. This guide walks through the steps in the order the USPTO requires them, with the current government fees and the deadlines that follow. If you want the background first, start with what a provisional patent application is.
Short answer
To file a provisional patent application you write a complete description of your invention, prepare any drawings needed to understand it, fill out the USPTO cover sheet (form PTO/SB/16), and file the package through the USPTO's Patent Center with the filing fee, which is $65 for a micro entity, $130 for a small entity, and $325 for a large entity (USPTO fee schedule as revised November 1, 2026). No claims, oath, or prior art statement are required. You then have 12 months to file a nonprovisional application that claims the benefit of the provisional filing date.
Before you start: is a provisional the right filing?
A provisional application works for utility inventions (a process, machine, article, or composition). The USPTO states that provisional applications may not be filed for design inventions, so if you are protecting the ornamental look of a product you need a design application instead. A provisional application also cannot claim the benefit of any earlier application, foreign or domestic. If you are unsure whether to file a provisional or go straight to a nonprovisional application, see provisional vs. nonprovisional: which should you file first.
Step 1: Write a complete description
This is the step that decides whether your provisional application is worth anything. Under 35 U.S.C. Section 111(b), a provisional application must include a specification that satisfies Section 112(a), which means a written description that would let a person skilled in the field make and use the invention. The USPTO recommends that the disclosure be as complete as possible, because the claims you later file in the nonprovisional application only get the provisional filing date if the provisional application supports them.
Describe every version of the invention you can think of, how each part works, what it is made of, how it is assembled, and what problem it solves. Include alternatives and ranges rather than a single example. Amendments are not permitted in a provisional application after filing other than to meet formal requirements (37 C.F.R. Section 1.53(c)), so anything you leave out now stays out.
Step 2: Prepare the drawings
The USPTO will give a filing date to a provisional application even without drawings, but it advises applicants to file any drawing necessary to understand the invention, because a drawing needed to understand the invention cannot be added after the filing date under the rule against new matter (35 U.S.C. Section 113). Hand sketches, labeled diagrams, and photographs are acceptable in a provisional application. Label the parts and refer to those labels in your description.
Step 3: Work out your entity size
The USPTO fee you pay depends on who you are.
Micro entity (80 percent discount). Under 37 C.F.R. Section 1.29, you qualify if you also qualify as a small entity, neither you nor any joint inventor has been named on more than four previously filed patent applications (provisional applications and foreign applications do not count toward the four), neither you nor any joint inventor had gross income in the prior year above the USPTO's limit, and you have not assigned or licensed the invention to anyone who exceeds that limit. The USPTO set the maximum qualifying gross income at $262,380 as of September 15, 2026; it changes each year.
Small entity (60 percent discount). An individual, a business with fewer than 500 employees, or a nonprofit that has not assigned or licensed rights to a large entity (37 C.F.R. Section 1.27).
Large entity. Everyone else, at the full fee.
Claiming a discount you are not entitled to can cause problems later, so if you are close to a line, check the USPTO's micro entity page or ask before you file.
Step 4: Complete the cover sheet
The USPTO requires a cover sheet, form PTO/SB/16, that identifies the application as a provisional application and lists the name and residence of every inventor, the title of the invention, the correspondence address, the name and registration number of any attorney or agent, and any U.S. government agency with a property interest in the invention. Every person who contributed to the invention must be named. Filing the cover sheet or the fee late carries a surcharge of $13 for a micro entity, $26 for a small entity, or $65 for a large entity.
Step 5: File through Patent Center and pay the fee
Patent Center is the USPTO's online filing system. You create a USPTO.gov account, start a new provisional application, upload the description, drawings, and cover sheet, and pay the filing fee: $65 micro, $130 small, or $325 large. A provisional application does not require a claim, an inventor's oath or declaration, or an information disclosure statement, and the USPTO says it should not include one. If your application runs past 100 pages, there is an additional size fee of $90, $180, or $450 for each 50 pages over 100. The non-electronic filing surcharge that applies to paper nonprovisional applications does not apply to provisional applications, but filing online is still the simplest route.
Step 6: Save the filing receipt and mark your product
Patent Center issues an electronic acknowledgment receipt with your application number and filing date. Keep it. From that date you may mark your product or materials "patent pending," with the limits explained in what patent pending means.
Step 7: Calendar the 12-month deadline today
A provisional application is pending for 12 months from its filing date and the USPTO states that this period cannot be extended. To keep the benefit of the filing date you must, within those 12 months, either file a nonprovisional application that claims the benefit of the provisional under 35 U.S.C. Section 119(e), or file a petition under 37 C.F.R. Section 1.53(c)(3) to convert the provisional into a nonprovisional application. Conversion is usually the worse choice, because the USPTO explains that the term of the resulting patent is then measured from the provisional filing date, which shortens it by up to a year.
If you miss the 12 months, there is a narrow safety net. A nonprovisional application filed more than 12 but no more than 14 months after the provisional can have the benefit restored by a petition under 37 C.F.R. Section 1.78 stating that the delay was unintentional, with a petition fee of $452 micro, $904 small, or $2,260 large. After 14 months the provisional filing date is lost for good.
When you file the nonprovisional application, the benefit claim must appear in an application data sheet, and the USPTO requires it within four months of the nonprovisional filing date or 16 months of the provisional filing date, whichever is later.
What to do during the 12 months
The year is for turning a description into a business decision. Test the market, talk to manufacturers, refine the design, and consider a patentability search so you know what the examiner is likely to find. If you make a meaningful improvement, you can file a second provisional application covering it; a nonprovisional application may claim the benefit of more than one provisional application, as long as each is within its own 12-month window. Decide early whether you want foreign protection, because a public disclosure that is forgiven in the United States under the one-year grace period in 35 U.S.C. Section 102(b)(1) can bar patents in many other countries.
Mistakes that cost inventors the filing date
Filing a one-page summary instead of a full description. The provisional only protects what it actually teaches.
Leaving out drawings and trying to add them later.
Naming the wrong inventors, or leaving one out. The nonprovisional must share at least one inventor with the provisional.
Treating "patent pending" as protection. A provisional application is never examined and cannot be enforced against anyone.
Missing the 12-month deadline because no one wrote it down.
Connecticut inventor resources
The USPTO's Connecticut resources page lists the Inventors Association of Connecticut and the Connecticut Invention Convention, and the USPTO's Northeast Regional Outreach Office supports inventors in the state. These are good places to learn and to meet other inventors; they do not replace a review of your own description before you file.
Need help filing a provisional application?
I prepare and file provisional applications for inventors and startups in Connecticut and every other state for an affordable flat attorney fee quoted in writing before any work begins, with the USPTO fee passed through at cost. The consultation is free, you are under no obligation to proceed, and many inventors file on their own using the USPTO's guidance. If you would like a second set of eyes on your description before it goes in, I am glad to help. See patent services or book a free consultation.
Frequently asked questions
Can I file a provisional patent application myself?
Yes. An inventor may file a provisional application without an attorney through the USPTO's Patent Center. The risk is not the form; it is a description that turns out to be too thin to support the claims you need a year later. If you file on your own, err on the side of including more detail and more drawings.
How much does it cost to file a provisional patent application?
The USPTO filing fee is $65 for a micro entity, $130 for a small entity, and $325 for a large entity, as of the fee schedule revised November 1, 2026. Attorney fees, if you use one, are separate. Harborage Law quotes its flat attorney fee in writing before any work begins.
Does a provisional patent application protect my invention?
Not by itself. It gives you a filing date and the right to say "patent pending." It is not examined and cannot be enforced. Protection comes only if a nonprovisional application is filed within 12 months and later issues as a patent.
Can I add new material to a provisional application after filing?
No. Amendments are not permitted in a provisional application after filing, other than those needed to meet formal requirements. If you improve the invention, file a second provisional application, and claim the benefit of both in the nonprovisional application within 12 months of the earliest one.
What happens at the end of the 12 months?
The provisional application is regarded as abandoned 12 months after its filing date. If you filed a nonprovisional application claiming its benefit within that time, you keep the early filing date. If you did not, you lose the date, subject to the 14-month restoration petition for unintentional delay.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. USPTO fees and the micro entity income limit change; check the current USPTO fee schedule before filing.
