As many of you know, the U.S. patent system becomes a
first-to-file system effective March 16, 2013. Briefly, from that time
forward it will generally be advisable to file a provisional patent application as soon
as you recognize that an idea might have commercial potential. Then,
within a few months it will also usually be a good idea to follow up that filing with a
regular, non-provisional patent application.
Indeed, now that
the effective date of that provision of the America Invents Act approaches, we
at the Villhard Patent Group now generally recommend beginning to use that
strategy even now. For one thing, we believe that a rush to file
provisional applications might occur in the weeks leading up to March 16.
That means that Patent Attorneys and their firms are probably going to be
quite busy in February and March. In addition, the Patent Office's
website and electronic filing system might, just might, be overwhelmed with
traffic. The resulting possible denial-of-service-like event might
frustrate your plans for timely filing a provisional application.
Also, with the new strategy of following the provisional with a
non-provisional application in a timely manner, Patent Attorneys are likely to
find themselves busy following the March change.
If you would like to discuss your particular situation to
see if the new strategy fits your circumstances, we at the Villhard Patent
Group would be happy to speak with you.
You can contact us at (512) 897-0399 or you can visit us at www.villhardpatents.com for more
information.
