Home > RIPL > Vol. 18 > Iss. 3 (2019)
UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law
Abstract
Whether to beat an impending disclosure, disclose the most information possible, or simply to get the earliest possible filing date, provisional patent applications are a beneficial way to protect your patent rights. The few formal and statutory requirements allow provisionals to be prepared on a rush basis. The Federal Circuit held in 2017 that published nonprovisional applications can constitute prior art as of its provisional filing date but only as to elements in the application. However, ambiguity regarding published applications in the Federal Circuit’s 2015 precedent for awarding a patent it’s provisional filing date may lead to increased patent invalidation through Inter Partes Review proceedings.
Recommended Citation
Madison Makeever, The Golden Claims: Necessary Support for Nonprovisional Application Prior Art References to be Granted Provisional Application Filing Dates During Inter Partes Review Proceedings, 18 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 326 (2019)