There are many reasons for which one may want to file a provisional EP patent application.
The most offently mentionned are costs, speed and low formal requirements
Cost
Filing a provisional EP patent application using Captain-IP is a very cost efficient way to obtain a filing date for your invention.
A full patent application may be very expensive. Attorney fees for drafting the application can range from 3 000€ to 15 000€ or more depending on the invention's complexity.
In addition to the Attorney fee, there are also official filing fees to consider, which for a full EP patent application starts at about 1 500€.
If you can't afford a full EP patent application for now, a self-drafted provisional EP patent application may be your best course of action. You can then take one year before the expiration of your priority right to find investors interested in financing your full patent application(s) or purchasing your invention or purchasing your priority right.
Speed
Since 2016 all patent system in the world are first-to-file system.
In a first-to-file system, the right to the grant of a patent for a given invention lies with the first person to file a patent application for protection of that invention, regardless of the date of actual invention.
Although you are the first to make the invention, your patent rights can be definitely lost if your patent application isn't filed on time. Worst, you may not be allowed to use your invention.
The filing of a provisional EP patent application provides you a filing date for your invention.
Low formal requirements
The filing requirements for a provisional EP patent application are very low.
You only need to file a description of your invention. The description may be in any language and does not have to be structured in a specific way.
For example, if you have prepared a technical description for your patent attorney to use to draft your full patent application, you may file such technical description as a provisional EP patent application.
If you wish you may add drawings, claims, schematics, diagrams, equation, tables etc...
This text is not a legal opinion and does not engage the responsibility of Captain IP nor Cabinet Novitech and should not replace the consultation of a Patent Attorney.
For any questions concerning patent law you can contact the Cabinet Novitech:
or call us at : 00 33 1 48 710 007