You just made my day! So happy to hear that. Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to know, I've got a lot of resources. Send email to: jd@boldip.com

Hey Ozhan, glad to hear you got it done. Not all lawyers are bad, in fact, I'd say most are well-intentioned. I'd just caution you on doing legal work like that on your own, unless you do that type of thing a lot. With the law (and intellectual property rights specifically), there are often things you don't know you don't know. In other words, I believe it's wise to trust professionals for important assets like patents and trademarks. Lots of analogies: sure, you can prep/file your own taxes, but are you minimizing your tax liabilities? probably not. Sure, you can change your own tires and breaks, but did you do it correctly? and how much time did it take you to do? I write about time value of money in my "How Much do Patents Cost" blog article. Check it out. boldip.com/blog/patent-cost

Thanks Falak - if you think of any other topics you'd like to hear let me know.

Provisional applications that go abandoned are not published, so (unless you published the provisional on your own) a troll or anyone from the public will not know about your provisional filing if you let it go abandoned. Now, if you file a Nonprovisional that claims the priority of the provisional, at the 18 month date (typically around 6 months after filing the nonprovisional) the application will be published. If for whatever reason do not get the application to grant/issue - it will go abandoned, and that will be published for others to see/use and potentially monetize. That 4 years estimate is sort of a worst case of how long a nonprovisional can be pending. It's usually a bit shorter than that, but does depend on the technology.

@@boldpatents thank you! and what is the value of doing a provisional then? if it’s that ephemeral? is it a necessary step towards the non provisional?

@@sofianedelloue8475 It locks in the priority date for inventors, meaning anyone else who files a patent application after you file, will lose to you in a priority battle. Also, a provisional doesn't require that you define claims, and you can describe the invention broadly. This allows most inventors wanting to take advantage of the provisional to do some market testing, prototyping, and you can rollup any changes/improvement to the invention to the nonprovisional when it comes time to file. Check out my blog article on the subject: boldip.com/blog/provisional-nonprovisional-difference/

@@boldpatents thank you, i'm about to become your client :-)

Hi Pete! Sorry you've been having so many issues, but glad I could help! To answer your question, sure you can! Remember, your provisional is not published, and you want to maintain ownership of any new improvements or versions that may crop up during testing/early sales/manufacturing, so be sure to have a state-licensed attorney draft solid contracts with confidentially and IP assignment clauses for you to use with third parties.

Searches are 2-3 weeks and the legal opinion 1-2 weeks after that. Patent searching itself can be done quite cheaply but of course you get what you pay for. The real value is working with a patent attorney who will give you the analysis and legal opinion and advice on whether you should file a patent application. I've got a great article that goes over the cost here: boldip.com/patent-cost/

There are a lot of things that go into a properly done Non-provisional. Often updating and formalizing the specification, formalizing the drawings, and most importantly drafting the full set of claims. Depending on how well the provisional was done, the work load (i.e. cost) to accomplish the non-provisional will vary. For a detailed look at patent cost, taking into consideration the varying complexities of different types of inventions, please ready the full patent cost article here: boldip.com/patent-cost/

I'd love to help - shoot me an email at: jd@boldip.com

Remember, its no longer first to invent, its first to FILE that wins the rights to the invention. So, if you have come up with an invention - you should get with a patent attorney to discern patentability and if you have it, then file ASAP

@@boldpatents and that is why I utterly despise our patent system... it doesn't protect inventors worth a damn, and actually ends up suppressing technology.

Mike Anthony absolutely! Send to info@boldip.com

www.boldip.com/contact. You can schedule a free screening session to see if we're a good fit for eachother.

You're welcome! Happy to help.

Give me another shot. What questions do you have?