Request for patent pending at a patent office for any invention is the basis of a patent application. The patent application must have complete details, with official forms and related correspondence. Applications are accepted in national patent office such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or the United Kingdom Patent Office.

What are the different types of patent applications? Well the actual names and types of patent applications will vary according to the patent offices and their location, but one can definitely generalize the basic types of patent applications. They are,

• Standard patent application, also referred to as a non provisional application contains all standards like description of invention and related correspondences.
• Provisional application is time limited and is mainly a prelude to obtaining a priority patent filing date. It has a lower fee than the regular application.
• Continuation application is for different types of follow up of any previously filed application.
• Divisional applications are useful if a unity of invention objection is issued and multiple inventions can be protected and can retain the priority date of the parent application.

The most important part in a patent application is the claims of the patent application that have all the legal terms and usually is difficult to understand for the lay man and hence must be definitely done in consultation with a competent patent attorney.

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Labels: continuational, patent application, provisional, standard application, USPTO