Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Virginia

Re: Patents

A provisional patent application is simply a placeholder. It does not get examined and will not become a patent. Within a year of filing a provisional patent application, you must file a regular patent application (either utility or design). If the provisional application discloses the invention in the regular application, then the regular application is considered filed as of the provisional application date.

If you intend to file a design patent application, a provisional patent application will not save you money. You can save a couple hundred dollars now, but will spend more within a year.