What Does a Provisional Patent Get Me? You say you don't know what a provisional patent is? It's a time saver and placeholder all rolled up into one. You also get the right to use the term 'patent pending' if you decide to produce the patented item yourself. The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) gives you a receipt that is date and time stamped so that anyone coming after you with the same or similar idea has to deal with YOU! A provisional patent protects you for one year after the date on the receipt. During that time you MUST either file for a regular patent or assign your patent rights to someone who will. You are protected from theft of your idea during that year and you can and should start several negotiations with interested parties. You should also make sure each party knows that other parties are interested but NEVER name names. ALL the forms you need exist on the USPTO website (www.uspto.gov) and you CAN figure it out yourself, given enough time. It does take a LONG time. If you have a lot of time, that is the recommended route. However, if you don't have a lot of time there are easier ways to get the provisional patent. There are people, usually lawyers, that will file for a provisional patent for you if you can provide them with the appropriate dollars. Some have even produced kits that let you do it yourself, provided you send the documents to them for final processing before mailing to the USPTO. You can fill in forms online and pay a fee to the web host for each filing you do (they send it on to the USPTO) or you can buy a kit that has complete instructions for filling in the forms and mailing them to the USPTO. There are even one or two kits that are reusable multiple times for one low kit price. A kit helps assure you that you have completed the correct forms and while it can't guarantee you'll be successful (remember, you're dealing with a government agency) your chances of success are much greater for a very low cost. You can find these kits by searching for 'provisional patent application kit' or some variant. You'll be glad you did.