Your first patent,
in plain words.

How the US patent process works for a solo founder filing a first software patent, starting with a provisional application. Each fact links to the USPTO page or the law it comes from. Fees and income limits change, so this page links to them instead of quoting them.

What a patent is, and is not

A US patent gives its owner the right to stop others from making, using, offering for sale or selling the invention in the United States, or importing it. 35 U.S.C. 154(a)(1)

That right starts on the day the patent issues and ends 20 years after the full application was filed, as long as the required fees are paid. The date of a provisional application does not count toward the 20 years. 35 U.S.C. 154(a)(2)–(3)

A patent is not automatic. A full application is examined, and a patent issues only if the examination finds the applicant is entitled to one. 35 U.S.C. 131 A US patent covers the United States only. 35 U.S.C. 154(a)(1)

Software can be patented, but software claims are tested for whether they are aimed at an abstract idea. The USPTO’s examining manual says software is not automatically an abstract idea. MPEP 2106

Provisional and non-provisional

A provisional application holds a filing date. It needs a written description of the invention and any drawings needed to understand it. It does not need formal claims or an oath or declaration, and it is not examined. USPTO: provisional applications 35 U.S.C. 111(b)

A non-provisional application is the full application. It has claims and the inventor’s oath or declaration, it is examined, and it is the one that can become a patent. 37 CFR 1.51(b) 35 U.S.C. 131

The non-provisional gets your provisional’s date only for what the provisional actually described, in enough detail for someone skilled in the field to make and use it. 35 U.S.C. 119(e)(1) 35 U.S.C. 112(a)

What “patent pending” means

Once your provisional is filed, you can describe the invention as “patent pending.” USPTO: provisional applications Saying it when no application is on file, or after it stops being pending, to deceive the public, is against the law. 35 U.S.C. 292(a)

Patent pending tells people an application is on file. The right to stop others comes with an issued patent, from the day it issues. 35 U.S.C. 154(a)(2)

The 12-month deadline

A provisional application lasts 12 months from the day it is filed, and the USPTO says that period cannot be extended. USPTO: provisional applications To keep its date, you file a non-provisional application that refers to it within those 12 months. 35 U.S.C. 119(e)(1) If you do not, the provisional is abandoned and cannot be revived. 35 U.S.C. 111(b)(5)

The law allows a two-month restoration only when the delay was unintentional, by petition and with a fee. It is a narrow exception, not a second deadline. 35 U.S.C. 119(e)(1)

If you have already shown the invention in public, US law treats your own disclosure as not prior art against you if you file within one year of it. 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1)(A) The USPTO notes that a disclosure before filing may still prevent a patent in other countries. USPTO: provisional applications

What prior art is

Prior art is anything made public before your filing date that shows the same idea: patents, published patent applications, papers, products, public code. The law’s words are that the invention was “patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public” before the filing date. 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) Another inventor’s earlier-filed application that is later published or patented counts too. 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2)

Being different is not enough on its own. An invention also cannot be obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the field, given the prior art. 35 U.S.C. 103

A search can find prior art. It cannot prove that none exists.

What you actually file

A complete provisional application has four parts: 37 CFR 1.51(c)

• A cover sheet. It says the application is a provisional and lists each inventor’s name and residence, the title, the correspondence address, and any attorney, docket number or US government interest.
• A specification. A written description of the invention and of how to make and use it. 35 U.S.C. 112(a)
• Drawings, when they are needed to understand the invention.
• The filing fee. See the USPTO fee schedule for the current amount.

After the filing date, you cannot add new material to a provisional. Changes are limited to making it meet the rules. 37 CFR 1.53(c)

Entity size and micro entity status

Most USPTO fees have three amounts: the standard fee, a small entity fee and a micro entity fee. USPTO fee schedule

A person, a small business or a nonprofit can be a small entity, as long as everyone who holds rights in the invention also qualifies. 37 CFR 1.27(a)

An individual inventor may qualify as a micro entity on the gross income basis. You certify that: 35 U.S.C. 123(a) 37 CFR 1.29(a)

• you qualify as a small entity;
• you have not been named as an inventor on more than four earlier patent applications (provisional and foreign applications do not count);
• your gross income last calendar year was not above the limit, which is three times the US median household income;
• you have not given, and do not owe, rights in the application to anyone over that income limit, including your own company.

The current income figure and the certification form, PTO/SB/15A, are on the USPTO micro entity page. There is also a separate basis tied to institutions of higher education.

Where you file

You file online in USPTO Patent Center, from your own registered account. Each USPTO.gov account belongs to one person and cannot be shared. USPTO: new users

Every Patent Center user has to verify their identity, online through ID.me or with a notarized paper form sent by mail. USPTO: Patent Center USPTO: new users

You do not need an attorney or agent to file. USPTO: filing on your own

What happens after

The provisional itself is not examined. USPTO: provisional applications Within the 12 months you decide whether to file the non-provisional, which is examined. 35 U.S.C. 131

A non-provisional application is generally published 18 months after the earliest filing date it claims. 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(1)(A)

Where it gets hard for a solo founder

• Writing enough. The provisional protects only what it describes in enough detail, and nothing new can be added after filing.
• The claims. The non-provisional has to end with claims that point out what the patent covers. 35 U.S.C. 112(b)
• Software eligibility. Claims are tested against the abstract idea exception. MPEP 2106
• Prior art you do not see. Searches miss things, and obviousness is a judgment, not a search result.
• The clock. Twelve months to decide and file the full application.
• Cost after the provisional. The non-provisional has its own fees. See the fee schedule.

Help exists. The USPTO Pro Se Assistance Center answers questions about application types, fees, forms and filing, though USPTO staff cannot give legal advice. The Patent Pro Bono Program matches eligible inventors with limited means to volunteer patent attorneys and agents.

Where Patty fits

Patty prepares the provisional packet from your code: the specification, with each section tied to a file and line; the drawings; the cover sheet fields; a prior art chart; and the filing steps. You read it. Then you sign, submit and pay in your own Patent Center account.

Patty does not file anything, and it does not tell you whether your invention is new or patentable.

Sources checked November 11, 2026. Statutes are quoted from the USPTO’s consolidated patent laws.