Reapplying after provisional lapses

[dgb64]

Florida
I fall under the category of "knows enough to be dangerous" so please excuse my amateurish actions. I made a provisional application for a utility patent last April and took no action during the 12-month period so the application is now abandoned (or so I believe). No information about the invention has ever been published nor has it been used in public. Can I just make another provisional application - basically the same as the first one?What is the name of your state?

 

[quincy]

Yes, you may file another provisional patent application.

An inventor who files a regular patent application within one year of filing a PPA can claim the PPA's filing date for the regular patent application (which is an advantage when there are multiple applications for the same invention), but the PPA's filing date doesn't affect when the patent on the invention will expire. It still expires 20 years from the date the regular patent application is filed. So the PPA has the practical effect of delaying up to one year the patent's expiration date and can give you an advantage if there is a conflict between patent applications on the same invention.

Your second PPA would start the 12 months all over again. You would not be able to rely on the first PPA in the case of another application for a patent on the same invention. If the patent examiner finds another application is pending on the same invention and their PPA is before your second PPA, their first PPA would trump your second PPA.

Because I, also, know just enough to be dangerous , the forum patent expert will correct any misinformation I may have supplied.