What to Do When Your PPA is About to Expire

Stephen Key, cofounder of inventRight, answers a question he gets all the time: What to do when your provisional patent application, aka PPA, is about to expire.

A PPA is a cost-effective way to secure "patent pending" status for one year, but that year flies by.

If your year is running out and you haven't signed a licensing agreement yet, what are your options? Can you file another PPA?

Stephen offers practical strategies to navigate this critical moment.

Whether you're new to inventing or a seasoned pro, this video is packed with actionable advice to help you protect your intellectual property while pursuing licensing opportunities.

Earn money from your ideas with the help of inventRight. We help you license your ideas, inventions, and products for passive income.

New to the licensing business model? Educate yourself first.

*About Stephen Key, inventRight Cofounder*

Stephen Key is an award-winning inventor, renowned intellectual property strategist, lifelong entrepreneur, author, speaker, and columnist. He has over 20 patents in his name. The dozens of concepts he has brought to market have retailed in Walmart, 7-Eleven, and Disney stores and parks worldwide and been endorsed by Michael Jordan, Alex, Trebek, and Taylor Swift. He has defended his patents in federal court against the largest toy company in the world, Lego.

In 1999 he cofounded inventRight with inventor Andrew Krauss to teach others his unique process of harnessing the power of open innovation in the licensing business model. His best-selling book about how to license an idea, One Simple Idea by McGraw-Hill, has been translated into six languages.

He has spoken at Stanford University, Florida State University, the University of Michigan, UC Merced, the USPTO, World IP Forum, University of the Pacific, Cal State Fullerton, Washington University in St. Louis, the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, the Economic Development Agency for Northern Ireland, and many more.

He has written five books related to product licensing and intellectual property and is a longtime contributor to Forbes and Inc.

From 2018-2019, he was honored to serve as an American Association for the Advancement of Science-Lemelson Invention Ambassador.

In 2021, Mojo Nation named him as one of the 100 most influential people working in the toy and game industry.

In 2022, World IP Forum named him a “Most Influential and Inspiring Leader Of All Time.”

*About Andrew Krauss, inventRight Cofounder*

Andrew Krauss is an expert on licensing products ideas for passive income. He has been helping creative people bring their concepts to market with less risk and more success for 25 years as a cofounder of inventRight.

During his tenure as president, he grew the Bay Area Inventors’ Alliance group into one of the most active and well-established inventor associations in the country. In addition to advising the White House on innovation, he has been featured as a speaker at USPTO conferences and on NPR’s Science Friday.

*About inventRightTV*

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[tonyryan]

Thanks again Stephen this information is exactly what I have been searching for.My year is about to expire and due to health issues everything has stalled.That said with too much "rest time"over the past year I have come up with two excellent modifications which will enable me to re submit.Thanks again Stephen you are the best

[julast]

I like it when this guy tells me not to Panic.

[rayazand]

Great Video. I also think there is another alternative. Write the real application yourself and hire an agent to write legal claims (do quick sloppy work). As long as the description and images are complete and show all the variations/improvements (you had 1 year to think about those), the claims can later on (perhaps a year later) be re-rewritten by an attorney in response to an office action.

[alexandrevaliquette]

Idea worth nothing without execution.
Idea are quite easy to come with. In fact, this is probably the step that need the least amount of time and ressources.
What is long is to protect and sell your idea.
But this is a fun adventure and I'm hooked to the "licensing business model".
Alex from Montréal

[rogergalingganajr]

Hi Stephen, Andrew,
Thank you so much for these wonderful tips on all of your videos. It is
quite educational and inspiring as well.

[BulletSpoung]

So the most important thing is to hit it hard as soon as you have the PPA.  Doing the work soon gives you more time at the end of the year for possible licensees to drag there feet.  Good video that's packed full of good info, thanks Stephen.

[hawsshaw]

I learn a lot from u Sir... u r right we r talking yr or yrs here... almost 2 yr now waiting for my Patent to be issued i filed Track One prioritized...

[lauramccutcheon]

Thank you! This has been one of the MOST helpful pieces for me that you have done. I am sitting right at the edge and wondering what to do. Perfect info!

[doronbenbenisty]

Thank you short to the point you helped me a lot

[P-ek]

Is showing your invention to Angel Investors and/or VCs considered public disclosure?

[basschin]

Stephen thanks for your information.You are good.
Here's a question, ok, the year is coming to an end, your video says, fine, just file another PPA, show improvement, but, what if there is also a design patent filed the same time as ppa filed, now if a new ppa is filed with imrovements, 1 year later, how will this affect that design patent that was filed with the original ppa? understand what I am saying?
1 product, a design patent filed and provisional patent (1 yr ) filed for the same 1 product invented. any info would be great, thanks Barb

[scottriddle]

Hello Stephen I have a product I've designed, I have completed the PPA, sell sheet is 90% complete, now it's time for the rest of the process to take place and thank you for the well needed insight on the process. My question is, could my product not be wanted by companies of interest that would potentially decrease the sale and profets of their other products? My product idea could potentially do that. This makes me hesitant and nervous about proceeding. Please shed some light on this .

[alexandrevaliquette]

If you have publicly disclose your invention about 11 months ago and you are not on final negotiation for a licensing contract. Well, instead of spending 10-30+K $$$ on a non-provisional patent. I will simply find another idea to sell. I will work harder to get a deal and not make the same mistake of public disclosure again!

[tonyamulligan]

Hi Stephen
Hi have a question regarding a design patent. Should a attorney be hired to file a design patent and why? What should I look for to make sure I have the best attorney for the job.
Thanks again for all of the information you provide and I love your videos!

[ogreycloud]

If I sent my idea by email to a professor for accessing it is considered a public disclosure?

[RayFunRelax]

According to my google search, Less than 0.30% of active patents get litigated. So my suggestion is to skip hiring a patent attorney, hire a patent agent or do it yourself. There are plenty of books that teach you how to write up a patent (including claims) and you have million of granted patents to copy from (find patents in your field similar to yours. The odds of ending in court arguing your claims (if your patent issues) is way < 0.30%. Also if Examiner cannot find similar prior art and rejects it, you can ask the Examiner to help you write your claims for you (it's the Law. They are required to help inventors if they ask for help).

[quickpatents]

Stephen, good advice. But where did you get that $20, 000 price for a non-provisional? I know you can pay over $10K with a patent attorney, but $20K seems excessive even for attorneys (unless you're doing a large family of patents or something). You might be interested to know that we charge $3, 995.

[davidaustin]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if before you file the PPA you publicly disclose it (assuming you're crazy enough to do such a thing ... I'm not saying this is a good idea, just that it works), and I think it has to be a public disclosure, then you have 1 year to file a PPA, and then the clock starts for the Non-PPA at that point ... so you can have as much as 2 years from the day you publicly disclose it. Of course the problem is that the cat is out of the bag when you publicly disclose it ... everyone knows about it and can try to design around the idea and get something out there your PPA doesn't cover before you ever even file your PPA, and in fact they have 2 years to do that if you take the time. Yes?

[ginap]

What do you do if your PPA is expired, and you have been selling your product online for years already? I want to try to license my product now, but I am concerned that if I send my sell sheet to a company, they might run with my design on their own.

[prestonchristesen]

Can you keep refiling a ppa on an idea woth out anything like you just keep paying 65$ each year?