QUESTION

Do further developments on a patented product void the patent?

Asked on Dec 13th, 2012 on Patents - Colorado
More details to this question:
We have filed for a provisional patent on a piece of software. Since the provisional patent, we have made the software more robust. The overall flow and functionality is the same, but there have been updates to the codebase. Does this effect the validity of the patent?
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1 ANSWER

Patents Attorney serving McLean, VA at George H. Spencer
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First of all, there is no such thing as a provisional patent, only a provisional patent application which must be converted into a regular non-provisional patent application within one year of its filing date or it simply dies with no rights having been obtained. At the time of filing the non-provisional patent application, you could add the improvements.  However, you should probably consider registering the code with the Copyright Office. I suggest that you contact an intellectual property law attorney who can review everything and advise you how best to proceed.
Answered on Dec 27th, 2012 at 9:42 AM

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