Thoughts to Paper Questions & Answers

We can assist in having a provisional patent application filed in as little as 24 hours, more if technical descriptions and drawings need to be made, so it depends on how much information you can provide and how comfortable you are in creating your own technical disclosures. Once filed, however, the confirmation is immediate and you will be "patent pending" for 12 months. However, having a provisional patent app doesn't mean your invention is "protected from being stolen" in such a sense. The provisional patent app is a temporary placeholder which you will want to eventually convert into a non-provisional patent app before the 12 months are up. Only when you eventually apply for the non-provisional patent app, before the 12 months are up for the provisional, and that non-provisional patent app is approved by the US Patent Office will you then get 20 years of full patent rights and the ability to sue others for making your invention. The provisional patent app gets your "foot in the door" as they say, to save your place in line, but it must be converted to a non-provisional patent app before the 12 months are up to keep your place in line. Check out our knowledge center on our website, we have some great articles which explains this even more. Or, give us a call during business hours.

Yes it is! We haven't posted the award on our website but will soon. Give us a call during normal business hours!

I think our customer service speaks for itself. Give us, or have that someone you're trying to convince give us call or chat with us on our website live Monday-Friday 10AM-7PM. We'll happily answer your questions or get you in the right direction. Success rate is tough to answer when it comes to patents and trademarks. That is because the success is not necessarily tied to performance but more so tied to what your invention is. If you invent a cure for cancer, you're success is going to be 100%! For provisional patent apps, they are not examined by the US Patent Office and so we can guarantee it 100% that you will get "patent pending" status or we'll fix it. For full non-provisional utility patent apps, however, it's up to the patent examiner at the US Patent Office to decide if he or she thinks your invention is unique enough. Give us a call to chat more!

We send you a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), which is our agreement not to share your confidential invention information with others. Give us a call or chat with us live Monday-Friday 10AM-7PM EST and we can answer more questions or get you started! www.thoughtstopaper.com

No, we maintain one office to keep our overhead down. However, we have clients all over the world. With email, phone, and shared screen capabilities, we can work together wherever you are as long as you have internet! You can even e-sign documents.

No, we are a fee for service company. You pay us fixed flat fees for the services we provide to you such are a patent or trademark application. Feel free to give us a call during normal business hours and we'll be happy to chat.

Before you show the idea to investors, engineers, manufacturers, or put it online to a crowd funding website, for example, you want to get some preliminary patent protection on the idea so you can feel comfortable showing the idea to the many people who will be your support team. Our team of engineers can help you flesh out some basic uncertainties of your invention and get a preliminary patent application called a provisional application in place. Then, you can feel comfortable showing your ideas to manufacturers or other engineers who can help further develop the invention before we decide to apply for a full non-provisional patent application. We don't help you market the idea but we'll help you get the preliminary patent protection you need. Give us a call during normal business hours and one of our consultants would be happy to chat with you.

Adam, to maintain confidentiality, we will sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement with you, often called an NDA. This is a legal agreement we make with you that we will not disclose the invention information you provide to us. Feel free to call us during normal business hours and we can chat further.

Reggie, we'll take all the information you have such as any written descriptions, drawings, photos, you may have. The more you give us the better as we can understand your invention better to prepare a better application. You then work with one of our engineers with a background in the type of invention you have who will ask questions to help us understand anything of your invention that may be unclear. Then, we can assist in writing the technical specifications and preparing the drawings needed for the patent application. The key to a strong patent application is to have full disclosure of the invention with no ambiguity or vagueness. Therefore, our goal is to help create complete, detailed descriptions and drawings after our discussions with you. Feel free to call us during normal business hours and one of us will be happy to assist.

Reggie, we'll take all the information you have such as any written descriptions, drawings, photos, you may have. The more you give us the better as we can understand your invention better to prepare a better application. You then work with one of our engineers with a background in the type of invention you have who will ask questions to help us understand anything of your invention that may be unclear. Then, we can assist in writing the technical specifications and preparing the drawings needed for the patent application. The key to a strong patent application is to have full disclosure of the invention with no ambiguity or vagueness. Therefore, our goal is to help create complete, detailed descriptions and drawings after our discussions with you. Feel free to call us during normal business hours and one of us will be happy to assist. If you have very little time before the provisional app expires, we can move quickly with a non-provisional application. Or, there is a way to extend the provisional patent application with a PCT application which we can discuss with you. You can read about PCT application on our website at this article page: http://www.thoughtstopaper.com/knowledge/what-is-a-pct-patent-application.php