A provisional application for patent is an application for a patent filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which is not examined, but allows the applicant to establish an early effective filing date in a later filed patent application. It does not require a formal patent claim, oath or declaration, or a prior art statement. The provisional application lasts for 12 months and can’t be extended, so the applicant will have to file a non-provisional patent application before the 12 months runs out. Another option is file a petition to convert the provisional application into a non-provisional application, although this will affect the term of the patent. After filing a provisional application, applicants may use the term “Patent Pending” when describing the invention.