Some will tell you to "just file a provisional". The problem with that approach is that there is no relaxed standard for sufficiency of disclosure for a provisional application, although many seem to assume there is (or at least act like there is).
The bottom line is this: a sufficient disclosure to support your claims (whatever they may ultimately be) is required. If the disclosure is sufficient within a particular application, there's no reason not to file non-provisionally. If the disclosure is insufficient, having it on file as a provisional is inadequate.
One thing that might help with a quickly thown together emergency prayer of an application as a provisional application is that, with the way things are now, it's unlikely that the Patent Office will evaluate the sufficiency of the provisional application. It will only mean your patent, while presumed valid, could be unusually susceptible to challenge ... assuming you need your provisional filing date.
Remember, there are no shortcuts, you get what you pay (and plan) for, and there are no "poor man's" patents.
Lastly, and perhaps a show-stopper for the scenario you've described, laches (pronounced "latches") may bar you from getting any patent protection. Laches is the legal rule of "use it or lose it" applied to legal rights. Your invention has been bouncing around in your head (or somewhere) for 18 years. Assuming it was "ready for patenting" around 1987-88, you would be way outside the 6-year laches limit.
I believe the caselaw currently says 6 years of suppressing an invention prior to seeking a patent is too long. Maybe someone else here has researched that issue more recently than I have and can give a more up-to-date guideline on how long is too long.
For what it's worth, patent law really hates people trying to stretch the monopoly beyond the prescribed patent term. Sitting on a trade secret for more than 6 years then filing a patent application looks a lot like trying to stretch the term from 20 years to more than 26 years. That's not allowed.
In short, the situation you describe has some serious problems. I'd recommend talking to a patent practitioner under attorney-client privilege to help sort out your options.
One last point: "worldwide" rights are expensive. Unless you can budget about $200,000 in the next year to 2.5 years for a single patent application, you're going to have to make some choices about where in the world you can forego protection. Try to keep your expectations reasonable.
Regards.
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Topic: Advice needed (Read 1279 times)
