eCommerce Buying Process

[stretcher25]

I have an idea to make eCommerce buying process different. My idea would be a change to the flow of the eCommerce cart flow. My question is when creating my provisional patent, do I need to include the existing cart functions or just the part that I create to make the process easier? When writing my patent description, do I describe all the steps from beginning to end or just the process I created? Thank you

[JimIvey]

First, you won't be creating a provisional patent; there is no such thing.  You'd be creating a provisional patent application, which is merely an incomplete application as in an application provided you do more later on.  It's nothing but a placeholder and it's not even that if you don't write it as well as a real, non-provisional patent application.  You may be thinking, "but everyone I know files provisional applications so they must be useful, right?"  Yes, everybody seems to file provisional applications but mostly because they don't know what they're doing.  They can be useful, but only in specific situations and only if written as well as a real application.

You have to describe your invention in sufficient detail that one of ordinary skill in the relevant technology/ies can make and use your invention as claimed.  You'll want to claim any novel and non-obvious innovations in your technology.  Then, you'll need to describe how to make and use your technology with those novel and non-obvious innovations.  That's the minimum.  If you describe more than is necessary, no problem.  If you think you've described enough but an examiner or a court decides you didn't, no patent.  And, that's not fixable.  It will be highly likely that events have occurred since your original filing such that you can't improve the application and re-file.  It won't be novel anymore.

Does that mean that you should describe conventional eCommerce systems?  Maybe.  However, be careful.  You might make admissions about the prior art that aren't true.  You'd be sabotaging your own patenting efforts.

Make sure nothing in your description suggests that optional features of your technology are imported into claims.  You want your claims to broad enough to cover all variations of your technology but narrow enough to still be non-obvious.  Yes, a provisional application doesn't require claims, but the description must support your claims you'll file eventually and how are you going to know whether they're supported if you have no idea what they might look like?

I know that's a lot, but that's just scratching the surface.

Regards.