Applicants who file temporary patent applications must submit corresponding non-temporary patent applications within 12 months to benefit from the provisional filing date. The corresponding non-temporary patent application must specifically refer to the temporary application.
Then, the Trademark Office compares the non-provisional patent application with the previously submitted provisional application. If it is determined that the subject matter of the specification is the same in both applications, the Trademark Office will grant the applicant an earlier filing date of any temporarily licensed published patent.
Alternatively, the applicant may convert a temporary patent application into a non-temporary application. But this option can save the workload of the applicant, and there is almost no money. In addition, the filing date of the provisional application will be lost, and the filing date of any published patent will be the conversion date.