US provisional patentA lower cost way to file for a non-provisional patent witin a year of filing, where disclosure is not required or application examined. Essentially a statement of intent whete the term "patent pending" can be applied. You keep your powder dry & reveal only what you want or need. A good move for TLT in a very competitive field. "A provisional application for patent (provisional application) is a U.S. national application filed in the USPTO under 35 U.S.C. §111(b). A provisional application is not required to have a formal patent claim or an oath or declaration. Provisional applications also should not include any information disclosure (prior art) statement since provisional applications are not examined. A provisional application provides the means to establish an early effective filing date in a later filed nonprovisional patent application filed under 35 U.S.C. §111(a). It also allows the term “Patent Pending” to be applied in connection with the description of the invention."