Dear Brad,
I have a provisional patent application that is about to expire, and I am not ready yet to finalize everything in order to file non-provisional (mainly because of claims).
I need to keep the priority date. It is very important for me.
I read in David Pressman's book Patent-it-Yourself that it is possible to convert non-provisional into provisional. I want to save some fees.
Standard way written in the book: i convert my provisional to non-provisional, in this case i have to pay $80 for filing, $175 for a search, $200 for examination.
But if I convert this non-provisional patent application to new provisional immediately after filing, can I file non-provisional only with a filing fee paid?
That is
(almost one year ago) I applied for the provisional (PPA-1),
(in next few days) I will convert it to non-provisional (NPA-1) and pay $80 for filing,
immediately after that I convert into another provisional (PPA-2), paying $75 (or there any additional surcharges should be added?),
and only in a year I will finally fill non-provisional with priority including to PPA-1, PPA-2, and NPA-1. (I do not need PCT, etc).
Thank you very much!
Manngraf