In United States patent law, the reduction to practice is the step in the formation of an invention beyond the conception thereof.
[1][2] Conception is the "formation in the mind of the inventor, of a definite and permanent idea of the complete and operative invention, as it is hereafter to be applied in practice."
The program was discontinued by the USPTO as of February 1, 2007, in favor of filing a provisional application.
... A non-provisional application must be filed within twelve months of the filing date of a provisional patent in order for the inventor to claim the benefit of the provisional application.
...[4] This article relating to law in the United States or its constituent jurisdictions is a stub.