Unless you request otherwise, utility applications are published 18 months after the earliest “priority date”. Ordinarily, this is 18 months from either the filing date of the utility application, or of the provisional application, if the utility application claims priority of a provisional application. Allowing your application to publish has some advantages. It may help you to prevent or punish infringers during the pendency of your application. It may also help to block others from getting patents for similar inventions, since published applications are one of the types of documents Examiners search for prior art.
On the other hand, inventors sometimes want to prevent competitors from knowing the contents of their application until they have the security of an issued patent. In that case, it is possible to file a Request for Non-Publication at the same time your application is filed. Your application then will not be published at all, unless you later rescind the Non-Publication Request. Only when your application issues as a patent will it be published.
Note that non-publication is not compatible with foreign applications. You should not file a Non-publication Request if you intend to file the application in other countries besides the United States. If you do file a Non-Publication Request and later decide you wish to file in foreign countries, you must rescind the request and allow your application to be published.
Please speak to your attorney about whether you should file a Non-publication Request before filing your application.
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