[throwawaykf05]

> ... filing a provisional patent starts a 1-year clock where, if you don't find the money and time to file a real patent, your IP irrevocably enters the public domain.

IANAL, but I believe this is incorrect. My understanding is that if you don't follow up with a non-provisional ("real") patent application, the provisionals don't count as prior art, and in fact might as well not exist. This is because provisionals are not published and cannot be discovered until the corresponding non-provisional is published. Would prefer if an actual patent lawyer could confirm, however.

[danshapiro]

You're right, fixed. Thank you. What I was thinking of was this:

1) File provisional

2) Publicly disclose

3) Provisional expires

At this point, your public disclosure counts as prior art.

[ausjke]

Isn't provisional also public info that anyone can access?