Since US patent law switched from a first-to-invent­ to first-to-file system, some patent applicants have been racing to the PTO, concerned that a competitor might first file an application potentially covering the same invention. In their haste, these patent applicants may file quickly-prepared provisional applications that adequately describe the invention but that fail to articulate why the invention is novel over the prior art or, still worse, fail to highlight the significance of the differences…