Provisional Patent Search

[Doctor Gonzo]

When patent applications are processed the prior art is searched and there is a search engine in USPTO.gov to search prior art.

Can provisional patents be searched as easily? May provisional patents be part of prior art?
Is there any way to see what was written on a provisional patent application?
What governmental apparatus enforces the law that the 'patent pending' wording is only legal on products and documents if the idea was filed as a provisional patent?

Thank you.
Dr. Gonzo.

[Mr. Knowitall]

Provisional patent applications are not published by the USPTO. You can do a search of sorts here; you may have some luck doing an advanced search for applications in Google's patent search.

Something is "patent pending" if a patent application has been filed.

A provisional patent is prior art as of its filing date.