Oath or Declaration, Signature

The oath or declaration of the applicant is required by law for a non-provisional application. The inventor must make an oath or declaration that he/she believes himself/herself to be the original and first inventor of the subject matter of the application, and he/she must make various other allegations required by law and various allegations required by the Patent and Trademark Office rules. The oath must be sworn to by the inventor before a notary public or other officer authorized to administer oaths. A declaration may be used in lieu of an oath as part of the original application for a patent involving designs, plants, and other patentable inventions; for reissue patents; when claiming matter originally shown or described but not originally claimed; or when filing a divisional or continuing application. A declaration does not need to be notarized.

The oath or declaration must be signed by the inventor in person, or by the person entitled by law to make application on the inventor’s behalf. A full first and last name with middle initial or name, if any, of each inventor are required. The post office address and citizenship of each inventor are also required.

Sample forms are available by calling the PTO General Information Services at 800–786–9199 or 703–308–4357 or by accessing PTO Web site at http://www.uspto.gov under the section titled “PTO Forms.”

The papers in a complete application will not be returned for any purpose whatsoever, nor will the filing fee be returned. If applicants have not preserved copies of the papers, the Office will furnish copies for a fee.

Filing Fees [^[1]]

[1]. Please Note: The fees are current as of the revision date. Fees are subject to change in October of each year and should therefore be verified before submission to the PTO. A fee schedule may be obtained by writing to Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, Washington, D.C. 20231—Attention: General Information Services or by calling the General Information Services at 800–786–9199 or 703–308–4357 or from the PTO Web site at http://www.uspto.gov.

The filing fee of a non-provisional application, except in design and plant cases, consists of a basic fee and additional fees. The basic fee entitles the applicant to present twenty (20) claims, including not more than three (3) in independent form. An additional fee is required for each claim in independent form which is in excess of three (3) and an additional fee is required for each claim (whether independent or dependent) which is in excess of a total of twenty (20) claims. If the application contains multiple dependent claims, additional fees are required.

If the owner of the invention is a small entity, (an independent inventor, a small business concern or a non-profit organization), the filing fees are reduced by half if the small entity files a verified statement claiming small entity status.

To avoid errors in the payment of fees it is suggested that the table in the enclosed patent application transmittal letter be utilized to calculate the fee payment.

In calculating fees, a claim is in singularly dependent form if it incorporates by reference a single preceding claim which may be an independent or a dependent claim. A multiple dependent claim or any claim depending therefrom shall be considered as separate dependent claims in accordance with the number of claims to which reference is made.

The law also provides for the payment of additional fees on presentation of additional claims after the application is filed. When an amendment is filed which presents additional claims over the total number already paid for, or additional independent claims over the number of independent claims already accounted for, it must be accompanied by any additional fees due.

Specification
(Description and Claims)

The following order of arrangement should be observed in framing the application:

(a) Application transmittal form.

(b) Fee transmittal form.

(d) Cross Reference to related applications (if any).

(e) Statement of federally sponsored research/development (if any).

(f) Reference to a microfiche appendix (if any).

(g) Background of the Invention.

(h) Brief Summary of the Invention.

(i) Brief description of the several views of the drawing (if any).

(j) Detailed Description of the Invention.

(k) Claim or claims.

(1) Abstract of the disclosure.

(m) Drawings (if any).

(n) Executed oath or declaration.

(o) Sequence listing (if any).

(p) Plant Color Coding Sheet (applicable in plant patent applications).

The specification must include a written description of the invention and of the manner and process of making and using it, and is required to be in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the technological area to which the invention pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same.

The specification must set forth the precise invention for which a patent is solicited, in such manner as to distinguish it from other inventions and from what is old. It must describe completely a specific embodiment of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or improvement invented, and must explain the mode of operation or principle whenever applicable. The best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention must be set forth.

In the case of an improvement, the specification must particularly point out the part or parts of the process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter to which the improvement relates, and the description should be confined to the specific improvement and to such parts as necessarily cooperate with it or as may be necessary to a complete understanding or description of it.

The title of the invention, which should be as short and specific as possible, should appear as a heading on the first page of the specification, if it does not otherwise appear at the beginning of the application.

A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification including that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains, must be set forth on a separate page immediately following the claims. The abstract should be in the form of a single paragraph of 250 words or less, under the heading “Abstract of the Disclosure.”

A brief summary of the invention indicating its nature and substance, which may include a statement of the object of the invention should precede the detailed description. The summary should be commensurate with the invention as claimed and any object recited should be that of the invention as claimed.

When there are drawings, there shall be a brief description of the several views of the drawings, and the detailed description of the invention shall refer to the different views by specifying the numbers of the figures, and to the different parts by use of reference numerals.

The specification must conclude with a claim or claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as the invention. The portion of the application in which the applicant sets forth the claim or claims is an important part of the application, as it is the claims that define the scope of the protection afforded by the patent and which questions of infringement are judged by the courts.

More than one claim may be presented provided they differ substantially from each other and are not unduly multiplied. One or more claims may be presented in dependent form, referring back to and further limiting another claim or claims in the same application. Any dependent claim which refers back to more than one other claim is considered a “multiple dependent claim.”

Multiple dependent claims shall refer to such other claims in the alternative only. A multiple dependent claim shall not serve as a basis for any other multiple dependent claim. Claims in dependent form shall be construed to include all of the limitations of the claim incorporated by reference into the dependent claim. A multiple dependent claim shall be construed to incorporate all the limitations of each of the particular claims in relation to which it is being considered.

The claim or claims must conform to the invention as set forth in the remainder of the specification and the terms and phrases used in the claims must find clear support or antecedent basis in the description so that the meaning of the terms in the claims may be ascertainable by reference to the description.