37 CFR 1.52 — Language, paper, writing, margins, read-only optical disc specifications

Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024

• (a) Papers that are to become a part of the permanent United States Patent and Trademark Office records in the file of a patent application, or a reexamination or supplemental examination proceeding.
  • (1) All papers, other than drawings, that are submitted on paper or by facsimile transmission, and are to become a part of the permanent United States Patent and Trademark Office records in the file of a patent application or reexamination or supplemental examination proceeding, must be on sheets of paper that are the same size, not permanently bound together, and:
    • (i) Flexible, strong, smooth, non-shiny, durable, and white;
    • (ii) Either 21.0 cm by 29.7 cm (DIN size A4) or 21.6 cm by 27.9 cm (8 1/2 by 11 inches), with each sheet including a top margin of at least 2.0 cm (3/4 inch), a left side margin of at least 2.5 cm (1 inch), a right side margin of at least 2.0 cm (3/4 inch), and a bottom margin of at least 2.0 cm (3/4 inch);
    • (iii) Written on only one side in portrait orientation;
    • (iv) Plainly and legibly written either by a typewriter or machine printer in permanent dark ink or its equivalent; and
    • (v) Presented in a form having sufficient clarity and contrast between the paper and the writing thereon to permit the direct reproduction of readily legible copies in any number by use of photographic, electrostatic, photo-offset, and microfilming processes and electronic capture by use of digital imaging and optical character recognition.
  • (2) All papers that are submitted on paper or by facsimile transmission and are to become a part of the permanent records of the United States Patent and Trademark Office should have no holes in the sheets as submitted.
  • (3) The provisions of this paragraph and paragraph (b) of this section do not apply to the pre‑printed information on paper forms provided by the Office, or to the copy of the patent submitted on paper in double column format as the specification in a reissue application or request for reexamination.
  • (4) See § 1.58 for chemical and mathematical formulae and tables, and § 1.84 for drawings.
  • (5) Papers that are submitted electronically to the Office must be formatted and transmitted in compliance with the USPTO patent electronic filing system requirements.
• (b) The application (specification, including the claims, drawings, and the inventor’s oath or declaration) or reexamination or supplemental examination proceeding, any amendments to the application or reexamination proceeding, or any corrections to the application, or reexamination or supplemental examination proceeding.
  • (1) The application or proceeding and any amendments or corrections to the application (including any translation submitted pursuant to paragraph (d) of this section) or proceeding, except as provided for in § 1.69 and paragraph (d) of this section, must:
    • (i) Comply with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section; and
    • (ii) Be in the English language or be accompanied by a translation of the application and a translation of any corrections or amendments into the English language together with a statement that the translation is accurate.
  • (2) The specification (including the abstract and claims) for other than reissue applications and reexamination or supplemental examination proceedings, and any amendments for applications (including reissue applications) and reexamination proceedings to the specification, except as provided for in §§ 1.821 through 1.825 , must have:
    • (i) Lines that are 1 1/2 or double spaced;
    • (ii) Text written in a nonscript type font ( e.g., Arial, Times Roman, or Courier, preferably a font size of 12) lettering style having capital letters which should be at least 0.3175 cm. (0.125 inch) high, but may be no smaller than 0.21 cm. (0.08 inch) high ( e.g., a font size of 6); and
    • (iii) Only a single column of text.
  • (3) The claim or claims must commence on a separate physical sheet or electronic page (§ 1.75(h) ).
  • (4) The abstract must commence on a separate physical sheet or electronic page or be submitted as the first page of the patent in a reissue application or reexamination or supplemental examination proceeding (§ 1.72(b) ).
  • (5) Other than in a reissue application or a reexamination or supplemental examination proceeding, the pages of the specification including claims and abstract must be numbered consecutively, starting with 1, the numbers being centrally located above or preferably, below, the text.
  • (6) Other than in a reissue application or reexamination or supplemental examination proceeding, the paragraphs of the specification, other than in the claims or abstract, may be numbered at the time the application is filed, and should be individually and consecutively numbered using Arabic numerals, so as to unambiguously identify each paragraph. The number should consist of at least four numerals enclosed in square brackets, including leading zeros ( e.g., [0001]). The numbers and enclosing brackets should appear to the right of the left margin as the first item in each paragraph, before the first word of the paragraph, and should be highlighted in bold. A gap, equivalent to approximately four spaces, should follow the number. Nontext elements ( e.g., tables, mathematical or chemical formulae, chemical structures, and sequence data) are considered part of the numbered paragraph around or above the elements, and should not be independently numbered. If a nontext element extends to the left margin, it should not be numbered as a separate and independent paragraph. A list is also treated as part of the paragraph around or above the list, and should not be independently numbered. Paragraph or section headers (titles), whether abutting the left margin or centered on the page, are not considered paragraphs and should not be numbered.
• (c) Interlineation, erasure, cancellation, or other alteration of the application papers may be made before or after the signing of the inventor’s oath or declaration referring to those application papers, provided that the statements in the inventor’s oath or declaration pursuant to § 1.63 remain applicable to those application papers. A substitute specification (§ 1.125 ) may be required if the application papers do not comply with paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section.
• (d) A nonprovisional or provisional application under 35 U.S.C. 111 may be in a language other than English.
  • (1) Nonprovisional application. If a nonprovisional application under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) is filed in a language other than English, an English language translation of the non-English language application, a statement that the translation is accurate, and the processing fee set forth in § 1.17(i) are required. If these items are not filed with the application, the applicant will be notified and given a period of time within which they must be filed in order to avoid abandonment.
  • (2) Provisional application. If a provisional application under 35 U.S.C. 111(b) is filed in a language other than English, an English language translation of the non-English language provisional application will not be required in the provisional application. See § 1.78(a) for the requirements for claiming the benefit of such provisional application in a nonprovisional application.
• (e) Electronic documents submitted on a read-only optical disc that are to become part of the permanent United States Patent and Trademark Office records in the file of a patent application, reexamination, or supplemental examination proceeding.
  • (1) The following documents may be submitted to the Office on a read-only optical disc in compliance with this paragraph (e):
    • (i) A “Computer Program Listing Appendix” ( see § 1.96(c) );
    • (ii) A “Sequence Listing” (submitted under § 1.821(c) in compliance with §§ 1.822 through 1.824 ) or a “Sequence Listing XML” (submitted under § 1.831(a) in compliance with §§ 1.832 through 1.834 ); or
    • (iii) “Large Tables” ( see § 1.58(c) ).
  • (2) Read-only optical disc as used in this part means a finalized disc, in conformance with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9660, on which the data is recorded so it is permanent and cannot be changed or erased, and is one of:
    • (i) Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory (CD–ROM) or a Compact Disc-Recordable (CD–R); or
    • (ii) Digital Video Disc-Recordable (DVD–R or DVD+R);
  • (3) Each read-only optical disc must conform to the following requirements:
    • (i) Computer compatibility: PC or Mac ^®;
    • (ii) Operating system compatibility: MS–DOS ^®, MS–Windows ^®, MacOS ^®, or Unix ^®/Linux ^®;
    • (iii) The contents of each read-only optical disc must be in American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) plain text and if compressed, must be compressed in accordance with § 1.58 for “Large Tables,” with § 1.96 for a “Computer Program Listing Appendix,” or § 1.824 for a “Sequence Listing” or Computer Readable Form (CRF) of the “Sequence Listing,” as applicable; and
  • (iv) The contents of each read-only optical disc for a “Sequence Listing XML” must be in eXtensible Markup Language (XML) file format, and if compressed, must be compressed in accordance with § 1.834 .
  • (4) Each read-only optical disc must be enclosed in a hard case within an unsealed, padded, and protective mailing envelope, and must be accompanied by a transmittal letter in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section, including the following information:
    • (i) First-named inventor (if known);
    • (ii) Title of the invention;
    • (iii) Attorney docket or file reference number (if applicable);
    • (iv) Application number and filing date (if known);
    • (v) The operating system (MS–DOS ^®, MS-Windows ^®, Mac OS ^®, or Unix ^®/ Linux ^®) used to produce the disc; and
    • (vi) The file(s) contained on the read-only optical disc, including the name of the file, the size of the file in bytes, and the date of creation.
  • (5) Each read-only optical disc must have a label permanently affixed thereto on which the following information has been hand-printed or typed:
    • (i) First-named inventor (if known);
    • (ii) Title of the invention;
    • (iii) Attorney docket or file reference number (if applicable);
    • (iv) Application number and filing date (if known);
    • (v) Date on which the data were recorded on the read-only optical disc; and
    • (vi) Disc order ( e.g., “1 of X”), if multiple read-only optical discs are submitted.
  • (6) Read-only optical discs will not be returned to the applicant and may not be retained as part of the patent application file.
  • (7) Any amendment to the information on a read-only optical disc must be by way of a replacement read-only optical disc, in compliance with § 1.58(g) for “Large Tables,” § 1.96(c)(5) for a “Computer Program Listing Appendix,” § 1.825(b) for a “Sequence Listing” or CRF of a “Sequence Listing,” and § 1.835(b) for a “Sequence Listing XML.”
  • (8) The specification must contain an incorporation by reference of the material on each read-only optical disc in a separate paragraph (§ 1.77(b)(5) ), identifying the name of each file, their date of creation, and their size in bytes, except for an international application in the international stage. The Office may require the applicant to amend the specification to include the material incorporated by reference.
  • (9) If a file is unreadable, it will be treated as not having been submitted, and a notice will be issued to require a compliant submission.
• (f) Determining application size fees for applications containing electronic documents submitted on a read-only optical disc or via the USPTO patent electronic filing system—
  • (1) Submission on read-only optical discs. The application size fee required by § 1.16(s) or § 1.492(j) , for an application component submitted in part on a read-only optical disc in compliance with paragraph (e) of this section, shall be determined such that each three kilobytes of content submitted on a read-only optical disc shall be counted as a sheet of paper. Excluded from this determination is any ASCII plain text file or any XML file (as applicable) submitted on a read-only optical disc under paragraph (e) of this section containing:
    • (i) Any “Sequence Listing” or CRF of a “Sequence Listing” in compliance with § 1.821(c) or (e) , or any “Sequence Listing XML” in compliance with § 1.831(a) ; or
    • (ii) Any “Computer Program Listing Appendix” in compliance with § 1.96(c) .
  • (2) Submission via the USPTO patent electronic filing system. The application size fee required by § 1.16(s) or § 1.492(j) , for an application submitted in whole or in part via the USPTO patent electronic filing system, shall be determined such that the paper size equivalent will be considered to be 75% of the number of sheets of paper present in the specification and drawings for the application when entered into the Office records after being rendered by the USPTO patent electronic filing system. Excluded from this determination is any ASCII plain text file or any XML file (as applicable) submitted via the USPTO patent electronic filing system containing:
    • (i) Any “Sequence Listing” or CRF of a “Sequence Listing” in compliance with § 1.821(c)(1) or (e) , or any “Sequence Listing XML” in compliance with § 1.831(a) ; or
    • (ii) Any “Computer Program Listing Appendix” in compliance with § 1.96(c) .
  • (3) Oversized submission. Any submission of a “Sequence Listing” in electronic form or a “Sequence Listing XML” of 300 MB–800 MB filed in an application under 35 U.S.C. 111 or 371 will be subject to the fee set forth in § 1.21(o)(1) . Any submission of a “Sequence Listing” in electronic form or a “Sequence Listing XML” that exceeds 800 MB filed in an application under 35 U.S.C. 111 or 371 will be subject to the fee set forth in § 1.21(o)(2) .

[43 FR 20462, May 11, 1978; paras. (a) and (d), 47 FR 41272, Sept. 17, 1982, effective Oct. 1, 1982; para. (c), 48 FR 2696, Jan. 20, 1983, effective Feb. 27, 1983; para. (d), 49 FR 554, Jan. 4, 1984, effective Apr. 1, 1984; para. (c), 57 FR 2021, Jan. 17, 1992, effective Mar. 16, 1992; paras. (a) and (b) amended, 61 FR 42790, Aug. 19, 1996, effective Sept. 23, 1996; paras. (a), (c) & (d) revised, 62 FR 53132, Oct. 10, 1997, effective Dec. 1, 1997; para. (e) added, 65 FR 54604, Sept. 8, 2000, effective Sept. 8, 2000 (effective date corrected, 65 FR 78958, Dec. 18, 2000); paras. (a), (b), and (c) revised, 65 FR 54604, Sept. 8, 2000, effective Nov. 7, 2000; para. (d) revised, 65 FR 57024, Sept. 20, 2000, effective Nov. 29, 2000; paras. (a) and (b) revised, 68 FR 38611, June 30, 2003, effective July 30, 2003; section heading and paras. (b)(2)(ii), (e)(1)(iii) and (e)(3)(i)-(ii) revised, 69 FR 56481, Sept. 21, 2004, effective Oct. 21, 2004; section heading revised and para. (f) added; 70 FR 3880, Jan. 27, 2005, effective Dec. 8, 2004; para. (f) revised, 70 FR 30360, May 26, 2005, effective July 1, 2005; para. (e)(5) revised, 70 FR 54259, Sept. 14, 2005, effective Sept. 14, 2005; paras. (a)(5), (a)(7), and (b)(7) removed and para. (a)(6) redesignated as (a)(5), 70 FR 56119, Sept. 26, 2005, effective Nov. 25, 2005; para. (d)(2) revised, 72 FR 46716, Aug. 21, 2007 (implementation enjoined and never became effective); para. (d)(2) revised, 74 FR 52686, Oct. 14, 2009, effective Oct. 14, 2009 (to remove changes made by the final rules in 72 FR 46716 from the CFR); para. (b) heading and paras. (c) and (d) revised, 77 FR 48776, Aug. 14, 2012, effective Sept. 16, 2012; paras. (a), (b), and (e) revised, 78 FR 62368, Oct. 21, 2013, effective Dec. 18, 2013; paras. (e) and (f) revised, 86 FR 57035, Oct. 14, 2021, effective Nov. 15, 2021; paras. (e)(1)(ii), (e)(3)(ii) and (iii), (e)(7), (f)(1)(i), (f)(2)(i), and (f)(3) revised, para. (e)(3)(iv) added, and paras. (f)(1) and (f)(2) introductory text revised, 87 FR 30806, May 20, 2022, effective July 1, 2022; para. (a)(5) revised, 87 FR 68900, Nov. 17, 2022, effective Dec. 19, 2022]