37 CFR 1.63 — Inventor’s oath or declaration

Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024

[Editor Note: Applicable only to patent applications filed under 35 U.S.C. 111 , 363 , or 385 on or after September 16, 2012 *]

• (a) The inventor, or each individual who is a joint inventor of a claimed invention, in an application for patent must execute an oath or declaration directed to the application, except as provided for in § 1.64 . An oath or declaration under this section must:
  • (1) Identify the inventor or joint inventor executing the oath or declaration by his or her legal name;
  • (2) Identify the application to which it is directed;
  • (3) Include a statement that the person executing the oath or declaration believes the named inventor or joint inventor to be the original inventor or an original joint inventor of a claimed invention in the application for which the oath or declaration is being submitted; and
  • (4) State that the application was made or was authorized to be made by the person executing the oath or declaration.
• (b) Unless the following information is supplied in an application data sheet in accordance with § 1.76 , the oath or declaration must also identify:
  • (1) Each inventor by his or her legal name; and
  • (2) A mailing address where the inventor customarily receives mail, and residence, if an inventor lives at a location which is different from where the inventor customarily receives mail, for each inventor.
• (c) A person may not execute an oath or declaration for an application unless that person has reviewed and understands the contents of the application, including the claims, and is aware of the duty to disclose to the Office all information known to the person to be material to patentability as defined in § 1.56 . There is no minimum age for a person to be qualified to execute an oath or declaration, but the person must be competent to execute, i.e., understand, the document that the person is executing.
• (d)
  • (1) A newly executed oath or declaration under § 1.63 , or substitute statement under § 1.64 , is not required under §§ 1.51(b)(2) and 1.53(f) , or under §§ 1.497 and 1.1021(d), for an inventor in a continuing application that claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 120 , 121 , 365(c) , or 386(c) in compliance with § 1.78 of an earlier-filed application, provided that an oath or declaration in compliance with this section, or substitute statement under § 1.64 , was executed by or with respect to such inventor and was filed in the earlier-filed application, and a copy of such oath, declaration, or substitute statement showing the signature or an indication thereon that it was executed, is submitted in the continuing application.
  • (2) The inventorship of a continuing application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) is the inventor or joint inventors specified in the application data sheet filed before or concurrently with the copy of the inventor’s oath or declaration from the earlier-filed application. If an application data sheet is not filed before or concurrently with the copy of the inventor’s oath or declaration from the earlier-filed application, the inventorship is the inventorship set forth in the copy of the inventor’s oath or declaration from the earlier-filed application, unless it is accompanied by a statement signed pursuant to § 1.33(b) stating the name of each inventor in the continuing application.
  • (3) Any new joint inventor named in the continuing application must provide an oath or declaration in compliance with this section, except as provided for in § 1.64 .
• (e)
  • (1) An assignment may also serve as an oath or declaration required by this section if the assignment as executed:
    • (i) Includes the information and statements required under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section; and
    • (ii) A copy of the assignment is recorded as provided for in part 3 of this chapter.
  • (2) Any reference to an oath or declaration under this section includes an assignment as provided for in this paragraph.
  • (f) With respect to an application naming only one inventor, any reference to the inventor’s oath or declaration in this chapter includes a substitute statement executed under § 1.64 . With respect to an application naming more than one inventor, any reference to the inventor’s oath or declaration in this chapter means the oaths, declarations, or substitute statements that have been collectively executed by or with respect to all of the joint inventors, unless otherwise clear from the context.
  • (g) An oath or declaration under this section, including the statement provided for in paragraph (e) of this section, must be executed ( i.e., signed) in accordance either with § 1.66 or with an acknowledgment that any willful false statement made in such declaration or statement is punishable under 18 U.S.C. 1001 by fine or imprisonment of not more than five (5) years, or both.
  • (h) An oath or declaration filed at any time pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 115(h)(1) will be placed in the file record of the application or patent, but may not necessarily be reviewed by the Office. Any request for correction of the named inventorship must comply with § 1.48 in an application and § 1.324 in a patent.

[48 FR 2696, Jan. 20, 1983, added effective Feb. 27, 1983; 48 FR 4285, Jan. 31, 1983; paras. (b)(3) and (d), 57 FR 2021, Jan. 17, 1992, effective Mar. 16, 1992; para. (a) revised, 60 FR 20195, Apr. 25, 1995, effective June 8, 1995; paras. (a) & (d) revised, para. (e) added, 62 FR 53132, Oct. 10, 1997, effective Dec. 1, 1997; paras. (a), (b), (c), and (e) revised, 65 FR 54604, Sept. 8, 2000, effective Nov. 7, 2000; para. (d)(4) revised, 69 FR 56481, Sept. 21, 2004, effective Oct. 21, 2004; revised, 77 FR 48776, Aug. 14, 2012, effective Sept. 16, 2012; para. (d)(1) revised, 80 FR 17918, Apr. 2, 2015, effective May 13, 2015]

[ *The changes effective Sept. 16, 2012 and May 13, 2015 are applicable only to patent applications filed on or after Sept. 16, 2012. See § 1.63 (pre‑AIA) for the rule applicable to patent applications filed before Sept. 16, 2012.]