37 CFR 1.77 — Arrangement of application elements
Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024
- (a) The elements of the application, if applicable,
should appear in the following order:
- (1) Utility application transmittal form.
- (2) Fee transmittal form.
- (3) Application data sheet (see § 1.76 ).
- (4) Specification.
- (5) Drawings.
- (6) The inventor’s oath or declaration.
- (b) The specification should include the following
sections in order:
- (1) Title of the invention, which may be accompanied by an introductory portion stating the name, citizenship, and residence of the applicant (unless included in the application data sheet).
- (2) Cross-reference to related applications.
- (3) Statement regarding federally sponsored research or development.
- (4) The names of the parties to a joint research agreement.
- (5) An incorporation by reference statement
regarding the material in:
- (i) One or more ASCII plain text files, submitted via the USPTO patent electronic filing system or on one or more read-only optical discs ( see § 1.52(e)(8) ), identifying the names of each file, the date of creation of each file, and the size of each file in bytes, for the following document types:
- (ii) An XML file for a “Sequence Listing XML” ( see § 1.831(a) ), submitted via the USPTO patent electronic filing system or on one or more read-only optical discs ( see § 1.52(e)(8) ), identifying the names of each file, the date of creation of each file, and the size of each file in bytes.
- (6) Statement regarding prior disclosures by the inventor or a joint inventor.
- (7) Background of the invention.
- (8) Brief summary of the invention.
- (9) Brief description of the several views of the drawing.
- (10) Detailed description of the invention.
- (11) A claim or claims.
- (12) Abstract of the disclosure.
- (13) "Sequence Listing," required by § 1.821(c) , that is submitted as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file (as set forth in § 1.821(c)(2) ) via the USPTO patent electronic filing system or on physical sheets of paper (as set forth in § 1.821(c)(3) ).
- (c) The text of the specification sections defined in paragraphs (b)(1) through (b)(12) of this section, if applicable, should be preceded by a section heading in uppercase and without underlining or bold type.
[43 FR 20464, May 11, 1978; 46 FR 2612, Jan. 12, 1981; paras. (h) and (i), 48 FR 2696, Jan. 20, 1983, effective Feb. 27, 1983; revised, 61 FR 42790, Aug. 19, 1996, effective Sept. 23, 1996; revised, 65 FR 54604, Sept. 8, 2000, effective Nov. 7, 2000; paras. (b) and (c) revised, 70 FR 1818, Jan. 11, 2005, effective Dec. 10, 2004; para. (a)(6) revised, 77 FR 48776, Aug. 14, 2012, effective Sept. 16, 2012; para. (b)(2) revised, (b)(6)-(12) redesignated as (b)(7)-(13), and para. (b)(6) added, 78 FR 11024, Feb. 14, 2013, effective Mar. 16, 2013; paras. (b)(5) and (b)(13) revised, 86 FR 57035, Oct. 14, 2021, effective Nov. 15, 2021; para. (b)(13) corrected, 86 FR 73985, Dec. 29, 2021, effective Dec. 29, 2021; para. (b)(5) revised, 87 FR 30806, May 20, 2022, effective July 1, 2022]
Cited authority
- 37 CFR 1.76 (pre-AIA) Application data sheet
- 37 CFR 1.52 Language, paper, writing, margins, read-only optical disc specifications
- 37 CFR 1.96 Submission of computer program listings
- 37 CFR 1.821 Nucleotide and/or amino acid sequence disclosures in patent applications
- 37 CFR 1.58 Chemical and mathematical formulas and tables
- 37 CFR 1.831 Requirements for patent applications filed on or after July 1, 2022, having nucleotide and/or amino acid sequence disclosures
Cited by
- 2153.01(a) Grace Period Inventor-Originated Disclosure Exception
- 2153.02 Prior Art Exception Under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1)(B) to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) (Inventor-Originated Prior Public Disclosure Exception)
- 2154.02(a) Prior Art Exception Under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(A) to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) (Inventor-Originated Disclosure Exception)
- 2154.02(b) Prior Art Exception Under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B) to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) (Inventor-Originated Prior Public Disclosure Exception)
- 2258.02 Claiming Foreign Priority and Domestic Benefit in Reexamination
- 2413.04 Requirements Regarding Incorporation By Reference of the “Sequence Listing XML”
- 2414.02 Amendment to Add an Initial “Sequence Listing XML” under 37 CFR 1.835(a)
- 2414.03 Amendment Adding to, Deleting from, or Replacing Sequence Information in a “Sequence Listing XML” under 37 CFR 1.835(b)
- 2422 Nucleotide and/or Amino Acid Sequence Disclosures in Patent Applications Subject to WIPO ST.25
- 2422.03 Sequence Listing Submission
- 2422.03(a) “Sequence Listing” Submitted as ASCII Plain Text Files
- 2424 Requirements for Content of a “Sequence Listing” Part of the Specification under WIPO ST.25.
- 2426 Amendments to Add or Replace a “Sequence Listing” and CRF Copy Thereof Subject to WIPO ST. 25
- 310 Government License Rights to Contractor-Owned Inventions Made Under Federally Sponsored Research and Development
- 502.05 Correspondence Transmitted by EFS-Web
- 601 Content of Provisional and Nonprovisional Applications
- 604 Substitute Statements
- 608.01 Specification
- 608.01(a) Arrangement of Application
- 608.05 “Sequence Listing,” “Large Tables,” or “Computer Program Listing Appendix” Submitted in ASCII Plain Text or a “Sequence Listing XML” Submitted as XML File Text
- 608.05(a) Submission of a “Computer Program Listing Appendix”
- 608.05(b) ASCII Plain Text Submissions of “Large Tables” and Treatment of Lengthy Tables in a Specification for Patents and Patent Application Publications
- 714 Amendments, Applicant’s Action
- 717.01 Affidavit or Declaration Under 37 CFR 1.130
- 37 CFR 1.51 General requisites of an application
- 37 CFR 1.52 Language, paper, writing, margins, read-only optical disc specifications
- 37 CFR 1.58 Chemical and mathematical formulas and tables
- 37 CFR 1.96 Submission of computer program listings
- 37 CFR 1.121 Manner of making amendments in applications
- 37 CFR 1.821 Nucleotide and/or amino acid sequence disclosures in patent applications
- 37 CFR 1.823 Requirements for content of a “Sequence Listing” part of the specification
- 37 CFR 1.825 Amendments to add or replace a “Sequence Listing” and CRF copy thereof
- 37 CFR 1.834 Form and format for nucleotide and/ or amino acid sequence submissions as the ‘‘Sequence Listing XML’’ in patent applications filed on or after July 1, 2022
- 37 CFR 1.835 Amendment to add or replace a “Sequence Listing XML” in patent applications filed on or after July 1, 2022