Initial Patent Applications

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is required by Title 35 of the United States Code, including 35 U.S.C. 131, to examine applications for patents. The USPTO administers the patent statutes relating to examination through various rules in Chapter 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), such as, for example, 37 CFR 1.16 through 1.84. Each patent applicant must provide sufficient information to allow the USPTO to properly examine the application to determine whether it meets the criteria set forth in the patent statutes and regulations for issuance as a patent. The patent statutes and regulations require that an application for patent include the following information: (1) A specification containing a description of the invention and at least one claim defining the property right sought by the applicant; (2) A drawing(s) or photograph(s), where necessary for an understanding of the invention; (3) An oath or declaration signed by the applicant (under 35 U.S.C. 115(f), the time for filing the oath or declaration is no later than the date on which the issue fee for the patent is paid); and (4) A filing fee. Various types of patent applications are covered under this information collection: • Noncontinuing, nonprovisional utility, plant and design applications, • Provisional applications, • Continuation/divisional applications of international applications, • Continued prosecution applications (design), and • Continuation/divisional and continuation-in-part applications of utility, plant, and design applications. In addition, this information collection covers certain other papers filed by applicants, such as, for example, petitions to accept an unintentionally delayed priority or benefit claim, petitions to accept a filing by other than all of the inventors or a person not the inventor, and petitions requesting that applications filed under 37 CFR 1.495(b) be accorded a receipt date. Furthermore, this information collection incorporates the lone item in 0651-0073 (Patent Law Treaty): petitions to restore the right of priority to a foreign application under 37 CFR 1.55(c) or the benefit of a prior-filed provisional application under 37 CFR 1.78(b). The petitions are used to extend the 12-month periods set forth in 35 U.S.C. 119(a) and (e) by an additional 2 months where there is an unintentional delay in filing an application claiming priority to a foreign application or the benefit of a provisional application. Once this information collection is renewed, and the petitions are added, 0651-0073 will be discontinued.

The latest form for Initial Patent Applications expires 2027-11-30 and can be found here.