foreign country, either by himself, or his legal representatives or assigns. If any such application has been filed, the applicant shall name the country in which the earliest such application was filed, and shall give the day, month, and year of its filing; he shall also identify by country and by day, month, and year of filing, every such foreign application filed more than twelve months before the filing of the application in this country.

(2) This statement (i) must be subscribed to by the applicant, and (ii) must either (a) be sworn to (or affirmed) as provided in § 1.66, or (b) include the personal declaration of the applicant as prescribed in § 1.68. See § 1.153 for design cases and § 1.162 for plant cases.

(b) If the application is made as provided in §§ 1.42, 1.43, or 1.47, the applicant shall state his relationship to the inventor and, upon information and belief, the facts which the inventor is required by this section to state.

(c) An additional statement may be required if the application has not been filed in the Patent and Trademark Office within a reasonable time after execution of the original statement.

(Sec. 1, 78 Stat. 171; 35 U.S.C. 25, 26)

[29 FR 18503 Dec. 29, 1964, as amended at 34 FR 18857, Nov. 26, 1969; 42 FR 5594, Jan. 28, 1977]

§ 1.66 Officers authorized to administer oaths.

(a) The oath or affirmation may be made before any person within the United States authorized by law to administer oaths, or, when made in a foreign country, before any diplomatic or consular officer of the United States authorized to administer oaths, or before any officer having an official seal and authorized to administer oaths in the foreign country in which the applicant may be, whose authority shall be proved by a certificate of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States, the oath being attested in all cases in this and other countries, by the proper official seal of the officer before whom the oath or affirmation is made. Such oath or affirmation shall be valid as to execution if it complies with the laws of the State or

country where made. When the person before whom the oath or affirmation is made in this country is not provided with a seal, his official character shall be established by competent evidence, as by a certificate from a clerk of a court of record or other proper officer having a seal.

(b) When the oath is taken before an officer in a country foreign to the United States, all the application papers, except the drawings, must be attached together and a ribbon passed one or more times through all the sheets of the application, except the drawings, and the ends of said ribbon brought together under the seal before the latter is affixed and impressed, or each sheet must be impressed with the official seal of the officer before whom the oath is taken. If the papers as filed are not properly ribboned or each sheet impressed with the seal, the case will be accepted for examination, but before it is allowed, duplicate papers, prepared in compliance with the foregoing sentence, must be filed.

(35 U.S.C. 115)

§ 1.67 Supplemental oath or declaration for matter not originally claimed.

(a) When an applicant presents a claim for matter originally shown or described but not substantially embraced in the statement of invention or claim originally presented, he shall file a supplemental oath or declaration to the effect that the subject matter of the proposed amendment was part of his invention: That he does not know and does not believe that the same was ever known or used in the United States before his invention or discovery thereof, or patented or described in any printed publication in any country before his invention or discovery thereof, or more than one year before his application, or in public use or on sale in the United States for more than one year before the date of his application, that said invention has not been patented or made the subject of an inventor's certificate in any foreign country prior to the date of his application in this country on an application filed by himself or his legal representatives or

80-117 0-81--3

assigns more than twelve months prior to his application in the United States, and has not been abandoned. Such supplemental oath or declaration

should accompany and properly identify the proposed amendment, otherwise the proposed amendment may be refused consideration.

(b) In proper cases the oath or declaration here required may be made on information and belief by an applicant other than inventor.

[24 FR 10332, Dec. 22, 1959, as amended at 29 FR 18503, Dec. 29, 1964; 40 FR 6339, Feb. 11, 1975]

§ 1.68 Declaration in lieu of oath.

Any document to be filed in the Patent and Trademark Office and which is required by any law, rule, or other regulation to be under oath may be subscribed to by a written declaration with the exception of testimony relating to interferences and other contested cases covered by §§ 1.271 to 1.286. Such declaration may be used in lieu of the oath otherwise required, if, and only if, the declarant is on the same document, warned that willful false statements and the like are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both (18 U.S.C. 1001) and may jeopardize the validity of the application or any patent issuing thereon. The declarant must set forth in the body of the declaration that all statements made of his own knowledge are true and that all statements made on information and belief are believed to be true.

[34 FR 14430, Sept. 16, 1969]

§ 1.69 Foreign language oaths and declarations.

(a) Whenever an individual making an oath or declaration cannot understand English, the oath or declaration must be in a language that such individual can understand and shall state that such individual understands the content of any documents to which the oath or declaration relates.

(b) Unless the text of any oath or declaration in a language other than English is a from provided or approved by the Patent and Trademark Office, it must be accompanied by a verified English translation, except that in the

case of an oath or declaration filed under § 1.65, the translation may be filed in the Office no later than two months after the filing date.

[42 FR 5594, Jan. 28, 1977]

§ 1.70 Content of oath or declaration relating to content of and amendments to an application under 35 U.S.C. 371(c)(4).

(a)(1) When an applicant of an international application, if the inventor, desires to enter the national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371, he or she must specifically identify the international application and any amendments thereto and state that he or she has reviewed the referred to application and any amendments, and that he or she verily believes himself or herself to be the original and first inventor or discoverer of the process, machine, manufacturer, composition of matter, or improvement thereof, for which he or she solicits a patent; that he or she does not know and does not believe that the same was ever known or used in the United States of America before his or her invention or discovery thereof, and shall state of what country he or she is a citizen and where he or she resides and whether he or she is a sole or joint inventor of the invention claimed in his or her international application as filed or as amended. In every application the applicant must distinctly state that to the best of his or her knowledge and belief the invention has not been in public use or on sale in the United States of America more than one year prior to his or her international application, or patented or described in any printed publication in any country before his or her invention or more than one year prior to his or her international application, or patented or made the subject of an inventor's certificate in any foreign country prior to the date of his or her international application on an application filed by himself or herself or his or her legal representatives or assigns more than twelve months prior to his or her international application. He or she must acknowledge a duty to disclose information he or she is aware of which is material to the examination of the application. He or

she shall state whether or not any application for patent or inventor's certificate on the same invention has been filed in any foreign country, either by himself or herself, or by his or her legal representatives or assigns. If any such application has been filed, the applicant shall name the country in which the earliest such application was filed, and shall give the day, month, and year of its filing; he or she shall also identify by country and by day, month, and year of filing, every such foreign application filed more than twelve months before the filing of the international application.

(2) This statement (i) must be subscribed to by the applicant, and (ii) must either (a) be sworn to (or affirmed) as provided in § 1.66, or (b) include the personal declaration of the applicant as prescribed in § 1.68.

(b) If the international application was made as provided in §§ 1.422, 1.423 or 1.425, the applicant shall state his or her relationship to the inventor and, upon information and belief, the facts which the inventor is required by this section to state.

(Pub. L. 94-131, 89 Stat. 685) [43 FR 20463, May 11, 1978]

of operation or principle whenever applicable. The best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention must be set forth.

(c) 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.

§ 1.72 Title and abstract.

(a) 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.

(b) A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification must be set forth on a separate sheet, preferably following the claims under the heading "Abstract of the Disclosure." The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims.

(Pub. L. 94-131, 89 Stat. 685)

[31 FR 12922, Oct. 4, 1966, as amended at 43 FR 20464, May 11, 1978]

§ 1.73 Summary of the invention.

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. Such summary should, when set forth, be commensurate with the invention as claimed and any object recited should be that of the invention as claimed.

§ 1.74 Reference to drawings.

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

(a) The specification must conclude with a claim particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention or discovery.

(b) More than one claim may be presented provided they differ substantially from each other and are not unduly multiplied.

(c) 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 to more than one other claim ("multiple dependent claim") 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. For fee calculation purposes, a multiple dependent claim will be considered to be that number of claims to which direct reference is made therein. For fee calculation purposes, also, any claim depending from a multiple dependent claim will be considered to be that number of claims to which direct reference is made in that multiple dependent claim. Claims in dependent form shall be construed to include all the limitations of the claim incorporated by reference into the dependent claim. A multiple dependent claim shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of each of the particular claims in relation to which it is being considered.

(d)(1) 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. (See § 1.58(a).)

(2) See §§ 1.141 to 1.146 as to claiming different inventions in one application.

(e) Where the nature of the case admits, as in the case of an improvement, any independent claim should contain in the following order: (1) a

preamble comprising a general description of all the elements or steps of the claimed combination which are conventional or known, (2) a phrase such as "wherein the improvement comprises," and (3) those elements, steps and/or relationships which constitute that portion of the claimed combination which the applicant considers as the new or improved portion. (f) If there are several claims, they shall be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals.

(g) All dependent claims should be grouped together with the claim or claims to which they refer to the extent possible.

[31 FR 12922, Oct. 4, 1966, as amended at 36 FR 12690, July 3, 1971; 37 FR 21995, Oct. 18, 1972; 43 FR 4015, Jan. 31, 1978]

(c)(1) Cross-reference to related applications, if any.

(2) Reference to a "microfiche appendix" if any. (See § 1.96(b)). The total number of microfiche and total number of frames should be specified.

(d) Brief summary of the invention. (e) Brief description of the several views of the drawing, if there are drawings.

(f) Detailed description. (g) Claim or claims.

(h) Signature. (See § 1.57).

(i) Abstract of the disclosure. (j) Drawings.

(Pub. L. 94-131, 89 Stat. 685; 35 U.S.C. 6 and 41)

[43 FR 20464, May 11, 1978, as amended at 46 FR 2612, Jan. 12, 1981]

§ 1.78 Cross-references to other applications.

(a) When an applicant files an application claiming an invention disclosed in a prior filed copending national application or international application designating the United States of

America of the same applicant, the second application must contain or be amended to contain in the first sentence of the specification following the title a reference to such prior application, identifying it by serial number and filing date or international application number and international filing date and indicating the relationship of the applications, if the benefit of the filing date of such prior application is to be claimed. Cross-references to other related applications may be made when appropriate. (See § 1.14(b)).

(b) Where two or more applications filed by the same applicant contain conflicting claims, elimination of such claims from all but one application may be required in the absence of good and sufficient reason for their retention during pendency in more than one application.

(c) Where two or more applications, or an application and a patent naming different inventors and owned by the same party contain conflicting claims, the assignee may be called upon to state which named inventor is the prior inventor. In addition to making said statement, the assignee may also explain why an interference should be declared or that no conflict exists in fact.

(Pub. L. 94-131, 89 Stat. 685)

[31 FR 12922, Oct. 4, 1966, as amended at 36 FR 7312, Apr. 17, 1971; 43 FR 20464, May 11, 1978]

§ 1.79 Reservation clauses not permitted.

A reservation for a future application of subject matter disclosed but not claimed in a pending application will not be permitted in the pending application, but an application disclosing unclaimed subject matter may contain a reference to a later filed application of the same applicant or owned by a common assignee disclosing and claiming that subject matter.

THE DRAWINGS

AUTHORITY: §§ 1.81 to 1.88 also issued under 35 U.S.C. 113.

§ 1.81 Drawings required.

(a) The applicant for a patent is required to furnish a drawing of his in

vention where necessary for the understanding of the subject matter sought to be patented; this drawing must be filed with the application.

(b) Drawings may include illustrations which facilitate an understanding of the invention (for example, flow sheets in cases of processes, and diagrammatic views).

(c) Whenever the nature of the subject matter sought to be patented admits of illustration by a drawing without its being necessary for the understanding of the subject matter and the applicant has not furnished such a drawing, the examiner will require its submission within a time period of not less than two months from the date of the sending of a notice thereof.

(d) Drawings submitted after the filing date of the application may not be used to overcome any insufficiency of the specification due to lack of an enabling disclosure or otherwise inadequate disclosure therein, or to supplement the original disclosure thereof for the purpose of interpretation of the scope of any claim.

[43 FR 4015, Jan. 31, 1978]

(a) The drawing must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. However, conventional features disclosed in the description and claims, where their detailed illustration is not essential for a proper understanding of the invention, should be illustrated in the drawing in the form of a graphical drawing symbol or a labeled representation (e.g. a labeled rectangular box).

(b) When the invention consists of an improvement on an old machine the drawing must when possible exhibit, in one or more views, the improved portion itself, disconnected from the old structure, and also in another view, so much only of the old structure as will suffice to show the connection of the invention therewith.

(c) Where the drawings do not comply with the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this seciton, the examiner shall require such additional illustration within a time period of not less than two months from the date of the sending of a notice thereof. Such