35 U. S. C. 119. Benefit of earlier filing date in foreign country; right of priority. An application for patent for an invention filed in this country by any person who has, or whose legal representatives or assigns have, previously regularly filed an application for a patent for the same invention in a foreign country which affords similar privileges in the case of applications filed in the United States or to citizens of the United States, shall have the same effect as the same application would have if filed in this country on the date on which the application for patent for the same invention was first filed in such foreign country, if the application in this country is filed within twelve months from the earliest date on which such foreign application was filed; but no patent shall be granted on any application for patent for an invention which had been patented or described in a printed publication in any country more than one year before the date of the actual filing of the application in this country, or which had been in public use or on sale in this country more than one year prior to such filing. No application for patent shall be entitled to this right of priority unless a claim therefor and a certified copy of the original foreign application, specification and drawings upon which it is based are filed in the Patent Office before the patent is granted, or at such time during the pendency of the application as required by the Commissioner not earlier than six months after the filing of the application in this country. Such certification shall be made by the patent office of the foreign country in which filed and show the date of the application and of the filing of the specification and other papers. The Commissioner may require a translation of the papers filed if not in the English language and such other information as he deems ncessary. In like manner and subject to the same conditions and requirements, the right provided in this section may be based upon a subsequent regularly filed application in the same foreign country instead of the first filed foreign application, provided that any foreign application filed prior to such subsequent application has been withdrawn, abandoned, or otherwise disposed of, without having been laid open to public inspection and without leaving any rights outstanding, and has not served, nor thereafter shall serve as a basis for claiming a right of priority. "Applications for inventors' certificates filed in a foreign country in which applicants have a right to apply, at their discretion, either for a patent or for an inventor's certificate shall be treated in this country in the same manner and have the same effect for purpose of the right of priority under this section as applications for patents, subject to the same conditions and requirements of this section as apply to applications for patents, provided such applicants are entitled to the benefits of the Stockholm Revision of the Paris Convention at the time of such filing." NOTE. Following is a list of countries with respect to which the right of priority referred to in 35 U.S.C. 119 has been recognized. The authority in the case of these countries is the International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (613 O.G. 23, 53 Stat. 1748; 775 O.G. 321), indicated by the letter I following the name of the country; the Inter-American Convention relating to Inventions, Patents, Designs and Industrial Models, signed at Buenos Aires August 20, 1910 (207 O.G. 935, 38 Stat. 1811), indicated by the letter P after the name of the country; or reciprocal legislation in the particular country, indicated by the letter L following the name of the country. Algeria (I), Argentina (I), Australia (I), Austria (I), Belgium (I), Brazil (I, P), Bulgaria (I), Cameroon (I), Canada (I), Central African Republic (I), Ceylon (I), Chad, Republic of (I), Congo, Republic of (Brazzaville) (I), Costa Rica (P), Cuba (I, P), Cyprus (I), Czechoslovakia (I), Dahomey (I), Denmark (I), Dominican Republic (I, P), Ecuador (P), Finland (I), France (I) Gabon (I), Germany, Federal Republic of (I), Greece (I), Guatemala (P), Haiti (I, P), Honduras (P), Hungary (I), Iceland (I), Indonesia (I), Iran (I), Ireland (I), Israel (I), Italy (I), Ivory Coast, Republic of (I), Japan (I), Kenya (I), Korea (L), Lebanon (I), Liechtenstein (I), Luxembourg (I), Malagasy, Republic of (I), Malawi (I), Malta (I), Mauritania (I), Mexico (I), Monaco (I), Morocco (I), Netherlands (I), New Zealand (I), Nicaragua (P), Niger (I), Nigeria, Federation of (I), Norway (I), Panama (P), Paraguay (P), Philippines (I), Poland (I), Portgual (I), Rhodesia (I), Romania (I), San Marino (I), Senegal, Republic of (I), South Africa, Republic of (I), Spain (I), Sweden (I), Switzerland (I), Syrian Arab Republic (I), Tanzania (I), Togo (I), Trinidad and Tobago (I), Tunisia (I), Turkey (I), Uganda (I), U.S.S.R. (I), United Arab Republic (Egypt) (I), United Kingdom (I), Upper Volta, Republic of (I), Uruguay (I, P), Vatican City (I), Viet-Nam (I), Yugoslavia (I), Zambia (I). 35 U.S.C. 120. Benefit of earlier filing date in the United States. An application for patent for an invention disclosed in the manner provided by the first paragraph of section 112 of this title in an application previously filed in the United States by the same inventor shall have the same effect, as to such invention, as though filed on the date of the prior application, if filed before the patenting or abandonment of or termination of proceedings on the first application or on an application similarly entitled to the benefit of the filing date of the first application and if it contains or is amended to contain a specific reference to the earlier filed application. 56. Improper applications. Any application signed or sworn to in blank, or without actual inspection by the applicant, and any application altered or partly filled in after being signed or sworn to, and also any application fraudulently filed or in connection with which any fraud is practiced or attempted on the Patent Office, may be stricken from the files. 57. Signature. The application must be signed by the applicant in person. The signature to the oath or declaration will be accepted as the signature to the application provided the oath or declaration is attached to and refers to the specification and claims to which it applies. Otherwise the signature must appear at the end of the specification after the claims. Full names must be given, including at least one given name without abbreviation together with any other given name or initial. (Amended July 2, 1971.) 58. Chemical and mathematical formulas and tables. (a) The specification, including the claims, may contain chemical and mathematical formulas, but shall not contain drawings or flow diagrams. The description portion of the specification may contain tables; claims may contain tables only if necessary to conform to 35 U.S.C. 112. (b) All tables and chemical and mathematical formulas in the specification, including claims, and amendments thereto, must be on pure white durable paper, the surface of which is calendered and smooth, in order to permit use as camera copy when printing any patent which may issue. A good grade of bond paper is acceptable; watermarks should not be prominent. India ink or its equivalent, or solid black typewriter ribbon must be used to secure perfectly black solid lines. (c) To facilitate camera copying when printing, the width of formulas and tables as presented should be limited normally to 5 inches (12.7 cm.) so that it may appear as a single column in the printed patent. If it is not possible to limit the width of a formula or table to 5 inches (12.7 cm.), it is permissible to present the formula or table with a maximum width of 1034 inches (27.3 cm.) and to place it sideways on the sheet, in which case the formula or table will appear printed across both columns of the page in the printed patent. Typewritten characters used in such formulas and tables must be from a block (nonscript) type font or lettering style having capital letters which are at least 0.085 inch (2.2 mm.) high (elite type). Hand lettering must be neat, clean, and have a minimum character height of 0.085 inch (2.2 mm.). A space at least 1/4 inch (6.4 mm.) high should be provided between the formulas and tables and the text. Tables should have the lines and columns of data closely spaced to conserve space, consistent with high degree of legibility. (Added January 1, 1973.) 59. Papers of complete application not to be returned. Papers in a complete application, including the drawings, will not be returned for any purpose whatever. If applicants have not preserved copies of the papers, the Office will furnish copies at the usual cost. (Amended May 28, 1971.) 60. Continuing application for invention disclosed and claimed in a prior application. A continuation or divisional application (filed under the conditions specified in 35 U.S.C. 120 or 121), which discloses and claims only subject matter disclosed in a prior application may be filed as a separate application before the patenting or abandonment of or termination of proceedings on the prior application. If the application papers comprise a copy of the prior application as filed, signing and execution by the applicant may be omitted provided the copy either is prepared and certified by the Patent Office or is prepared by the applicant and verified by an affidavit or declaration by the applicant, his attorney or agent, stating that it is a true copy of the prior application as filed. Certification may be omitted if the copy is prepared by and does not leave the custody of the Patent Office. Only amendments reducing the number of claims or adding a reference to the prior application (rule 78 (a)) will be entered before calculating the filing fee and granting of the filing date. (Added September 1, 1971.) 61. [Revoked July 2, 1971.] STATEMENT; OATH OR DECLARATION 65. Statement of applicant. (a) (1) The applicant, if the inventor, must state that he verily believes himself to be the original and first inventor or discoverer of the process, machine, manufacture, com position of matter, or improvement thereof, for which he solicits a patent; 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, and shall state of what country he is a citizen and where he resides and whether he is a sole or joint inventor of the invention claimed in his application. In every original application the applicant must distinctly state that to the best of his knowledge and belief the invention has not been in public use or on sale in the United States more than one year prior to his application or patented or described in any printed publication in any country before his invention or more than one year prior to his application, or patented in any foreign country prior to the date of his application on an application filed by himself or his legal representatives or assigns more than twelve months prior to his application in this country. He shall state whether or not any application for patent on the same invention has been filed in any foreign country, either by himself, or by 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 rule 66, or (b) include the personal declaration of the applicant as prescribed in rule 68. See rule 153 for design cases and rule 162 for plant cases. (b) If the application is made as provided in rules 42, 43, or 47, the applicant shall state his relationship to the inventor and, upon information and belief, the facts which the inventor is required by this rule to state. (c) An additional statement may be required if the application has not been filed in the Patent Office within a reasonable time after execution of the original statement. 35 U.S.C. 115. Oath of applicant. The applicant shall make oath that he believes himself to be the original and first inventor of the process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or improvement thereof, for which he solicits a patent; and shall state of what country he is a citizen. Such oath 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 diplomatie 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 certificate of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States, and such oath shall be valid if it complies with the laws of the state or country where made. When the application is made as provided in this title by a person other than the inventor, the oath may be so varied in form that it can be made by him. 35 U.S.C. 25. Declaration in lieu of oath. (a) The Commissioner may by rule prescribe that any document to be filed in the Patent Office and which is required by any law, rule, or other regulation to be under oath may be subscribed to by written declaration in such form as the Commissioner may prescribe, such declaration to be in lieu of the oath otherwise required. (b) Whenever such written declaration is used, the document must warn the declarant that willful false statements and the like are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both (18 U.S.C. 1001). 35 U.S.C. 26. Effect of defective execution. Any document to be filed in the Patent Office and which is required by any law, rule, or other regulation to be executed in a special manner may be provisionally accepted by the Commissioner despite a defective execution, provided a properly executed document is submitted within such time as may be prescribed. 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 |