scribed 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 section 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 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 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 a 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

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 immediately following the title and preceding the disclosure in a separate paragraph under the heading "Abstract of the Disclosure." The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure, and the abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims.

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.

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 and to the different parts by use of reference letters or numerals (preferably the latter).

75. Claim (s). (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) When more than one claim is presented, they may be placed in dependent form in which a claim may refer back to and further restrict a single preceding claim. Claims in dependent form shall be construed to include all the limitations of the claim incorporated by reference into the dependent claim.

(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.

(2) See rules 141 to 147 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.

76. Signature to the specification. When the oath or declaration is attached to and refers to the petition, specification and claim to which it applies, the specification need not be signed. Otherwise it must be signed by the applicant in person.

77. Arrangement of application. The following order of arrangement should be observed in framing the application:

(a) Title of the invention; or an introductory portion stating the name, citizenship, and residence of the applicant, and the title of the invention may be used.

(b) Abstract of the disclosure.

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

(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 rule 76.)

78. Cross-references to other applications. (a) When an applicacant files an application claiming an invention disclosed in a prior filed copending application of the same applicant, the second application must contain or be amended to contain in the first sentence of the specification following the title and abstract a reference to the prior application, identifying it by serial number and filing date and indicating the relationship of the applications, if the benefit of the filing date of the prior application is to be claimed. Cross-references to other related applications may be made when appropriate. (See rule 14(b).)

(b) Where two or more applications filed by the same applicant, or owned by the same party, 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.

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

81. Drawings required. The applicant for patent is required by statute to furnish a drawing of his invention whenever the nature of

the case admits of it; this drawing must be filed with the application. Illustrations facilitating an understanding of the invention (for example, flow sheets in cases of processes, and diagrammatic views) may also be furnished in the same manner as drawings, and may be required by the Office when considered necessary or desirable.

35 U.S.C. 113. Drawings. When the nature of the case admits, the applicant shall furnish a drawing.

82. Signature to drawing. Signatures are not required on the drawing if it accompanies and is referred to in the other papers of the application, otherwise the drawing must be signed. The drawing may be signed by the applicant in person or have the name of the applicant placed thereon followed by the signature of the attorney or agent as such.

83. Content of drawing. (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.

84. Standards for drawings. The complete drawing is printed and published when the patent issues, and a copy is attached to the patent. This work is done by the photolithographic process, the sheets of drawings being reduced about one-third in size. In addition, a reduction of a selected portion of the drawings of each application is published in the Official Gazette. It is therefore necessary for these and other reasons that the character of each drawing be brought as nearly as possible to a uniform standard of execution and excellence, suited to the requirements of the reproduction process and of the use of the drawings, to give the best results in the interests of inventors, of the Office, and of the public. The following regulations with respect to drawings are accordingly prescribed:

(a) Paper and ink. Drawings must be made upon pure white paper of a thickness corresponding to two-ply or three-ply bristolboard. The surface of the paper must be calendered and smooth and

quality which will permit erasure and correction. India ink alone must be used for pen drawings to secure perfectly black solid lines. The use of white pigment to cover lines is not acceptable.

(b) Size of sheet and margins. The size of a sheet on which a drawing is made must be exactly 10 by 15 inches. One inch from its edges a single marginal line is to be drawn, leaving the "sight" precisely 8 by 13 inches. Within this margin all work must be included. One of the shorter sides of the sheet is regarded as its top, and, measuring down from the marginal line, a space of not less than 1/4 inches is to be left blank for the heading of title, name, number, and date, which will be applied subsequently by the Office in a uniform style. (c) Character of lines. All drawings must be made with drafting instruments or by photolithographic process which will give them satisfactory reproduction characteristics. Every line and letter (signatures included) must be absolutely black. This direction applies to all lines however fine, to shading, and to lines representing cut surfaces in sectional views. All lines must be clean, sharp, and solid, and fine or crowded lines should be avoided. Solid black should not be used for sectional or surface shading. Freehand work should be avoided wherever it is possible to do so.

(d) Hatching and shading. (1) Hatching should be made by oblique parallel lines, which may be not less than about one-twentieth inch apart.

(2) Heavy lines on the shade side of objects should be used except where they tend to thicken the work and obscure reference characters. The light should come from the upper left hand corner at an angle of 45°. Surface delineations should be shown by proper shading, which should be open.

(e) Scale. The scale to which a drawing is made ought to be large enough to show the mechanism without crowding when the drawing is reduced in reproduction, and views of portions of the mechanism on a larger scale should be used when necessary to show details clearly; two or more sheets should be used if one does not give sufficient room to accomplish this end, but the number of sheets should not be more than is necessary.

(f) Reference characters. The different views should be consecutively numbered figures. Reference numerals (and letters, but numerals are preferred) must be plain, legible and carefully formed, and not be encircled. They should, if possible, measure at least one-eighth of an inch in height so that they may bear reduction to one twentyfourth of an inch; and they may be slightly larger when there is sufficient room. They must not be so placed in the close and complex parts of the drawing as to interfere with a thorough comprehension of the same, and therefore should rarely cross or mingle with the lines. When necessarily grouped around a certain part, they should be placed at a little distance, at the closest point where there is available space, and connected by lines with the parts to which they refer. They should not be placed upon hatched or shaded surfaces but when necessary, a blank space may be left in the hatching or shading where the