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The purpose of this guide is to provide you with basic information about filing a utility patent application. A patent application is a complex legal document, best prepared by one trained to prepare such documents. Thus, after reviewing this guide, you may wish to consult with a registered patent attorney or agent. Additional information is available:

There are three types of patents: utility, design, and plant. There are two types of utility and plant patent applications: provisional and nonprovisional. A provisional application is a quick and inexpensive way for inventors to establish a U.S. filing date for their invention, which can be claimed in a later-filed nonprovisional application. A provisional application is automatically abandoned 12 months after its filing date and is not examined. An applicant who decides to initially file a provisional application must file a corresponding nonprovisional application during the 12-month pendency period of the provisional application in order to benefit from the earlier provisional application filing. A nonprovisional application is examined by a patent examiner and may be issued as a patent if all the requirements for patentability are met. Each year the USPTO receives more than 600,000 patent applications. Most of the applications filed with the USPTO are nonprovisional applications for utility patents.

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This guide contains information to assist you in filing your nonprovisional utility patent application. It specifies the required parts of the utility patent application and identifies some of the forms you may use (available on the USPTO website at www.uspto.gov). This information is generally derived from patent laws and regulations found at Title 35 of the United States Code (U.S.C.), and Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). These materials, as well as the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), are available at the USPTO website, at PTRCs, and at most law libraries.

When filing a nonprovisional utility patent application, it must be submitted in the English language or be accompanied by a translation in the English language, a statement that the translation is accurate, and have payment of the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(i). If an applicant files a nonprovisional utility application in a language other than English without the translation, statement, or fee, the applicant will be given a notice and time period to submit the missing item(s).

A nonprovisional utility patent application must include a specification, including a description and a claim or claims; drawings, when necessary; an oath or declaration; and the prescribed filing, search, and examination fees.

A Utility Patent Application Transmittal Form (Form PTO/AIA/15) or a transmittal letter should be filed with every patent application to identify the items being filed (e.g., specification, drawings, declaration, and information disclosure statement). The form identifies the first named inventor, the type of application, the title of the invention, the contents of the application, and any accompanying enclosures. (Form PTO/SB/21 should be used for all correspondence after initial filing.)

You can electronically submit the required filing, search, and examination fees using a credit card or electronic funds transfer. For example, when filing your patent application online via Patent Center, it is better to pay these fees online rather than later, because any filing, search, or examination fee paid on a date later than the patent application filing date requires a late surcharge of $160 ($64 for small entity applicants and $32 for micro entity applicants). The late surcharge will also be owed if you file the required oath or declaration on a date later than the application filing date, so it is best to ensure that the required fees and the oath or declaration are included with the specification (including claims) and drawings filed via Patent Center. You can also file your nonprovisional utility application in paper by mail or by hand-delivery; however, this will cost you an additional non-electronic filing fee of $400 ($200 for small and micro entities) on top of the regular filing, search, and examination fees. You will also owe the additional fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.16(u) referenced above for not filing the specification, claims, and abstract in DOCX format if your nonprovisional utility application is filed on or after January 17, 2024. If you file in paper anyway, the Fee Transmittal Form (Form PTO/SB/17) may be used to calculate the prescribed filing, examination, and search fees, any excess claim fees or application size fee, and indicate the method of payment (by check, money order, USPTO deposit account, or credit card).

Although it is recommended to pay the filing, search, and examination fees online at the time of filing your application via Patent Center in order to avoid the late surcharge, if you pay the fees later by check or money order, the check or money order must be made payable to the "Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office." If an application is filed without the fees, the applicant will be notified and required to submit the fees plus the late surcharge within the time period set in the notice.

If your nonprovisional utility application is filed electronically and includes a total number of specification and drawing pages that exceeds 133, an application size fee will be due. (For applications filed in paper, an application size fee is due if the total number of pages exceeds 100 pages.) Further, if the application has more than three independent claims or more than 20 total claims, excess claims fees will be due. Fees are subject to change, and the applicant should consult the current fee schedule before filing the application. Normally, fees change every October.

Most patent applicants pay regular undiscounted patent fees. However, fees for filing, searching, examining, issuing, appealing, and maintaining patent applications and patents are reduced by 60 percent for any small entity that qualifies for reduced fees under 37 CFR 1.27(a), and are reduced by 80 percent for any micro entity that files a certification that the requirements under 37 CFR 1.29(a) or (d) are met.

Effective November 15, 2011, any regular nonprovisional utility application filed by mail or hand-delivery will require payment of an additional $400 fee called the "non-electronic filing fee," which is reduced by 50 percent (to $200) for applicants that qualify for small entity status under 37 CFR 1.27(a) or micro entity status under 37 CFR 1.29(a) or (d). The only way to avoid having to pay the additional $400 non-electronic filing fee is by filing the regular nonprovisional utility application via Patent Center.

Submission of an application data sheet (ADS) should be routine for all nonprovisional applications and is required in certain instances. For example, for applications filed on or after September 16, 2012, any domestic benefit claim(s) and any foreign priority claim(s) must be made in an ADS within four months from filing or 16 months from the filing date of the prior-filed application, whichever is later. See 37 CFR 1.78 for information about domestic benefit claims and 37 CFR 1.55 for information about foreign priority claims. Form PTO/AIA/14 is the USPTO's ADS form for filing utility applications. See 37 CFR 1.76 and MPEP 601.05 for more information.

A corrected ADS may be filed to correct or update information in a previously filed ADS. In addition, even if an ADS was not previously filed, a corrected ADS must be submitted to make changes to information already of record. The corrected ADS is required to include underlined and strike-through text to reflect the changes: information that is being inserted must be indicated via underlining, and text that is being removed must be indicated via strike-through or brackets. However, certain information cannot be changed by simply filing a corrected ADS. For example, changes to the named inventors must comply with the requirements of 37 CFR 1.48, correspondence address changes must comply with the requirements of 37 CFR 1.33(a), and foreign priority and domestic benefit information changes must comply with 37 CFR 1.55 and 1.78, respectively.

Any nonprovisional utility patent application filed after September 16, 2012, claiming the benefit of one or more prior-filed copending nonprovisional applications (or international applications designating the United States of America) under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, or 365(c), or to a provisional patent application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e), must present the reference to the earlier application in an application data sheet under 37 CFR 1.76. See 37 CFR 1.78. Cross-references to other related patent applications may be made in an initial section of the description when appropriate.

If a sequence listing is to be submitted that exceeds the Office patent electronic filing system limits, the sequence listing may be provided on a read-only optical disc in compliance with 37 CFR 1.821-1.825 (for applications filed before July 1, 2022) or 37 CFR 1.831-1.835 (for applications filed on or after July 1, 2022), and the specification must contain an incorporation by reference statement to the sequence listing on read-only optical disc in a separate incorporation by reference paragraph.

A nonprovisional application for a utility patent must contain at least one claim. The claim or claims section must begin on a separate physical sheet or electronic page. If there are several claims, they must be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals.

Separate from the specification, a patent application is required to contain drawings if drawings are necessary to understand the subject matter to be patented. Most patent applications contain drawings. The drawings must show every feature of the invention as specified in the claims. A drawing necessary to understand the invention cannot be introduced into an application after the filing date of the application because of the prohibition against new matter. Please see the detailed Drawing Requirements section. 9af72c28ce