MPEP § 506 — MPEP § 506
Current through: 2022-07-01

506-Completeness of Original Application 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Manual of Patent Examining Procedure 

 Chapter 0500 

 Section 506 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 506 Completeness of Original Application [R-07.2022]

 
 37 CFR 1.53 Application number, filing date, and completion of application. 

 
 (a) Application number. Any papers received in the Patent and
 Trademark Office which purport to be an application for a patent will be assigned
 an application number for identification purposes.
 

 (b) Application filing requirements - Nonprovisional application. 
 The filing date of an application for patent filed under this section, other than
 an application for a design patent or provisional application under paragraph (c)
 of this section, is the date on which a specification, with or without claims, is
 received in Office. The filing date of an application for a design patent filed
 under this section, except for a continued prosecution application under paragraph
 (d) of this section, is the date on which the specification as prescribed by
 35 U.S.C.
 112 , including at least one claim, and any required drawings
 are received in the Office. No new matter may be introduced into an application
 after its filing date. A continuing application, which may be a continuation,
 divisional, or continuation-in-part application, may be filed under the conditions
 specified in 35 U.S.C. 120 , 121 365(c) or 386(c) and § 1.78 .
 
 (1) A continuation or divisional application that names as
 inventors the same or fewer than all of the inventors named in the prior
 application may be filed under this paragraph or paragraph (d) of this
 section.
 

 (2) A continuation-in-part application (which may disclose and
 claim subject matter not disclosed in the prior application) or a
 continuation or divisional application naming an inventor not named in the
 prior application must be filed under this paragraph.
 

 
 

 (c) Application filing requirements - Provisional application. The
 filing date of a provisional application is the date on which a specification,
 with or without claims, is received in the Office. No amendment, other than to
 make the provisional application comply with the patent statute and all applicable
 regulations, may be made to the provisional application after the filing date of
 the provisional application.
 
 (1) A provisional application must also include the cover sheet
 required by § 1.51(c)(1) , which may
 be an application data sheet ( § 1.76 ), or a cover
 letter identifying the application as a provisional application. Otherwise,
 the application will be treated as an application filed under paragraph (b)
 of this section.
 

 (2) An application for patent filed under paragraph (b) of this
 section may be converted to a provisional application and be accorded the
 original filing date of the application filed under paragraph (b) of this
 section. The grant of such a request for conversion will not entitle
 applicant to a refund of the fees that were properly paid in the application
 filed under paragraph (b) of this section. Such a request for conversion
 must be accompanied by the processing fee set forth in §
 1.17(q) and be filed prior to the earliest of:
 
 (i) Abandonment of the application filed under paragraph
 (b) of this section;
 

 (ii) Payment of the issue fee on the application filed
 under paragraph (b) of this section; or
 

 (iii) Expiration of twelve months after the filing date of
 the application filed under paragraph (b) of this section.
 

 
 

 (3) A provisional application filed under paragraph (c) of this
 section may be converted to a nonprovisional application filed under
 paragraph (b) of this section and accorded the original filing date of the
 provisional application. The conversion of a provisional application to a
 nonprovisional application will not result in either the refund of any fee
 properly paid in the provisional application or the application of any such
 fee to the filing fee, or any other fee, for the nonprovisional application.
 Conversion of a provisional application to a nonprovisional application
 under this paragraph will result in the term of any patent to issue from the
 application being measured from at least the filing date of the provisional
 application for which conversion is requested. Thus, applicants should
 consider avoiding this adverse patent term impact by filing a nonprovisional
 application claiming the benefit of the provisional application under
 35
 U.S.C. 119(e) , rather than converting the provisional
 application into a nonprovisional application pursuant to this paragraph. A
 request to convert a provisional application to a nonprovisional application
 must be accompanied by the fee set forth in §
 1.17(i) and an amendment including at least one claim
 as prescribed by 35 U.S.C. 112(b) , unless
 the provisional application under paragraph (c) of this section otherwise
 contains at least one claim as prescribed by 35 U.S.C.
 112(b) . The nonprovisional application resulting from
 conversion of a provisional application must also include the filing fee,
 search fee, and examination fee for a nonprovisional, and the surcharge
 required by § 1.16(f) if either the
 basic filing fee for a nonprovisional application or the inventor's oath or
 declaration was not present on the filing date accorded the resulting
 nonprovisional application ( i.e., the filing date of the
 original provisional application). A request to convert a provisional
 application to a nonprovisional application must also be filed prior to the
 earliest of:
 
 (i) Abandonment of the provisional application filed under
 paragraph (c) of this section; or
 

 (ii) Expiration of twelve months after the filing date of
 the provisional application filed under paragraph (c) of this
 section.
 

 
 

 (4) A provisional application is not entitled to the right of
 priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 ,
 365(a) , or 386(a) or § 1.55 , or to the
 benefit of an earlier filing date under 35 U.S.C.
 120 , 121 , 365(c) , or 386(c) or
 § 1.78 of any other application. No claim for priority
 under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or § 1.78(a) may be made in a design application based
 on a provisional application. A provisional application disclosing
 nucleotide and/or amino acid sequences is not required to include a separate
 sequence listing; however, if submitted in a provisional application filed
 on or after July 1, 2022, any submission of nucleotide and/or amino acid
 sequence data must be by way of a “Sequence Listing XML” in compliance with
 §§ 1.831 through
 1.834 .
 

 
 

 (d) Application filing requirements - Continued prosecution (nonprovisional)
 application. 
 (1) A continuation or divisional application (but not a
 continuation-in-part) of a prior nonprovisional application may be filed as
 a continued prosecution application under this paragraph, provided that:
 
 (i) The application is for a design patent;

 (ii) The prior nonprovisional application is a design
 application, but not an international design application , that is
 complete as defined by § 1.51(b) , except
 for the inventor’s oath or declaration if the application is filed on
 or after September 16, 2012, and the prior nonprovisional application
 contains an application data sheet meeting the conditions specified in
 § 1.53(f)(3)(i) ;
 and
 

 (iii) The application under this paragraph is filed before
 the earliest of:
 
 (A) Payment of the issue fee on the prior
 application, unless a petition under § 1.313(c) is granted in the prior
 application;
 

 (B) Abandonment of the prior application; or

 (C) Termination of proceedings on the prior
 application.
 

 
 

 
 

 (2) The filing date of a continued prosecution application is
 the date on which a request on a separate paper for an application under
 this paragraph is filed. An application filed under this paragraph:
 
 (i) Must identify the prior application;

 (ii) Discloses and claims only subject matter disclosed in
 the prior application;
 

 (iii) Names as inventors the same inventors named in the
 prior application on the date the application under this paragraph was
 filed, except as provided in paragraph (d)(4) of this section;
 

 (iv) Includes the request for an application under this
 paragraph, will utilize the file jacket and contents of the prior
 application, including the specification, drawings and the inventor's
 oath or declaration from the prior application, to constitute the new
 application, and will be assigned the application number of the prior
 application for identification purposes; and
 

 (v) Is a request to expressly abandon the prior
 application as of the filing date of the request for an application
 under this paragraph.
 

 
 

 (3) The filing fee, search fee, and examination fee for a
 continued prosecution application filed under this paragraph are the basic
 filing fee as set forth in § 1.16(b) , the search
 fee as set forth in § 1.16(l) , and the
 examination fee as set forth in § 1.16(p) .
 

 (4) An application filed under this paragraph may be filed by
 fewer than all the inventors named in the prior application, provided that
 the request for an application under this paragraph when filed is
 accompanied by a statement requesting deletion of the name or names of the
 person or persons who are not inventors of the invention being claimed in
 the new application. No person may be named as an inventor in an application
 filed under this paragraph who was not named as an inventor in the prior
 application on the date the application under this paragraph was filed,
 except by way of correction of inventorship under § 1.48 .
 

 (5) Any new change must be made in the form of an amendment to
 the prior application as it existed prior to the filing of an application
 under this paragraph. No amendment in an application under this paragraph (a
 continued prosecution application) may introduce new matter or matter that
 would have been new matter in the prior application. Any new specification
 filed with the request for an application under this paragraph will not be
 considered part of the original application papers, but will be treated as a
 substitute specification in accordance with § 1.125 .
 

 (6) The filing of a continued prosecution application under this
 paragraph will be construed to include a waiver of confidentiality by the
 applicant under 35 U.S.C. 122 to the
 extent that any member of the public, who is entitled under the provisions
 of § 1.14 to access to, copies of, or information
 concerning either the prior application or any continuing application filed
 under the provisions of this paragraph, may be given similar access to,
 copies of, or similar information concerning the other application or
 applications in the file jacket.
 

 (7) A request for an application under this paragraph is the
 specific reference required by 35 U.S.C. 120 to every
 application assigned the application number identified in such request. No
 amendment in an application under this paragraph may delete this specific
 reference to any prior application.
 

 (8) In addition to identifying the application number of the
 prior application, applicant should furnish in the request for an
 application under this paragraph the following information relating to the
 prior application to the best of his or her ability:
 
 (i) Title of invention;

 (ii) Name of applicant(s); and

 (iii) Correspondence address.

 
 

 (9) See § 1.103(b) for
 requesting a limited suspension of action in an application filed under this
 paragraph.
 

 
 

 (e) Failure to meet filing date requirements. 
 (1) If an application deposited under paragraph (b), (c), or (d)
 of this section does not meet the requirements of such paragraph to be
 entitled to a filing date, applicant will be so notified, if a
 correspondence address has been provided, and given a period of time within
 which to correct the filing error. If, however, a request for an application
 under paragraph (d) of this section does not meet the requirements of that
 paragraph because the application in which the request was filed is not a
 design application, and if the application in which the request was filed
 was itself filed on or after June 8, 1995, the request for an application
 under paragraph (d) of this section will be treated as a request for
 continued examination under § 1.114 .
 

 (2) Any request for review of a notification pursuant to
 paragraph (e)(1) of this section, or a notification that the original
 application papers lack a portion of the specification or drawing(s), must
 be by way of a petition pursuant to this paragraph accompanied by the fee
 set forth in § 1.17(f) . In the
 absence of a timely ( § 1.181(f)) petition
 pursuant to this paragraph, the filing date of an application in which the
 applicant was notified of a filing error pursuant to paragraph (e)(1) of
 this section will be the date the filing error is corrected.
 

 (3) If an applicant is notified of a filing error pursuant to
 paragraph (e)(1) of this section, but fails to correct the filing error
 within the given time period or otherwise timely ( § 1.181(f) ) take action pursuant to this paragraph,
 proceedings in the application will be considered terminated. Where
 proceedings in an application are terminated pursuant to this paragraph, the
 application may be disposed of, and any filing fees, less the handling fee
 set forth in § 1.21(n) , will be
 refunded.
 

 
 

 (f) Completion of application subsequent to filing—Nonprovisional (including
 continued prosecution or reissue) application. 
 (1) If an application which has been accorded a filing date
 pursuant to paragraph (b) or (d) of this section does not include the basic
 filing fee, the search fee, or the examination fee, or if an application
 which has been accorded a filing date pursuant to paragraph (b) of this
 section does not include at least one claim or the inventor's oath or
 declaration ( § 1.63 ,
 §
 1.64 , § 1.162 or
 §
 1.175 ), and the applicant has provided a
 correspondence address ( § 1.33(a) ), the
 applicant will be notified and given a period of time within which to pay
 the basic filing fee, search fee, and examination fee, and pay the surcharge
 if required by § 1.16(f) to avoid
 abandonment.
 

 (2) If an application which has been accorded a filing date
 pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section does not include the basic filing
 fee, search fee, examination fee, at least one claim, or the inventor's oath
 or declaration, and the applicant has not provided a correspondence address
 ( §
 1.33(a) ), the applicant has three months from the
 filing date of the application within which to file a claim or claims, pay
 the basic filing fee, search fee, and examination fee, and pay the surcharge
 required by § 1.16(f) to avoid
 abandonment.
 

 (3) The inventor's oath or declaration in an application under
 §
 1.53(b) must also be filed within the period specified
 in paragraph (f)(1) or (f)(2) of this section, except that the filing of the
 inventor's oath or declaration may be postponed until the application is
 otherwise in condition for allowance under the conditions specified in
 paragraphs (f)(3)(i) and (f)(3)(ii) of this section.
 
 (i) The application must be an original
 (non-reissue) application that contains an application data sheet in
 accordance with § 1.76 
 identifying:
 
 (A) Each inventor by his or her legal
 name;
 

 (B) A mailing address where the
 inventor customarily receives mail, and residence, if an
 inventor lives at a location which is different from where the
 inventor customarily receives mail, for each inventor.
 

 
 

 (ii) The applicant must file each required
 oath or declaration in compliance with §
 1.63 , or substitute statement in compliance with
 § 1.64 , no later
 than the date on which the issue fee for the patent is paid. If the
 applicant is notified in a notice of allowability that an oath or
 declaration in compliance with § 1.63 , or
 substitute statement in compliance with §
 1.64 , executed by or with respect to each named
 inventor has not been filed, the applicant must file each required
 oath or declaration in compliance with §
 1.63 , or substitute statement in compliance with
 § 1.64 , no later
 than the date on which the issue fee is paid to avoid abandonment.
 This time period is not extendable under §
 1.136 (see § 1.136(c) ). The
 Office may dispense with the notice provided for in paragraph (f)(1)
 of this section if each required oath or declaration in compliance
 with § 1.63 , or
 substitute statement in compliance with §
 1.64 , has been filed before the application is
 in condition for allowance.
 

 
 

 (4) If the excess claims fees required by §
 1.16(h) and (i) and multiple
 dependent claim fee required by § 1.16(j) are not paid
 on filing or on later presentation of the claims for which the excess claims
 or multiple dependent claim fees are due, the fees required by
 §
 1.16(h), (i), and (j) , must be paid or the claims
 canceled by amendment prior to the expiration of the time period set for
 reply by the Office in any notice of fee deficiency. If the application size
 fee required by § 1.16(s) (if any) is
 not paid on filing or on later presentation of the amendment necessitating a
 fee or additional fee under § 1.16(s) , the fee
 required by § 1.16(s) must be paid
 prior to the expiration of the time period set for reply by the Office in
 any notice of fee deficiency in order to avoid abandonment.
 

 (5) This paragraph applies to continuation or divisional
 applications under paragraphs (b) or (d) of this section and to
 continuation-in-part applications under paragraph (b) of this section.
 See §
 1.63(d) concerning the submission of a copy of the
 inventor's oath or declaration from the prior application for a continuing
 application under paragraph (b) of this section.
 

 (6) If applicant does not pay the basic filing fee
 during the pendency of the application, the Office may dispose of the
 application.
 

 
 

 (g) Completion of application subsequent to filing—Provisional
 application. 
 (1) If a provisional application which has been accorded a
 filing date pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section does not include the
 cover sheet required by § 1.51(c)(1) or the
 basic filing fee ( § 1.16(d) ), and
 applicant has provided a correspondence address ( §
 1.33(a)) , applicant will be notified and given a
 period of time within which to pay the basic filing fee, file a cover sheet
 ( §
 1.51(c)(1)) , and pay the surcharge required by
 §
 1.16(g) to avoid abandonment.
 

 (2) If a provisional application which has been accorded a
 filing date pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section does not include the
 cover sheet required by § 1.51(c)(1) or the
 basic filing fee ( § 1.16(d) ), and
 applicant has not provided a correspondence address ( §
 1.33(a) ), applicant has two months from the filing
 date of the application within which to pay the basic filing fee, file a
 cover sheet ( § 1.51(c)(1) ), and pay
 the surcharge required by § 1.16(g) to avoid
 abandonment.
 

 (3) If the application size fee required by §
 1.16(s) (if any) is not paid on filing, the fee
 required by § 1.16(s) must be paid
 prior to the expiration of the time period set for reply by the Office in
 any notice of fee deficiency in order to avoid abandonment.
 

 (4) If applicant does not pay the basic filing fee during the
 pendency of the application, the Office may dispose of the application.
 

 
 

 (h) Subsequent treatment of application - Nonprovisional (including continued
 prosecution) application. An application for a patent filed under
 paragraphs (b) or (d) of this section will not be placed on the files for
 examination until all its required parts, complying with the rules relating
 thereto, are received, except that the inventor's oath or declaration may be filed
 when the application is otherwise in condition for allowance pursuant to paragraph
 (f)(3) of this section and minor informalities may be waived subject to subsequent
 correction whenever required.
 

 (i) Subsequent treatment of application - Provisional application. 
 A provisional application for a patent filed under paragraph (c) of this section
 will not be placed on the files for examination and will become abandoned no later
 than twelve months after its filing date pursuant to 35 U.S.C.
 111(b)(1) .
 

 
 
 I. INCOMPLETE NONPROVISIONAL APPLICATIONS FILED UNDER 37 CFR 1.53(b) 

 A. Utility Applications If the nonprovisional utility application papers filed
 under 37 CFR
 1.53(b) do not include at least a specification or if the
 submitted papers are too informal to be given a filing date, the case is held in the
 Office of Patent Application Processing (OPAP) as an incomplete application and the
 applicant is informed of the shortcomings of the papers. No filing date is granted until
 the incompleteness is corrected.
 

 B. Design Applications If the nonprovisional design application papers filed
 under 37 CFR
 1.53(b) do not include at least a specification containing a
 description and at least one claim and a drawing, if necessary under
 35 U.S.C.
 113 (first sentence), or if the submitted application papers
 are too informal to be given a filing date, the case is held in the Office of Patent
 Application Processing (OPAP) as an incomplete application and the applicant is
 informed of the shortcomings of the papers. No filing date is granted until the
 incompleteness is corrected.
 

 C. Handling of Incomplete Applications A Notice of Incomplete Application is prepared and mailed by OPAP
 when nonprovisional application papers filed under 37 CFR 1.53(b) 
 are deemed incomplete under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) .
 

 Even though an application purports to include the component parts
 necessary to obtain a filing date, the application will still be held to be incomplete
 and a filing date will be refused if the component parts fail to satisfy the
 requirements set forth above. 
 

 For example, if the documents purporting to be a specification are so
 obviously informal and incoherent that they clearly do not constitute a specification as
 required by 35 U.S.C.
 112 and 37 CFR 1.71 , the application is not
 acceptable for examination and it will not be accorded a filing date until corrections
 are made. The filing date of the application will be the date the corrections are made. 
 

 Filing dates are accorded to nonprovisional applications filed under
 37 CFR
 1.53(b) submitted without the names of all the inventors, the
 required fees (basic filing fee, and search and examination fees (for applications filed
 on or after December 8, 2004)), at least one claim (for applications filed on or after
 December 13, 2013) and/or the inventor's oath or declaration. In such cases, a notice is
 mailed by OPAP requiring the appropriate fees, claims (for applications filed on or
 after December 13, 2013) and for applications filed before September 16, 2012, the oath
 or declaration (which must include the names of all the inventors), accompanied by a
 surcharge ( 37 CFR
 1.16(f) ).
 

 For applications filed on or after September 16, 2012
 (except reissue applications), applicant may postpone filing the inventor’s oath or
 declaration until the application is in condition for allowance if an application data
 sheet (ADS) in compliance with 37 CFR 1.76 is filed identifying:
 (1) each inventor by their legal name; and (2) for each inventor, a mailing address
 where the inventor customarily receives mail, and residence, if the inventor lives at a
 location which is different from where the inventor customarily receives mail. See
 37 CFR
 1.53(f)(3) . Applicant must file the inventor’s oath or declaration
 no later than the date on which the issue fee is paid. See 35 U.S.C.
 115(f) . 
 

 The Office has modified the missing parts practice for
 applications (other than reissue applications) filed on or after September 16, 2012. If
 an application under 37 CFR 1.53(b) filed on or after
 September 16, 2012, contains the applicable filing fees (basic filing fee, search fee,
 examination fee, any applicable excess claims fee, and any applicable application size
 fee), the surcharge required by 37 CFR 1.16(f) , and a signed ADS
 providing the required inventor information, but does not include the inventor’s oath or
 declaration, the Office will not issue a Notice to File Missing Parts requiring the
 applicant to file the inventor’s oath or declaration. Instead, the Office may send an
 informational notice notifying the applicant that the inventor’s oath or declaration has
 not been received or that there are deficiencies in an inventor’s oath or declaration
 that was filed. If an application under 37 CFR 1.53(b) filed on or after
 September 16, 2012, that does not contain the inventor’s oath or declaration also does
 not contain the applicable filing fees, or the surcharge required by 37 CFR 1.16(f) , or
 a signed ADS providing the inventor information, the Office will issue a Notice to File
 Missing Parts giving the applicant a time period (usually two months) within which to
 file the missing filing fees, the surcharge required by 37 CFR 1.16(f) ,
 and a signed ADS providing the inventor information (or the inventor’s oath or
 declaration) to avoid abandonment. If an application is in condition for allowance and
 the required inventor’s oath or declaration (an oath or declaration under
 37 CFR
 1.63 , or a substitute statement under 37 CFR 1.64 ,
 executed by or with respect to each actual inventor) has not yet been filed, the Office
 will issue a notice with the Notice of Allowability requiring the inventor’s oath or
 declaration to be filed no later than the date on which the issue fee is paid. 
 

 For applications which have been accorded a filing date
 under 37 CFR
 1.53(b) , if any of the basic filing fee, the search fee, or the
 examination fee are paid on a date later than the filing date of the application, the
 surcharge under 37 CFR
 1.16(f) is required. In addition to the basic filing fee, the
 search fee, and the examination fee, 37 CFR 1.16(s) sets forth the
 application size fee for any application (including any reissue applications) filed
 under 35 U.S.C.
 111 , the specification and drawings of which exceed 100 sheets of
 paper. The calculation of the number of sheets excludes any “Sequence Listing”, computer
 readable form (CRF) of a “Sequence Listing”, or a “Computer Program Listing Appendix”
 filed in an American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) plain text file
 or any “Sequence Listing XML” filed in an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) file on a
 read-only optical disc or via the USPTO patent electronic filing system in compliance
 with the rules. See 37
 CFR 1.52(f) .The application size fee applies for each additional
 50 sheets or fraction thereof over 100 sheets of paper. Any “Sequence Listing” or CRF of
 a “Sequence Listing” in compliance with 37 CFR 1.821(c) or (e) , any
 “Sequence Listing XML” in compliance with 37 CFR
 1.831(a) , and any “Computer Program Listing Appendix” in
 compliance with 37 CFR
 1.96(c) submitted on a read-only optical disc
 under 37 CFR
 1.52(e) or submitted in an ASCII plain text file or XML file (as
 applicable) via the USPTO patent electronic filing system will be excluded when
 determining the application size fee required by 37 CFR 1.16(s) . See
 37 CFR 1.52(f)(1)
 and (2) . See also MPEP § 607 . The application size fee
 required by 37 CFR
 1.16(s) must be paid prior to the expiration of the time period
 set for reply by the Office in any notice of fee deficiency in order to avoid
 abandonment ( 37 CFR
 1.53(f)(3) ). See MPEP § 607 for additional information
 regarding fees. In addition to the basic filing fee, the search fee, the examination
 fee, and the application size fee required under 37 CFR 1.16 , the prescribed filing
 fee ( 37 CFR
 1.51(b)(4) ) may include additional fees for filing more than 3
 independent claims ( 37
 CFR 1.16(h) ), for filing a total of more than 20 claims
 ( 37 CFR
 1.16(i) ), or for filing a multiple dependent claim
 ( 37 CFR
 1.16(j) ). In those cases where the basic filing fee, the search
 fee, the examination fee, and the application size fee are paid, but additional fees are
 required, under 37 CFR
 1.16 , a notice is mailed by OPAP or the Technology Center (TC),
 requiring that the balance of the prescribed fee be paid.
 

 A nonprovisional application filed under 37 CFR 1.53(b) may
 be filed with a preliminary amendment which is limited to the cancellation of claims.
 Any preliminary amendment, regardless of when it is filed, must be in compliance with
 37 CFR
 1.121 , e.g., it must include a complete listing of all of the
 claims. Therefore, the Office strongly recommends that applicants file their
 applications with a specification containing only the desired set of claims, rather than
 filing the application with a preliminary amendment canceling claims. If such a
 preliminary amendment canceling claims is filed, it will diminish the number of claims
 to be considered for calculation of the filing fee. Any other changes to the application
 should be the subject of a separate amendment which may be entered after the filing fee
 has been calculated and the filing date granted. If a preliminary amendment which
 cancels claims does not accompany the application at the time the application is filed,
 and there is a fee deficiency, the notification of insufficient fee will inform the
 inventor, attorney, or agent of the possibility of correcting the insufficient payment
 by either (1) paying the additional required fee amount, or (2) filing an amendment
 which cancels claims so that the remaining claims are covered by the fee submitted upon
 filing. However, no refund will be made once the fee for claims is properly paid, even
 though claims are later canceled, unless a petition for express abandonment under
 37 CFR
 1.138(d) is granted. See MPEP § 711.01 .
 

 A filing date is normally granted before a review of the subject matter
 claimed in a nonprovisional application. If a nonprovisional application filed under
 37 CFR
 1.53(b) appears sufficient, the application is forwarded to the
 examiner for consideration during the regular course of examination.
 

 II. INCOMPLETE PROVISIONAL APPLICATIONS If the provisional application papers do not include at least a
 specification containing a description and a drawing, if necessary under
 35 U.S.C.
 113 (first sentence) (for applications filed prior to March 18,
 2013) or if the submitted application papers are too informal to be given a filing date,
 the case is held in OPAP as an incomplete application and the applicant is informed of
 the shortcomings of the papers. No filing date is granted until the incompleteness is
 corrected.
 

 Such incompleteness may consist of the omission of any one of the
 following parts of an application. The component parts of a provisional application
 necessary to obtain a filing date are:
 

 A specification, with or without claims, as prescribed by
 35 U.S.C.
 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112 , first
 paragraph, and 37 CFR
 1.71 .
 

 A drawing, if necessary under 35 U.S.C. 113 (first sentence) and
 37 CFR
 1.81(a) (for applications filed prior to March 18, 2013).
 

 Even though an application purports to include the component part(s)
 necessary to obtain a filing date, the application will still be held to be incomplete
 and a filing date will be refused if the component parts fail to satisfy the
 requirements set forth above. For example, if the documents purporting to be a
 specification are so obviously informal and incoherent that they would clearly not
 constitute a specification as required by 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or
 35 U.S.C.
 112 , first paragraph, and 37 CFR 1.71 , the application would
 not be acceptable and would not be accorded a filing date until corrections are made.
 The filing date of the application would be the date the corrections were made. A
 provisional application will not be examined. However, a provisional application which
 does not include a cover sheet ( 37 CFR 1.51(c)(1) , which may be
 an application data sheet ( 37 CFR 1.76 ) or a
 cover letter, identifying the application as a provisional application, will be treated
 as a nonprovisional application filed under 37 CFR 1.53(b) . See
 37 CFR
 1.53(c)(1) .
 

 NOTE: No amendment, other than to make the provisional application
 comply with the patent statute and all applicable regulations, may be made to the
 provisional application after the filing date of the provisional application. See
 37 CFR
 1.53(c) .
 

 III. INFORMAL APPLICATIONS An application is informal if it is typed on both sides of the paper, or
 is not permanent, legible, or reproducible. If such informalities are timely corrected,
 the application is given the filing date on which the original informal papers were
 filed.
 

 OPAP accords a filing date, as of the date indicated by the “Office
 Date” stamp (see MPEP §
 505 ), to application papers which include a specification
 containing a description and at least one claim (nonprovisional applications filed under
 37 CFR
 1.53(b) prior to March 18, 2013 and design applications), and a
 drawing, if necessary under 35 U.S.C. 113 (first sentence) and
 37 CFR
 1.53(b) , but are informal because they do not comply with the
 rules or notices. In such applications, OPAP will send a Notice (e.g., Notice to File
 Corrected Application Papers) requiring correction of the informality. Failure to
 correct the informality within the specified time results in abandonment of the
 application.
 

 
 506.01 [Reserved]

 

 

 
 506.02 Review of Refusal To Accord Filing Date [R-07.2015]

 The filing date of the provisional or nonprovisional application is the
 date of receipt in the Office of the application which includes a specification
 containing description pursuant to 37 CFR 1.71 and at least one claim
 (required for nonprovisional design applications only) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.75 , and
 any drawings required by 37 CFR 1.81(a) . See
 37 CFR 1.53(b) and
 (c) .
 

 If any of these items are missing, applicant will be notified to file
 them and the filing date will be the date of receipt of the missing part(s). If the oath
 or declaration for a nonprovisional application was executed and filed with the
 application, a supplemental oath or declaration by the inventor is required in some
 circumstances if the nonprovisional application was filed before September 16, 2012,
 e.g., where the missing item is the claim, specification, or a drawing. The supplemental
 declaration must identify the missing item and indicate, as appropriate, that it
 accurately claims, describes, or illustrates applicant’s invention. See
 MPEP
 § 601.01(d)-(g) where the application is filed without all the
 pages of the specification, without at least one claim (nonprovisional design
 application), without drawings, or without all the figures of the drawings. For
 applications filed on or after September 16, 2012, the Office will not require a person
 who has executed an oath or declaration in compliance with 35 U.S.C. 115 
 and 37 CFR
 1.63 or 1.162 for an application to provide an
 additional inventor’s oath or declaration for the application ( 37 CFR
 1.67(c) ). An error in or failure to identify inventorship does not
 raise a filing date issue.
 

 Any review of the refusal to grant a filing date as of the date of
 deposit of the application would be by way of petition, accompanied by the petition fee
 ( 37
 CFR 1.17(f) ). Petitioner should provide any arguments that he or
 she has that the items noted were not missing or that a filing date should be assigned
 in the absence of such items if they are believed to be unnecessary. If petitioner
 alleges that no defect exists, a request for refund of the petition fee may be included
 in the petition.
 

 For applications properly filed under 37 CFR 1.10 , the
 filing date is the date that the application was deposited as Priority Mail
 Express ® in the U.S. Postal Service. For example, if a new
 patent application is deposited in Priority Mail Express ® in
 accordance with 37 CFR
 1.10 on a Saturday and the United States Postal Service gives it a
 date of deposit of Saturday, the Office will accord and stamp the correspondence with
 the Saturday date. 37
 CFR 1.6(a)(2) . If the proper procedures were not followed, the
 application will receive a filing date as of the date it was received in the Office. Any
 review of these matters would be by way of petition, accompanied by the petition fee
 ( 37
 CFR 1.17(f) ), providing whatever arguments and evidence petitioner
 has that the application is entitled to a filing date as of the date it was deposited as
 Priority Mail Express ® . See MPEP § 513 .
 

 Petitions relating to the filing date accorded to patent applications
 under 37 CFR
 1.53 are decided in the Office of the Deputy Commissioner for
 Patent Examination Policy (See MPEP § 1002.02(b) ).
 

 Any petition under this section should be marked to the attention of the
 Office of Petitions.
 

 

 [top] 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 501-Filing Papers With the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 

 502-Depositing Correspondence 
 502.01-Correspondence Transmitted by Facsimile 

 502.02-Correspondence Signature Requirements 

 502.03-Communications via Internet Electronic Mail (email) 

 502.04-Duplicate Copies of Correspondence 

 502.05-Correspondence Transmitted by EFS-Web 

 
 

 503-Application Number and Filing Receipt 

 504-Assignment of Application for Examination 

 505-Date of Receipt Stamp 

 506-Completeness of Original Application 
 506.01-[Reserved] 

 506.02-Review of Refusal To Accord Filing Date 

 
 

 507-Drawing Review in the Office of Patent Application Processing 

 508-Distribution 
 508.01-[Reserved] 

 508.02-Papers Received After Patenting or Abandonment 

 508.03-[Reserved] 

 508.04-Unlocatable Patent or Application Files 

 
 

 509-Payment of Fees 
 509.01-Deposit Accounts 

 509.02-Small Entity Status — Definitions 

 509.03-Claiming Small Entity Status 
 509.03(a)-Duty to Investigate Entitlement to Claim Small Entity Status 

 509.03(b)-Change or Correction of Status 

 
 

 509.04-Micro Entity Status — Definitions 
 509.04(a)-Gross Income Basis for Micro Entity Status 

 509.04(b) -Institution of Higher Education Basis for Micro Entity Status 

 509.04(c) -Parties Who Can Sign the Micro Entity Certification 

 509.04(d) -Continued Obligation to Determine Micro Entity Qualification 

 509.04(e) -Notification of Loss of Entitlement to Micro Entity Status 

 509.04(f) -Correcting Errors in Micro Entity Status 

 
 

 
 

 510-U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Business Hours 

 511-Postal Service Interruptions and Emergencies 

 512-Certificate of Mailing or Transmission 

 513-Deposit as Priority Mail Express® with U.S. Postal Service 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
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