The oath or declaration of the applicant is required by law for a
non-provisional application. The inventor must make an oath or
declaration that he/she believes himself/herself to be the original and
first inventor of the subject matter of the application, and he/she must
make various other allegations required by law and various allegations
required by the Patent and Trademark Office rules. The oath must be
sworn to by the inventor before a notary public or other officer
authorized to administer oaths. A declaration may be used in lieu of an
oath as part of the original application for a patent involving designs,
plants, and other patentable inventions; for reissue patents; when
claiming matter originally shown or described but not originally
claimed; or when filing a divisional or continuing application. A
declaration does not need to be notarized.
The oath or declaration must be signed by the inventor in person, or by
the person entitled by law to make application on the inventor’s behalf.
A full first and last name with middle initial or name, if any, of each
inventor are required. The post office address and citizenship of each
inventor are also required.
Sample forms are available by calling the PTO General Information
Services at 800–786–9199 or 703–308–4357 or by accessing PTO Web site at
_http://www.uspto.gov_ under the section titled “PTO Forms.”
The papers in a complete application will not be returned for any
purpose whatsoever, nor will the filing fee be returned. If applicants
have not preserved copies of the papers, the Office will furnish copies
for a fee.