Question:

In addition to the list of all patents, publications, U.S. applications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, what else must each information disclosure statement include a legible copy of?

Answer:

In addition to the list of information, each information disclosure statement must also include a legible copy of:

* (A) Each foreign patent;

* (B) Each publication or that portion which caused it to be listed, other than U.S. patents and U.S. patent application publications unless required by the Office;

* (C) For each cited pending unpublished U.S. application, the application specification including the claims, and any drawings of the application, or that portion of the application which caused it to be listed including any claims directed to that portion, unless the cited pending U.S. application is stored in the Image File Wrapper (IFW) system. The requirement for a legible copy of the specification, including the claims, and drawings of each cited pending U.S. patent application (or portion of the application which caused it to be listed) is sua sponte waived where the cited pending application is stored in the USPTO’s IFW system; and

* (D) All other information or that portion which caused it to be listed.

Chapter Details:

The answer to this question can be found in chapter 600 of the MPEP. This chapter covers Parts, form and content of application.

The answer is from the 9th Edition, Revision 07.2015. Depending on future changes to the MPEP, the question and answer may be applicable in later Editions or revisions.

Section Summary:

This question and answer comes from section 609.04(a)of the MPEP.  The following is a brief summary of section 609.04(a).

609.04(a) Content Requirements for an Information Disclosure Statement

This section covers the content requirements for IDS’s. Each information disclosure statement must include a list of all patents, publications, U.S. applications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office. In addition to the list of information, each information disclosure statement must also include a legible copy of many items which are discussed here. Each information disclosure statement must further include a concise explanation of the relevance about the content of the information listed that is not in the English language.