Question:

What must an international application contain?

Answer:

Any international application must contain the following elements: request, description, claim or claims, abstract and one or more drawings (where drawings are necessary for the understanding of the invention).

Chapter Details:

The answer to this question can be found in chapter 1800 of the MPEP. This chapter covers Patent Cooperation Treaty.

The answer is from the 9th Edition, Revision 07.2015. Depending on future changes to the MPEP, the question and answer may or may not be applicable in later Editions or revisions.

Section Summary:

This question and answer comes from section 1812 of the MPEP.  The following is a brief summary of section 1812.

1812 Elements of the International Application

Any international application must contain the following elements: request, description, claim or claims, abstract and one or more drawings (where drawings are necessary for the understanding of the invention).

The elements of the international application are to be arranged in the following order: the request, the description (other than any sequence listing part thereof), the claims, the abstract, the drawings, and the sequence listing part of the description (where applicable).