Your oath or declaration is required by law for a nonprovisional application. You must swear that you believe yourself to be the original and first inventor of the subject matter of the application, and you must make various other statements required by law and various statements required by Patent and Trademark Office rules. You must swear the oath before a notary public or other officer authorized to administer oaths. A declaration may be used in lieu of an oath. Oaths or declarations are required for applications involving designs, plants, and utility inventions and for reissue applications. A declaration does not need to be notarized.

When filing a continuation, or divisional application, a copy of an oath or declaration may be used;. or a continued prosecution application may be filed that requires neither a new oath or declaration, nor a copy of an oath or declaration from a prior application.

You (or the person entitled by law to make application on your behalf) must sign the oath or declaration in person. The full first and last name with middle initial or name, if any, of each inventor is required. The post office address and proof of citizenship of each inventor are also required.

Sample forms are available by calling the USPTO General Information Services at 1-800-786-9199 or 571-272-1000, or by accessing the USPTO website at www.uspto.govunder the “USPTO Forms” section. The paperwork in a complete application will not be returned for any purpose whatsoever, nor will the filing fee be returned. If you’ve not kept copies of the papers, the office will furnish copies to you for a fee.