The oath or declaration of the applicant (inventor) 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 statements required by law and various statements required by the USPTO rules. If an application data sheet is filed, the USPTO rules require fewer statements in the oath or declaration. See title 37, Code of Federal Regulations, Sections 1.63 and 1.76. 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. 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 the oath or declaration filed in the earlier application may be used.

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, and the citizenship of each inventor are required. The mailing address of each inventor and foreign priority information (if any) are also required if an application data sheet is not used.

Forms for declarations are available by calling the USPTO General Information Services at 800-786-9199 or 703-308-4357 or by accessing USPTO 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.