What are the requirements for citing NPL documents in an IDS?

What are the requirements for citing NPL documents in an IDS?

When citing Non-Patent Literature (NPL) documents in an Information Disclosure Statement (IDS), specific requirements must be met to ensure proper identification and consideration. According to MPEP 609.04(a):

“Each publication listed in an information disclosure statement must be identified by publisher, author (if any), title, relevant pages of the publication, date, and place of publication.”

The MPEP further clarifies:

  • For publications obtained from the Internet, the uniform resource locator (URL) of the Web page that is the source of the publication must be provided for the place of publication (e.g., “www.uspto.gov”).
  • The date of publication to be provided is the date the document was posted on the Internet. If no publication date is known, the applicant must specify in the IDS that no publication date is known.

Additionally:

  • For NPL not in the English language, a concise explanation of the relevance is required unless a complete translation is provided.
  • If citing a document that is only available as a scanned copy, include “(scanned copy)” after the document’s title in the citation.

Providing complete and accurate information for NPL citations helps examiners efficiently locate and consider these references during the examination process.

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Topics: Patent Law, Patent Procedure
Tags: citation format, Ids, Non Patent Literature, Npl, patent procedure