Can an oath or declaration from a provisional application be used for a nonprovisional application?
Can an oath or declaration from a provisional application be used for a nonprovisional application?
No, an oath or declaration from a provisional application cannot be used for a subsequent nonprovisional application. The MPEP 602.05 states:
‘The oath or declaration filed in a provisional application is not sufficient for the purposes of a nonprovisional application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) or a national stage application filed under 35 U.S.C. 371, even if the nonprovisional application claims the benefit of the provisional application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e).’
This means that when converting a provisional application to a nonprovisional application or filing a nonprovisional application claiming priority to a provisional, a new oath or declaration must be submitted. This requirement ensures that the inventors properly declare their inventorship for the nonprovisional application, which may contain additional or modified content compared to the provisional application.
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