What are the requirements for claiming benefit of an earlier national application under 37 CFR 1.78?

The requirements for claiming benefit of an earlier national application under 37 CFR 1.78 include:

• A specific reference to the earlier-filed application in the later-filed application
• For applications filed on or after September 16, 2012, the specific reference must be in the application data sheet (ADS)
• For applications filed before September 16, 2012, the specific reference must be in the ADS or in the first sentence(s) of the specification
• Meeting time requirements for filing the benefit claim
• In some cases, providing a statement regarding the effective filing date of claims

The MPEP states: “Whether an application was filed before, on, or after March 16, 2013, statutory provisions require that for a later-filed application to be entitled to the benefit of an earlier-filed national application, the later-filed application must contain a specific reference to the earlier-filed application.”