What is the feature table in a “Sequence Listing XML”?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

The feature table in a “Sequence Listing XML” contains information on the location and roles of various regions within a particular sequence. As stated in MPEP 2413.01(g):

“A ‘feature table’ contains information on the location and roles of various regions within a particular sequence. A feature table is required for every sequence, except for any intentionally skipped sequence, in which case it must not be included.”

The feature table is contained in the element INSDSeq_feature-table, which consists of one or more INSDFeature elements. Each INSDFeature element describes one feature and includes information such as the feature key, location, and qualifiers.