What is the incorporation-by-reference paragraph for Sequence Listings?

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 incorporation-by-reference paragraph is a crucial element when submitting a Sequence Listing as an ASCII text file. According to MPEP 2427, this paragraph must be inserted into the specification and should include:

• The name of the ASCII text file
• The date of creation of the file
• The size of the file in bytes

For example:

The Sequence Listing associated with this application is filed in electronic format via EFS-Web and is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification in its entirety. The name of the text file containing the Sequence Listing is [NAME].txt. The date of creation of the Sequence Listing is [DATE], and the size of the file in bytes is [SIZE].

Failure to include this paragraph or providing incomplete information can result in non-compliance and may require correction by the applicant.