1.77 Arrangement of application elements.
- (a) The elements of the application, if applicable, should appear in the following order:
- (1) Utility application transmittal form.
- (2) Fee transmittal form.
- (3) Application data sheet (see § 1.76 ).
- (4) Specification.
- (5) Drawings.
- (6) The inventor’s oath or declaration.

- (b) The specification should include the following sections in order:
- (1) Title of the invention, which may be accompanied by an introductory portion stating the name, citizenship, and residence of the applicant (unless included in the application data sheet).
- (2) Cross-reference to related applications.
- (3) Statement regarding federally sponsored research or development.
- (4) The names of the parties to a joint research agreement.
- (5) Reference to a "Sequence Listing," a table, or a computer program listing appendix submitted on a compact disc and an incorporation-by-reference of the material on the compact disc (see § 1.52(e)(5)). The total number of compact discs including duplicates and the files on each compact disc shall be specified.
- (6) Statement regarding prior disclosures by the inventor or a joint inventor.
- (7) Background of the invention.
- (8) Brief summary of the invention.
- (9) Brief description of the several views of the drawing.
- (10) Detailed description of the invention.
- (11) A claim or claims.
- (12) Abstract of the disclosure.
- (13) "Sequence Listing," if on paper (see §§ 1.821 through 1.825 ).

- (c) The text of the specification sections defined in paragraphs (b)(1) through (b)(12) of this section, if applicable, should be preceded by a section heading in uppercase and without underlining or bold type.

[43 FR 20464, May 11, 1978; 46 FR 2612, Jan. 12, 1981; paras. (h) and (i), 48 FR 2696, Jan. 20, 1983, effective Feb. 27, 1983; revised, 61 FR 42790, Aug. 19, 1996, effective Sept. 23, 1996; revised, 65 FR 54604, Sept. 8, 2000, effective Nov. 7, 2000; paras. (b) and (c) revised, 70 FR 1818, Jan. 11, 2005, effective Dec. 10, 2004; para. (a)(6) revised, 77 FR 48776, Aug. 14, 2012, effective Sept. 16, 2012; para. (b)(2) revised, (b)(6)-(12) redesignated as (b)(7)-(13), and para. (b)(6) added, 78 FR 11024, Feb. 14, 2013, effective Mar. 16, 2013]