¶ 15.26 Identification of Prior Application(s) in Nonprovisional Applications - Benefit Claimed
Applicant is reminded of the following requirement:
To claim the benefit of a prior-filed application, a continuation or divisional application (other than a continued prosecution application filed under 37 CFR 1.53(d) ), must include a specific reference to the prior-filed application in compliance with 37 CFR 1.78. If the application was filed before September 16, 2012, the specific reference must be included in the first sentence(s) of the specification following the title or in an application data sheet; if the application was filed on or after September 16, 2012, the specific reference must be included in an application data sheet. For benefit claims under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c), the reference must include the relationship (i.e., continuation, divisional, or continuation-in-part) of the applications.