37 CFR 1.63: Inventor’s Declaration Statements, Signing, and Filing

Under 37 CFR 1.63, the inventor’s oath or declaration is the signed statement every named inventor must file with a U.S. patent application, affirming they are an original inventor of the claimed invention and that the filing was authorized. The document has to identify the inventor by legal name, identify the application it belongs to, state the inventor’s belief that they are the original (or an original joint) inventor of the claimed invention, and confirm the application was filed by or with the inventor’s authorization.¹ The underlying statute, 35 U.S.C. 115, makes the oath or declaration a legal prerequisite for a utility or design patent, and it must be on file no later than the date the issue fee is paid.²

The Four Required Statements

Section 1.63(a) sets out the substance. The document must:

identify the inventor by legal name;
identify the application to which it is directed;
state that the person believes they are the original inventor or an original joint inventor of the claimed invention; and
confirm that the application was made or authorized to be made by the person executing the oath or declaration.¹

Identifying the application is straightforward once a serial number exists: put the application number and filing date on the form. For a brand-new filing where no number has been assigned, the invention title does the identifying work. Form PTO/AIA/01, the USPTO’s standard declaration for utility and design applications, has fields for each identifier.³

Mailing Address and the Application Data Sheet

Section 1.63(b) also calls for each inventor’s mailing address and, if it differs, their residence. This information only has to appear in the oath itself if it hasn’t already been provided in an Application Data Sheet under 37 CFR 1.76.¹ Because most applicants file an ADS with every application, the declaration form typically carries just the four core statements. Filing without an ADS shifts the address requirement onto the declaration itself.

Review the Application Before Signing

Section 1.63(c) requires the inventor to have reviewed and understood the entire application, including the claims, before signing.¹ The regulation also requires the inventor to be aware of the duty to disclose to the USPTO any information the inventor knows to be material to patentability under 37 CFR 1.56.

That duty extends throughout prosecution. Anyone involved with a patent application must share information that could establish a reason to reject a claim or that contradicts a position the applicant is taking during examination.⁴ Withholding known prior art can lead to an inequitable conduct finding that renders the patent unenforceable long after it issues.

The regulation sets no minimum age to sign. The signer only needs to understand the document.¹

Oath or Declaration: Which Format

An oath is sworn before an authorized official (a notary, a consular officer, or similar), and must satisfy 37 CFR 1.66. A declaration is a written statement anyone can sign without appearing before an official, provided it includes a printed acknowledgment that willful false statements are punishable under 18 U.S.C. 1001.⁵

The USPTO encourages declarations. Impressed seals on oaths don’t scan cleanly into the agency’s electronic image file wrappers, and the standard PTO/AIA/01 form is structured as a declaration. Most applicants use it.

Signing the Declaration

Section 1.63(g) governs execution. An inventor can sign under the oath rules of 37 CFR 1.66 or as a declaration that includes the 18 U.S.C. 1001 acknowledgment (fine, up to five years’ imprisonment, or both).¹

The USPTO accepts both handwritten and electronic signatures. A handwritten signature must be in permanent dark ink on paper.⁶ More common is the S-signature: the signer’s name typed between two forward slashes, such as /Jane Smith/. The S-signature rules are strict:

Only letters (including non-Latin scripts like Kanji), Arabic numerals, spaces, commas, periods, apostrophes, and hyphens are allowed between the slashes.
The signer must personally type their own name between the slashes. A secretary or paralegal cannot do it, unless the signer is physically unable to use a keyboard and directs another person keystroke-by-keystroke while watching.
The signer’s name must appear in print immediately above, below, or beside the S-signature so the identity is clear.
A registered patent practitioner using an S-signature must include their registration number as part of the signature or immediately adjacent to it.

The forward slashes cannot be added by anyone else after the signer types their name. A signature block may include pre-printed slashes for the signer to type between, but that’s the only exception.⁶

Does the Signature Need a Date

The USPTO does not check the execution date on the oath or declaration and will not reject a filing because the date is missing or stale. Even if the oath was signed more than three months before the application filing date, the Office will accept it without demanding a new one.⁵ Dating the signature is still good recordkeeping, but omitting it won’t trigger a rejection.

When to File and What Late Filing Costs

The declaration is normally submitted through Patent Center, the USPTO’s electronic filing system.⁷ If it isn’t part of the initial filing, the Office sends a Notice to File Missing Parts identifying what’s absent and giving a two-month response period.⁸

That two-month window can be stretched. Extensions of up to five additional months are available under 37 CFR 1.136(a), for a practical maximum of seven months from the notice before the application goes abandoned.⁹ Filing late always costs more. The surcharge for submitting the oath or declaration after the application filing date is $170 for a standard entity, $68 for a small entity, and $34 for a micro entity.¹⁰

Whatever the extensions, 35 U.S.C. 115(f) sets an absolute backstop: the oath or declaration must be on file before the issue fee is paid. If the application reaches allowance without a compliant oath, the patent will not issue.²

Reusing a Parent Declaration in a Continuation

A continuation, divisional, or continuation-in-part doesn’t automatically require fresh signatures. Under 37 CFR 1.63(d), a copy of the oath or declaration from the earlier-filed parent application can be submitted in the continuing application if the continuing application properly claims benefit of the parent under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c), the parent oath was compliant with section 1.63, and the copy shows the original signature or an indication it was executed.¹

Inventorship in the continuing application is determined by the Application Data Sheet filed with (or before) the copy of the parent oath. Without an ADS, inventorship defaults to what the parent oath listed. If inventorship changes between parent and continuation, a new oath or declaration is needed for any inventor not covered by the parent filing.

When an Inventor Can’t Sign: Substitute Statements

Section 1.64 permits a substitute statement in place of the oath or declaration in four situations: the inventor is deceased, legally incapacitated, cannot be found or reached after diligent effort, or has refused to sign.¹¹ The same four grounds appear in 35 U.S.C. 115(d).²

The person signing must be an applicant under the regulations: typically an assignee, an obligated assignee, or a legal representative of a deceased or incapacitated inventor. A joint inventor can sign only when the missing inventor cannot be found or has refused. The signer must identify their relationship to the inventor, explain which of the four grounds applies, and include the same acknowledgment of penalties for false statements a standard declaration carries.¹²

The substitute statement has to satisfy the same substantive requirements as a regular oath under 1.63(a) (identifying the inventor, identifying the application, and stating upon information and belief the facts the inventor would have stated), and the signer must have reviewed and understood the application, including the claims.¹¹ If the missing inventor later becomes available, they can join the application by submitting a standard oath or declaration under 1.63.

Correcting Inventorship or Fixing a Deficient Oath

Getting inventorship wrong on the initial filing happens often, especially in collaborative research. Adding or removing an inventor after filing requires a request under 37 CFR 1.48, a corrected Application Data Sheet identifying each inventor by legal name, and a processing fee of $150 for a standard entity, $60 for a small entity, or $30 for a micro entity.¹³ Any inventor being added who hasn’t already signed an oath or declaration must execute one, or a substitute statement under 1.64 must be filed on their behalf. If the correction request comes after the examiner has issued an Office action on the merits, an additional fee applies under 37 CFR 1.17(d), waived when the correction is solely due to canceling claims.¹⁴

When the problem is a deficient or inaccurate earlier oath rather than wrong inventorship, 37 CFR 1.67 allows a supplemental declaration signed by the same person whose original oath is being corrected. For simpler updates like a wrong mailing address, a corrected Application Data Sheet under 37 CFR 1.76 handles the fix without a supplemental oath, as long as who the inventors are isn’t changing.¹⁴ The USPTO will not demand a fresh oath from an inventor who already filed a compliant one for the same application.

What False Statements Cost

Every declaration includes the acknowledgment that willful false statements are punishable under 18 U.S.C. 1001, which covers knowingly making a materially false statement in any matter within federal jurisdiction. The penalty is a fine, imprisonment up to five years, or both.¹⁵

Criminal prosecution is rare. Civil consequences are not. A false inventorship declaration can support an inequitable conduct finding that renders the entire patent unenforceable, not just the claims tied to the false statement. Between the criminal exposure and the risk of losing the patent, accuracy in the oath or declaration is one of the highest-stakes steps in the application process.

1
eCFR. 37 CFR 1.63 – Inventor’s Oath or Declaration
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 35 USC 115 – Inventor’s Oath or Declaration
3
United States Patent and Trademark Office. Declaration (37 CFR 1.63) for Utility or Design Application Using an Application Data Sheet (37 CFR 1.76)
4
United States Patent and Trademark Office. MPEP Section 2001 – Duty of Disclosure, Candor, and Good Faith
5
United States Patent and Trademark Office. MPEP Section 602 – Oaths and Declarations
6
United States Patent and Trademark Office. Signatures 37 CFR 1.4
7
United States Patent and Trademark Office. Patent Center
8
United States Patent and Trademark Office. When Patent Applications Are Incomplete or Missing Information
9
United States Patent and Trademark Office. MPEP Section 710 – Period for Reply
10
eCFR. 37 CFR 1.16 – National Application Filing, Search, and Examination Fees
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eCFR. 37 CFR 1.64 – Substitute Statement in Lieu of an Oath or Declaration
12
United States Patent and Trademark Office. Instructions for Form AIA/02 – Substitute Statement in Lieu of an Oath or Declaration for Utility or Design Patent Application
13
eCFR. 37 CFR 1.17 – Patent Application and Reexamination Processing Fees
14
United States Patent and Trademark Office. MPEP Section 603 – Supplemental Oath or Declaration
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally