---
kind: "section"
citation: "37 C.F.R. § 1.77"
title: "37"
number: "1.77"
heading: "Arrangement of application elements."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/37/1.77"
---

# §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](/cfr/37/1.76.md)).
  - (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) **An incorporation by reference statement regarding the material in—**
    - (i) One or more ASCII plain text files, submitted via the USPTO patent electronic filing system or on one or more read-only optical discs (see [§ 1.52(e)(8)](/cfr/37/1.52.md?p=e-8)), identifying the names of each file, the date of creation of each file, and the size of each file in bytes, for the following document types:
      - (A) A “Computer Program Listing Appendix” (see [§ 1.96(c)](/cfr/37/1.96.md?p=c));
      - (B) A “Sequence Listing” (see [§ 1.821(c)](/cfr/37/1.821.md?p=c)); or
      - (C) “Large Tables” (see [§ 1.58(c)](/cfr/37/1.58.md?p=c)).
    - (ii) An XML file for a “Sequence Listing XML” (see [§ 1.831(a)](/cfr/37/1.831.md?p=a)), submitted via the USPTO patent electronic filing system or on one or more read-only optical discs (see [§ 1.52(e)(8)](/cfr/37/1.52.md?p=e-8)), identifying the names of each file, the date of creation of each file, and the size of each file in bytes.
  - (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,” required by [§ 1.821(c)](/cfr/37/1.821.md?p=c), that is submitted as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file (as set forth in [§ 1.821(c)(2)](/cfr/37/1.821.md?p=c-2)) via the USPTO patent electronic filing system or on physical sheets of paper (as set forth in [§ 1.821(c)(3)](/cfr/37/1.821.md?p=c-3)).
- (c) The text of the specification sections defined in [paragraphs (b)(1) through (b)(12)](#b-1..b-12) of this section, if applicable, should be preceded by a section heading in uppercase and without underlining or bold type.

## Notes

### Amendments

[65 FR 54668, Sept. 8, 2000, as amended at 70 FR 1823, Jan. 11, 2005; 77 FR 48820, Aug. 14, 2012; 78 FR 11055, Feb. 14, 2013; 86 FR 57047, Oct. 14, 2021; 86 FR 73985, Dec. 29, 2021; 87 FR 30817, May 20, 2022]

### Authority

Authority: Secs. 1.71 to 1.79 also issued under 35 U.S.C. 112.

### Authority

Authority: 35 U.S.C. 2(b)(2), unless otherwise noted.

### Source

Source: 24 FR 10332, Dec. 22, 1959, unless otherwise noted.

### Amendments

[65 FR 54668, Sept. 8, 2000, as amended at 70 FR 1823, Jan. 11, 2005; 77 FR 48820, Aug. 14, 2012; 78 FR 11055, Feb. 14, 2013; 86 FR 57047, Oct. 14, 2021; 86 FR 73985, Dec. 29, 2021; 87 FR 30817, May 20, 2022]