The Manuel of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) stipulates that for a later-filed application if entitled to the benefit of an earlier-filed national application, the later-filed application must contain a specific reference to the earlier-filed application. That is, if a later-filed application intends to claim domestic or foreign priority to secure an effective filing date or an invention date, the priority claim must be literally shown in an application document like an Application Data Sheet.

The MPEP further stipulates that all applications filed on or after September 16, 2012 require the specific reference to the prior application be in the application data sheet, whereas for applications filed prior to September 16, 2012, the specific reference to the prior application must be in an application data sheet or in the first sentence(s) of the specification.

If the later filed application contains a claim to a claimed invention that has an effective filing date on or after March 16, 2013, the applicant must provide a statement to that effect within the time periods set forth in the rule. An applicant is not required to provide such a statement if the applicant reasonably believes on the basis of information already known to the individuals. Whether an application was filed before, on, or after March 16, a claim is required for priority identifying the foreign application.

The inventor’s oath or declaration provisions and the rules related thereto became effective September 16, 2012 such that the Office requires that a claim for foreign priority must be presented in the application data sheet.