How to file a nonprovisional patent application

What a nonprovisional application must contain

35 U.S.C. 111(a) requires a specification under section 112, drawings under section 113 and an oath or declaration under section 115, with the fee. 37 CFR 1.51(b) spells out a complete application:

• Specification with a written description, at least one claim and an abstract, in the section order of 37 CFR 1.77(b). The utility patent guide lists the sections.
• Drawings wherever they help understand the invention, meeting 37 CFR 1.84 (drawing requirements).
• Inventor's oath or declaration from each inventor (37 CFR 1.63), or a substitute statement where an inventor is deceased, unavailable or refuses (1.64).
• Fees: basic filing, search and examination fees, plus any excess claim and size fees.
• Application data sheet (37 CFR 1.76). Not listed in 1.51(b), but required for any benefit or priority claim, and needed if you want to postpone the declarations.

The filing date is the day the USPTO receives a specification, with or without claims (35 U.S.C. 111(a)(4); 37 CFR 1.53(b)). Claims, fees and the declaration can follow within the period the USPTO sets, with a surcharge (1.53(f)). That lets you lock in a date in an emergency, but the disclosure is frozen on that day: nothing can be added later without a new application and a new date. File a complete application whenever you can.

Who may file: since July 20, 2026, applicants domiciled outside the United States must be represented by a registered patent practitioner (Federal Register, March 20, 2026). US-domiciled individual inventors can still file on their own behalf.

Nonprovisional patent application fees

Every utility nonprovisional pays three fees at filing. Amounts are from the USPTO fee schedule effective January 19, 2025, which is still current.

Worked example: a small entity files in Patent Center, in DOCX, with 24 claims of which 4 are independent. It pays $730 plus $320 for the 4 claims over 20 and $240 for the fourth independent claim: $1,290. The same filing as a PDF would add $172. The issue fee, maintenance fees and everything else are in USPTO patent fees.

Claiming the benefit of a provisional

Under 35 U.S.C. 119(e)(1), a nonprovisional gets the filing date of a provisional application for an invention the provisional disclosed, if four things are true:

1. It is filed no later than 12 months after the provisional. If day 365 is a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday, the next business day counts (35 U.S.C. 21(b)).
2. At least one inventor named in the nonprovisional is named in the provisional (37 CFR 1.78(a)(2)).
3. It contains a specific reference to the provisional by application number, in the ADS, filed within the later of 4 months from the nonprovisional's filing date or 16 months from the provisional's (37 CFR 1.78(a)(3)-(4)). Late claims need a petition under 1.78(c).
4. The provisional's filing fee was paid on time.

The benefit is claim by claim. A claim gets the provisional date only if the provisional describes and enables what that claim covers (MPEP 211.05, citing New Railhead v. Vermeer). Anything new in the nonprovisional is dated from the nonprovisional. Before you file, compare each claim with the provisional text and note where the support is.

Missed the 12 months? If the delay was unintentional, you can file within the following 2 months with a petition to restore the benefit under 37 CFR 1.78(b), costing $2,260 ($904 small, $452 micro). After 14 months the provisional is gone and cannot be revived (35 U.S.C. 111(b)(5)). For how the two filings compare, see provisional vs nonprovisional.

Filing in Patent Center, in DOCX

File through Patent Center, the USPTO's electronic filing system. Filing there keeps you clear of the non-electronic filing fee. Paper filing is still possible but costs $400 ($200 small) more under 37 CFR 1.16(t).

The non-DOCX surcharge is still in force as of October 26, 2026. Under 37 CFR 1.16(u), a utility nonprovisional filed on or after January 17, 2024 whose specification, claims or abstract do not conform to the DOCX requirements pays $430 ($172 small, $86 micro). According to the USPTO's DOCX page (updated August 10, 2026):

• it applies to new utility nonprovisionals, including continuations, divisionals and continuations-in-part, but not to design, plant or provisional applications;
• drawings can be filed as PDF without the fee;
• a preliminary amendment filed on the filing date is part of the original disclosure, so it must also be DOCX, or be filed later as a follow-on submission;
• you can upload an auxiliary PDF of the same documents as a backup at no charge, an option the USPTO has extended until further notice. If the DOCX conversion garbles something, the auxiliary PDF is your evidence of what you meant to file.

Practical points: use standard fonts, check the USPTO's accepted DOCX features before you rely on unusual formatting, and review the PDF that Patent Center generates from your DOCX before you submit.

What happens after you file

Publication and the nonpublication request

Under 35 U.S.C. 122(b), the application is published promptly after 18 months from the earliest filing date for which benefit is sought. You can keep it unpublished until grant only by filing a nonpublication request with the application, certifying that the invention has not been and will not be the subject of a foreign or international application that publishes at 18 months (37 CFR 1.213). If you later file abroad, you must rescind it and tell the USPTO within 45 days, or the application is abandoned.

Getting examined faster

Track One prioritized examination (37 CFR 1.102(e)) costs $4,515 ($1,806 small, $903 micro), limits the application to 4 independent and 30 total claims with no multiple dependent claims, and takes the application out of turn, ahead of the regular queue. The USPTO raised the cap to 20,000 accepted requests a fiscal year in 2025 (Federal Register, July 8, 2025). The older Accelerated Examination program was discontinued (Federal Register, June 10, 2025). A petition to make special based on an inventor's age or health is free (1.102(c)).

When the first action arrives, our guide to responding to a USPTO office action covers deadlines, fees and strategy. Claims you drop to get the case allowed can be pursued later in a continuation application, filed while this one is still pending.

More USPTO guides

• How to file a provisional patent application (US)

  What a US provisional must contain, the USPTO fees, the 12-month deadline under 35 U.S.C. 119(e), and when to skip it.

• USPTO patent fees (2026)

  Every USPTO patent fee for large, small and micro entities, from filing to maintenance, with a fee calculator.

• Patent drawing requirements: USPTO, EPO and India

  37 CFR 1.84, the EPO rules that replaced Rule 46 EPC, and Indian rule 15, compared side by side.

• How to write patent claims: USPTO, EPO and India

  Claim structure and worked examples, then the claim rules and fees at the USPTO, the EPO and the Indian Patent Office, side by side.

• How to respond to a USPTO office action

  Reply deadlines and extension fees, 101, 102, 103 and 112 rejections, interviews, and options after a final rejection.

• Types of patent searches, and which one you need

  Patentability, freedom-to-operate, invalidity and landscape searches compared by purpose, timing, scope and deliverable.

• Patentability search: how to check novelty before you file

  What counts as prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102 and Art. 54 EPC, the grace period gap, search steps and how to read results.

• Freedom-to-operate search in the US and Europe

  In-force claims only, legal status checks at the USPTO, EPO and UPC, FTO opinions after Halo, and design-arounds.

• Invalidity search: prior art to challenge a patent

  IPR, PGR, EPO opposition and UPC revocation deadlines, prior art dates, standards documents and claim charts.

• Patent landscape analysis, step by step

  Building a CPC and keyword dataset, cleaning families and names, the metrics that matter and the 18-month publication lag.

• How to use USPTO Patent Public Search

  Basic and Advanced Search, the three databases, field codes, ADJ, NEAR, WITH and SAME, truncation and a worked search.

• Google Patents search guide

  Search operators and fields, Boolean and proximity syntax, non-patent literature, and where Google Patents falls short of the official databases.

• The Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC), explained

  How CPC symbols are built, CPC against IPC, the Y section, how to find the right class and how to search it in each database.

• Patent search Boolean operators and search strings

  Boolean, proximity and truncation syntax compared across Patent Public Search, Espacenet, Google Patents and The Lens, with semantic search for contrast.

• How to respond to a 35 U.S.C. 101 rejection

  The Alice/Mayo steps in MPEP 2106, Ex parte Desjardins and the 2024-2026 USPTO guidance, Berkheimer evidence and Rule 132 eligibility declarations.

• How to respond to a 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection

  Anticipation under MPEP 2131, AIA 102(a)(1) and (a)(2), the 102(b) exceptions, inherency and Rule 130 declarations.

• How to respond to a 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection

  Graham and the KSR rationales in MPEP 2143, teaching away, motivation to combine, secondary considerations with nexus, and Rule 132 evidence.

• How to respond to a 35 U.S.C. 112 rejection

  Written description and enablement after Amgen, 112(b) indefiniteness, 112(f) means-plus-function after Williamson, and 112(d) dependent claims.

• The PCT application: timeline, fees and national phase

  The international phase month by month, receiving Office and ISA fees in CHF, USD and EUR, national phase deadlines by office, and a deadline calculator.

• Entering the US national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371

  The 30-month deadline and revival, the 371 requirements, national stage fees by entity size, and 371 versus a bypass continuation.

• The US foreign filing license (35 U.S.C. 184)

  When a US-made invention needs a license to be filed abroad, the six-month rule, expedited and retroactive licenses, and the Indian and European equivalents.

• Filing a US patent from Europe or India

  The 2026 US practitioner rule for foreign applicants, Paris priority and certified copies, small entity status, PCT or direct, fees and translations.

• What is a utility patent?

  What a US utility patent covers under 35 U.S.C. 101, the parts of the application in 37 CFR 1.77 order, the 20-year term and USPTO costs.

• Design patents in the United States

  What a design patent protects, drawings and the single claim, the 15-year term, Hague filings, LKQ v. GM, and design vs utility patents.

• Provisional vs nonprovisional patent application

  The two US filings side by side, the cost of each route, the effect on term and publication, and a guide to which to file.

• Continuation, CIP and divisional applications

  Copendency, patent term, double patenting and terminal disclaimers, the 2025 continuing application fee, and continuation strategy.

• How much does a patent cost?

  USPTO fees by entity size from filing to the last maintenance fee, what drives professional fees, EPO fees, and an estimator.

• How to patent an idea in the US

  Nine steps from patentability and search to provisional filing, Patent Center, examination and maintenance, with the USPTO's free help programs.

• Small entity vs micro entity status

  Who qualifies under 37 CFR 1.27 and 1.29, the 2026 income limit, SB/15A and SB/15B, license traps, fixing errors, and an eligibility checker.

• How long does a patent last?

  US utility and design terms, patent term adjustment and extension, terminal disclaimers, maintenance fee deadlines, Europe and India, with an expiry estimator.

• Can AI write a patent application?

  What AI drafting does well and badly, the USPTO and EPO positions on AI tools, AI inventorship after 2025, and confidentiality.

• Restriction requirements and election of species

  How to answer a USPTO restriction or election of species requirement, from traverse and rejoinder to divisionals and unity in 371 cases.

• Options after a final rejection

  Amendment after final, advisory actions, the end of AFCP 2.0, RCE, pre-appeal and appeal, with fees, timing and USPTO outcome data.

• Request for continued examination (RCE)

  What 37 CFR 1.114 requires, first and later RCE fees, patent term effects, and when an RCE beats an appeal.

• Information disclosure statements (IDS)

  The duty of disclosure, IDS timing windows and fees, the 2025 size fee, EPO search reports, Therasense and QPIDS.

• PTAB ex parte appeals

  Notice of appeal to decision step by step, with fees, deadlines and the PTAB's FY 2026 pendency and outcome statistics.

• Track One prioritized examination

  Track One requirements, fees by entity size, the 20,000 annual cap and USPTO timing data, plus PPH and age or health petitions.

• 35 U.S.C., annotated: US patent law section by section

  The current text of 34 key sections of Title 35 with plain-English summaries, key cases, 37 CFR rules and MPEP references.

All guides, by patent office