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608.05(b) Compact Disc Submissions of Large Tables [R-7] - 600 Parts, Form, and Content of Application
608.05(b) Compact Disc Submissions of Large Tables [R-7]
37 CFR 1.58 Chemical and mathematical formulae and tables.
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(b) Tables that are submitted in electronic form (§§ 1.96(c) and 1.821(c)) must maintain the spatial relationships (e.g., alignment of columns and rows) of the table elements when displayed so as to visually preserve the relational information they convey. Chemical and mathematical formulae must be encoded to maintain the proper positioning of their characters when displayed in order to preserve their intended meaning.
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The provisions of 37 CFR 1.52 and 37 CFR 1.58 for submitting specifications and tables on paper have been found suitable for most patent applications. However, when lengthy tables must be disclosed in a patent application in order to provide a complete disclosure, use of paper copies can become burdensome. The cost of printing long tables in patent documents is also very expensive to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In the past, all disclosures forming part of a patent application were presented on paper with the exception of microorganisms and computer program listings. Under 37 CFR 1.58, several different methods for submitting large tables, including the use of CD-ROM and CD-R, are set forth. If CD-R discs are used, 37 CFR 1.52(e)(3)(i) requires that the CD-R discs to be finalized so that they are closed to further writing to the CD-R.
The files stored on the compact disc containing the table must contain only ASCII characters. No special formatting characters or proprietary file formats are permitted. Accordingly, great care must be taken so that the spatial arrangement of the data in rows and columns is maintained in the table when the file is opened for viewing at the Office. This will allow the table to viewed with virtually any text viewer. A single table contained on fifty pages or less must be submitted either as drawings (in compliance with 37 CFR 1.84) or as part of the specification in paper (in compliance with 37 CFR 1.52).
A single table contained on 51 pages or more, or if there are multiple tables in an application and the total number of pages of the tables exceeds one hundred pages, the tables may be submitted on a CD-ROM or CD-R (in compliance with 37 CFR 1.52(e) and 37 CFR 1.58). A table page is defined in 37 CFR 1.52(e)(1)(iii) as a page printed on paper in conformance with 37 CFR 1.52(b) and 1.58(c). The presentation of a subheading to divide a large table into smaller sections of less than 51 pages should not be used to prevent an applicant from submitting the table on a compact disc unless the subdivided tables are presented as numerous files on the compact disc so as to lose their relationship to the overall large table.
Tables in landscape orientation should be identified as landscape orientation in the transmittal letter accompanying the compact disc to allow the Office to properly upload the tables into the Image File Wrapper (IFW) or other automated systems. 37 CFR 1.52(e)(3)(ii). Most tables filed with patent applications are intended to be rendered in portrait mode. Accordingly, filings without an identification of landscape mode will be rendered as portrait mode tables by the Office.
If tables on more than two hundred consecutive pages, or large numbers of tables (lengthy tables) are submitted on a CD as provided in 37 CFR 1.52(e), or in an electronic format in response to a specific request from the Office of **>Data Management<, these lengthy tables will not be published as part of a patent document (e.g., patent, patent application publication or Statutory Invention Registration (SIR)). The lengthy tables will be published separately on the sequence homepage of the USPTO Internet web site (http://seqdata.uspto.gov) as an XML file. See, for example, patent application publication nos. US 2003/0235811 A1 and US 2003/0237110 A9.
When the lengthy tables are separately published on the USPTO Internet web site, there will be a standardized "Lengthy Table" statement, in the patent document following of the detailed description (see 37 CFR 1.77(b)(8)).
For a patent application publication, the following page-wide text would appear:
LENGTHY TABLE
The patent application contains a lengthy table section. A copy of the table is available in electronic form from the USPTO web site (http://seqdata.uspto.gov/?pageRequest=docDetail&docID=20047654321). An electronic copy of the table will also be available from the USPTO upon request and payment of the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.19(b)(3).
For a patent, the following page-wide text would appear:
LENGTHY TABLE
The patent contains a lengthy table section. A copy of the table is available in electronic form from the USPTO web site (http://seqdata.uspto.gov/?pageRequest=docDetail&docID=7654321B1). An electronic copy of the table will also be available from the USPTO upon request and payment of the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.19(b)(3).
For a SIR, the following page-wide text would appear:
LENGTHY TABLE
The statutory invention registration contains a lengthy table section. A copy of the table is available in electronic form from the USPTO web site (http://seqdata.uspto.gov/?pageRequest=docDetail&docID=H0009999H1). An electronic copy of the table will also be available from the USPTO upon request and payment of the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.19(b)(3).
The Office discourages the embedding of a lengthy table in the specification of a patent application. If a lengthy table is embedded in the specification of a patent application, and if the lengthy table is available in an electronic form (either XML or a format convertible to XML), when the patent, patent application publication or SIR is published, the following single-column statement will be inserted in place of each replaced table in the document.
LENGTHY TABLE
Lengthy table referenced here. Please refer to the end of the specification for access instructions.
Form paragraphs 6.63.01 and 6.63.02 may be used to notify applicant of corrections needed to comply with the requirements of 37 CFR 1.52(e) and 37 CFR 1.58(b) with respect to tables.
¶ 6.63.01 CD-ROM/CD-R Requirements (Table Listing in Specification)The description portion of this application contains a table consisting of less than fifty one (51) pages only on a CD-ROM or CD-R. In accordance with 37 CFR 1.52(e), only a table of at least fifty one (51) pages may be submitted on a CD-ROM or CD-R. Accordingly, applicant is required to cancel the references to the CD-ROM/CD-R table appearing in the specification on pages[1], file a paper version of the table in compliance with 37 CFR 1.52 and change all appropriate references to the former CD-ROM/CD-R table to the newly added paper version of the table in the remainder of the specification.
Examiner Note:
1. This form paragraph must be used whenever a table on a CD-ROM or CD-R consisting of less than fifty one (51) pages as part of the descriptive portion of the specification is filed on or after September 8, 2000. See MPEP § 608.05(b).
2. In bracket 1, insert the range of page numbers of the specification which reference the table.
¶ 6.63.02 Table on CD-ROM/CD-R Column/Row Relationship Not MaintainedThis application contains a table on CD-ROM/CD-R. Tables presented on CD-ROM/CD-R in compliance with 37 CFR 1.58 must maintain the spacial orientation of the cell entries. The table submitted does not maintain the data within each table cell in its proper row/column alignment. The data is misaligned in the table as follows: [1]. Applicant is required to submit a replacement compact disc with the table data properly aligned.
Examiner Note:
1. This form paragraph must be used whenever the data in a table cannot be accurately read because the data in the table cells do not maintain their row and column alignments.
2. In bracket 1, insert the area of the table that does not maintain the row and column alignments.
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