Information disclosure statement

An information disclosure statement (IDS) is a list of all patents, publications, U.S. applications, or other information submitted for consideration by the U.S. Patent Office in a non-provisional patent application filed under 35 U.S.C. § 111(a) to comply with applicant's duty to submit to the Office information which is material to patentability of the invention claimed in the non-provisional application.

For patent applications filed under 35 U.S.C. § 111(a), applicants and other individuals who are substantively involved in preparing or prosecuting a patent application must submit to the Office information which is material to patentability (could render a claim unpatentable) as defined in 37 C.F.R. §1.56. The provisions of 37 C.F.R. §1.97 and 37 C.F.R. §1.98 provide a mechanism for compliance with the duty of disclosure provided in 37 C.F.R. §1.56. The USPTO provides forms for use in the submission of an IDS, the PTO/SB/08a and PTO/SB/08b.