by the United States government

“ Application for patent shall be made, or authorized to be made, by the inventor, except as otherwise provided in this title, in writing to the Commissioner. Such application shall include (1) a specification as prescribed by section 112 of this title; (2) a drawing as prescribed by section 113 of this title; and (3) an oath by the applicant as prescribed by section 115 of this title. The application must be accompanied by the fee required by law. ”

“ Filing date.—The filing date of a provisional application shall be the date on which the specification and any required drawing are received in the Patent and Trademark Office. (5) Abandonment.—Notwithstanding the absence of a claim, upon timely request and as prescribed by the Director, a provisional application may be treated as an application filed under subsection (a) . ”

“ See 1999 Amendment notes below.
1999 Subsecs. (a) (1) , (3) , (4) , (b) (1) , (3) (B) , (C) . Pub. L. 106-113, Sec. 1000 (a) (9) [title IV, Sec. 4732 (a) (10) (A) ] , as amended by Pub. L. 107-273, substituted “Director” for “Commissioner”. ”