Have You Included Specific Reference To Every Document In Your Priority Claim?

Incorporation by reference is not sufficient to satisfy specific reference to each prior-filed patent application to be entitled to an earlier priority date (Droplets, Inc. v. E*Trade Bank (887 F.3d 1309 (2018)). This appeal to the Federal Circuit stems from a dispute between Droplets, Inc. and E*TRADE Bank, over a patent (U.S. Patent No. 8,402,115 ("the '115 Patent")) owned by Droplets. At issue is the effective filing date of Droplets' '115 patent.

The '115 Patent had a claim of priority to another patent (U.S. Patent No. 7,502,838 ("the '838 Patent")), which contained a priority claim to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/153,917 ("the '917 Provisional"), and to an intervening patent ("the '745 Patent"). The claim of priority and a cross reference to related documents were included in the '115 patent specification, col. 1, ll. 5-24, as follows: