U.S. patent applicants, and others who are substantively involved in the application’s preparation or prosecution, are required to submit information, material to patentability, to the USPTO in the form of an “Information Disclosure Statement” (IDS) (forms PTO/SB 08a & PTO/SB 08b).
The IDS must include a list (known by the inventor) of all publications, patents, U.S. patent applications, or any other information considered material to patentability.