The Supplemental Box of the Request form should be used where the applicant has an earlier pending United States nonprovisional application or international application designating the U.S. and wishes the later-filed international application to be treated as a continuation or continuation-in-part of such earlier application. To properly identify the parent application, the specific reference must identify the parent application by application number and indicate the relationship to the parent application (i.e., “continuation” or “continuation-in-part”). The specific reference must also indicate the filing date of the parent application if the parent application is an international application. See 37 CFR 1.78(d)(2).

The applicant may correct or add to the request any indication referred to in PCT Rule 4.11 by a notice submitted to the International Bureau within a time limit of 16 months from the priority date, provided that any notice received by the International Bureau after the expiration of that time limit shall be considered to have been received on the last day of that time limit if the notice reaches the International Bureau before the technical preparations for international publication have been completed. See PCT Rule 26quater.1. Where any correction or addition of an indication referred to in PCT Rule 4.11 is not timely received under PCT Rule 26quater.1, the International Bureau shall notify the applicant accordingly and shall proceed as provided for in the Administrative Instructions. See PCT Rule 26quater.2.

The inclusion of a proper reference to the parent application in the PCT Request form or the presence of such reference on the front page of the published international application will satisfy the requirement in 37 CFR 1.78 for the presentation of a benefit claim in an application data sheet. See 37 CFR 1.76(g). In such cases, a reference to the parent application in an application data sheet would not be required in the national stage application. Furthermore, inclusion of a proper reference to the parent application in the PCT Request form is also beneficial where applicant chooses to file a continuing application claiming benefit under 35 U.S.C. 365(c) to the international application (i.e., a bypass application) rather than entering the U.S. national phase under 35 U.S.C. 371. See MPEP § 211.02, which indicates the right to rely on a prior application may be waived by an applicant if a reference to the prior application is not included in the later-filed application.