[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 76 (Monday, April 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21838-21840]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08344]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Appeals
ACTION: Notice of renewal of information collection; request for
comment.
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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on
the renewal and revision of an existing information collection: 0651-
0063 (Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Appeals).
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before June 19, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0063 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Mail: Kimberly Hardy, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450,
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Michael Tierney, Vice Chief Administrative Patent
Judge, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, United States Patent and
Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by
telephone at 571-272-9797; or by email to [email protected].
Additional information about this information collection is also
available at http://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection
Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) is established by
statute under 35 U.S.C. 6. This statute directs, in relevant part, that
PTAB shall ``on written appeal of an applicant, review adverse
decisions of examiners upon applications for patents pursuant to
section 134(a).'' PTAB has the authority, under 35 U.S.C. 134 and 306
to decide appeals in applications and ex parte reexamination
proceedings, and under pre-AIA sections of the Patent Act, i.e., 35
U.S.C. 134 and 315, to decide appeals in inter partes reexamination
proceedings. In addition, 35 U.S.C. 6 establishes the membership of
PTAB as the Director, the Deputy Director, the Commissioner for
Patents, the Commissioner for Trademarks, and the Administrative Patent
Judges. Each appeal is decided by a merits panel of at least three
members of the Board. The Board's responsibilities under the statute
include the review of ex parte appeals from adverse decisions of
examiners in those situations where a written appeal is taken by a
dissatisfied applicant or patent owner. In inter partes reexamination
appeals, PTAB reviews examiner's decisions adverse to a patent owner or
a third-party requester. PTAB's opinions and decisions for publicly
available files are published on the USPTO website.
The items associated with this information collection include
appeals in applications and ex parte reexamination proceedings, and
appeals in inter partes reexamination proceedings that are governed by
the regulations in 37 CFR 41. Failure to comply with the appropriate
regulations may result in dismissal of the appeal or denial of entry of
the submission.
The name of this information collection is being changed from
``PTAB Actions'' to ``PTAB Appeals'' to better reflect the content of
the information collection. In addition, this renewal adds three items
currently approved in another information collection (0651-0031: Patent
Processing) to include all items related to patent appeals in a single
information collection. These three items are: Notice of Appeal,
Amendment to Cancel Claims During an Appeal, and Request for Oral
Hearing. A separate change request will be submitted to remove these
three items from that information collection (0651-0031: Patent
Processing).
II. Method of Collection
Items in this information collection may be submitted via mail,
hand delivery, facsimile, or filed as attachments through the USPTO's
Web-based electronic filing system (EFS-Web).
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0063.
Form Number(s): (AIA = American Invents; SB = Specimen Book):
[[Page 21839]]
PTO/AIA/31: (Notice of Appeal from the Examiner to the
Patent Trial and Appeal Board).
PTO/SB/31: (Notice of Appeal).
PTO/AIA/32: (Request for Oral Hearing before the Patent
Trial and Appeal Board).
PTO/SB/32: (Request for Oral Hearing before the Patent
Trial and Appeal Board).
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved information
collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; private sector. The
USPTO estimates that the majority (95%) of respondents (i.e.,
applicants, patent owners, and requesters) will be from the private
sector, but that about 5% will be individuals and households.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 22,664 respondents.
Estimated Number of Responses: 48,886 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it takes the
public approximately .5 to 32 hours to complete this information
collection, depending on the complexity of the request. This includes
the time to gather the necessary information, prepare the brief,
petition, and other papers, and submit the completed request to the
USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 565,927 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $226,370,800. The
USPTO expects that all of the responses in this information collection
will be prepared by an intellectual property attorney. The attorney
rates are found in the 2019 Report of the Economic Survey of the
America Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA).\1\ Using the
professional hourly rate of $400 for attorneys in private firms, the
USPTO estimates that the total respondent cost burden for this
information collection is $226,370,800 per year.
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\1\ The AIPLA 2019 rate of $400, for attorneys in private firms,
is lower than the 2017 rate; this difference explains some (or all)
of any reductions in the total hourly cost burden.
Table 1--Burden Hour/Burden Cost to Respondents
[Private sector]
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Responses Burden (hrs/ Total cost ($/
Item No. Item Respondents (yr) Hours yr) Rate ($/hr) hr)
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)
(a) x (b) (c) x (d)
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1................... Notice of Appeal..... 21,531..................... 21,531 .5 10,766 $400 $4,306,400
2................... Appeal Brief......... Same as item 1............. 15,188 32 486,016 400 194,406,400
3................... Amendment to Cancel Same as item 1............. 1,495 2 2,990 400 1,196,000
Claims.
4................... Reply Brief.......... Same as item 1............. 7,060 5 35,300 400 14,120,000
5................... Request for Rehearing Same as item 1............. 390 5 1,950 400 780,000
Before the PTAB.
6................... Petitions to the Same as item 1............. 65 4 260 400 104,000
Chief Administrative
Patent Judge Under
37 CFR 41.3.
7................... Request for Oral Same as item 1............. 712 .5 356 400 142,400
Hearing.
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Totals.......... ..................... 21,531..................... 46,441 .............. 537,638 .............. 215,055,200
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Table 2--Burden Hour/Burden Cost to Respondents (Individuals and Households)
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Responses Burden (hrs/ Total cost ($/
Item No. Item Respondents (yr) Hours yr) Rate ($/hr) hr)
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)
(a) x (b) (c) x (d)
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1................... Notice of Appeal..... 1,133...................... 1,133 .5 567 $400 $226,800
2................... Appeal Brief......... Same as item 1............. 799 32 25,568 400 10,227,200
3................... Amendment to Cancel Same as item 1............. 79 2 158 400 63,200
Claims.
4................... Reply Brief.......... Same as item 1............. 372 5 1,860 400 744,000
5................... Request for Rehearing Same as item 1............. 21 5 105 400 42,000
Before the PTAB.
6................... Petitions to the Same as item 1............. 3 4 12 400 4,800
Chief Administrative
Patent Judge Under
37 CFR 41.3.
7................... Request for Oral Same as item 1............. 38 .5 19 $400 $7,600
Hearing.
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Totals.......... ..................... 1,133...................... 2,445 .............. 28,289 .............. 11,315,600
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Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $48,712,078
($48,704,205 in fees and $7,873 in postage costs). There are no
maintenance, operation, capital start-up, or recordkeeping costs
associated with
[[Page 21840]]
this information collection. However, this information collection does
have annual (non-hour) costs in the form of postage costs and fees,
which are explained below.
Table 3--Filing Fees
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Estimated
Item No. Item annual Fee ($) Total cost ($)
responses
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1........................... Notice of appeal (large).......... 16,092 $840 $13,517,280
1........................... Notice of appeal (small).......... 5,439 420 2,284,380
1........................... Notice of appeal (micro).......... 1,133 210 237,930
2........................... Filing a brief in support of an 7 2,100 14,700
appeal in an inter partes
reexamination proceeding (large).
2........................... Filing a brief in support of an 2 1,050 2,100
appeal in an inter partes
reexamination proceeding (small).
2........................... Filing a brief in support of an 1 525 525
appeal in an inter partes
reexamination proceeding (micro).
2........................... Filing a Brief in Support of an 15,987 0 0
Appeal in an Application or Ex
Parte Reexamination Proceeding to
the Board.
4........................... Forwarding an Appeal in an 11,351 2,360 26,788,360
Application or Ex Parte
Reexamination Proceeding to the
Board (large).
4........................... Forwarding an Appeal in an 3,837 1,180 4,527,660
Application or Ex Parte
Reexamination Proceeding to the
Board (small).
4........................... Forwarding an Appeal in an 799 590 471,410
Application or Ex Parte
Reexamination Proceeding to the
Board (micro).
7........................... Request for oral hearing (large).. 533 1,360 724,880
7........................... Request for oral hearing (small).. 180 680 122,400
7........................... Request for oral hearing (micro).. 37 340 12,580
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Total................... .................................. 55,398 .............. 48,704,205
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The briefs, petitions, and other papers may be submitted by mail
through the United States Postal Service (USPS). The USPTO expects that
about 2% of items in this information collection will be mailed by
Express Mail using the flat rate envelope, resulting in an estimated
postage cost of $7,873.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information
collection. All comments will become a matter of public record.
The USPTO invites public comments on:
(a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have practical utility;
(b) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden (including
hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information;
(c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
respondents, e.g., the use of automated collection techniques or other
forms of information technology.
Kimberly Hardy,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2020-08344 Filed 4-17-20; 8:45 am]
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