[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 110 (Thursday, June 6, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28838-28839]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-14214]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    DOC has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
clearance the following proposal for collection of information under 
the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35).
    Agency: Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).
    Title: Rules for Patent Maintenance Fees.
    Agency Approval Number: 0651-0016.
    Form Numbers: PTO/SB/46, 46, 47, 65, and 66.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Burden: 22,640 hours.
    Number of Respondents: 273,800.
    Avg. Hours Per Response: .08 hours for PTO/SB/45/47 and 1 hour for 
PTO/SB/65/66.
    Needs and Uses: The identification of the application serial and 
patent numbers, the maintenance fee amount and the surcharge amount 
will be used by the PTO to record the payment of maintenance fees on 
patents in order to keep the patents in force. The information will be 
used to prepare a receipt for the patentee and to determine whether or 
not a maintenance fee has been paid in response to any inquiry from the 
public. The optional information of the payment year and the small 
entity status are helpful to determine the amount of the maintenance 
fee due.
    The use of PTO/SB/65/66 forms readily and conveniently indicates to 
the office that the required elements for the filing of petitions under 
37 CFR 1.378 (b) or (c) have or have not been submitted. For example, 
the above forms include the verified statement and appropriate check 
boxes (list) for indicating that the required items have been attached 
to the petition form such as the maintenance fee, small entity status, 
reason for unintentional or unavoidable delay and surcharge. The top of 
the form indicates a space for the patent number, issue date, the 
application serial number and corresponding filing date. This 
identifying assists PTO in matching the fee with appropriate patent.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households, business or other for-
profit institutions, not-for-profit institutions, and Federal 
government.
    Frequency: three (3) times, once every four years for payment of 
maintenance fees and on occasion for petitions to reinstate an expired 
patent.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.
    OMB Desk Officer: Maya A. Bernstein, (202) 395-3785.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Linda Engelmeier, Acting DOC Forms Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-3271, Department of Commerce, room 5312, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, Washington, DC 20230.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent to

[[Page 28839]]

Maya Bernstein, OMB Desk Officer, room 10236, New Executive Office 
Building, Washington DC 20503.

    Dated: May 30, 1996.
Linda Engelmeier,
Acting Departmental Forms Clearance Officer, Office of Management and 
Organization.
[FR Doc. 96-14214 Filed 6-5-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P