[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 40 (Tuesday, February 29, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10762-10763]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-4730]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request


The Department of Commerce (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: Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Certificate Action Form.
    Form Number: PTO-2042.
    OMB Approval Number: None.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Burden Hours: 5,000 hours per year.
    Number of Respondents: 10,000 responses per year.
    Average Hours per Response: The PTO estimates that it takes 
approximately 20 minutes for registered attorneys and 30 minutes for 
independent (Pro se) inventors to read the instructions, gather the 
necessary information, complete the form, read and sign the 
subscriber's agreement, read and sign any necessary user licenses, and 
submit the form and agreements to the PTO. The extra ten minutes 
accounts for the requirement for independent inventors to take two 
forms of identification to a notary and have the form notarized.
    Needs and Uses: In order to access patent application information 
through the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system and 
to take

[[Page 10763]]

advantage of electronic filing for the patent applications, applicants 
will need to obtain a digital certificate. PTO Form PTO-2042 was 
created for this purpose. Applicants can also use this form to request 
revocation of a digital certificate or to initiate proceedings for key 
recovery. In addition to the information collected from this form, the 
PTO also needs to ensure that applicants understand the regulations 
governing the use of the digital certificate and the software which 
creates and validates the encryption keys that is provided to the 
applicant. A subscriber agreement detailing the customer's obligations 
is also included with the form, in addition to a user's license for the 
PTO-provided software that customers load onto their computers. The 
public uses the PKI Certificate Action form (including the subscriber's 
agreements and the user licenses) to apply for a digital certificate or 
to request that the PTO revoke the certificate or initiate key recovery 
procedures. The subscriber's agreement and the user's license for the 
Entrust software are used by the public to acknowledge acceptance of 
the regulations, terms, and conditions governing the digital 
certificates and the Entrust software. The PTO uses these forms to 
issue digital certificates, to forward the Entrust software to the 
appropriate client, and to inform the public of the limitations on 
their right to use the software. The PTO considers the subscriber's 
agreement to be a legal binding document which demonstrates that the 
applicant has read the regulations governing the use of the digital 
certificate and agrees to abide by these regulations. The PTO uses the 
data collected from these forms to create the unique name that is 
needed to create the encryption keys and to communicate with the 
customer regarding the granting of the certificate and the distribution 
of the client software.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households, businesses or other 
for-profit, not-for-profit institutions, farms, Federal, state, local, 
or tribal governments.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    OMB Desk Officer: Peter Weiss, (202) 395-3630.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Linda Engelmeier, Departmental Forms Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-3272, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Department of Commerce, Room 5027, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20230.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication to Peter Weiss, 
OMB Desk Officer, Room 10236, New Executive Office Building, 725 17th 
Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20503.

    Dated: February 24, 2000.
Linda Engelmeier,
Departmental Forms Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer.
[FR Doc. 00-4730 Filed 2-28-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P