[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 89 (Thursday, May 8, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 24727]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-11422]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) 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: United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
    Title: Initial Patent Applications.
    Form Number(s): PTO/SB/01/01A/02A/02B/02LR/03/03A/04/05/06/07/
13PCT/16/17/18/19/29/29A/101 through 110/Electronic New Utility and 
Provisional Application Forms.
    Agency Approval Number: 0651-0032.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Burden: 4,171,568 hours annually.
    Number of Respondents: 454,287 responses per year.
    Avg. Hours Per Response: The USPTO estimates that it takes between 
24 minutes to 10 hours and 45 minutes to gather the information, 
prepare, and submit the various paper and electronic applications in 
this collection, depending on the situation and the amount of 
information that needs to be submitted. Based on estimates of similar 
petitions, the USPTO believes that it takes 1 hour to gather the 
information, prepare, and submit the petitions to accept an 
unintentionally delayed priority claim and to accept non-signing 
inventors or legal representatives. The USPTO estimates that it takes 
22 minutes to copy an oversized new original utility or provisional 
application that cannot be submitted electronically through EFS onto a 
CD-ROM, print the application transmittal, and prepare the cover letter 
submitting the submission.
    Needs and Uses: This collection of information is required by 35 
U.S.C. 131 and 37 CFR 1.16 through 1.84. An applicant must provide 
sufficient information to allow the USPTO to properly examine the 
application to determine whether it meets the requirements outlined in 
the patent statutes and regulations. The various fee and application 
transmittal forms, the declarations, the cover sheets, and the 
petitions permit applicants to supply all of the information necessary 
to process the application and enables the USPTO to ensure that all of 
the information has been provided in order to process the application. 
If an applicant tries to file a new utility or provisional application 
electronically through EFS and cannot submit it because the application 
exceeds 10 megabytes, the application can be copied onto a CD-ROM and 
submitted to the USPTO for examination.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households, business or other for-
profit, not-for-profit institutions, farms, the Federal Government, and 
State, Local, or Tribal Governments.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    OMB Desk Officer: David Rostker, (202) 395-3897.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Susan K. Brown, Records Officer, Office of Data 
Architecture and Services, Data Administration Division, U.S. Patent 
and Trademark Office, Suite 310, 2231 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 
22202; by phone at 703 308-7400; or by e-mail at [email protected].
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent on or before June 9, 2003 to David Rostker, 
OMB Desk Officer, Room 10202, New Executive Office Building, 
Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: May 1, 2003.
Susan K. Brown,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of Data Architecture and Services, Data 
Administration Division.
[FR Doc. 03-11422 Filed 5-7-03; 8:45 am]
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