[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 174 (Tuesday, September 9, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 53143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-22881]


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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/filing by other than all the 
inventors or a person not the inventor. 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: The USPTO is submitting this information collection 
in support of a notice of proposed rulemaking, ``Changes to Support 
Implementation of the United States Patent and Trademark Office 21st 
Century Strategic Plan'' (RIN 0651-AB64) which will be forwarded to the 
Federal Register for publication. This proposed rule increases the 
filing fee for the Petition to Accept Non-Signing Inventors or Legal 
Representatives/Filing by Other than all the Inventors or a Person not 
the Inventor from $130 to $200 and adds capital start-up costs for DVD 
drives, recorders, and media, in addition to DVD and technical drawing 
software. Capital start-up costs related to the utility, design, and 
plant drawings have also been added to this collection. The proposed 
rule does not change the needs and uses currently reported for this 
collection.
    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 the 
Chief Information Officer, Office of Data Architecture and Services, 
Data Administration Division, 703-308-7400, U.S. Patent and Trademark 
Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, Virginia 22313, Attn: CPK 3 Suite 
310; or by e-mail at [email protected].
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent on or before October 9, 2003 to David 
Rostker, OMB Desk Officer, Room 10202, New Executive Office Building, 
Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: September 2, 2003.
Susan K. Brown,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Office 
of Data Architecture and Services, Data Administration Division.
[FR Doc. 03-22881 Filed 9-8-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P