[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 241 (Tuesday, December 16, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70005-70007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-30944]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Secrecy and License To Export

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as part 
of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, 
invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this 
opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information 
collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public 
Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before February 17, 
2004.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to 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, VA 
22313, Attn: CPK 3 Suite 310; by e-mail at [email protected]; or by 
facsimile at (703) 308-7407.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to the attention of Robert J. Spar, Director, Office 
of Patent Legal Administration, United States Patent and Trademark 
Office (USPTO), P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone 
(703) 308-5107; or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    In the interest of national security, patent laws and rules place 
certain limitations on the disclosure of information contained in 
patents and patent applications and on the filing of applications for 
patents in foreign countries. When an invention is determined to be 
detrimental to national security, the Commissioner for Patents at the 
USPTO must issue a secrecy order and withhold the grant of a patent for 
such period as the national interest requires. If a secrecy order is 
applied to an international application, the application will not be 
forwarded to the

[[Page 70006]]

International Bureau as long as the secrecy order is in effect. The 
USPTO collects information to determine whether the patent laws and 
rules have been complied with, and to grant or revoke licenses to file 
abroad when appropriate. This collection of information is required by 
35 U.S.C. 181-188 and administered through 37 CFR chapter 1, part 5, 
5.1-5.33.
    On November 29, 2001 OMB approved a Change Worksheet to adjust the 
burden estimates for this collection. The USPTO received more 
submissions than originally estimated; consequently, the responses 
increased by 332 and the total burden hours for this collection 
increased by 225 as an administrative adjustment.
    In September 2003 the USPTO submitted an information collection 
package to OMB for review in support of a proposed rulemaking, 
``Changes to Support Implementation of the United States Patent and 
Trademark Office 21st Century Strategic Plan'' (RIN 0651-AB64). This 
proposed rulemaking would increase the filing fees for petitions 
related to foreign licenses in order to more accurately reflect the 
USPTO's actual cost of processing these petitions. An existing 
petition, the Petition for Changing the Scope of a License, was not 
previously covered in this collection as a separate item, but was added 
to this rulemaking package with its proposed filing fee.
    There are no forms associated with this collection of information.

II. Method of Collection

    By mail, facsimile, or hand carry when the applicant or agent files 
a patent application with the USPTO, submits subsequent papers during 
the prosecution of the application to the USPTO, or submits a request 
for a foreign filing license for a patent application to be filed 
abroad before the filing of a United States patent application.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0034.
    Form Number(s): N/A.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; business or other for 
profit; not-for-profit institutions; farms; Federal Government; and 
state, local or tribal Government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,669 total responses per year. Of 
this total, 6 per year for petitions for rescission of secrecy order; 3 
per year for petitions for permits to disclose or modification of 
secrecy order; 1 per year for general and group permits; 1,402 per year 
for petitions for foreign filing license without a corresponding 
application on file; 126 per year for petitions for foreign filing 
license with a corresponding United States application on file; 130 per 
year for petitions for retroactive license; and 1 per year for 
petitions for changing the scope of a license.
    Estimated Time Per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
approximately 3 hours for petitions for rescission of secrecy order; 2 
hours petitions for permits to disclose or modification of secrecy 
order; 1 hour for general and group permits; 0.5 hours each for 
petitions for foreign filing licenses without a corresponding 
application and petitions for licenses with a corresponding U.S. patent 
application; 4 hours for petitions for retroactive licenses; and 1 hour 
for petitions for changing the scope of a license to gather, prepare 
and submit this information, depending upon the complexity of the 
situation.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 1,310 hours per 
year.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $374,660. Using the 
professional hourly rate of $286 for associate attorneys in private 
firms, the USPTO estimates $374,660 per year for salary costs 
associated with respondents.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Estimated
                                Estimated time   Estimated      annual
             Item               for  response      annual       burden
                                                 responses      hours
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Petition for rescission of     3 hours........            6           18
 secrecy order.
Petition for permit to         2 hours........            3            6
 disclose or modification of
 secrecy order.
Petition for general and       1 hour.........            1            1
 group permits.
Petition for License; no       0.5 hours......        1,402          701
 corresponding application.
Petition for License;          0.5 hours......          126           63
 corresponding U.S.
 application.
Petition for retroactive       4 hours........          130          520
 license.
Petition for changing the      1 hour.........            1            1
 scope of a license.
                              ------------------------------------------
    Totals...................  ...............        1,669        1,310
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Non-Hour Respondent Cost Burden: $215,732. 
There are no capital start-up or maintenance costs associated with this 
information collection. There are, however, filing fees and postage 
costs.
    There is a proposed rulemaking information collection currently at 
OMB under review which, if approved, would add $437,000 in filing fees 
to this collection for the petitions for the licenses to export. 
However, since the information collection currently at OMB under review 
is a proposed rulemaking, the USPTO is using the current filing fee 
rate of $130 for this submission, for a total of $215,670 in filing 
fees for the licenses to export. No fees are associated with the 
secrecy order petitions.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Total Filing
                                    Responses    Filing      Fee Cost
               Item                    (a)      Fee  ($)    Burden  (c)
                                                   (b)        (a x b)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Petition for rescission of                   6         0            0.00
 secrecy order...................
Petition for permit to disclose              3         0            0.00
 or modification of secrecy order
Petition for general and group               1         0            0.00
 permits.........................
Petition for License, no                 1,402    130.00      182,260.00
 corresponding application.......
Petition for License,                      126    130.00       16,380.00
 corresponding U.S. application..

[[Page 70007]]

 
Petition for retroactive license.          130    130.00       16,900.00
Petition for changing the scope              1    130.00          130.00
 of a license....................
                                  --------------------------------------
    Totals.......................        1,669  ........      215,670.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The USPTO estimates that 90 percent (90%) of the petitions in this 
collection are submitted to the USPTO by facsimile or hand carried 
because of the quick turnaround required. For the 10 percent (10%) of 
the public that chooses to submit the petitions in this collection to 
the USPTO by mail through the United States Postal Service, the USPTO 
estimates that the average first class postage cost for a mailed 
submission will be 37 cents. Therefore, the USPTO estimates that up to 
167 submissions per year may be mailed to the USPTO at an average first 
class postage cost of 37 cents, for a total postage cost of $62.
    The USPTO estimates that the total non-hour respondent cost burden 
for this collection in the form of postage costs and filing fees 
amounts to $215,732.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited 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.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized or 
included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they will also become a matter of public record.

    Dated: December 9, 2003.
Susan K. Brown,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Office 
of Data Architecture and Services, Data Administration Division.
[FR Doc. 03-30944 Filed 12-15-03; 8:45 am]
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