[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 15 (Friday, January 23, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 3333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-1406]


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UNITED STATES 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: Post Allowance and Refiling.
    Form Number(s): PTO/SB/44/50/51/51S/52/53/56/57/58 and PTOL-85B.
    Agency Approval Number: 0651-0033.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Burden: 67,261 hours annually.
    Number of Respondents: 223,411 responses per year.
    Avg. Hours Per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take the 
public approximately 1.8 minutes (0.03 hours) to 2 hours to read the 
instructions, gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate 
form or other document, and submit the information to the USPTO.
    Needs and Uses: The USPTO is required by 35 U.S.C. Sec. Sec.  131 
and 151 to examine applications and issue them as patents when 
appropriate. The applicant must then pay the required issue fee to 
receive the patent and avoid abandonment of the application. The USPTO 
can also correct errors in patents and reissue patents as appropriate. 
Under 37 CFR 1.510-1.570 and 37 CFR 1.902-1.997, the USPTO may grant 
requests for ex parte and inter partes reexamination proceedings. The 
public uses this collection to request corrections of errors in issued 
patents, to request reissue patents, to request reexamination 
proceedings, and to ensure that the necessary fees and documentation 
are submitted to the USPTO. The USPTO is adding two petitions, the 
Petition to Review Refusal to Grant Ex Parte Reexamination and the 
Petition to Review Refusal to Grant Inter Partes Reexamination, to this 
information collection. These petitions are not new requirements but 
were not previously covered in this collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households, businesses or other 
for-profits, 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, VA 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 February 23, 2004 to David 
Rostker, OMB Desk Officer, Room 10202, New Executive Office Building, 
725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: January 15, 2004.
Susan K. Brown,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Office 
of Data Architecture and Services, Data Administration Division.
[FR Doc. 04-1406 Filed 1-22-04; 8:45 am]
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