[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 149 (Wednesday, August 4, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47123-47124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-17749]


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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: United States Patent Applicant Survey.
    Form Number(s): None. The surveys contained in this information 
collection do not have USPTO form numbers assigned to them. When the 
surveys are approved, they will carry the OMB Control Number and the 
date on which OMB's approval of the information collection expires.
    Agency Approval Number: 0651-00XX.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Burden: 187 hours.
    Number of Respondents: 445 responses.
    Avg. Hours Per Response: 7 or 30 minutes, depending on the survey.
    The USPTO estimates that it takes an average of 7 minutes (0.12 
hours) to complete the surveys for the independent inventors and that 
it takes an average of 30 minutes (0.50 hours) to complete the surveys 
for large domestic corporations, small to medium-size businesses, and 
universities and non-profit research organizations. This includes the 
time to gather the necessary information, respond to the surveys, and 
submit them to the USPTO. The USPTO believes that it takes the same 
amount of time to respond to the surveys, whether the

[[Page 47124]]

completed surveys are mailed to the USPTO or completed online.
    Needs and Uses: The USPTO developed the United States Patent 
Applicant Survey to obtain information on customer filing intentions in 
order to predict future growth rates in patent applications over the 
next four years from patent-generating entities. The USPTO also 
developed this survey in response to the Senate Appropriations Report 
106-404 (September 8, 2000), which directed the USPTO to ``develop a 
workload forecast with advice from a representative sample of industry 
and the inventor community.'' There are three versions of this survey: 
one for large domestic corporations and small to medium-size 
businesses, one for universities and non-profit research organizations, 
and another for independent inventors. The top 209 patent-generating 
corporations and other large businesses, small to medium-size 
businesses, universities and non-profit research organizations, and 
independent inventors responding to these surveys will provide the 
USPTO with the number of filings (domestic, international, or combined) 
that they plan to submit, in addition to providing general feedback 
concerning industry trends and the survey itself. The USPTO will use 
this feedback to estimate future revenue flow, allocate resources, and 
determine quality control measures to meet filing demands.
    The initial survey was reviewed and approved by OMB under OMB 
Control Number 0651-0038 Customer Input, Patent and Trademark Customer 
Surveys, the USPTO's generic customer survey clearance. However, due to 
the fact that the USPTO will use this survey to predict workload and 
revenue flow and the fact that the survey methodology has matured, the 
USPTO is submitting this survey separately to OMB for review and 
approval and not under the generic clearance.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; business or other for-
profit; and not-for-profit institutions.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    OMB Desk Officer: David Rostker, (202) 395-3897.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by any of the following methods:
    E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-00XX United States 
Patent Applicant Survey copy request'' in the subject line of the 
message.
    Fax: 703-308-7407, marked to the attention of Susan Brown.
    Mail: Susan K. Brown, Records Officer, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer, Office of Data Architecture and Services, Data 
Administration Division, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 
1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent on or before September 3, 2004, to David 
Rostker, OMB Desk Officer, Room 10202, New Executive Office Building, 
725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: July 29, 2004.
Susan K. Brown,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of Data Architecture and Services, Data 
Administration Division.
[FR Doc. 04-17749 Filed 8-3-04; 8:45 am]
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