[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 4, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23098-23100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-8879]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Patent Examiner Employment Application--Job Application Rating 
System (JARS) (Formerly Electronic Application for Patent Examiners--
Job Application Rating System (JARS))

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 comment on the 
submission of a extension of a currently approved collection, 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 July 5, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-0042 
comment'' in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: 571-273-0221; 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to the attention of Theresa Hall, Supervisor, Patent 
Branch, Office of Human Resources, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 
(USPTO), Alexandria, VA 22314; by telephone at 571-272-6144; or by e-
mail to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Job Application Rating System (JARS) is a system by which the 
USPTO can rapidly review applications for employment of entry-level 
patent examiners. The Office of Human Resources (OHR), armed with a 
recommendation from a Supervisory Patent Examiner (SPE) can, in turn, 
rapidly make an offer of employment and support hiring actions with 
necessary administrative action. Over the past three fiscal years, JARS 
has enabled the Patent Corps to hire more than 1,600 entry-level patent 
examiners.
    Since the inception of JARS, upgrades have increased the 
flexibility of the system and the speed and ease with which the Office 
of Human Resources can support hiring recommendations.

[[Page 23099]]

Specifically, JARS allows applicants to update personal information 
without submitting a new application. Additional form letters and 
reports are available, date tracking of previous employment is 
significantly improved; and status tracking improvements enable users 
to tell who has previously updated the record and when. Future 
enhancements will allow JARS to collect demographic data, upgrade the 
Windows server from 2000 to 2003, migrate JARS to a J2EE environment, 
perform pre-employment testing, provide integration with Recruitment 
One-Stop (e-Government Initiative), and allow for category ranking. The 
above upgrades to JARS will begin in FY 05 and extend to FY 07. These 
enhancements and upgrades will increase and improve the capabilities of 
the JARS system.
    In the current employment environment, information technology 
professionals and engineering graduates are in great demand. The USPTO 
is in direct competition with private industry for the same caliber of 
candidates with the requisite knowledge and skills to perform patent 
examination work. Consequently, it is imperative that every available 
technology be employed if the USPTO is to remain competitive, meet the 
hiring goal, and fulfill the agency's congressional commitment to 
reduce the pendency rate for the examination of patent applications. 
The information supplied to the USPTO by an applicant seeking a patent 
examiner position with the USPTO assists the Human Resources 
Specialists and hiring managers in determining whether an applicant 
possesses the basic qualification requirements for the patent examiner 
position.
    JARS provides the USPTO a user-friendly on-line employment 
application process for applicants and enables the USPTO to process 
hiring actions in an efficient and timely manner. The on-line 
application provides an electronic real-time candidate inventory that 
allows the USPTO to review applications from potential applicants 
almost instantaneously. Given the immediate hiring need of the Patent 
Examining Corps, time consumed in the mail distribution system or paper 
review of applications delays the decision-making process by several 
weeks. The JARS system results in increased speed and accuracy in the 
employment process, in addition to streamlining labor and reducing 
costs.
    The use of the JARS on-line application fully complies with 5 
U.S.C. 2301, which requires adequate public notice to assure open 
competition by guaranteeing that necessary employment information will 
be accessible and available to the public on inquiry. The JARS on-line 
application is fully compliant with Section 508 (29 U.S.C. 794(d)), 
which requires agencies to provide disabled employees and members of 
the public access to information that is comparable to the access 
available to others.
    Since the JARS on-line application is used as an alternative form 
of employment application, the collection and use of the information 
requires OMB approval as outlined in Section 5.1 of the Delegated 
Examining Operations Handbook. The Handbook provides guidance to 
agencies under a delegated examining authority by the Office of 
Personnel Management (OPM), under the provisions of Title 5, U.S. Code, 
Chapter 11, Section 1104.

II. Method of Collection

    The application information is collected electronically from the 
applicant. The application form may be completed on-line and then 
transmitted to the USPTO electronically, via the Internet. For those 
applicants who do not have access to a personal computer, applications 
are available in the Personnel Office at the USPTO, or the applicant 
can go to the local library to complete an application.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0042.
    Form Number(s): PTO-2041.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; farms; the Federal 
Government; and State, local or tribal governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 7,000 responses per year.
    Estimated Time Per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public approximately 30 minutes to complete the employment 
application, depending upon the situation. There is one form associated 
with this information collection, Form PTO-2041.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 3,500 hours per 
year.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $110,250. Using the 
median hourly rate for scientists and engineers of $31.50, according to 
the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the USPTO estimates $110,250 per year 
for salary costs associated with respondents. This is a fully loaded 
rate.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Estimated       Estimated
                     Item                         Estimated time for response         annual      annual  burden
                                                                                     responses         hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patent Examiner Employment Application.......  30 minutes.......................           7,000           3,500
                                              ------------------------------------
    Total....................................  .................................           7,000           3,500
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) Respondent Cost Burden: $4,200. 
There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or record keeping costs, as 
well as no filing fees associated with this information collection. 
However, this collection does have annual (non-hour) costs in the form 
of postage costs.
    Not every applicant can supply all of the required information 
electronically. For example, in order to apply for a patent examiner 
position, the applicant must possess a minimum of a bachelor degree. A 
resume and an official college or university transcript must be 
submitted separately with this application and mailed to the USPTO. The 
college or university transcript must be an official/original copy and 
include the university stamp or seal. When responding to the veteran's 
preference claim field, additional information may be required. The 
applicant may be required to submit Form DD214 or SF-15, which must be 
completed separately and either mailed, faxed or delivered to the 
USPTO. The OF-306 (Declaration of Federal Employment) and the SF-85 
(Security Background Information) must be printed, signed and dated, 
and provided to the USPTO via mail prior to reporting for duty. These 
additional required documents may be submitted to the USPTO by first-
class mail through the United States Postal Service. The USPTO 
estimates that the average first-class postage is 60 cents. Therefore, 
the USPTO estimates that it will receive 7,000 responses to the JARS 
on-line application per year, for a total cost of

[[Page 23100]]

$4,200 (7,000 x $0.60 = $4,200) in postage fees.

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, including through 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: April 27, 2005.
Susan K. Brown,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Office 
of Data Architecture and Services, Data Administration Division.
[FR Doc. 05-8879 Filed 5-3-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P