[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 36127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-12295]


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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, PTO/SB/02A-02B, PTO/SB/02LR, PTO/SB/
03-03A, PTO/SB/04-07, PTO/SB/13PCT, PTO/SB/16-19, PTO/SB/29-29A, PTO/
SB/101-110, 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 
22 minutes to 10 hours and 45 minutes to gather the information, 
prepare, and submit the various paper and electronic applications and 
petitions in this collection, depending on the situation and the amount 
of information that needs to be submitted. 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 a proposed addition to this 
information collection in support of a notice of proposed rulemaking, 
entitled ``Changes to Implement the Patent Search Fee Refund Provisions 
of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005'' (RIN 0651-AB79). The 
Consolidated Appropriations Act splits the patent application filing 
fee into a separate filing fee, search fee, and examination fee and 
provides for the refund of all or part of the search fee in certain 
situations. The USPTO is proposing changes to the rules of practice to 
implement the provisions for refunding the search fee for applicants 
who file a written declaration of express abandonment before the 
application has been examined. Neither the Consolidated Appropriations 
Act nor the proposed rule 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 any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-0032 Initial 
Patent Applications copy request'' in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: 571-273-0112, 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 July 22, 2005 to David Rostker, 
OMB Desk Officer, Room 10202, New Executive Office Building, 725 17th 
Street NW., Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: June 15, 2005.
Susan K. Brown,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of Data Architecture and Services, Data 
Administration Division.
[FR Doc. 05-12295 Filed 6-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P