[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 24 (Monday, February 6, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6056-6058]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1560]



[[Page 6056]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Madrid Protocol

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 the revision of a continuing information 
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 April 7, 2006.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-0051 
comment'' 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, Architecture, Engineering and Technical Services, 
Data Architecture and Services Division, U.S. Patent and Trademark 
Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Sharon Marsh, Deputy Commissioner for Trademark 
Examination Policy, Office of the Commissioner for Trademarks, U.S. 
Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1451, Alexandria, VA 22313-1451; 
by telephone at 571-272-7140; or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    This collection of information is required by the Trademark Act of 
1946, 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq., which provides for the Federal 
registration of trademarks, service marks, collective trademarks and 
service marks, collective membership marks, and certification marks. 
Individuals and businesses that use or intend to use such marks in 
commerce may file an application to register the marks with the United 
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
    The Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the 
International Registration of Marks (``Madrid Protocol'') is an 
international treaty that allows a trademark owner to seek registration 
in any of the participating countries by filing a single international 
application. The International Bureau (``IB'') of the World 
Intellectual Property Organization (``WIPO'') in Geneva, Switzerland, 
administers the international registration system. The Madrid Protocol 
Implementation Act of 2002 amended the Trademark Act to provide that: 
(1) The owner of a U.S. application or registration may seek protection 
of its mark in any of the participating countries by submitting a 
single international application to the IB through the USPTO, and (2) 
the holder of an international registration may request an extension of 
protection of the international registration to the United States. The 
Madrid Protocol became effective in the United States on November 2, 
2003, and is implemented under 37 CFR part 2 and part 7. An 
international application submitted through the USPTO must be based on 
an active U.S. application or registration and must be filed by the 
owner of the application or registration. The USPTO reviews the 
international application to certify that it corresponds to the 
existing U.S. application or registration before forwarding the 
international application to the IB. The IB then reviews the 
international application and sends a notice of irregularity to the 
USPTO and the applicant if the application does not meet the filing 
requirements of the Madrid Protocol. After any irregularities are 
corrected, the IB will then register the mark and notify each country 
designated in the application of the request for extension of 
protection. The holder of the international registration may also 
request an extension of protection to additional countries by filing a 
subsequent designation.
    Under section 71 of the Trademark Act, a registered extension of 
protection to the United States will be cancelled unless the holder of 
the international registration periodically files affidavits of use in 
commerce or excusable nonuse. Since these affidavits cannot be filed 
until five years after the USPTO registers an extension of protection, 
the USPTO will not accept these affidavits until after November 2, 
2008, and their estimated burden will not be included in this 
collection at this time.
    This collection includes the information necessary for the USPTO to 
process applications for international registration and related 
requests under the Madrid Protocol. The USPTO provides electronic forms 
for filing the Application for International Registration, Subsequent 
Designation, and Response to a Notice of Irregularity through the 
Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), which is accessible via 
the USPTO Web site. An electronic form for the Request for 
Transformation is under development. Applicants may also submit the 
items in this collection on paper or by using the forms provided by the 
IB, which are available on the WIPO Web site. The IB requires 
Applications for International Registration and Subsequent Designations 
that are filed on paper to be submitted on the official IB forms. The 
USPTO is adding one petition to this collection, the Petition to Review 
Refusal to Certify an International Application.

II. Method of Collection

    By mail, hand delivery, or electronically to the USPTO.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0051.
    Form Number(s): PTO-2131, PTO-2132, PTO-2133.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved 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.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 4,312 responses per year.
    Estimated Time Per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public approximately two minutes to one hour (0.03 to 1.0 hours) to 
complete the information in this collection, including the time to 
gather the necessary information, prepare the documents, and submit the 
completed request to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 1,012 hours per 
year.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $289,432 per year. 
The USPTO expects that the information in this collection will be 
prepared by attorneys. Using the professional rate of $286 per hour for 
associate attorneys in private firms, the USPTO estimates that the 
respondent cost burden for submitting the information in this 
collection will be approximately $289,432 per year.

[[Page 6057]]



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  Estimated time     Estimated       Estimated
                              Item                                 for response       annual      annual  burden
                                                                     (minutes)       responses         hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application for International Registration (PTO-2131)...........              15           3,600             900
Subsequent Designation (PTO-2132)...............................               3             135               7
Response to Notice of Irregularities Issued by the IB in                      10             540              92
 Connection with International Applications (PTO-2133)..........
Request that the USPTO Replace a U.S. Registration with a                      2               7               1
 Subsequently Registered Extension of Protection to the United
 States.........................................................
Request to Record an Assignment or Restriction of a Holder's                   5              10               1
 Right to Dispose of an International Registration..............
Request that the USPTO Transform a Cancelled Extension of                      5              10               1
 Protection into an Application for Registration under section 1
 or 44 of the Act...............................................
Petition to Review Refusal to Certify an International                        60              10              10
 Application....................................................
Affidavit of Continued Use or Excusable Nonuse under section 71               14           (\1\)               0
 of the Act.....................................................
                                                                 -----------------
    Total.......................................................  ..............           4,312           1,012
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ None until November 2008.

    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $470,031. 
There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or recordkeeping costs 
associated with this information collection. However, this collection 
does have annual (non-hour) costs in the form of filing costs and 
postage costs.
    The USPTO charges fees for processing international applications 
and related requests under the Madrid Protocol as set forth in 37 CFR 
7.6. In addition to these USPTO fees, applicants must also pay 
international filing fees to the IB as indicated in 37 CFR 7.7. The 
USPTO estimates that the total filing costs in the form of USPTO 
processing fees associated with this collection will be approximately 
$469,950 per year as calculated in the accompanying table.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Estimated                       Estimated
                              Item                                    annual        Fee amount    annual  filing
                                                                     responses                         costs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application for International Registration, for certifying an              1,800            $100        $180,000
 international application based on a single basic application
 or registration (per international class)......................
Application for International Registration, for certifying an              1,800             150         270,000
 international application based on more than one basic
 application or registration (per international class)..........
Subsequent Designation..........................................             135             100          13,500
Response to Notice of Irregularities Issued by the IB in                     540               0               0
 Connection with International Applications.....................
Request that the USPTO Replace a U.S. Registration with a                      7             100             700
 Subsequently Registered Extension of Protection to the United
 States (per international class)...............................
Request to Record an Assignment or Restriction of a Holder's                  10             100           1,000
 Right to Dispose of an International Registration..............
Request that the USPTO Transform a Cancelled Extension of                     10             375           3,750
 Protection into an Application for Registration under section 1
 or 44 of the Act...............................................
Petition to Review Refusal to Certify an International                        10             100           1,000
 Application....................................................
Affidavit of Continued Use or Excusable Nonuse under section 71              (1)             100               0
 of the Act (per international class)...........................
                                                                 -----------------
    Total.......................................................           4,312  ..............        469,950
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\1\ None until November 2008.

    The public may submit the items in this collection to the USPTO by 
mail through the United States Postal Service. The USPTO estimates that 
approximately 208 of the 4,312 responses per year will be submitted by 
mail and that the average first-class postage cost for a mailed 
submission will be 39 cents, for a total postage cost of approximately 
$81 per year.
    The total non-hour respondent cost burden for this collection in 
the form of filing costs and postage costs is estimated to be $470,031 
per year.

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 also will become a matter of public record.


[[Page 6058]]


    Dated: January 31, 2006.
Susan K. Brown,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Architecture, Engineering and Technical Services, Data Architecture and 
Services Division.
 [FR Doc. E6-1560 Filed 2-3-06; 8:45 am]
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