[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 176 (Tuesday, September 12, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53669-53675]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-15048]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Initial Patent Applications

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 November 13, 
2006.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-0032 
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 the attention of Robert J. Spar, Director, Office 
of Patent Legal Administration, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. 
Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-7700; or 
by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

I. Abstract

    Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution provides that 
Congress shall have the power * * *'' [t]o promote the progress of 
science and useful arts, by securing for limited times

[[Page 53670]]

to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective 
writings and discoveries.'' Congress has exercised this grant of power 
under the Constitution to enact the patent statute, Title 35, U.S.C., 
and to establish the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
    The USPTO is required by 35 U.S.C. 131 to examine applications for 
patents. The patent statute and regulations require applicants to 
provide sufficient information (specification containing a description 
of the invention and at least one claim defining the property right 
sought by the applicant; a drawing or photograph, where necessary, for 
an understanding of the invention; a signed oath or declaration, and 
the necessary fees) to allow the USPTO to properly examine the 
application to determine whether it meets the criteria set forth in the 
patent statute and regulations to be issued as a patent. The USPTO 
administers the statute through various rules in 37 CFR 1.16 through 
1.84.
    The new utility, design, and provisional applications can be 
submitted to the USPTO in paper or they can be submitted 
electronically. Previously, applications were submitted electronically 
through the Electronic Filing System (EFS). In March 2006, the USPTO 
deployed EFS Web, a new Web based patent application and document 
submission solution. EFS-Web does not require special software and 
applicants can use their own systems, software, and processes to create 
the patent application documents. The EFS Web uses standard Web-based 
screens and prompts to assist the applicant in submitting their patent 
application documents.
    The USPTO has expanded the types of applications that can be filed 
electronically. In addition to the new original utility and provisional 
applications that are already filed electronically, new original design 
applications can now be filed electronically.
    In addition to the filing, search, and examination fees that are 
already in the collection, two new patent fees from the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act of 2005 are being added into the collection at this 
time. This includes a new filing fee of $75 for small entities filing 
original utility applications electronically on or after 12/8/04 and an 
application size fee that is paid for applications filed under 35 
U.S.C. 111 on or after 12/8/04, in which the specification and the 
drawings exceed 100 sheets of paper.
    Five other existing fees or surcharges that were previously 
overlooked are being added into the collection at this time. This 
includes surcharges for the late filing of the fees, oaths, or 
declarations and for the late filing of the coversheet for provisional 
applications. The other fees are for filing more than 3 independent 
claims, filing more than 20 claims, and for filing multiple dependent 
claims in a patent application.
    Unlike the last renewal, the utility, design, and plant 
applications are no longer grouped together, but are broken out 
separately. This permits the USPTO to show exactly how many of the 
different applications have been filed. It also makes it easier to 
account for the electronic filings since the utility, design, and 
provisional applications can be filed electronically, but the plant 
applications are not filed electronically. The response and fee tables 
can also be more closely aligned to each other than they were 
previously.
    There are 28 forms in this collection. The electronic Application 
Data Sheet has a form number, but the paper version does not since it 
is a suggested format and not an official paper form.

II. Method of Collection

    By mail, facsimile (limited to petitions to accept delayed priority 
claims and requests for continued prosecution applications), or hand 
delivery to the USPTO. New utility, design, and provisional 
applications can also be submitted electronically through the EFS.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0032.
    Form Number(s): PTO/SB/01/01A/02/02LR/03/03A/04/05/06/07/13/PCT/14/
16/17/18/19/29/29A/101-110.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other 
for-profits; not-for-profit institutions; and the Federal Government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 543,590 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it takes the 
public approximately 24 minutes to 10 hours and 45 minutes (0.40 to 
10.75 hours) to complete this information, depending on the request. 
This includes the time to gather the necessary information, prepare the 
application, petition, or CD submission, and submit the completed 
request to the USPTO. Given the newness of electronic filing, the USPTO 
believes that, for now, it will take the same amount of time to gather 
the necessary information, prepare the new utility, design, or 
provisional application, and submit it to the USPTO, whether the 
applicant submits it in paper form or electronically.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 4,748,122 hours per 
year.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $1,443,429,088 per 
year. The USPTO expects that all of the information in this collection 
will be prepared by an attorney. Using the professional hourly rate of 
$304 per hour for associate attorneys in private firms, the USPTO 
estimates that the total respondent cost burden for this collection is 
$1,443,429,088 per year.

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                                                                                   Estimated        Estimated
                     Item                        Estimated time for response         annual       annual burden
                                                                                   responses          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original New Utility Applications--No          10 hours and 45 minutes........          162,400        1,745,800
 Application Data Sheet.
Electronic Original New Utility Applications-- 10 hours and 45 minutes........           69,600          748,200
 No Application Data Sheet.
Original New Plant Applications--No            10 hours and 45 minutes........            1,115           11,986
 Application Data Sheet.
Original New Design Applications--No           10 hours and 45 minutes........           14,945          160,659
 Application Data Sheet.
Electronic Original Design Applications--No    10 hours and 45 minutes........            6,410           68,908
 Application Data Sheet.
Original New Utility Applications--            10 hours and 36 minutes........           40,600          430,360
 Application Data Sheet.
Electronic Original New Utility Applications-- 10 hours and 36 minutes........           17,400          184,440
 Application Data Sheet.
Original New Plant Applications--Application   10 hours and 36 minutes........              285            3,021
 Data Sheet.
Original New Design Applications--Application  10 hours and 36 minutes........            3,740           39,644
 Data Sheet.
Electronic New Design Applications--           10 hours and 36 minutes........            1,605           17,013
 Application Data Sheet.
Continuation/Divisional of an International    10 hours and 45 minutes........            7,560           81,270
 Application--No Application Data Sheet.
Utility Continuation/Divisional Applications.  54 minutes.....................           56,930           51,237
Plant Continuation/Divisional Applications...  54 minutes.....................              230              207

[[Page 53671]]

 
Design Continuation/Divisional Applications..  54 minutes.....................              750              675
Continued Prosecution Applications--Design     24 minutes.....................              260              104
 (Request Transmittal and Receipt).
Utility Continuation-in-Part Applications....  5 hours and 15 minutes.........           17,720           93,030
Plant Continuation-in-Part Applications......  5 hours and 15 minutes.........               70              368
Design Continuation-in-Part Applications.....  5 hours and 15 minutes.........              480            2,520
Provisional Application for Patent Cover       8 hours........................           96,680          773,440
 Sheet.
Electronic Provisional Application for Patent  8 hours........................           41,490          331,920
 Cover Sheet.
Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed     1 hour.........................              920              920
 Priority Claim.
Petition to Accept Non-Signing Inventors or    1 hour.........................            2,400            2,400
 Legal Representatives/Filing by Other Than
 all the Inventors or a Person not the
 Inventor.
                                              ------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total....................................  ...............................          543,590        4,748,122
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    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: 
$695,587,260 per year. There are capital start-up, postage, 
recordkeeping, and drawing costs, as well as filing fees, associated 
with this information collection.
    Applicants can use Compact Disk-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) or 
Compact Disk-Recordables (CD-R) to submit patent applications 
containing large computer program listings to the USPTO. Therefore, the 
costs for purchasing blank CD-R media (CDs), cases and labels for the 
CDs, and a padded mailing envelope for shipping, are being added to the 
annual (non-hour) costs for this collection. Blank CD-R media with 
plastic jewel cases can be purchased for approximately $10 for 10 blank 
CDs, or about $1 per disc. The average cost of software for labeling 
CDs, including blank labels and case inserts, is approximately $20. 
Padded 8.5 x 11-inch mailing envelopes for shipping the CDs cost 
approximately $12 for a package of 12, or about $1 per envelope. In 
sum, the USPTO estimates that the total costs for the blank CD-R media, 
the software for labeling the CDs, and the mailing envelope are 
approximately $42 per year. The USPTO estimates that 3 patent 
applications will need to be submitted on CD per year, which when 
multiplied by the total cost of the media, the labeling software, and 
the mailing envelopes, equals $126 in total costs. Therefore, the USPTO 
estimates that the total capital start-up costs for this collection 
will be $126 per year.
    The applications, the petition to accept a delayed priority claim, 
the petition to accept non-signing inventors or legal representatives, 
and the oversized program listing CD submissions may be submitted by 
mail through the United States Postal Service. The USPTO recommends 
that applicants file initial patent applications (which also include 
the continued prosecution, continuation and divisional, continuation-
in-part, and provisional applications) by Express Mail to establish the 
filing date (otherwise the filing date of the application will be the 
date that it is received at the USPTO). The USPTO estimates that the 
average cost for sending an initial application by Express Mail will be 
$18.80, and that customers filing documents associated with these 
initial applications may choose this option to mail their submissions 
to the USPTO. The USPTO estimates that up to 403,765 submissions per 
year may be mailed to the USPTO at an average Express Mail rate of 
$18.80, for a total postage cost of $7,590,782.
    The petitions for delayed priority claim or for acceptance of non-
signing inventors or legal representatives can be sent by first-class 
mail. The USPTO estimates that the average first-class postage cost for 
a mailed submission will be 63 cents, and that customers filing these 
petitions may choose to mail their submissions to the USPTO. Therefore, 
the USPTO estimates that up to 3,320 submissions per year may be mailed 
to the USPTO at an average first-class postage cost of 63 cents, for a 
total postage cost of $2,092 per year.
    In the case of the oversized program listing CD submissions, the 
USPTO estimates that the average postage cost for these submissions 
will be 95 cents, to cover the costs of mailing the CD, the application 
transmittal form, and the cover letter. The USPTO estimates that 3 
oversized program listing CD submissions will be received per year, for 
a total postage cost of $3 per year.
    The total postage cost for this collection is $7,592,877 per year.
    There are recordkeeping costs associated with the oversized program 
listing CD submissions and the electronic filing of new utility, 
design, and provisional applications. The USPTO advises applicants who 
submit applications with oversized computer listings on CD to retain a 
back-up copy of the CD and a printed copy of the application 
transmittal form for their records. The USPTO estimates that it will 
take an additional 5 minutes for the applicant to produce this back-up 
CD copy and 2 minutes to print the copy of the application transmittal 
form, for a total of 7 minutes (0.12 hours) for each oversized 
submission. The USPTO estimates that approximately 3 applications per 
year will be submitted with oversized computer program listings, for a 
total of 0.36 hours per year for retaining the back-up CD and printed 
application transmittal form. The USPTO believes that these back-up 
copies will be prepared by paraprofessionals with an estimated hourly 
rate of $90 per hour, for a recordkeeping cost for these back-up copies 
of $32 per year.
    In addition, the USPTO also strongly advises applicants who file 
their new utility, design, and provisional applications electronically 
to retain a copy of the file submitted to the USPTO as evidence of 
authenticity, in addition to keeping the acknowledgment receipt as 
clear evidence that the file was received by the USPTO on the date 
noted. The USPTO estimates that it will take 5 seconds (0.001 hours) to 
print and retain a copy of the new utility, design, and provisional 
submissions and that approximately 136,505 new submissions per year 
(87,000 utility, 8,015 design, and 41,490 provisional applications) 
will use this option, for a total of 137 hours per year. Using the 
paraprofessional rate of $90 per hour, the USPTO estimates that the 
recordkeeping cost for retaining this copy will be $12,330 per year.
    The total recordkeeping cost for this collection is $12,362 per 
year.
    Patent applicants can submit drawings with the utility, design, 
plant, and provisional applications. Applicants can prepare these 
drawings on their own or they can hire patent

[[Page 53672]]

illustration services firms to create them. As a basis for calculating 
the drawing costs, the USPTO believes that all applicants will have 
their drawings prepared by the patent illustration firms. Estimates for 
the drawings can vary greatly, depending on the number of figures that 
need to be produced, the total number of pages for the drawings, and 
the complexity of the drawings. The utility, plant, and design 
continuation and divisional applications use the same drawings as the 
initial filings, so they are not included in these totals. The 
continuation-in-part applications may use some of the same drawings as 
the initial applications and some new drawings may be submitted, so 
those numbers are included in these estimates. The drawings for the 
continued prosecution applications are also included in the drawing 
cost totals. There are no continuation, divisional, or continuation-in-
part provisional applications.
    The USPTO estimates that it can cost $58 per sheet to produce the 
utility drawings and that on average, 11 sheets of drawings are 
submitted, for an average cost of $638 to produce the utility drawings. 
Out of 307,720 utility applications submitted per year, the USPTO 
estimates that 91% or 280,025 applications will be submitted with 
drawings, for a total of $178,655,950.
    The USPTO estimates that it can cost $68 per sheet to produce 
design drawings and that on average 4.8 sheets of drawings are 
submitted, for an average cost of $326 to produce design drawings. Out 
of 27,440 design applications submitted per year, the USPTO estimates 
that 100% will be submitted with drawings, for a total of $8,945,440.
    The USPTO estimates that it can cost $35 per sheet to produce plant 
drawings and that on average 2 sheets of drawings are submitted, for an 
average cost of $70 to produce plant drawings. Out of 1,470 plant 
applications submitted per year, the USPTO estimates that 100% will be 
submitted with drawings, for a total of $102,900.
    The USPTO estimates that it can cost $58 per sheet to produce 
provisional drawings and that on average 7.5 sheets of drawings are 
submitted, for an average cost of $435 to produce provisional drawings. 
Out of 138,170 provisional applications submitted per year, the USPTO 
estimates that 78% or 107,773 applications will be submitted with 
drawings, for a total of $46,881,255.
    The USPTO estimates that at least $234,585,545 could be added to 
the total non-hour cost burden as a result of patent applicants using 
patent illustration firms to produce the drawings for their utility, 
design, plant, and provisional applications.
    There is also annual nonhour cost burden in the way of filing fees 
associated with this collection. The filing, search, and examination 
fees for the utility, plant, design, and provisional applications 
(including the continuation and divisional, continued prosecution, and 
continuation-in-part applications) are determined by which filing 
status (other entity or small entity) the applicant has selected. The 
filing fees for the electronically-filed new utility applications for 
small entities are $75, but for the rest of the applications the fees 
are the same as those for the paper applications. The small entity 
status does not apply to the petition to accept a delayed priority 
claim or to the petition to accept non-signing inventors or legal 
representatives/filing by other than all the inventors or a person not 
the inventor.
    The total estimated filing costs of $453,396,350 for this 
collection are calculated in the following charts. The first chart 
shows the filing, search, and examination fees for the various 
applications.

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                                                         Responses                                      Examination                     Total non-hour
                        Item                               (yr)         Filing fee      Search fee          fee         Total fees     cost burden  (yr)
                                                                 (a)  ..............  ..............  ..............             (b)           (a) x (b)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original New Utility Applications--No Application            113,680         $300.00         $500.00         $200.00       $1,000.00     $113,680,000.00
 Data Sheet--Other Entity...........................
Original New Utility Applications--No Application             48,720          150.00          250.00          100.00          500.00       24,360,000.00
 Data Sheet--Small Entity...........................
Electronic Original New Utility Applications--No              48,720          300.00          500.00          200.00        1,000.00       48,720,000.00
 Application Data Sheet--Other Entity...............
Electronic Original New Utility Applications--No              20,880           75.00          250.00          100.00          425.00        8,874,000.00
 Application Data Sheet--Small Entity...............
Original New Plant Applications--No Application Data             780          200.00          300.00          160.00          660.00          514,800.00
 Sheet--Other Entity................................
Original New Plant Applications--No Application Data             335          100.00          150.00           80.00          330.00          110,550.00
 Sheet--Small Entity................................
Original New Design Applications--No Application               7,320          200.00          100.00          130.00          430.00        3,147,600.00
 Data Sheet--Other Entity...........................
Original New Design Applications--No Application               7,625          100.00           50.00           65.00          215.00        1,639,375.00
 Data Sheet--Small Entity...........................
Electronic Original New Design Applications--No                3,145          200.00          100.00          130.00          430.00        1,352,350.00
 Application Data Sheet--Other Entity...............
Electronic Original New Design Applications--No                3,265          100.00           50.00           65.00          215.00          701,975.00
 Application Data Sheet--Small Entity...............

[[Page 53673]]

 
Original New Utility Applications--Application Data           28,420          300.00          500.00          200.00        1,000.00       28,420,000.00
 Sheet--Other Entity................................
Original New Utility Applications--Application Data           12,180          150.00          250.00          100.00          500.00        6,090,000.00
 Sheet--Small Entity................................
Electronic Original New Utility Applications--                12,180          300.00          500.00          200.00        1,000.00       12,180,000.00
 Application Data Sheet--Other Entity...............
Electronic Original New Utility Applications--                 5,220           75.00          250.00          100.00          425.00        2,218,500.00
 Application Data Sheet--Small Entity...............
Original New Plant Applications--Application Data                200          200.00          300.00          160.00          660.00          132,000.00
 Sheet--Other Entity................................
Original New Plant Applications--Application Data                 85          100.00          150.00           80.00          330.00           28,050.00
 Sheet--Small Entity................................
Original New Design Applications--Application Data             1,830          200.00          100.00          130.00          430.00          786,900.00
 Sheet--Other Entity................................
Original New Design Applications--Application Data             1,910          100.00           50.00           65.00          215.00          410,650.00
 Sheet--Small Entity................................
Electronic New Design Applications--Application Data             785          200.00          100.00          130.00          430.00          337,550.00
 Sheet--Other Entity................................
Electronic New Design Applications--Application Data             820          100.00           50.00           65.00          215.00          176,300.00
 Sheet--Small Entity................................
Continuation/Divisional of an International                    5,990          300.00          500.00          200.00        1,000.00        5,990,000.00
 Application--No Application Data Sheet--Other
 Entity.............................................
Continuation/Divisional of an International                    1,570          150.00          250.00          100.00          500.00          785,000.00
 Application--No Application Data Sheet--Small
 Entity.............................................
Utility Continuation/Divisional Applications--Other           40,420          300.00          500.00          200.00        1,000.00       40,420,000.00
 Entity.............................................
Utility Continuation/Divisional Applications--Small           16,510          150.00          250.00          100.00          500.00        8,255,000.00
 Entity.............................................
Plant Continuation/Divisional Applications--Other                160          200.00          300.00          160.00          660.00          105,600.00
 Entity.............................................
Plant Continuation/Divisional Applications--Small                 70          100.00          150.00           80.00          330.00           23,100.00
 Entity.............................................
Design Continuation/Divisional Applications--Other               365          200.00          100.00          130.00          430.00          156,950.00
 Entity.............................................
Design Continuation/Divisional Applications--Small               385          100.00           50.00           65.00          215.00           82,775.00
 Entity.............................................
Continued Prosecution Applications--Design (Request              125          200.00          100.00          130.00          430.00           53,750.00
 Transmittal and Receipt)--Other Entity.............
Continued Prosecution Applications--Design (Request              135          100.00           50.00           65.00          215.00           29,025.00
 Transmittal and Receipt)--Small Entity.............
Utility Continuation-in-Part Applications--Other              12,580          300.00          500.00          200.00        1,000.00       12,580,000.00
 Entity.............................................
Utility Continuation-in-Part Applications--Small               5,140          150.00          250.00          100.00          500.00        2,570,000.00
 Entity.............................................
Plant Continuation-in-Part Applications--Other                    50          200.00          300.00          160.00          660.00           33,000.00
 Entity.............................................
Plant Continuation-in-Part Applications--Small                    20          100.00          150.00           80.00          330.00            6,600.00
 Entity.............................................
Design Continuation-in-Part Applications--Other                  235          200.00          100.00          130.00          430.00          101,050.00
 Entity.............................................
Design Continuation-in-Part Applications--Small                  245          100.00           50.00           65.00          215.00           52,675.00
 Entity.............................................
Provisional Application for Patent Cover Sheets--             36,500          200.00             N/A             N/A          200.00        7,300,000.00
 Other Entity.......................................
Provisional Application for Patent Cover Sheets--             60,180          100.00             N/A             N/A          100.00        6,018,000.00
 Small Entity.......................................

[[Page 53674]]

 
Electronic Provisional Application for Patent Cover           15,690          200.00             N/A             N/A          200.00        3,138,000.00
 Sheets--Other Entity...............................
Electronic Provisional Application for Patent Cover           25,800          100.00             N/A             N/A          100.00        2,580,000.00
 Sheets--Small Entity...............................
Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Priority              920        1,300.00             N/A             N/A        1,300.00        1,196,000.00
 Claim..............................................
Petition to Accept Non-Signing Inventors or Legal              2,400          200.00             N/A             N/A          200.00          480,000.00
 Representatives/Filing by Other Than all the
 Inventors or a Person not the Inventor.............
                                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..........................................         543,590  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............     $345,837,125.00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The second chart calculates the additional fees incurred when an 
application is filed with additional sheets or excess claims. The USPTO 
estimates that these fees apply to 311,905 of the 543,590 total 
applications filed per year. This chart is a subset of the first chart 
and adds an additional $89,020,075 to the annualized (non-hour) costs; 
however, it does not change the number of responses. These fees are 
also determined by the filing status.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          Responses    Filing fee for additional                 Total non-hour
                  Item                       (yr)          sheets and claims      Average fee  cost burden  (yr)
                                                 (a)  ..........................          (b)          (a) x (b)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Provisional Application Size Fee for           2,400  $200.00 per each 50 Sheets      $500.00      $1,200,000.00
 Each Provisional Application for                      over 100.
 Patent Cover Sheet, filed for Each
 Additional 50 Sheets Exceeding 100
 Sheets--Other Entity.
Provisional Application Size Fee for           2,300  $100.00 per each 50 Sheets       260.00         598,000.00
 Each Provisional Application for                      over 100.
 Patent Cover Sheet, filed for Each
 Additional 50 Sheets Exceeding 100
 Sheets--Small Entity.
Utility and Plant Applications, with          95,000  $200.00 for each claim           400.00      38,000,000.00
 independent claims in excess of 3--                   over 3.
 Other Entity.
Utility and Plant Applications, with          36,000  $100.00 for each claim           200.00       7,200,000.00
 independent claims in excess of 3--                   over 3.
 Small Entity.
Utility and Plant Applications, filed        115,000  $50.00 for each claim over       200.00      23,000,000.00
 with Claims in Excess of 20--Other                    20.
 Entity.
Utility and Plant Applications, filed         50,000  $25.00 for each claim over       300.00      15,000,000.00
 with Claims in Excess of 20--Small                    20.
 Entity.
Utility Application Size Fee for Each          7,500  $250.00 for each                 425.00       3,187,500.00
 Original New Utility Application,                     additional 50 sheets over
 filed with each additional 50 sheets                  100.
 exceeding 100 Sheets--Other Entity.
Utility Application Size Fee for Each          3,500  $125.00 for each                 225.00         787,500.00
 Original New Utility Application,                     additional 50 sheets over
 filed with each additional 50 sheets                  100.
 exceeding 100 Sheets--Small Entity.
Plant Application Size Fee for Each               25  $250.00 for each                 275.00           6,875.00
 Original New Plant Application, filed                 additional 50 sheets over
 with Each Additional 50 Sheets                        100.
 Exceeding 100 Sheets--Other Entity.
Plant Application Size Fee for Each               10  $125.00 for each                 265.00           2,650.00
 Original New Plant Application, filed                 additional 50 sheets over
 with Each Additional 50 Sheets                        100.
 Exceeding 100 Sheets--Small Entity.
Design Application Size Fee for Each             110  $250.00 for each                 265.00          29,150.00
 Original New Design Application, filed                additional 50 sheets over
 for each Additional 50 Sheets that                    100.
 Exceeds 100 Sheets--Other Entity.
Design Application Size Fee for Each              60  $125.00 for each                 140.00           8,400.00
 Original New Design Application, filed                additional 50 sheets over
 for each Additional 50 Sheets that                    100.
 Exceeds 100 Sheets--Small Entity.
                                        ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals.............................      311,905  ..........................  ...........     $89,020,075.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The third chart calculates the surcharges and fees incurred when an 
application, the search or examination fee, or the oath or declaration 
is filed late, when the application is filed with multiple dependent 
claims, or when the application is filed with a non-English 
specification. The USPTO estimates that these fees apply to 153,040 of 
the 543,590 total applications filed per year. This chart is a subset 
of the first chart and adds an additional $18,539,150 to

[[Page 53675]]

the annualized (non-hour) costs; however, it does not change the number 
of responses. Except for the fee for the non-English specification, 
these fees are also determined by the filing status.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                            Surcharge fee for
                                                                               late filing,
                                                                                 multiple
                             Item                               Responses   dependent claims,    Total non-hour
                                                                   (yr)       or non-English   cost burden  (yr)
                                                                              specification
                                                                                   fees
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       (a)  .................          (a) x (b)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Surcharge for Late Filing of Provisional Application for             3,910             $50.00        $195,500.00
 Patent Cover Sheets--Other Entity...........................
Surcharge for Late Filing of Provisional Application for             5,650              25.00         141,250.00
 Patent Cover Sheets--Small Entity...........................
Utility and Plant Applications, filed with Multiple Dependent        8,000             360.00       2,880,000.00
 Claims--Other Entity........................................
Utility and Plant Applications, filed with Multiple Dependent        3,600             180.00         648,000.00
 Claims--Small Entity........................................
Utility, Plant, and Design Applications, Filed with a               90,000             130.00      11,700,000.00
 Surcharge for Late Filing, Search or Examination Fee, or
 Oath/Declaration--Other Entity..............................
Utility, Plant, and Design Applications, Filed with a               38,000              65.00       2,470,000.00
 Surcharge for Late Filing, Search, or Examination Fee, or
 Oath/Declaration--Small Entity..............................
Non-English Specification....................................        3,880             130.00         504,400.00
                                                              --------------------------------------------------
    Totals...................................................      153,040  .................      18,539,150.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The USPTO estimates that the total non-hour respondent cost burden 
for this collection, in the form of capital start-up, postage, 
recordkeeping, and drawing costs, in addition to the filing fees, is 
$695,587,260 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, 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 also will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: August 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. E6-15048 Filed 9-11-06; 8:45 am]
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