[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 8 (Friday, January 12, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1492-1493]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-91]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office


Secrecy and License To Export

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 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 March 13, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-0034 
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 A. Clarke, Deputy 
Director, Office of Patent Legal Administration, U.S. Patent and 
Trademark Office (USPTO), P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by 
telephone 571-272-7735; or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    In the interest of national security, patent laws and rules place 
certain limitations on the disclosure of information contained in 
patents and patent applications and on the filing of applications for 
patents in foreign countries. When an invention is determined to be 
detrimental to national security, the Commissioner for Patents at the 
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) must issue a secrecy 
order and withhold the grant of a patent for such period as the 
national interest requires. It a secrecy order is applied to an 
international application, the application will not be forwarded to

[[Page 1493]]

the International Bureau as long as the secrecy order is in effect. The 
USPTO collects information to determine whether the patent laws and 
rules have been complied with, and to grant or revoke licenses to file 
abroad when appropriate. This collection of information is required by 
35 U.S.C. 181-188 and administered through 37 CFR Ch. 1, Part 5, 5.1-
5.33.
    There are no forms associated with this collection of information.

II. Method of Collection

    By mail, facsimile, or hand delivery to the USPTO when the 
applicant or agent files a patent application with the USPTO, submits 
subsequent papers during the prosecution of the application to the 
USPTO, or submits a request for a foreign filing license for a patent 
application to be filed abroad before the filing of a United States 
patent application.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0034.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Business or other for profit; not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,669 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
between 30 minutes to 4 hours to gather, prepare and submit this 
information, depending upon the complexity of the situation.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 1,310 hours per 
year.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $398,240. Using the 
professional hourly rate of $304 for associate attorneys in private 
firms, the USPTO estimates $398,240 per year for salary costs 
associated with respondents.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Estimated       Estimated
                     Item                         Estimated time for  response        annual       annual burden
                                                                                     responses         hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Petition for rescission of secrecy order.....  3 hours..........................               6              18
Petition to disclose or modification of        2 hours..........................               3               6
 secrecy order.
Petition for general and group permits.......  1 hour...........................               1               1
Petition for expedited handling of license     30 minutes.......................           1,402             701
 (no corresponding appliction).
Petition for expedited handling of license     30 minutes.......................             126              63
 (corresponding U.S. application).
Petition for changing the scope of a license.  30 minutes.......................               1               1
Petition for retroactive license.............  4 hours..........................             130             520
                                                                                 -------------------------------
    Totals...................................  .................................           1,669           1,310
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Non-Hour Respondent Cost Burden: $331,865. 
There are no capital start-up or maintenance costs associated with this 
information collection. There are, however, filing fees and postage 
costs.
    This collection has a total of $331,800 in associated filing fees, 
as shown in the accompanying table:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                   Total filing
                                                                                    Filing fee       fee cost
                              Item                                Responses  (a)     ($)  (b)       burden  (c)
                                                                                                      (a x b)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Petition for rescission of secrecy order........................               6              $0           $0.00
Petition to disclose or modification of secrecyorder............               3               0            0.00
Petition for general and group permits..........................               1               0            0.00
Petition for expedited handling of license (no corresponding               1,402          200.00      280,400.00
 application)...................................................
Petition for expedited handling of license (corresponding U.S.               126          200.00       25,200.00
 application)...................................................
Petition for changing the scope of a license....................               1          200.00          200.00
Petition for retroactive license................................             130          200.00       26,000.00
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Totals......................................................           1,669  ..............      331,800.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The USPTO estimates that 90 percent (90%) of the petitions in this 
collection are submitted to the USPTO by facsimile or hand carried 
because of the quick turnaround required. For the 10 percent (10%) of 
the public that chooses to submit the petitions in this collection to 
the USPTO by mail through the United States Postal Service, the USPTO 
estimates that the average first class postage cost for a mailed 
submission will be 39 cents. Therefore, the USPTO estimates that up to 
167 submissions per year may be mailed to the USPTO at an average first 
class postage cost of 39 cents, for a total postage cost of $65.
    The USPTO estimates that the total non-hour respondent cost burden 
for this collection in the form of postage costs and filing fees 
amounts to $331,865.

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 will also become a matter of public record.

    Dated: January 4, 2007.
Susan K. Brown,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Architecture, Engineering and Technical Services, Data Architecture and 
Services Division.
[FR Doc. 07-91 Filed 1-11-07; 8:45 am]
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