[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 68 (Tuesday, April 10, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17875-17876]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6731]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Patent and Trademark Financial Transactions

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 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 June 11, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-0043 
comment'' in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: 571-273-0112, marked to the attention of Susan 
Fawcett.
     Mail: Susan K. Fawcett, Records Officer, Office of the 
Chief Information Officer, Customer Information Services Group, Public 
Information Services 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 Tamara McClure, Office of Finance, U.S. Patent 
and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by 
telephone at 571-272-6345; or by e-mail to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    Under 35 U.S.C. 41 and 15 U.S.C. 1113, the USPTO charges fees for 
processing and other services related to patents, trademarks, and 
information products. Customers may submit payments to the USPTO by 
several methods, including by credit card,

[[Page 17876]]

deposit account, and electronic funds transfer (EFT). The provisions of 
35 U.S.C. 41 and 15 U.S.C. 1113 are implemented in 37 CFR 1.16-1.28, 
2.6-2.7, and 2.206-2.209.
    The USPTO is developing a pilot program that will allow customers 
to access and manage their financial activity records online. Customers 
will be able to create a Financial Profile through the USPTO Web site 
by registering a username and password, providing contact information, 
and specifying the types of notifications and alerts they would like to 
receive. After establishing a Financial Profile, customers may then add 
the relevant account information to the profile in order to track their 
credit card, deposit account, and EFT transactions with the USPTO.
    In the future, customers will also be able to use their Financial 
Profiles to perform transactions with the USPTO by using their 
previously stored account information. The Financial Profiles are being 
added to this information collection.

II. Method of Collection

    By mail, facsimile, hand delivery, or electronically to the USPTO. 
Information for Financial Profiles will be collected electronically 
through the USPTO Web site.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0043.
    Form Number(s): PTO-2038, PTO-2231, PTO-2232, PTO-2233, PTO-2234, 
PTO-2236.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other 
for-profits; and not-for-profit institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,929,205 responses per year, 
including 500 responses per year for Financial Profiles.
    Estimated Time Per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public approximately two to four minutes (0.03 to 0.07 hours) to 
prepare and submit the existing items in this collection. The USPTO 
estimates that it will take the public approximately six minutes (0.10 
hours) to complete and submit a Financial Profile.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 58,166 hours per 
year, including 50 hours per year for Financial Profiles.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $2,617,470 per year. 
The USPTO expects that 75% of the submissions for this information 
collection will be prepared by fee administrators/coordinators and that 
25% of the submissions will be prepared by paraprofessionals. Using 
those proportions and the estimated rates of $30 per hour for fee 
administrators/coordinators and $90 per hour for paraprofessionals, the 
USPTO estimates that the average rate for all respondents will be 
approximately $45 per hour. Using this estimated rate of $45 per hour, 
the USPTO estimates that the respondent cost burden for submitting the 
information in this collection will be approximately $2,617,470 per 
year, including $2,250 in respondent cost burden for the Financial 
Profiles.

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                                                                  Estimated time     Estimated       Estimated
                              Item                                 for  response      annual       annual burden
                                                                     (minutes)       responses         hours
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Financial Profiles..............................................               6             500              50
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................  ..............             500              50
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    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $237,168. 
This collection is currently approved with a total of $237,168 in 
annual (non-hour) cost burden in the form of service fees for deposit 
accounts and returned payments, postage costs for mailing submissions 
to the USPTO, and recordkeeping costs related to electronic credit card 
payments and electronic deposit account replenishments. There are no 
additional annual costs associated with the Financial Profiles.

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.

    Dated: April 3, 2007.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Customer Information Services Group, Public Information Services 
Division.
[FR Doc. E7-6731 Filed 4-9-07; 8:45 am]
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