[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 68 (Tuesday, April 10, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17876-17877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6735]


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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) will submit 
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: Post Allowance and Refiling.
    Form Number(s): PTO/SB/44/50/51/51S/52/53/56/57/58 and PTOL-85B.
    Agency Approval Number: 0651-0033.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Burden: 68,245 hours annually.
    Number of Respondents: 224,926 responses per year.
    Avg. Hours Per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take the 
public from approximately 1.8 minutes (0.03 hours) to two hours to read 
the instructions, gather the necessary information, prepare the 
appropriate form or other document, and submit the information to the 
USPTO.
    Needs and Uses: The USPTO is required by 35 U.S.C. 131 and 151 to 
examine applications and issue them as patents when appropriate. The 
applicant must then pay the required issue fee to receive the patent 
and avoid abandonment of the application. The USPTO can also correct 
errors in patents

[[Page 17877]]

and reissue patents as appropriate. Under 37 CFR 1.510-1.570 and 37 CFR 
1.902-1.997, the USPTO may grant requests for ex parte and inter partes 
reexamination proceedings. The public uses this collection to request 
corrections of errors in issued patents, to request reissue patents, to 
request reexamination proceedings, and to ensure that the necessary 
fees and documentation are submitted to the USPTO. The USPTO is adding 
two items to this information collection, an electronic version of the 
Issue Fee Transmittal (Form PTOL-85B) and a petition to request an 
extension of time in ex parte or inter partes reexamination 
proceedings. This petition is an existing requirement that was not 
previously covered in this collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households, businesses or other 
for-profits, and not-for-profit institutions.
    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 ``0651-0033 copy 
request'' 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.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent on or before May 10, 2007 to David Rostker, 
OMB Desk Officer, Room 10202, New Executive Office Building, 725 17th 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.

    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. E7-6735 Filed 4-9-07; 8:45 am]
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