[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 100 (Thursday, May 24, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29135-29137]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-10042]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Patent Public Advisory Strategic Planning Survey

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The Patent and Trademark Office, Patent Public Advisory 
Committee, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to 
take this opportunity to comment on this new 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 July 23, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-00xx PPAC 
Strategic Planning Survey'' in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: 571-273-0112, marked to the attention of Susan K. 
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.
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to the attention of 0651-00xx Patent Public Advisory 
Strategic Planning Survey c/o Andrew I.

[[Page 29136]]

Faile, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 
22313-1450; by facsimile at 571-273-6950, or by e-mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) was established under 
35 U.S.C. 5 as a nine member committee appointed by the Secretary of 
Commerce and serving at the pleasure of the Secretary of Commerce, with 
the duty to review the policies, goals, performance, budget, and user 
fees of the United States Patent and Trademark Office with respect to 
patents. In order to obtain data for a review of the policies, goals, 
and performance, the PPAC will conduct a survey, gather and analyze 
issues pertaining to potential problems and improvements to the U.S. 
Patent systems. Through this survey the PPAC will assist the USPTO in 
meeting its strategic goals, including efforts to optimize the patent 
process, in a clearly and concisely articulated and documented format.
    The outreach survey project will be designed to query from a 
representative diversity of business and industry sectors, as well as 
academia and others involved in developing innovation from conception 
to commercialization.
    The PPAC intends to use the data to measure how well the agency is 
meeting established programmatic expectations, to identify any 
disjoints between industry expectations and USPTO performance, and to 
develop improvement strategies that are inline with the agency 
strategic plan.
    To obtain data, the PPAC proposes to use data gathering mechanisms 
to include but not be limited to: Focus groups, online surveys and one-
on-one interviews. Focus groups will include individuals representing a 
cross section of the external Intellectual Property community and 
analysis of survey results will obtain both quantitative and 
qualitative responses.
    This is a voluntary survey. The collected data will not be linked 
to the respondent and contact information that is used for sampling 
purposes will be maintained in a separate file from the quantitative 
data. Respondents are not required to provide any identifying 
information such as their name, address, or Social Security Number. In 
order to access and complete the online survey, respondents will need 
to use the username and password provided by the USPTO.

II. Method of Collection

    In person, by mail, and/or electronically over the Internet.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-00xx.
    Form Number(s): N/A.
    Type of Review: New information collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; business or other for-
profit; not-for-profit institutions; Federal Government; and state, 
local, or tribal Government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,665 responses per year. It is 
estimated that the PPAC will conduct 6 focus groups of 20 respondents, 
6 virtual focus groups of 20 attendees, 4 online surveys of up to 600 
participants, and up to 25 one-on-one interviews.
    The respondent group will include industry leadership throughout 
the United States. Due to the nature of the survey, which is being 
conducted as an outreach support project, the respondent group is 
expected to be higher than a random sampling survey audience. The PPAC 
expects to conduct these surveys once. The PPAC estimates that 70% of 
online surveys will be completed, 60% of all focus group invitees will 
attend, 60% of online surveys will be submitted, and 50% of the one-on-
one interviews will be attended.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
approximately 10 minutes (0.17 hours) to complete the online version of 
this survey. This includes the time to gather the necessary 
information, complete the request, and submit it to the USPTO. The 
expectation is that it will take approximately 30 minutes (0.5 hours) 
to complete a focus group session; and 20 minutes (0.33 hours) to 
complete a one-on-one interview.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 536 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $162,944. The USPTO 
believes that a variety of professionals and industry leaders will be 
responding to these surveys, and as such the basis used for cost burden 
is that of the professional hourly rate of $304 for associate attorneys 
in private firms.

 
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                                                                Estimated time     Estimated        Estimated
                             Item                               for  response        annual       annual  burden
                                                                 (in minutes)      responses          hours
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PPAC Focus Group Session.....................................              30              120               60
PPAC Virtual Focus Groups....................................              30              120               60
PPAC Online Strategic Planning Survey........................              10            2,400              408
PPAC One-On-One Interview Survey.............................              20               25                8
                                                              --------------------------------------------------
    Total....................................................  ...............           2,665              536
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    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $0. There 
are no capital start-up, maintenance, operation, or recordkeeping 
costs, nor are there any filing fees associated with this information 
collection.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper planning of strategic 
initiatives, 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.


[[Page 29137]]


    Dated: May 18, 2007.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer, Customer Information Services Group, Public 
Information Services Division.
 [FR Doc. E7-10042 Filed 5-23-07; 8:45 am]
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