[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 163 (Thursday, August 21, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49444-49446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-19375]


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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 October 20, 
2008.

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, United States Patent and Trademark 
Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
     Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Tamara McClure, Office of Finance, United States 
Patent

[[Page 49445]]

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 United States Patent and 
Trademark Office (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 credit card, 
deposit account, electronic funds transfer (EFT), and paper check 
transactions. 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.
    This information collection includes the Credit Card Payment Form 
(PTO-2038), which provides the public with a convenient way to submit a 
credit card payment for fees related to a patent, trademark, or 
information product. Customers may also submit credit card payments via 
the Electronic Credit Card Payment Form (PTO-2231) when using online 
systems through the USPTO Web site for paying fees related to patents, 
trademarks, or information products.
    The USPTO will not include credit card information submitted using 
the credit card payment forms among the patent or trademark records 
open to public inspection.
    Customers may establish a deposit account for making fee payments 
by completing a Deposit Account Application Form (PTO-2232) and sending 
the required information, initial deposit, and service fee to the 
USPTO. Deposit accounts eliminate the need to submit a check, credit 
card information, or other form of payment for each transaction with 
the USPTO. Additionally, in the event that a fee amount due is 
miscalculated, customers may authorize the USPTO to charge any 
remaining balance to the deposit account and therefore avoid the 
potential consequences of underpayment. As customers use their deposit 
accounts to make payments, they may deposit funds to replenish their 
accounts by mailing a check to the USPTO or making a deposit online via 
EFT using the Electronic Deposit Account Replenishment Form (PTO-2233) 
available at the USPTO Web site. Replenishments may not be made by 
credit card. Customers may also close their deposit accounts by 
submitting a written request or by using the Deposit Account Closure 
Request Form (PTO-2234).
    In addition to credit cards and deposit accounts, customers may 
also use EFT to make online fee payments to the USPTO. Customers must 
first establish a user profile with their banking information by 
submitting the EFT User Profile Form (PTO-2236) through the USPTO Web 
site. Once their profile is created, customers may use their User ID 
and password to perform EFT transactions.
    Under 37 CFR 1.26 and 2.209, the USPTO may refund fees paid by 
mistake or in excess of the required amount. For refund amounts of $25 
or less, customers must submit a written request to the Refund Branch 
of the USPTO Office of Finance.
    In order to access and manage their financial activity records 
online, customers may create a Financial Profile through the USPTO web 
site. Customers create a profile 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.

II. Method of Collection

    By mail, facsimile, hand delivery, or electronically to the USPTO.

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.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public approximately two to six minutes (0.03 to 0.10 hours) to 
gather the necessary information, prepare, and submit the items in this 
collection.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 58,166 hours per 
year.
    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 hourly 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  Estimated time     Estimated       Estimated
                              Item                                 for response       annual      annual  burden
                                                                     (minutes)       responses         hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Credit Card Payment Form (PTO-2038).............................               2         863,389          25,902
Electronic Credit Card Payment Form (PTO-2231)..................               2       1,017,322          30,520
Deposit Account Application Form (PTO-2232).....................               2             298               9
Deposit Account Replenishment...................................               2          20,837             625
Electronic Deposit Account Replenishment Form (PTO-2233)........               2          17,664             530
Deposit Account Closure Request Form (PTO-2234).................               4             132               9
EFT User Profile Form (PTO-2236)................................               2           2,850              86
Refund Request..................................................               4           6,213             435
Financial Profiles..............................................               6             500              50
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................  ..............       1,929,205          58,166
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    Estimated Total Annual Non-Hour Respondent Cost Burden: $248,603. 
There are no capital start-up costs or maintenance costs associated 
with this information collection. However, this collection does have 
associated service fees for deposit accounts and returned payments, 
postage costs for mailing submissions to the USPTO, and

[[Page 49446]]

recordkeeping costs related to electronic credit card payments and 
electronic deposit account replenishments.
    There are service fees for setting up a deposit account at the 
USPTO, for not maintaining the minimum balance required for the deposit 
account, and for returned payments. The service charge to establish a 
deposit account is $10, and the USPTO estimates that it processes 298 
Deposit Account Application Forms annually, for a total of $2,980 per 
year. There is also a $25 service charge for deposit accounts that are 
below the minimum balance ($1,000 minimum balance for an unrestricted 
deposit account or $300 minimum balance for a restricted deposit 
account) at the end of the month. The USPTO estimates that it assesses 
4,000 of these low balance charges annually, for a total of $100,000 
per year. There is a $50 service charge for processing a payment 
refused (including a check returned ``unpaid'') or charged back by a 
financial institution. The USPTO estimates that it assesses 456 of 
these returned payment charges annually, for a total of $22,800 per 
year. The total estimated service fees for this collection are $125,780 
per year.
    Customers may incur postage costs when submitting the Credit Card 
Payment Form and other paper forms or requests to the USPTO by mail. 
Customers generally send the Credit Card Payment Form to the USPTO 
along with other documents related to the fee or service being paid for 
by credit card, but some customers may submit just the Credit Card 
Payment Form without additional supporting documents. The USPTO 
estimates that roughly 5 percent of the 863,389 paper Credit Card 
Payment Forms submitted annually may be mailed in by themselves, 
approximately 43,169 per year. The USPTO estimates that it will receive 
an additional 27,480 submissions per year that may be mailed, including 
Deposit Account Application Forms, Deposit Account Replenishments, 
Deposit Account Closure Requests, and Refund Requests, for a total of 
70,649 mailed submissions per year. The USPTO estimates that the first-
class postage cost for a mailed submission will be 42 cents, for a 
total postage cost of approximately $29,673 per year.
    Customers using the Electronic Credit Card Payment Form or the 
Electronic Deposit Account Replenishment Form may incur recordkeeping 
costs from printing a copy of the electronic receipt confirming their 
successful online transaction. The USPTO estimates that it will take 5 
seconds (0.001 hours) to print a copy of the confirmation receipt and 
that approximately 1,034,986 submissions per year will use the 
Electronic Credit Card Payment Form or the Electronic Deposit Account 
Replenishment Form, for a total recordkeeping burden of 1,035 hours per 
year. Using the paraprofessional rate of $90 per hour, the USPTO 
estimates that the recordkeeping cost associated with this collection 
will be approximately $93,150 per year.
    The total non-hour respondent cost burden for this collection in 
the form of service fees, postage costs, and recordkeeping costs is 
estimated to be $248,603 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, 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: August 14, 2008.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Customer Information Services Group, Public Information Services 
Division.
[FR Doc. E8-19375 Filed 8-20-08; 8:45 am]
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