[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 247 (Tuesday, December 23, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78726-78727]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30488]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Public User ID Badging

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 revision of a 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 February 23, 
2009.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-0041 
comment'' 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, 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 
regarding online access cards or user training should be directed to 
Diane Lewis, Manager, Public Search Facility, United States Patent and 
Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by 
telephone at 571-272-8714; or by electronic mail to 
[email protected].
    Requests for additional information regarding security 
identification badges should be directed to J.R. Garland, Director, 
Security Office, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 
1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-6247; or by 
electronic mail to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is required 
by 35 U.S.C. 41(i)(1) to maintain a Public Search Facility to provide 
patent and trademark collections for searching and retrieval of 
information. The Public Search Facility is maintained for public use 
with paper and electronic search files and trained staff to assist 
searchers. The USPTO also offers training courses to assist the public 
with using the advanced electronic search systems available at the 
facility.
    In order to manage the patent and trademark collections that are 
available to the public, the USPTO issues online access cards to 
customers who wish to use the electronic search systems at the Public 
Search Facility. Customers may obtain an online access card by 
completing the application at the Public Search Facility reference desk 
and providing proper identification. The plastic online access cards 
include a bar-coded user number and an expiration date. Users may renew 
their cards by validating and updating the required information and may 
obtain a replacement for a lost card by providing proper 
identification.
    Under the authority provided in 41 CFR Part 102-81, the USPTO 
issues security identification badges to members of the public who wish 
to use the facilities at the USPTO. Public users may apply for a 
security badge in person at the USPTO Office of Security by providing 
the necessary information and presenting a valid form of identification 
with photograph. The security badges include a color photograph of the 
user and must be worn at all times while at the USPTO facilities.
    The USPTO has recently eliminated the $25 fee for the public 
training courses offered for the online search systems available at the 
Public Search Facility. There is still a $120 fee for users who request 
private instruction. The public training fee is being deleted from this 
collection. The estimated time for completing the user training 
registration forms has also been reduced from ten minutes to five 
minutes due to the removal of the payment information from the forms.

II. Method of Collection

    The applications for online access cards and security 
identification badges are completed on site and handed to a USPTO staff 
member for issuance. User training registration forms may be mailed, 
faxed, or hand delivered to the USPTO.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0041.
    Form Number(s): PTO-2030, PTO-2224.
    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: 10,500 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public approximately five to ten minutes (0.08 to 0.17 hours) to 
complete the information in this collection, including gathering the 
necessary information, preparing the appropriate form, and submitting 
the completed request.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 1,045 hours per 
year. Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $177,650 per year. 
The USPTO estimates that approximately \1/3\ of the users responding to 
this collection are attorneys and \2/3\ are paraprofessionals. Using 
\1/3\ of the professional rate of $310 per hour for attorneys in 
private firms and \2/3\ of the paraprofessional rate of $100 per hour, 
the estimated rate for respondents to this collection is approximately 
$170 per hour.

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                                                                  Estimated time     Estimated       Estimated
                              Item                                 for response       annual       annual burden
                                                                     (minutes)       responses         hours
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Application for Public User ID (Online Access Card) (PTO-2030)..               5           2,553             204
Issue Online Access Card........................................              10           2,282             388
Renew Online Access Card........................................               5           1,126              90
Replace Online Access Card......................................               5             165              13

[[Page 78727]]

 
User Training Registration Forms................................               5              74               6
Security Identification Badges for Public Users (PTO-2224)......               5           1,000              80
Renew Security Identification Badges for Public Users...........               5           3,200             256
Replace Security Identification Badge...........................               5             100               8
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................  ..............          10,500           1,045
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    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $1,982. 
There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or recordkeeping costs 
associated with this information collection. However, this collection 
does have annual (non-hour) costs in the form of fees and postage 
costs.
    There are no application or renewal fees for online access cards or 
security identification badges. However, there is a $15 fee for issuing 
a replacement security identification badge. The USPTO estimates that 
it will reissue approximately 100 security badges annually that have 
been lost or need to be replaced, for a total of $1,500 per year in 
replacement fees.
    The public training course fee is being deleted from this 
collection. However, there is a $120 fee for users who request private 
instruction for the online search systems available at the Public 
Search Facility. The USPTO estimates that it will receive 4 
registrations for individual instruction per year, for a total of $480 
in training fees. Therefore, this collection has a total of $1,980 per 
year in fees in the form of security badge replacement fees and 
training registration fees.
    Users may incur postage costs when submitting a user training 
registration form to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO expects that 
approximately 4 of the estimated 74 training forms received per year 
will be submitted by mail. The USPTO estimates that the average first-
class postage cost for a mailed training form will be 42 cents, for a 
total postage cost of approximately $2 per year for this collection.
    The total annual (non-hour) respondent cost burden for this 
collection in the form of fees and postage costs is estimated to be 
$1,982 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: December 17, 2008.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Customer Information Services Group, Public Information Services 
Division.
 [FR Doc. E8-30488 Filed 12-22-08; 8:45 am]
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