[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 37 (Thursday, February 25, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 8649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-3882]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office

[Docket No.: PTO-P-2010-0001]


Request for Comments on Methodology for Conducting an Independent 
Study of the Burden of Patent-Related Paperwork

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office.

ACTION: Request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) retained 
ICF International (ICF) to perform an independent study of the burden 
of patent-related paperwork, beginning with a report describing the 
methodologies for performing such a study (Methodology Report). ICF has 
now provided the USPTO with its Methodology Report, in which ICF 
recommends methodologies for addressing various topics about estimating 
the patent-related burdens imposed on the public as reflected in 
information collection requests under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (PRA). The USPTO is inviting public comment on ICF's Methodology 
Report.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before April 12, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent by electronic mail message 
over the Internet addressed to [email protected]. Comments 
may also be submitted by mail addressed to: Mail Stop Comments--
Patents, Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-
1450, marked to the attention of Raul Tamayo. Although comments may be 
submitted by mail, the USPTO prefers to receive comments via the 
Internet.
    The written comments will be available for public inspection at the 
Office of the Commissioner for Patents, located in Madison East, Tenth 
Floor, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia, and will be available 
via the USPTO Internet Web site (address: http://www.uspto.gov). 
Because comments will be made available for public inspection, 
information that is not desired to be made public, such as an address 
or phone number, should not be included in the comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Raul Tamayo, Legal Advisor, Office of 
Patent Legal Administration, Office of the Associate Commissioner for 
Patent Examination Policy, at (571) 272-7728.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: While information collection is critical to 
evidence-based decisions and informed government operations, 
unnecessary paperwork requirements can impose serious burdens on the 
public, especially small entities. The PRA requires Federal agencies to 
minimize the burden on the public resulting from their information 
collections, and to maximize the practical utility of the information 
collected.
    As part of its continuing effort to improve the accuracy and 
transparency of its patent-related PRA burden estimates, the USPTO 
retained ICF to perform an independent study having the following three 
overall objectives: (1) Develop an independent, publicly vetted, 
objectively based estimate of the total cost of paperwork for patent 
applicants; (2) develop recommendations for continued improvement in 
the accuracy of burden estimates made by the USPTO in the future; and 
(3) identify opportunities to reduce applicant burdens. ICF's 
Methodology Report provides concise descriptions of the methodologies 
it recommends for conducting specific inter-related analyses for 
addressing the three overall objectives.
    The specific inter-related analyses will be performed independently 
by ICF and will provide impartial, fact-based results. The approaches 
described in ICF's Methodology Report for performing the analyses were 
developed independently by ICF, and are ICF's recommendations regarding 
the most efficient and effective ways to complete the analyses and to 
meet the overall objectives for the study.
    The USPTO is inviting comments from the public regarding ICF's 
Methodology Report. The USPTO posted the Methodology Report on its 
Internet Web site (http://www.uspto.gov) on February 25, 2010, with a 
notice requesting public comment on the Methodology Report and 
indicating that written comments must be received on or before April 
12, 2010, to receive consideration.

    Dated: February 19, 2010.
David J. Kappos,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of 
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2010-3882 Filed 2-24-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P