[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 197 (Wednesday, October 13, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62761-62762]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-25669]


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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: United States Patent Applicant Survey.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Agency Approval Number: 0651-0052.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Burden: 140 hours annually.
    Number of Respondents: 400 responses per year, with an estimated 
267 responses filed electronically.
    Avg. Hours per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take the 
public 30 minutes (0.50 hours) to complete the surveys, with the 
exception of the surveys for the independent inventors, which are 
estimated to take 15 minutes (0.25 hours) to complete. This includes 
the time to gather the necessary information, respond to the surveys, 
and submit them to the USPTO. The USPTO estimates that it will take the 
same amount of time to respond to the surveys, whether they are 
completed online or mailed to the USPTO.
    Needs and Uses: The USPTO developed the United States Patent 
Applicant Survey as part of a continuing effort to better predict the 
future growth of patent application filings by understanding applicant 
intentions. The main purpose of this survey is to determine the number 
of application filings that the USPTO can expect to receive over the 
next three years from patent-generating entities, ranging from

[[Page 62762]]

large domestic corporations to independent inventors. The USPTO also 
uses this survey in response to the Senate Appropriations Report 106-
404 (September 8, 2000), which directed the USPTO to ``develop a 
workload forecast with advice from a representative sample of industry 
and the inventor community. There are two versions of the survey: one 
for large domestic corporations and small and medium-sized businesses 
and one for universities, non-profit research organizations, and 
independent inventors. The large domestic corporations, small and 
medium-sized businesses, universities, non-profit research 
organizations, and independent inventors responding to these surveys 
will provide the USPTO with the number of application filings that they 
plan to submit, in addition to providing general feedback concerning 
industry trends and the survey itself. The USPTO will use this feedback 
to anticipate demand and estimate future revenue flow more reliably; to 
identify input and output triggers and allocate resources to meet and 
understand customer needs; and to reassess output and capacity goals 
and realign organization quality control measures with applicant by 
division.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits and not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    OMB Desk Officer: Nicholas A. Fraser, e-mail: [email protected].
    Once submitted, the request will be publicly available in 
electronic format through the Information Collection Review page at 
http://www.reginfo.gov.
    Paper copies can be obtained by:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0052 copy request'' 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, United States 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 November 12, 2010 to Nicholas A. 
Fraser, OMB Desk Officer, via e-mail to [email protected] 
or by fax to 202-395-5167, marked to the attention of Nicholas A. 
Fraser.

    Dated: October 6, 2010.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2010-25669 Filed 10-12-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P