[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 2, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11430-11432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-4456]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Proposed Information Collection Requirements Under OMB Review;
Certain Patent Petitions Requiring a Fee
ACTION: Notice; 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 currently approved
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 May 2, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0059 Patent Petitions Requiring a Fee under 37 CFR 1.17(f)-(h)
comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Mail: Susan K. Fawcett, Records Officer, Office of the
Chief Information Officer, 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 Raul Tamayo, Legal Advisor,
Office of Patent Legal Administration, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO), P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone 571-
272-7728; or by e-mail at [email protected] with ``Paperwork'' in
the subject line.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is required
by 35 U.S.C. 131 et seq. to examine an application for patent and, when
appropriate, issue a patent. Many actions taken by the USPTO during its
examination of an application for patent or for reissue of a patent, or
during its reexamination of a patent, are subject to review by an
appeal to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. For other
USPTO actions, review is in the form of administrative review obtained
via submission of a petition to the USPTO. USPTO petitions practice
also provides an opportunity for a patent applicant or owner to supply
additional information that may be required in order for the USPTO to
further process an application or patent.
Currently, this collection covers certain petitions which, when
submitted to the USPTO by a patent applicant or owner, are required to
be accompanied by the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(f). The USPTO has
determined that it would be beneficial to group other petitions which
require a fee under 37 CFR 1.17 together with the petitions currently
in this collection. Specifically, the USPTO proposes to transfer out of
0651-0031 and into this collection petitions which are required to be
accompanied by the fee set forth in either 37 CFR 1.17 (g) or (h),
including, for example, petitions for requests for documents in a form
other than that provided by 37 CFR 1.19, petitions to make special
under the accelerated examination program, petitions for express
abandonment to avoid publication under 37 CFR 1.138(c), and petitions
for extension of time under 37 CFR 1.136(b). For a complete listing of
the items covered by this collection, please see the table in Section
III of this notice.
The petitions in this collection can be submitted electronically
through EFS-Web, the USPTO's web-based electronic filing system, as
well as on paper. The USPTO is taking this opportunity to account for
the electronic submissions in this collection.
Currently this collection has one form. There are forms associated
with the petitions for extension of time under 37 CFR 1.136(b) (PTO/SB/
23), petitions to make special under the accelerated examination
program (PTO/SB/28), petitions for express abandonment to avoid
publication under 37 CFR 1.138(c) (PTO/SB/24A), and petitions to
withdraw an application from issue after payment of the issue fee under
37 CFR 1.313(c) (PTO/SB/140). Therefore, after approval, this
collection will have five forms. Please note that there are some
petitions to withdraw which cannot be submitted using PTO/SB/140. None
of the other petitions in this collection has a form associated with
it. The filing fee for petitions with no associated form may be
remitted to the USPTO using PTO/SB/17p, which is titled ``Petition Fee
Under 37 CFR 1.17(f), (g), and (h) Transmittal.''
II. Method of Collection
By mail, facsimile, or hand delivery to the USPTO when the
applicant files the various petitions. These papers can also be filed
as attachments through EFS-Web. The petitions to make special under the
accelerated examination program can only be filed through EFS-Web.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0059.
Form Number(s): PTO/SB/17P, PTO/SB/23, PTO/SB/24a, PTO/SB/28 (EFS-
Web only), and PTO/SB/140.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Business or other for profit; non-profit
institutions.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 39,015 responses per year. Of this
total, the USPTO expects that 35,154 responses will be submitted
through EFS-Web.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
approximately 5 minutes (0.08 hours) to 12 hours to complete the items
in this collection, depending on the petition. This includes time to
gather the necessary information, create the documents, and submit the
completed request to the USPTO. The USPTO calculates that, on balance,
it takes the same amount of time to gather the necessary information,
prepare the petitions and the fee transmittal form, and submit them to
the USPTO, whether the applicant submits the petition in paper form or
electronically.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 41,907 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $13,616,730. The
USPTO expects that attorneys will complete all of the items in this
collection, with the exception of the petitions for requests for
documents in a form other than that provided by 37 CFR 1.19 and
petitions for express abandonment to avoid publication under 37 CFR
1.138(c). The USPTO expects that these petitions will be completed by
para-professionals. Using the professional hourly rate of $325 for
attorneys in private firms, and
[[Page 11431]]
an hourly rate of $122 for the para-professionals, the USPTO estimates
$13,616,730 per year for salary costs associated with respondents.
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Estimated Estimated
Item Estimated time for response annual annual burden
responses hours
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Petitions (corresponding to the fee) under 37 4 hours......................... 400 1,600
CFR 1.17(f) include: Petition to Accord a
Filing Date under 1.57(a); Petition to Accord
a Filing Date under 1.53(e); Petition for
Decision on a Question Not Specifically
Provided For; Petition to Suspend the Rules.
EFS-Web Petitions (corresponding to the fee) 4 hours......................... 3,200 12,800
under 37 CFR 1.17(f).
Petitions (corresponding to the fee) under 37 2 hours......................... 400 800
CFR 1.17(g): Petition to Access an Assignment
Record; Petition for Access to an
Application; Petition for Expungement and
Return of Information; Petition to Suspend
Action in an Application.
EFS-Web Petitions (corresponding to the fee) 2 hours......................... 3,500 7,000
under 37 CFR 1.17(g).
Petitions (corresponding to the fee) under 37 1 hour.......................... 1,100 1,100
CFR 1.17(h): Petition for Accepting Color
Drawings or Photographs; Petition for Entry
of a Model or Exhibit; Petition to Withdraw
an Application from Issue PTO/SB/140;
Petition to Defer Issuance of a Patent.
EFS-Web Petitions (corresponding to the fee) 1 hour.......................... 10,300 10,300
under 37 CFR 1.17(h).
Petitions for Requests for Documents in a Form 1 hour.......................... 5 5
Other than that Provided by 37 CFR 1.19.
EFS-Web Petitions for Requests for Documents 1 hour.......................... 50 50
in a Form Other than that Provided by 37 CFR
1.19.
Petitions to Make Special Under Accelerated 12 hours........................ 550 6,600
Examination Program PTO/SB/28 (EFS-Web Only).
Petitions for Express Abandonment to Avoid 12 minutes...................... 50 10
Publication Under 37 CFR 1.138(c) PTO/SB/24a.
EFS-Web Petitions for Express Abandonment to 12 minutes...................... 500 100
Avoid Publication Under 37 CFR 1.138(c).
Petition for Extension of Time Under 37 CFR 30 minutes...................... 6 3
1.136(b) PTO/SB/23.
EFS-Web Petition for Extension of Time Under 30 minutes...................... 54 27
37 CFR 1.136(b).
Petition Fee under 37 CFR 1.17(f), (g), and 5 minutes....................... 1,900 152
(h) Transmittal PTO/SB/17P.
EFS-Web Petition Fee under 37 CFR 1.17(f), 5 minutes....................... 17,000 1,360
(g), and (h) Transmittal.
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TOTALS.................................... ................................ 39,015 41,907
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Estimated Total Annual Non-Hour Respondent Cost Burden: $3,875,424.
There are no capital start-up, operation, or maintenance costs
associated with this information collection. There are, however,
postage costs and filing fees.
The public may submit the petitions in this collection to the USPTO
by mail through the United States Postal Service. All correspondence
may include a certificate of mailing for each piece of correspondence
enclosed, stating the date of deposit or transmission to the USPTO in
order to receive credit for timely filing. The USPTO has estimated that
the vast majority of these submissions will weigh no more than 13 oz.
Therefore, the USPTO is conservatively estimating that these
submissions will be mailed in large mailing envelopes by first-class
postage at a rate of $2.92. Postage for the certificates of mailing
themselves are not calculated into this estimate as they are included
with the individual pieces of correspondence that are being deposited
with the United States Postal Service. The USPTO estimates that 1,961
petitions and 1,900 fee transmittal forms will be mailed to the USPTO
per year, for a total postage cost of $11,274.
This collection has a minimum of $3,864,150 in associated filing
fees, as shown in the accompanying table:
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Total non-hour
Item Responses (a) Filing Fee ($) cost burden (a x
(b) b) (c)
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Petitions (corresponding to the fee) under 37 CFR 400 $400.00 $160,000.00
1.17(f) include: Petition to Accord a Filing Date
under 1.57(a); Petition to Accord a Filing Date under
1.53(e); Petition for Decision on a Question Not
Specifically Provided For.............................
EFS-Web Petitions (corresponding to the fee) under 37 3,200 400.00 1,280,000.00
CFR 1.17(f)...........................................
Petitions (corresponding to the fee) under 37 CFR 400 200.00 80,000.00
1.17(g): Petition to Access an Assignment Record;
Petition for Access to an Application; Petition for
Expungement and Return of Information; Petition to
Suspend Action in an Application......................
EFS-Web Petitions (corresponding to the fee) under 37 3,500 200.00 700,000.00
CFR 1.17(g)...........................................
Petitions (corresponding to the fee) under 37 CFR 1,100 130.00 143,000.00
1.17(h): Petition for Accepting Color Drawings or
Photographs; Petition for Entry of a Model or Exhibit;
Petition to Withdraw an Application from Issue PTO/SB/
140; Petition to Defer Issuance of a Patent...........
EFS-Web Petitions (corresponding to the fee) under 37 10,300 130.00 1,339,000.00
CFR 1.17(h)...........................................
Petitions for Requests for Documents in a Form Other 5 130.00 650.00
than that Provided by 37 CFR 1.19.....................
[[Page 11432]]
EFS-Web Petitions for Requests for Documents in a Form 50 130.00 6,500.00
Other than that Provided by 37 CFR 1.19...............
Petitions to Make Special Under Accelerated Examination 550 130.00 71,500.00
Program (EFS-Web only) PTO/SB/28 (EFS-Web only).......
Petitions for Express Abandonment to Avoid Publication 50 130.00 6,500.00
Under 37 CFR 1.138(c) PTO/SB/24a......................
EFS-Web Petitions for Express Abandonment to Avoid 500 130.00 65,000.00
Publication Under 37 CFR 1.138(c).....................
Petition for Extension of Time Under 37 CFR 1.136(b) 6 200.00 1,200.00
PTO/SB/23.............................................
EFS-Web Petition for Extension of Time Under 37 CFR 54 200.00 10,800.00
1.136(b)..............................................
Petition Fee under 37 CFR 1.17(f), (g), and (h) 1,900 None 0.00
Transmittal PTO/SB/17.................................
EFS-Web Petition Fee under 37 CFR 1.17(f), (g), and (h) 17,000 None 0.00
Transmittal...........................................
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TOTALS............................................. 39,015 ................. 3,864,150.00
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The USPTO estimates that the total non-hour respondent cost burden
for this collection in the form of postage costs and filing fees
amounts to $3,875,424.
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 will also become a matter of public record.
Dated: February 24, 2011.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-4456 Filed 3-1-11; 8:45 am]
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