[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 90 (Tuesday, May 10, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27020-27022]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-11378]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office


Representative and Address Provisions

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 July 11, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0035 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
     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.
     Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Raul Tamayo, Legal Advisor, Office of Patent 
Legal Administration, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. 
Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-7728; or 
by e-mail to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    Under 35 U.S.C. 2 and 37 CFR 1.31-1.36, a patent applicant or 
assignee of record may grant power of attorney to a person who is 
registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark 
Office (USPTO) to act for them in a patent or application. A power of 
attorney may also be revoked, and a registered practitioner may also 
withdraw as attorney or agent of record under 37 CFR 1.36. The rules of 
practice (37 CFR 1.33) also provide for the applicant, assignee, or 
practitioner of record to supply a correspondence address and daytime 
telephone number for receiving notices, official letters, and other 
communications from the USPTO. Maintaining a correct and updated 
correspondence address is necessary so that official correspondence 
from the USPTO related to a patent or application will be properly 
received by the applicant, assignee, or practitioner.
    The USPTO's Customer Number practice permits applicants, assignees, 
and practitioners of record to change the correspondence address or 
representatives of record for a number of patents or applications with 
one change request instead of filing separate requests for each patent 
or application.

[[Page 27021]]

Customers may request a Customer Number from the USPTO and associate 
this Customer Number with a correspondence address or a list of 
registered practitioners. Any changes to the address or practitioner 
information associated with a Customer Number will be applied to all 
patents and applications associated with that Customer Number.
    The Customer Number practice is optional, in that changes of 
correspondence address or power of attorney may be filed separately for 
each patent or application without using a Customer Number. However, a 
Customer Number associated with the correspondence address for a patent 
application is required in order to access private information about 
the application using the Patent Application Information Retrieval 
(PAIR) system, which is available through the USPTO Web site. The PAIR 
system gives authorized individuals secure online access to application 
status information, but only for patent applications that are linked to 
a Customer Number. Customer Numbers may be associated with U.S. patent 
applications as well as international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) 
applications. The use of a Customer Number is also required in order to 
grant power of attorney to more than ten practitioners or to establish 
a separate ``fee address'' for maintenance fee purposes that is 
different from the correspondence address for a patent or application.
    In addition to the forms offered by the USPTO to assist customers 
with providing the information in this collection, customers may also 
format requests using a Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet to designate 
or change the correspondence address or fee address for a list of 
patents or applications by associating them with a Customer Number. The 
Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet must be submitted to the USPTO on a 
computer-readable diskette or compact disc (CD), accompanied by a 
signed cover letter requesting entry of the address changes for the 
listed patents and applications. The spreadsheet and cover letter must 
be mailed to the USPTO and cannot be filed electronically. Customers 
may download a Microsoft Excel template with instructions from the 
USPTO Web site to assist them in preparing the spreadsheet in the 
proper format. The Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet may not be used 
to change the power of attorney for patents or applications.
    This information collection includes the information necessary to 
submit a request to grant or revoke power of attorney for an 
application, patent, or reexamination proceeding, and for a registered 
practitioner to withdraw as attorney or agent of record. This 
collection also includes the information necessary to change the 
correspondence address for an application, patent, or reexamination 
proceeding, to request a Customer Number and manage the correspondence 
address and list of practitioners associated with a Customer Number, 
and to designate or change the correspondence address or fee address 
for one or more patents or applications by using a Customer Number.

II. Method of Collection

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

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0035.
    Form Number(s): PTO/SB/80/81/81A/81B/81C/83/84, PTO/SB/122/123/
123A/123B/124/125, and PTO-2248.
    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: 592,315 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public approximately 3 minutes (0.05 hours) to 1.5 hours to submit 
the information in this collection, including the time to gather the 
necessary information, prepare the appropriate form or document, and 
submit the completed request to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 33,867 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $4,167,705. The 
USPTO expects that Requests for Withdrawal as Attorney or Agent and the 
two petitions in this collection will be prepared by attorneys, while 
the other items in this collection will be prepared by 
paraprofessionals. Using the professional rate of $325 per hour for 
attorneys in private firms, the USPTO estimates that the respondent 
cost burden for submitting the withdrawal requests and the petitions 
will be $57,525 per year. Using the paraprofessional rate of $122 per 
hour, the USPTO estimates that the respondent cost burden for 
submitting the other items in this collection will be $4,110,180 per 
year. The estimated total respondent cost burden for this collection is 
$4,167,705 per year.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Estimated       Estimated
                     Item                          Estimated time for response        annual       annual burden
                                                                                     responses         hours
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Power of Attorney to Prosecute Applications     3 minutes.......................           3,600             180
 Before the USPTO (PTO/SB/80).
Power of Attorney or Revocation of Power of     3 minutes.......................         433,000          21,650
 Attorney with a New Power of Attorney and
 Change of Correspondence Address (PTO/SB/81).
Patent--Power of Attorney or Revocation of      3 minutes.......................             500              25
 Power of Attorney with a New Power of
 Attorney and Change of Correspondence Address
 (PTO/SB/81A).
Reexamination--Patent Owner Power of Attorney   3 minutes.......................             400              20
 or Revocation of Power of Attorney with a New
 Power of Attorney and Change of
 Correspondence Address (PTO/SB/81B).
Reexamination--Third Party Requester Power of   3 minutes.......................             100               5
 Attorney or Revocation of Power of Attorney
 with a New Power of Attorney and Change of
 Correspondence Address (PTO/SB/81C).
Request for Withdrawal as Attorney or Agent     12 minutes......................             760             152
 and Change of Correspondence Address (PTO/SB/
 83).
Authorization to Act in a Representative        3 minutes.......................           1,400              70
 Capacity (PTO/SB/84).
Petition Under 37 CFR 1.36(a) to Revoke Power   1 hour..........................              15              15
 of Attorney by Fewer than All the Applicants.
Petition to Waive 37 CFR 1.32(b)(4) and Grant   1 hour..........................              10              10
 Power of Attorney by Fewer than All the
 Applicants.
Change of Correspondence Address for            3 minutes.......................         140,000           7,000
 Application or Patent (PTO/SB/122/123).
Patent Owner Change of Correspondence Address-- 3 minutes.......................             130               7
 Reexamination Proceeding (PTO/SB/123A).

[[Page 27022]]

 
Third Party Requester Change of Correspondence  3 minutes.......................              90               5
 Address--Reexamination Proceeding (PTO/SB/
 123B).
Request for Customer Number Data Change (PTO/   12 minutes......................           2,400             480
 SB/124).
Request for Customer Number (PTO/SB/125)......  12 minutes......................           7,100           1,420
Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet............  1 hour and 30 minutes...........           1,700           2,550
Request to Update a PCT Application with a      15 minutes......................           1,110             278
 Customer Number (PTO-2248).
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    Totals....................................  ................................         592,315          33,867
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    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $64,916. 
There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or recordkeeping costs 
associated with this information collection. However, this collection 
does have annual (non-hour) cost burden in the form of filing fees and 
postage costs.
    The two petitions in this collection have associated filing fees. 
The filing fee for both the Petition Under 37 CFR 1.36(a) to Revoke 
Power of Attorney by Fewer than All the Applicants and the Petition to 
Waive 37 CFR 1.32(b)(4) and Grant Power of Attorney by Fewer than All 
the Applicants is currently $400 (37 CFR 1.17(f)). Using the $400 fee 
for the 25 responses for these petitions, the USPTO estimates that the 
total filing fees for this collection will be $10,000 per year.
    The public may incur postage costs when submitting the information 
in this collection to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO estimates that the 
average first-class postage cost for a mailed submission will be 88 
cents for all items except for the Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet 
and that approximately 59,062 of the non-spreadsheet items will be 
submitted to the USPTO by mail. Due to the additional materials 
required for Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet submissions, including 
the diskette or CD and cover letter, the USPTO estimates that the 
average first-class postage cost for the 1,700 spreadsheet submissions 
will be $1.73. Therefore, the total estimated postage cost for this 
collection is approximately $54,916 per year.
    The total (non-hour) respondent cost burden for this collection in 
the form of filing fees and postage costs is estimated to be $64,916 
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: May 5, 2011.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-11378 Filed 5-9-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P