[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 175 (Friday, September 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55880-55882]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23078]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office


Recording Assignments

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 November 8, 
2011.

[[Page 55881]]


ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0027 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 Joyce R. Johnson, Manager, Assignment Division, 
Mail Stop 1450, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 
1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 703-756-1265; or by e-
mail to [email protected]. Additional information about this 
collection is also available at http://www.reginfo.gov under 
``Information Collection Review.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

I. Abstract

    This collection of information is required by 35 U.S.C. 261 and 262 
for patents and 15 U.S.C. 1057 and 1060 for trademarks. These statutes 
authorize the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to 
record patent and trademark assignment documents, including transfers 
of properties (i.e. patents and trademarks), liens, licenses, 
assignments of interest, security interests, mergers, and explanations 
of transactions or other documents that record the transfer of 
ownership of a particular patent or trademark property from one party 
to another. Assignments are recorded for applications, patents, and 
trademark registrations.
    The USPTO administers these statutes through 37 CFR 2.146, 2.171, 
and 37 CFR part 3. These rules permit the public, corporations, other 
federal agencies, and Government-owned or Government-controlled 
corporations to submit patent and trademark assignment documents and 
other documents related to title transfers to the USPTO to be recorded. 
In accordance with 37 CFR 3.54, the recording of an assignment document 
by the USPTO is an administrative action and not a determination of the 
validity of the document or of the effect that the document has on the 
title to an application, patent, or trademark.
    Once the assignment documents are recorded, they are available for 
public inspection. The only exceptions are those documents that are 
sealed under secrecy orders according to 37 CFR 3.58 or related to 
unpublished patent applications maintained in confidence under 35 
U.S.C. 122 and 37 CFR 1.14. The public uses these records to conduct 
ownership and chain-of-title searches. The public may view these 
records either at the USPTO Public Search Facilities or at the National 
Archives and Records Administration, depending on the date they were 
recorded. The public may also search patent and trademark assignment 
information online through the USPTO Web site.
    In order to file a request to record an assignment, the respondent 
must submit an appropriate cover sheet along with copies of the 
assignment documents to be recorded. The USPTO provides two paper forms 
for this purpose, the Patent Recordation Form Cover Sheet (PTO-1595) 
and the Trademark Recordation Form Cover Sheet (PTO-1594), which 
capture all of the necessary data for accurately recording various 
assignment documents. These forms may be downloaded in PDF format from 
the USPTO Web site.
    Customers may also submit assignments online by using the 
Electronic Patent Assignment System (EPAS) and the Electronic Trademark 
Assignment System (ETAS), which are available through the USPTO Web 
site. These systems allow customers to fill out the required cover 
sheet information online using web-based forms and then attach the 
electronic assignment documents to be submitted for recordation.

II. Method of Collection

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

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0027.
    Form Number(s): PTO-1594 and PTO-1595.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other 
for-profits; not-for-profit institutions; the Federal Government; and 
State, local or tribal governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 481,826 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public approximately 30 minutes (0.5 hours) to prepare and submit a 
patent or trademark assignment recordation request.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 240,914 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $55,651,134 per 
year. The USPTO expects that the information in this collection will be 
prepared by both attorneys and paralegals. Using the estimated rates of 
$340 per hour for attorneys in private firms and $122 per hour for 
paraprofessionals, the USPTO estimates that the average rate for 
respondents will be approximately $231 per hour. Therefore, the 
estimated total respondent cost burden for this collection will be 
approximately $55,651,134 per year.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  Estimated time     Estimated       Estimated
                              Item                                 for response       annual       annual burden
                                                                     (minutes)       responses         hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patent Recordation Form Cover Sheet (PTO-1595)..................              30         100,115          50,058
Trademark Recordation Form Cover Sheet (PTO-1594)...............              30          18,443           9,222
Electronic Patent Assignment System (EPAS) (PTO-1595)...........              30         330,390         165,195
Electronic Trademark Assignment System (ETAS) (PTO-1594)........              30          32,878          16,439
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Totals......................................................  ..............         481,826         240,914
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: 
$37,829,474. This information collection has annual (non-hour) costs in 
the form of filing fees and postage costs.
    This collection has filing fees associated with submitting patent 
and trademark assignment documents to be recorded. The filing fees for 
recording patent and trademark assignments are the same for both paper 
and electronic submissions. However, the filing cost for recording 
patent or trademark assignments varies according to the number of 
properties involved in each submission.
    The filing fee for submitting a patent assignment as indicated by 
37 CFR 1.21(h) is $40 per property for recording each document, while 
the filing fee for submitting a trademark assignment as

[[Page 55882]]

indicated by 37 CFR 2.6(b)(6) is $40 for recording the first property 
in a document and $25 for each additional property in the same 
document. The USPTO estimates that the average fee for a patent 
assignment recordation request is approximately $80 and that the 
average fee for a trademark assignment recordation request is 
approximately $65. Therefore, this collection has an estimated total of 
$37,776,265 in filing fees per year.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Estimated                       Estimated
                              Item                                    annual        Average fee    annual filing
                                                                     responses        amount           costs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patent Recordation Form Cover Sheet (PTO-1595)..................         100,115          $80.00      $8,009,200
Trademark Recordation Form Cover Sheet (PTO-1594)...............          18,443           65.00       1,198,795
Electronic Patent Assignment System (EPAS) (PTO-1595)...........         330,390           80.00      26,431,200
Electronic Trademark Assignment System (ETAS) (PTO-1594)........          32,878           65.00       2,137,070
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Totals......................................................         481,826  ..............      37,776,265
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Customers may incur postage costs when submitting a patent or 
trademark assignment request to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO expects 
that some assignment requests will be submitted by fax but that 
approximately 60,465 (51%) of the 118,558 paper assignment requests per 
year will be submitted by mail. The USPTO estimates that the average 
first-class postage cost for a mailed Patent or Trademark Recordation 
Form Cover Sheet submission is 88 cents, resulting in a total postage 
cost of $53,209 per year for this collection.
    The total (non-hour) respondent cost burden for this collection in 
the form of filing fees and postage costs is estimated to be 
$37,829,474 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: September 6, 2011.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-23078 Filed 9-8-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P