[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 213 (Thursday, November 3, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 68166]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-28536]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office

[Docket No. PTO-C-2011-0054]


Discontinuing the Mass Mailing of Paper Fee Schedules to 
Registered Attorneys, Agents, and Deposit Account Holders

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is 
discontinuing the mass mailing of revised paper fee schedules to 
registered attorneys, agents, and deposit account holders when fees are 
adjusted due to enactment of legislation or fluctuations in the 
Consumer Price Index. Since a substantial majority of filings and fee 
payments are submitted on-line, and the most up-to-date fee schedule is 
always available and maintained on-line, the USPTO has discontinued the 
mass mailing of the paper fee schedules. The current fee schedule is 
essentially built into the on-line systems (e.g., EFS-Web, TEAS, 
accessible through the USPTO home page, etc.), which display the 
current fee amounts required at the time of submitting the payment.

DATES: Effective Date: November 3, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Lee, Office of Finance, 
Receipts Accounting Division, by telephone at (571) 272-6343; or by 
mail addressed to: Mail Stop 16, Director of the USPTO, P.O. Box 1450, 
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The USPTO is discontinuing the mass mailing 
of revised paper fee schedules that have been sent to registered 
attorneys, agents, and deposit account holders since the early 1990s. 
Since 1998, the revised paper fee schedules have always indicated that 
the most up-to-date fee amounts and information are maintained on the 
USPTO Web site. This availability of the fee amounts and information 
renders paper fee schedules obsolete.
    The purpose of the mass mailings was to provide the practitioners 
with advance notice of upcoming fee adjustments at a time when filings 
and fee payments were mainly submitted by mail. Due to the lead time 
needed for finalizing, bulk printing, and mass mailing of the paper fee 
schedules, the paper fee schedules have sometimes been mailed out weeks 
after the new fees are already in effect. Currently over 90 percent of 
patent applications are filed on-line via EFS-Web, and over 98 percent 
of trademark applications are filed on-line via TEAS.
    The official, current USPTO fee schedule will continue to be 
available and maintained on the USPTO Web site at http://www.uspto.gov/about/offices/cfo/finance/fees.jsp. Additionally, those wishing to 
receive a paper copy of the current USPTO fee schedule can obtain this 
copy by calling the USPTO Contact Center at (571) 272-1000 or (800) 
786-9199.

    Dated: October 28, 2011.
Teresa Stanek Rea,
Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy 
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2011-28536 Filed 11-2-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P