[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 237 (Friday, December 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76951-76952]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31569]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States 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: Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Program.
    Form Number(s): PTO/SB/20AT/AU/BR/CA/CN/DE/DK, PTO/SB/20EP/ES/FI/
HU/IL/IS/JP/KR/MX/NO/RU/SG/TW/UK, and PTO/SB/20PCT-AT/PCT-AU/PCT-CA/
PCT-CN/PCT-EP/PCT-ES/PCT-FI/PCT-JP/PCT-KR/PCT-NPI/PCT-RU/PCT-SE/PCT-US.
    Agency Approval Number: 0651-0058.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Burden: 7,800 hours annually.
    Number of Respondents: 3,900 responses per year.
    Avg. Hours per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take the 
public approximately two hours to gather the necessary information, 
prepare the appropriate form, and submit a completed request to the 
USPTO.
    Needs and Uses: Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programs 
have been established between the USPTO and the intellectual property 
offices of several other countries. Some of the pilot programs, such as 
those with Japan, Canada, and South Korea, have become permanent.
    The PPH program allows applicants whose claims are determined to be 
patentable in the office of first filing to have the corresponding 
application that is filed in the office of second filing be advanced 
out of turn for examination. At the same time, the PPH program allows 
the office of second filing to exploit the search and examination 
results of the office of first filing, which increases examination 
efficiency and improves patent quality. The PCT-PPH pilot program is an 
expansion to the PPH program based on the framework of the Patent 
Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Information collected for the PCT is approved 
under OMB control number 0651-0021.
    This information collection is necessary so that patent applicants 
may participate in the PPH or PCT-PPH programs between the USPTO and 
other patent offices in order to receive the benefits of more efficient 
examination. The forms in this collection allow participants to file a 
request in a corresponding U.S. application and petition to make the 
U.S. application special under the PPH or PCT-PPH program.
    The USPTO is proposing to add two forms to this collection (PTO/SB/
20NO and PTO/SB/20IS) for new participants in the PPH pilot program. 
The USPTO launched the PPH pilot program with

[[Page 76952]]

the Norwegian Industrial Property Office (NIPO) on November 1, 2011, 
and the Icelandic Patent Office (IPO) on December 1, 2011.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other 
for-profits; and not-for-profit institutions.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    OMB Desk Officer: Nicholas A. Fraser, email: [email protected].
    Once submitted, the request will be publicly available in 
electronic format through the Information Collection Review page at 
www.reginfo.gov.
    Paper copies can be obtained by:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0058 copy request'' 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.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent on or before January 9, 2012 to Nicholas A. 
Fraser, OMB Desk Officer, via email to [email protected], or by fax to (202) 395-5167, marked to the 
attention of Nicholas A. Fraser.

    Dated: December 5, 2011.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-31569 Filed 12-8-11; 8:45 am]
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