[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 269-271]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33726]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Matters Related to Patent Appeals
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 this new 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 March 5, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
00xx Matters Related to Patent Appeals 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 email to [email protected].
Additional information about this collection is also available at
http://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
During its examination of an application for patent or for reissue
of a patent, or during its reexamination of a patent, the United States
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) makes many decisions of a
substantive nature which the applicant or patent owner may feel deny
him or her the patent protection to which he or she is entitled. Where
the differences of opinion on such matters concern the denial of patent
claims because of prior art or other patentability issues, the
questions thereby raised are said to relate to the merits, and a
procedure for appealing to the Board of Patent Appeals and
Interferences has long been provided by statute (35 U.S.C. 134).
Applicants and patent owners initiate the appeal procedure by
filing a Notice of Appeal. At the time of filing a Notice of Appeal,
applicants and patent owners may request that a panel of examiners
formally review the legal and factual basis of the rejections in their
application prior to the filing of an Appeal Brief, by filing a Pre-
Appeal Brief Request for Review. In addition, applicants and patent
owners who desire an oral hearing before the Board may request the
hearing by filing a Request for Oral Hearing Before the Board of Patent
Appeals and Interferences.
Currently, Notices of Appeal, Requests for Oral Hearing, and Pre-
appeal Brief Requests for Review are covered under 0651-0031 Patent
Processing (Updating). The USPTO has determined that it would be
beneficial to transfer these items out of 0651-0031 and into their own
collection. Therefore, the USPTO is requesting the creation of a new
collection which will transfer the three existing notices and requests
out of the 0651-0031 inventory into a new collection of information
titled ``Matters Related to Patent Appeals.'' For a complete listing of
the items covered by this collection, please see the table in Section
III of this notice.
The information 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.
There are forms associated with the Notices of Appeal (PTO/SB/31),
the Requests for Oral Hearing Before the Board of Patent Appeals and
Interferences (PTO/SB/32), and the Pre-appeal Brief Requests for Review
(PTO/SB/33). Therefore, after approval, this collection will have three
forms.
II. Method of Collection
By mail, facsimile, or hand delivery to the USPTO when an applicant
files the various notices or requests. The remaining papers can also be
filed as attachments through EFS-Web.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-00xx.
Form Number(s): PTO/SB/31/32/33.
Type of Review: New information collection.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; and not-for-
profit institutions.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 54,500 responses per year, with an
estimated 10,940 submitted by small entities. Of the total responses,
the USPTO expects that 50,700 will be submitted through EFS-Web.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
the public approximately 12 minutes (0.20 hours) to complete the
information in this collection, with the exception of the Pre-appeal
Brief Requests for Review, which the USPTO estimates will take
approximately 5 hours to complete. These estimated times include
gathering the necessary information, creating the documents, and
submitting the completed request to the USPTO. The USPTO calculates
that, on balance, it takes the same amount of time to gather the
necessary information, create the
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document, and submit it to the USPTO, whether the applicant submits the
information in paper form or electronically.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 86,740 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $29,491,600. The
USPTO estimates that attorneys will complete the items in this
collection. Using the professional hourly rate of $340 for attorneys in
private firms, the USPTO estimates $29,491,600 per year for the
respondent cost burden for this collection.
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Estimated Estimated
Item Estimated time for response annual annual burden
responses hours
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Notice of Appeal........................... 12 minutes......................... 2,600 520
Electronic Notice of Appeal................ 12 minutes......................... 34,900 6,980
Request for Oral Hearing Before the Board 12 minutes......................... 100 20
of Patent Appeals and Interferences.
Electronic Request for Oral Hearing Before 12 minutes......................... 1,100 220
the Board of Patent Appeals and
Interferences.
Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review........ 5 hours............................ 1,100 5,500
Electronic Pre-Appeal Brief Request for 5 hours............................ 14,700 73,500
Review.
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Totals................................. ................................... 54,500 86,740
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Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden:
$22,266,670. This collection has annual (non-hour) costs in the form of
filing fees and postage costs.
The USPTO estimates that this collection will have a total annual
cost of $22,264,200 in filing fees.
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Item Responses Filing fees Total cost
(a) (b) (a) x (b)
(c)
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Notice of Appeal....................................... 2,100 $620.00 $1,302,000.00
Notice of Appeal (small entity)........................ 500 310.00 155,000.00
Electronic Notice of Appeal............................ 27,900 620.00 17,298,000.00
Electronic Notice of Appeal (small entity)............. 7,000 310.00 2,170,000.00
Request for an Oral Hearing............................ 60 1,240.00 74,400.00
Request for an Oral Hearing (small entity)............. 40 620.00 24,800.00
Electronic Request for an Oral Hearing................. 900 1,240.00 1,116,000.00
Electronic Request for an Oral Hearing (small entity).. 200 620.00 124,000.00
Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review.................... 900 None 0.00
Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review (small entity)..... 200 None 0.00
Electronic Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review......... 11,700 None 0.00
Electronic Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review (small 3,000 None 0.00
entity)...............................................
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Totals............................................. 54,500 ................. 22,264,200.00
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The public may submit the notices and requests 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 two ounces. Therefore, the USPTO is conservatively estimating
that these submissions will be mailed by first-class postage at 65
cents. 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 3,800 responses will be mailed by first-
class postage, for a total annual cost of $2,470 in postage costs.
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Item Responses Postage costs Total cost
(a) (b) (a) x (b)
(c)
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Notice of Appeal....................................... 2,600 0.65 $1,690.00
Request for Oral Hearing Before the Board of Patent 100 0.65 65.00
Appeals and Interferences.............................
Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review.................... 1,100 0.65 715.00
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Totals............................................. 3,800 ................. 2,470.00
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The total annual (non-hour) respondent cost burden for this
collection in the form of filing fees and postage costs is estimated to
be $22,266,670 per year.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance
[[Page 271]]
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: December 29, 2011.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-33726 Filed 1-3-12; 8:45 am]
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