[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 134 (Thursday, July 12, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 41172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-17000]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

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. 35).
    Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
    Title: Patents for Humanity Program (formerly Humanitarian 
Program).
    Form Number(s): None.
    Agency Approval Number: 0651-0066.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Burden: 4,010 hours annually.
    Number of Respondents: 1,010 responses per year, with an estimated 
333 (33%) submitted by small entities.
    Avg. Hours per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take the 
public approximately four hours to complete the humanitarian program 
application and one hour to complete the petition to extend the 
redemption period, depending on the nature of the information. These 
estimated times include gathering the necessary information, preparing 
the application or petition and any supplemental supporting materials, 
and submitting the completed request.
    Needs and Uses: The information is used by the public to apply for 
participation in the Patents for Humanity Program and to provide the 
USPTO with their contact information, which the USPTO uses to notify 
applicants that they have been selected for an award. Certificate 
holders also use the information to petition the USPTO to extend the 
redemption period of the certificate after it expires.
    External judges and the selection committee use the information 
collected from the humanitarian applications to make recommendations 
for award recipients, while the USPTO uses the information to award 
certificates to the selected recipients. The USPTO also uses the 
information collected from the petitions to grant extensions of the 
redemption period for the certificate in question.
    After the humanitarian program applications are screened for 
inappropriate material, they will be made publicly available.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, non-profit 
institutions, and individuals.
    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-
0066 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 August 13, 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: July 9, 2012.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-17000 Filed 7-11-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P