[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 23 (Monday, February 4, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7759-7761]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02263]



[[Page 7759]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Patent Cooperation Treaty

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 April 5, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0021 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

    This collection of information is required by the provisions of the 
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which became operational in June 1978 
and is administered by the International Bureau (IB) of the World 
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland. The 
provisions of the PCT have been implemented by the United States in 
Part IV of Title 35 of the U.S. Code (Chapters 35-37) and Subpart C of 
Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations (37 CFR 1.401-1.499). The 
purpose of the PCT is to provide a standardized filing format and 
procedure that allows an applicant to seek protection for an invention 
in several countries by filing one international application in one 
location, in one language, and paying one initial set of fees.
    The information in this collection is used by the public to submit 
a patent application under the PCT and by the United States Patent and 
Trademark Office (USPTO) to fulfill its obligation to process, search, 
and examine the application as directed by the treaty. The USPTO acts 
as the United States Receiving Office (RO/US) for international 
applications filed by residents and nationals of the United States. 
These applicants send most of their correspondence directly to the 
USPTO, but they may also file certain documents directly with the IB. 
The USPTO serves as an International Searching Authority (ISA) to 
perform searches and issues an international search report (ISR) and a 
written opinion on international applications. The USPTO also issues an 
international preliminary report on patentability (IPRP Chapter II) 
when acting as an International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA).
    The USPTO is updating this information collection to reflect the 
current practice and fee structure for PCT applications entering the 
national stage at the USPTO. The USPTO is removing two items, 
extensions of time and priority documents, because the information is 
no longer being collected.

II. Method of Collection

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

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0021.
    Form Number(s): PCT/RO/101, PCT/RO/134, PCT/IB/372, PCT/IPEA/401, 
PTO-1382, PTO-1390, PTO/SB/61/PCT, PTO/SB/64/PCT.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other 
for-profits; and not-for-profit institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 353,669 responses per year. The 
USPTO estimates that approximately 16,275 of these responses will be 
from small entities.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public from 15 minutes (0.25 hours) to 8 hours to gather the 
necessary information, prepare the appropriate form or documents, and 
submit the information to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 348,686 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $129,362,506. The 
USPTO expects that the information in this collection will be prepared 
by attorneys at an estimated rate of $371 per hour. Therefore, the 
USPTO estimates that the respondent cost burden for this collection 
will be approximately $129,362,506 per year.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Estimated       Estimated
                              Item                                Estimated time      annual      annual  burden
                                                                    for response     responses         hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Request and Fee Calculation Sheet (Annex and Notes) (PCT/RO/101)          1 hour          48,285          48,285
Description/claims/drawings/abstracts...........................         3 hours          48,285         144,855
Application Data Sheet (35 U.S.C. 371 applications).............      23 minutes          51,539          19,585
Transmittal Letter to the United States Receiving Office (RO/US)      15 minutes          43,457          10,864
 (PTO-1382).....................................................
Transmittal Letter to the United States Designated/Elected            15 minutes          66,462          16,616
 Office (DO/EO/US) Concerning a Submission Under 35 U.S.C. 371
 (PTO-1390).....................................................
PCT/Model of Power of Attorney..................................      15 minutes           4,829           1,207
PCT/Model of General Power of Attorney..........................      15 minutes             483             121
Indications Relating to a Deposited Microorganism (PCT/RO/134)..      15 minutes               1               0
Response to invitation to correct defects.......................         2 hours          13,286          26,572
Request for rectification of obvious errors.....................      30 minutes             713             357
Demand and Fee Calculation Sheet (Annex and Notes) (PCT/IPEA/             1 hour           1,459           1,459
 401)...........................................................
Amendments (Article 34).........................................          1 hour           1,459           1,459
Fee Authorization...............................................      15 minutes          43,457          10,864
Requests to transmit copies of international application........      15 minutes             700             175
Withdrawal of international application (PCT/IB/372)............      15 minutes             905             226
Translations....................................................         2 hours          21,180          42,360

[[Page 7760]]

 
Petition for Revival of an International Application for Patent          8 hours              27             216
 Designating the U.S. Abandoned Unavoidably Under 37 CFR
 1.137(a) (PTO/SB/61/PCT).......................................
Petition for Revival of an International Application for Patent           1 hour           1,354           1,354
 Designating the U.S. Abandoned Unintentionally Under 37 CFR
 1.137(b) (PTO/SB/64/PCT).......................................
Petitions to the Commissioner for international applications....         4 hours             164             656
Petitions to the Commissioner in national stage examination.....         4 hours           4,877          19,508
Acceptance of an unintentionally delayed claim for priority (37          2 hours             294             588
 CFR 1.78(a)(3))................................................
Request for the restoration of the right of priority............         3 hours             453           1,359
    Totals......................................................  ..............         353,669         348,686
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    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: 
$309,719,541. This collection has annual (non-hour) costs in the form 
of translations, drawings, fees, and postage costs.
    Under the terms of the PCT, the USPTO may require documents 
submitted for a PCT application to be translated into English when 
necessary. This requirement may carry additional costs for the 
applicant to contract for a translation of the documents in question. 
The USPTO believes that the average length of the documents to be 
translated will be 10 pages and that it will cost approximately $150 
per page for the translation, for an average translation cost of $1,500 
per document. The USPTO estimates that it receives approximately 21,180 
English translations annually, for a total cost of $31,770,000 per year 
for English translations of non-English language documents for PCT 
applications.
    Applicants may also incur costs for drawings that are submitted as 
part of PCT applications. Some applicants may produce their own 
drawings, while others may contract out the work to various patent 
illustration firms. For the purpose of estimating burden for this 
collection, the USPTO will consider all applicants to have their 
drawings prepared by these firms. The USPTO estimates that drawings may 
cost an average of $58 per sheet to produce and that on average 11 
sheets of drawings are submitted per application, for an average total 
cost of $638 to produce a set of drawings for an application. The USPTO 
expects that approximately 91% of the estimated 48,285 applications per 
year will have drawings filed with them, for a total of 43,939 sets of 
drawings with a total cost of $28,033,082 per year.
    The estimated filing fees for this collection are calculated in the 
accompanying table. The fees listed for Requests and Demands represent 
an estimate of the average fees for filing the appropriate items 
associated with those requirements for an international application. 
The basic national fee under 37 CFR 1.492(a) for an international 
application entering the national stage is fixed at $390 ($195 for 
small entities). The search and examination fees under 37 CFR 1.492(b)-
(c) vary depending on the outcome of the written opinion prepared by 
the ISA/US, the international preliminary examination report prepared 
by the IPEA/US, and other related factors as noted in the accompanying 
table. The basic national fee, search fee, examination fee as well as 
the fees for petitions to revive unavoidably or unintentionally 
abandoned international applications are discounted for small entities.

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                                                                  Estimated
                             Item                                  annual        Fee amount     Estimated annual
                                                                  responses                       filing costs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Request and Fee Calculation Sheet (Annex and Notes) (PCT/RO/           48,285       $3,574.00    $172,570,590.00
 101)........................................................
Description/claims/drawings/abstracts........................          48,285            0.00               0.00
Application Data Sheet (35 U.S.C. 371 applications)..........          51,539            0.00               0.00
Transmittal Letter to the United States Receiving Office (RO/          43,457            0.00               0.00
 US) (PTO-1382)..............................................
Transmittal Letter to the United States Designated/Elected                 60          390.00          23,400.00
 Office (DO/EO/US) (PTO-1390)--U.S. was the ISA or IPEA and
 all claims satisfy PCT Article 33(1)-(4); includes $390
 basic fee, $0 search fee, and $0 examination fee............
Transmittal Letter to the DO/EO/US (PTO-1390)--U.S. was the                47          195.00           9,165.00
 ISA or IPEA and all claims satisfy PCT Article 33(1)-(4);
 includes $195 basic fee, $0 search fee, and $0 examination
 fee for small entity........................................
Transmittal Letter to the DO/EO/US (PTO-1390)--U.S. was the             1,852          760.00       1,407,520.00
 ISA; includes $390 basic fee, $120 search fee, and $250
 examination fee.............................................
Transmittal Letter to the DO/EO/US (PTO-1390)--U.S. was the             2,155          380.00         818,900.00
 ISA; includes $195 basic fee, $60 search fee, and $125
 examination fee for small entity............................
Transmittal Letter to the DO/EO/US (PTO-1390)--International           47,907        1,140.00      54,613,980.00
 search report prepared by other than the U.S. and provided
 to the USPTO or previously communicated to the U.S. by the
 IB; includes $390 basic fee, $500 search fee, and $250
 examination fee.............................................
Transmittal Letter to the DO/EO/US (PTO-1390)--International           12,876          570.00       7,339,320.00
 search report prepared by other than the U.S. and provided
 to the USPTO or previously communicated to the U.S. by the
 IB; includes $195 basic fee, $250 search fee, and $125
 examination fee for small entity............................
Transmittal Letter to the DO/EO/US (PTO-1390)--All other                  996        1,270.00       1,264,920.00
 situations; includes $390 basic fee, $630 search fee, and
 $250 examination fee........................................
Transmittal Letter to the DO/EO/US (PTO-1390)--All other                  569          635.00         361,315.00
 situations; includes $195 basic fee, $315 search fee, and
 $125 examination fee for small entity.......................
PCT/Model of Power of Attorney...............................           4,829            0.00               0.00
PCT/Model of General Power of Attorney.......................             483            0.00               0.00
Indications Relating to a Deposited Microorganism (PCT/RO/                  1            0.00               0.00
 134)........................................................
Response to invitation to correct defects....................          13,286            0.00               0.00

[[Page 7761]]

 
Request for rectification of obvious errors..................             713            0.00               0.00
Demand and Fee Calculation Sheet (Annex and Notes) (PCT/IPEA/           1,459          840.00       1,225,560.00
 401)........................................................
Amendments (Article 34)......................................           1,459            0.00               0.00
Fee Authorization............................................          43,457            0.00               0.00
Requests to transmit copies of international application.....             700            0.00               0.00
Withdrawal of international application (PCT/IB/372).........             905            0.00               0.00
Translations.................................................          21,180            0.00               0.00
Petition for Revival of an International Application for                   13          630.00           8,190.00
 Patent Designating the U.S. Abandoned Unavoidably Under 37
 CFR 1.137(a) (PTO/SB/61/PCT)................................
Petition for Revival of an International Application for                   14          315.00           4,410.00
 Patent Designating the U.S. Abandoned Unavoidably Under 37
 CFR 1.137(a), small entity (PTO/SB/61/PCT)..................
Petition for Revival of an International Application for                  740        1,890.00       1,398,600.00
 Patent Designating the U.S. Abandoned Unintentionally Under
 37 CFR 1.137(b) (PTO/SB/64/PCT).............................
Petition for Revival of an International Application for                  614          945.00         580,230.00
 Patent Designating the U.S. Abandoned Unintentionally Under
 37 CFR 1.137(b), small entity (PTO/SB/64/PCT)...............
Petitions to the Commissioner for international applications.             164          130.00          21,320.00
Petitions to the Commissioner in national stage examination..           4,877          200.00         975,400.00
Acceptance of an unintentionally delayed claim for priority               294        1,410.00         414,540.00
 (37 CFR 1.78(a)(3)).........................................
Request for the restoration of the right of priority.........             453        1,410.00         638,730.00
                                                              --------------------------------------------------
    Totals...................................................         353,669  ..............     243,676,090.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition to the filing fees listed in the table, applicants may 
also incur fees for late filings (for filing after thirty months from 
the priority date), multiple dependent claims, and lengthy 
applications. The fee for the late filing of a search fee, examination 
fee, or oath or declaration under 37 CFR 1.492(h) is $130 for large 
entities and $65 for small entities. The USPTO estimates that it will 
receive approximately 22,677 of these late payment fees for large 
entities and 9,331 for small entities per year, for a total of 
$3,554,525. The fee for the late filing of an English translation of an 
international application under 37 CFR 1.492(i) is $130. The USPTO 
estimates that it will receive approximately 2,118 of these late 
translation fees per year, for a total of $275,340. The fee for 
applications containing a multiple dependent claim is $460 for large 
entities and $230 for small entities. The USPTO estimates that it will 
receive approximately 2,946 of these multiple dependent claim fees for 
large entities and 1,127 for small entities per year, for a total of 
$1,614,370. Applications with specifications and drawings that exceed 
100 pages may be subject to an application size fee of $320 (or $160 
for small entities) for each additional 50 pages or fraction thereof. 
The USPTO estimates that it will receive approximately 2,047 of the 
$320 size fees from large entities and approximately 831 of the $160 
size fees from small entities per year, for a total of $788,000. The 
total estimated fees for this collection, including filing fees and 
other additional fees, will be approximately $249,908,325 per year.
    Customers may incur postage costs when submitting the information 
in this collection to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO estimates that the 
average first-class postage cost for a mailed submission will be 46 
cents and that up to 17,683 submissions (approximately 5% of responses) 
will be mailed to the USPTO per year, for a total estimated postage 
cost of $8,134 per year.
    The total annual (non-hour) respondent cost burden for this 
collection associated with translations, drawings, fees, and postage is 
estimated to be $309,719,541 per year.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will 
become a matter of public record.
    The USPTO is soliciting public comments to:
    (a) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) 
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (c) Enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the burden 
of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including 
through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or 
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

    Dated: January 29, 2013.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-02263 Filed 2-1-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P