[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68037-68039]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-27101]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office

[Docket No. PTO-P-2013-0054]


Notice of Roundtable on the Renewal of a Continuing Information 
Collection

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the 
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice 
inviting written public comment on the renewal of information 
collection 0651-

[[Page 68038]]

0032, Initial Patent Applications. The USPTO plans to conduct a 
roundtable to obtain additional public input regarding the burden 
associated with the Initial Patent Applications collection and ways to 
potentially reduce it. By providing this additional opportunity for 
public input, the USPTO hopes to increase the level of stakeholder 
participation in this information collection renewal. The roundtable 
will be open for any member of the public to provide input.

DATES: Roundtable: The roundtable will be held on Wednesday, December 
11, 2013, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), and 
ending at 12:00 p.m. EDT.
    Registration: Registration for the roundtable is requested by 
December 4, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Roundtable: The roundtable will be held at the USPTO in the 
first floor conference room (1D70/1D80) of the Jefferson Building, 
which is located at 500 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314.
    Registration: Registration is required, and early registration is 
recommended because seating is limited. There is no fee to register for 
the roundtable, and registration will be on a first-come, first-served 
basis. Registration on the day of the roundtable will be permitted on a 
space-available basis beginning 30 minutes before the roundtable.
    To register, please send an email message to 
[email protected] and provide the following information: (1) 
Your name, title, and if applicable, company or organization, address, 
phone number, and email address; and (2) if you wish to make an oral 
presentation at the roundtable, the specific topic or issue to be 
addressed and the approximate desired length of your presentation. Each 
attendee, even if from the same organization, must register separately.
    The USPTO will attempt to accommodate all persons who wish to make 
a presentation at the roundtable. After reviewing the list of speakers, 
the USPTO will contact each speaker prior to the roundtable with the 
amount of time available and the approximate time that the speaker's 
presentation is scheduled to begin. Speakers must then send the final 
electronic copies of their presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint or 
Microsoft Word to [email protected] by December 4, 2013, so 
that the presentation can be displayed at the roundtable. If time 
permits, the USPTO will provide an opportunity at the roundtable for 
anyone who wishes to speak without a formal presentation.
    The USPTO plans to make the roundtable available via Web cast. Web 
cast information will be available on the USPTO's Internet Web site 
before the roundtable. A list of registered roundtable participants and 
their associations will be available on the USPTO's Internet Web site 
at http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/index.jsp.
    If you need special accommodations due to a disability, please 
inform the contact person identified below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to the attention of Raul Tamayo, Senior 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 information collection 0651-0032 Initial 
Patent Applications is also available at http://www.reginfo.gov under 
``Information Collection Review.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Before requiring or requesting information 
from the public, the PRA requires Federal agencies to (1) seek public 
comment on the proposed collection of information, and (2) submit a 
request to collect the information to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This provision of the PRA is 
designed to minimize and control burdens, while maximizing the 
practical utility and public benefit of the information collected. OMB 
approval of a collection of information is generally effective for 
three years from the approval date. Therefore, agencies seek renewal of 
their approval from OMB to collect the information prior to the 
expiration of the three-year term.
    Information collection 0651-0032, Initial Patent Applications, 
covers the information collected by the USPTO in connection with the 
requirements related to the initial filing of a patent application. For 
example, items of information covered by the 0651-0032 collection 
include new utility, design, and plant patent applications, 
continuations and divisionals thereof, and papers filed in connection 
therewith, such as application data sheets. A complete identification 
of the items covered by the 0651-0032 collection is available at http://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection Review.''
    As part of the process of renewing the 0651-0032 collection, the 
USPTO published a notice on October 1, 2013, inviting the public to 
provide written comment on the renewal. See Initial Patent 
Applications, 78 FR 60256 (October 1, 2013) (hereinafter ``the October 
1 notice''). The October 1 notice provides USPTO's estimates of the 
burdens associated with providing the information covered by the 
collection. For example, the October 1 notice includes an estimate of 
the number of new utility applications the USPTO expects to receive per 
year over the term of the renewal (approximately 273,000, excluding 
continuing applications and 35 U.S.C. 371 national stage entry 
applications) and an estimate of the time it takes to gather the 
necessary information, prepare the utility application, and submit the 
completed application to the USPTO (33 hours and 12 minutes). The 
October 1 notice requests feedback from the public on all of the 
estimates provided by the USPTO in the 0651-0032 information collection 
request. The deadline for receipt of written comments in response to 
the October 1 notice is being extended to December 16, 2013.
    As stated in the October 1 notice, when OMB last approved the 0651-
0032 collection on January 8, 2011, it included terms of clearance in 
the Notice of Action it issued announcing the approval. The terms of 
clearance stated that the USPTO should conduct outreach to stakeholders 
regarding the burden of the 0651-0032 collection and ways to 
potentially reduce it before the next renewal of the collection. The 
goal of the roundtable is to provide this outreach to stakeholders and 
listen to their feedback on the burdens associated with the 0651-0032 
collection. In particular, the USPTO hopes to receive feedback that 
will allow it to: (a) Evaluate whether the items of information in the 
0651-0032 collection are necessary for the proper performance of the 
functions of the agency, including whether the items of information 
have practical utility; (b) evaluate the accuracy of the USPTO's 
estimate of the burden of the 0651-0032 collection, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information being 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.
    Prior to the roundtable, the USPTO will post additional information 
regarding its estimates of the burdens associated with the 0651-0032 
collection on its Internet Web site at

[[Page 68039]]

http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/index.jsp. For example, prior 
to the roundtable, the USPTO will make available on its Web site a 
draft of the supporting statement associated with the renewal request 
for the collection. The supporting statement will contain a more 
detailed analysis of the USPTO's burden estimates for the 0651-0032 
collection. The public is invited to review both the information 
provided in the October 1 notice and the information that will be 
provided at http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/index.jsp prior 
to attending the roundtable, in order to better inform the discussion 
at the roundtable. In addition, the public is encouraged to submit 
written comments to the USPTO on or before December 16, 2013, the 
extended comment deadline for the October 1 notice.

    Dated: November 5, 2013.
Teresa Stanek Rea,
Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy 
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2013-27101 Filed 11-12-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P