[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 203 (Tuesday, October 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62944-62945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-24965]



[[Page 62944]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Summer Teacher Institute

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 December 22, 
2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0077 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Marcie Lovett, Director, Records Management 
Division, Office of Information Management Services, 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 Joyce Ward, Under Secretary of Commerce for 
Intellectual Property, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. 
Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-8424; or 
by email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    As part of the Maker Fair Initiative, a program entitled ``National 
Teachers' Summer Institute'' is sponsored by USPTO. This program 
accepts applicants for a summer teaching workshop. The program receives 
applications from individuals, requesting to participate in the 
Institute, who certify that they are educators with at least 3 years' 
experience. These applicants are also required to: 1) Have taught in 
STEM related fields last year, 2) plan to teach in a STEM related field 
this upcoming year, and 3) to acknowledge their commitment to 
incorporate the learnings from the Teacher Summer Institute into their 
curriculum, where applicable, and cooperate with sharing lessons and 
outcomes with teachers and PTO. This information would come in the form 
of both applications and surveys.
    The USPTO seeks to get committed educators in science fields to 
learn about innovative strategies to help increase student learning and 
achievement in these fields and elements of invention and IP. This 
institute will showcase a collaborative project of the USPTO and the 
National Science Foundation including an 11 part video series produced 
by NBC learn with specifically designed lesson plans. The agenda would 
include scientists, inventors, and fields trips (i.e., to NASA) as well 
as networking. The USPTO may host various webinars in conjunction with 
the Summer Institute. USPTO plans to conduct surveys of both the 
Institute and the webinars in order to gain useful feedback from 
program participants.

II. Method of Collection

    Applications and corresponding surveys will be submitted 
electronically through the www.uspto.gov/education Web site.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0077.
    Form Number(s): NSTI 1-3.
    Type of Review: New collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other 
for-profits; and not-for-profit institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 900 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public approximately 5 to 30 minutes to submit the information in 
this collection, including the time to gather the necessary 
information, prepare the appropriate form or document, and submit the 
completed request to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 291.67 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $8,052.92. 
Respondent costs are estimated at one rate: $27.61 per hour: the median 
rate for secondary school teachers, (source: BLS Web site). The USPTO 
estimates that Application will require approximately 250 burden hours, 
the Participant Survey will require approximately 16.67 burden hours, 
and the Webinar Survey will require approximately 25 burden hours for a 
total yearly hourly burden of 291.67 hours. Accordingly, the total 
respondent cost burden for this collection will be $8,052.92.

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                                       Time          Responses     Burden (hrs/                   Total cost  ($/
              Item                   (minutes)         (yr)             yr)        Rate  ($/hr)         hr)
                                             (a)             (b)             (c)             (d)             (e)
                                                                       (a) x (b)                       (c) x (d)
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Teacher's Summer Institute                    30             500             250          $27.61        $6902.50
 Application (NSTI 1)...........
Teacher's Summer Institute                    10             100           16.67           27.61          460.17
 Participant Survey (NSTI 2)....
Teacher's Summer Institute                     5             300              25           27.61          690.25
 Webinar Survey (NSTI 3)........
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................  ..............             900          291.67  ..............         8052.92
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    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $0. There 
are no capital start-up, maintenance, postage, or recordkeeping costs. 
All applications and surveys will be received electronically.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance 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;

[[Page 62945]]

they also will become a matter of public record.

Marcie Lovett,
Director, Records Management Division, Office of Information Management 
Services, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2014-24965 Filed 10-20-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P