[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 210 (Thursday, October 30, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64574-64576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-25866]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Program

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 a 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 29, 
2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-Mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0058 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Marcie Lovett, Records Management Division Director, 
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, 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].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a framework in which an 
application whose claims have been determined to be patentable by an 
Office of Earlier Examination (OEE) is eligible to go through an 
accelerated examination in an Office of Later Examination with a simple 
procedure upon an applicant's request. By leveraging the search and 
examination work product of the OEE, PPH programs (1) deliver lower 
prosecution costs, (2) support applicants in their efforts to obtain 
stable patent rights efficiently around the world, and (3) reduce the 
search and examination burden, while improving the examination quality, 
of participating patent offices.
    Originally, the PPH programs were limited to the utilization of 
search and examination results of national applications between cross 
filings under the Paris Convention. Later, the potential of the PPH was 
greatly expanded by PCT-PPH programs, which permit participating patent 
offices to draw upon the positive results of the

[[Page 64575]]

PCT work product from another participating office. PCT-PPH programs 
use international written opinions and international preliminary 
examination reports developed within the framework of the PCT, thereby 
making the PPH available to a larger number of applicants. Information 
collected for the PCT is approved under OMB control number 0651-0021.
    More recently, the USPTO and several other offices acted to 
consolidate and replace existing PPH programs, with the goal of 
streamlining the PPH process for both offices and applicants. To that 
end, the USPTO and other offices established the Global PPH pilot 
program and the IP5 PPH pilot program. The Global PPH and IP5 PPH pilot 
programs are running concurrently and are substantially identical, 
differing only with regard to their respective participating offices. 
The USPTO is participating in both the Global PPH pilot program and the 
IP5 PPH pilot program. For USPTO applications, the Global PPH and IP5 
PPH pilot programs supersede any prior PPH program between the USPTO 
and each Global PPH and IP5 PPH participating office. Any existing PPH 
programs between the USPTO and offices that are not participating in 
either the Global PPH pilot program or the IP5 PPH pilot program remain 
in effect.
    For more complete information on the PPH, including (1) a complete 
identification of participating countries and offices and the programs 
under which each country/office is participating, (2) the forms needed 
to request entry into the PPH, both at the USPTO and other 
participating offices, and (3) information as to which of the PPH 
programs remain pilots and which have been made permanent, please visit 
http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/pph/index.jsp.
    The forms in this collection allow participants to file in a U.S. 
application a request to make the U.S. application special under a PPH 
or PCT-PPH program.

II. Method of Collection

    Requests to participate in the PPH programs must be submitted 
online using EFS-Web, the USPTO's web-based electronic filing system.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0058.
    Form Number(s): PTO/SB/20GLBL/AT/AU/BR/CA/CN/CO/CZ/DE/DK/EP/ES/FI/
HU/IL/IS/JP/KR/MX/NI/NO/PH/PL/PT/RU/SG/TW/UK, and PTO/SB/20PCT-AT/PCT-
AU/PCT-CA/PCT-CN/PCT-EP/PCT-ES/PCT-FI/PCT-IL/PCT-JP/PCT-KR/PCT-NPI/PCT-
RU/PCT-SE/PCT-US.
    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: 8,210 responses per year. The 
USPTO estimates that approximately 10% of these responses will be from 
small entities.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public approximately two hours to gather the necessary information, 
prepare the appropriate form, and submit a completed request to the 
USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 16,420 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $6,387,380. The 
USPTO expects that the information in this collection will be prepared 
by attorneys. Using the professional rate of $389 per hour for 
attorneys in private firms, the USPTO estimates that the total annual 
respondent cost burden for this collection will be approximately 
$6,387,380 per year.

 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Estimated       Estimated
                     Item                          Estimated time for response        annual       annual burden
                                                                                     responses         hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Request for Participation in the Global/IP5     2 hours.........................            5000          10,000
 PPH Pilot Program in the USPTO (PTO/SB/
 20GLBL).
Intellectual Property Office of Australia       2 hours.........................              30              60
 (IPAU), Form PTO/SB/20AU.
Austrian Patent Office (APO), Form PTO/SB/20AT  2 hours.........................              10              20
Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial    2 hours.........................              10              20
 (Brazil)(INPI), Form PTO/SB/20BR.
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO),   2 hours.........................              30              60
 Form PTO/SB/20CA.
State Intellectual Property Office of the       2 hours.........................              80             160
 P.R.C. (SIPO), Form PTO/SB/20CN.
Colombian Superintendence of Industry and       2 hours.........................              10              20
 Commerce (SIC), Form PTO/SB/20CO.
Industrial Property Office of the Czech         2 hours.........................              10              20
 Republic (IPOCZ), Form PTO/SB/20CZ.
Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO),     2 hours.........................              20              40
 Form PTO/SB/20DK.
European Patent Office (EPO), Form PTO/SB/20EP  2 hours.........................             150             300
National Board of Patents and Registration of   2 hours.........................              10              20
 Finland (NBPR), Form PTO/SB/20FI.
German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA),     2 hours.........................              40              80
 Form PTO/SB/20DE.
Hungarian Patent Office (HPO), Form PTO/SB/     2 hours.........................              10              20
 20HU.
Icelandic Patent Office (IPO), Form PTO/SB/     2 hours.........................              10              20
 20IS.
Israeli Patent Office (ILPO), Form PTO/SB/20IL  2 hours.........................              10              20
Japan Patent Office (JPO), Form PTO/SB/20JP...  2 hours.........................             850            1700
Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO),     2 hours.........................             150             300
 Form PTO/SB/20KR.
Mexican Institute of Industrial Property        2 hours.........................              10              20
 (IMPI), Form PTO/SB/20MX.
Nicaraguan Registry of Intellectual Property    2 hours.........................              10              20
 (NRIP), Form PTO/SB/20NI.
Norwegian Industrial Property Office (NIPO),    2 hours.........................              10              20
 Form PTO/SB/20NO.
Intellectual Property Office of the             2 hours.........................              10              20
 Philippines (IPOPH), Form PTO/SB/PH.
Intellectual Property Office of the Republic    2 hours.........................              10              20
 of Poland (UPRP) Form PTO/SB/20PL.
Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property     2 hours.........................              10              20
 (INPI-PT), Form PTO/SB/PT.

[[Page 64576]]

 
Russian Federal Service for Intellectual        2 hours.........................              10              20
 Property (ROSPATENT), Form PTO/SB/20RU.
Intellectual Property Office of Singapore       2 hours.........................              10              20
 (IPOS), Form PTO/SB/20SG.
Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO),     2 hours.........................              10              20
 Form PTO/SB/20ES.
Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO),     2 hours.........................              10              20
 Form PTO/SB/20TW.
United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office     2 hours.........................              40              80
 (UKIPO), Form PTO/SB/20UK.
U.S. Applications Where the USPTO was the ISA   2 hours.........................             200             400
 or IPEA, Form PTO/SB/20PCT-US.
Intellectual Property Office of Australia       2 hours.........................              30              60
 (IPAU), Form PTO/SB/20PCT-AU.
Austrian Patent Office (APO), Form PTO/SB/      2 hours.........................              10              20
 20PCT-AT.
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO),   2 hours.........................              10              20
 Form PTO/SB/20PCT-CA.
State Intellectual Property Office of the       2 hours.........................              80             160
 P.R.C. (SIPO), Form PTO/SB/20PCT-CN.
European Patent Office (EPO), Form PTO/SB/      2 hours.........................             550            1100
 20PCT-EP.
National Board of Patents and Registration of   2 hours.........................              10              20
 Finland (NBPR), Form PTO/SB/20PCT-FI.
Israeli Patent Office (ILPO), Form PTO/SB/      2 hours.........................              10              20
 20PCT-IL.
Japan Patent Office (JPO), Form PTO/SB/20PCT-   2 hours.........................             150             300
 JP.
Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO),     2 hours.........................             550            1100
 Form PTO/SB/20PCT-KR.
Nordic Patent Institute (NPI), Form PTO/SB/     2 hours.........................              10              20
 20PCT-NPI.
Russian Federal Service for Intellectual        2 hours.........................              10              20
 Property (ROSPATENT), Form PTO/SB/20PCT-RU.
Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO),     2 hours.........................              10              20
 Form PTO/SB/20PCT-ES.
Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV),   2 hours.........................              10              20
 Form PTO/SB/20PCT-SE.
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
    Totals....................................  ................................           8,210          16,420
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    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $0. There 
are no capital start-up, maintenance, or postage costs associated with 
this collection. This collection also has no filing fees or 
recordkeeping costs.

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; they also will become a matter of public record.

     Dated: October 23, 2014.
Marcie Lovett,
Records Management Division Director, USPTO, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-25866 Filed 10-29-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P