[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 110 (Tuesday, June 9, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32541-32543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-14094]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Patent Review and Derivation Proceedings
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 comment on
proposed and/or continuing information collections, 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 August 10, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by any of the following
methods:
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0069 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Susan Mitchell, Lead Administrative Patent Judge,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board, United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO), P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313- 1450; by telephone
at 571-272-8715; or by email at [email protected] with ``0651-
0069 comment'' in the subject line. Additional information about this
collection is also available at http://www.reginfo.gov under
``Information Collection Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The USPTO is required by 35 U.S.C. 131 and 151 to examine
applications and, when appropriate, issue applications as patents. The
Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, which was enacted into law on
September 16, 2011, provided for many changes to the procedures of the
Patent Trial and Appeal Board (``PTAB'' or ``Board'', formerly the
Board of Patent Appeals and Interference) procedures. See Public Law
112-29, 125 Stat. 284 (2011). These changes included the introduction
of inter partes review, post-grant review, derivation proceedings, and
the transitional program for covered business method patents. In 2012,
six rulemaking actions were taken to propose and implement new rules of
practice for the multiple reviews and proceedings impacted by the items
contained within this information collection.
This renewal seeks to enable the continuation of the review and
proceeding processes outlined in the information collection below. The
public will use this information collection to petition the Board to
initiate inter partes reviews, post-grant reviews, covered business
method patent reviews, and derivation proceedings, as well as initiate
other actions, and to ensure that the associated fees and documentation
are submitted to the USPTO.
II. Method of Collection
Electronically if applicants submit the information using the
Patent Review Processing System (PRPS). Applicants may be able to
submit the information via email if PRPS is unavailable, or by Priority
Mail Express[supreg] if both PRPS and the Board's email address are
unavailable.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0069.
IC Instruments and Forms: The individual instruments in this
collection, as well as their associated forms, are listed in the table
below.
Type of Review: Revision of a Previously Existing Information
Collection
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit organizations;
individuals or households; not-for-profit institutions; Federal
Government; and state, local, or tribal governments.
Estimated Number of Respondents: The USPTO estimates that this
collection will generate approximately 11,349 responses per year. Of
this total, the USPTO expects that 11,274 responses will be submitted
through an electronic portal such as PRPS and 75 will be submitted on
paper.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
the public an average of 128.6 hours to complete an individual form in
this collection, with estimated response times for individual forms
ranging between approximately 6 minutes and approximately 165 hours and
18 minutes (0.10 hours to 165.3 hours) to complete, depending on the
situation and collection tool used.
The time per response, estimated annual responses, and estimated
annual hour burden associated with each instrument in this information
collection is shown in the table below.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 1,459,184 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent (Hourly) Cost Burden:
$567,622,576. The USPTO expects that attorneys will complete the
instruments associated with this information collection. The
professional hourly rate for an attorney is $389. Using this hourly
rate, the USPTO estimates $567,622,576 per year for the total hourly
costs associated with respondents.
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Estimated
IC No. Item Hours Annual Burden (hrs/yr) Rate ($/hr)
Responses
(a) (b) (a) x (b) = (c) ..............
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1..................... Petition for Inter 124.0 1,685 208,940 $389.00
Partes Review.
2..................... Petition for Post- 165.3 181 29,919.3 389.00
Grant Review or
Covered Business
Method Patent Review.
3..................... Petition for 165.3 3 495.9 389.00
Derivation.
4..................... Patent Owner 91.6 1,109 101,584.4 389.00
Preliminary Response
to Petition for
Initial Inter Partes
Review.
5..................... Patent Owner 91.6 134 12,274.4 389.00
Preliminary Response
to Petition for
Initial Post-Grant
Review or Covered
Business Method
Patent Review.
6..................... Request for Rehearing 80.0 272 21,760 389.00
7..................... Motions, Replies and 158.0 5,901 932,358 389.00
Oppositions After
Institution in Inter
Partes Review.
8..................... Motions, Replies and 148.0 665 98,420 389.00
Oppositions After
Institution in Post-
Grant Review or
Covered Business
Method Review.
9..................... Motions, Replies and 120.0 7 840 389.00
Oppositions in
Derivation
Proceeding.
10.................... Request for Oral 18.3 392 7,173.6 389.00
Hearing.
11.................... Request to Treat a 2.0 397 794 389.00
Settlement as
Business
Confidential.
12.................... Settlement........... 100.0 446 44,600 389.00
13.................... Arbitration Agreement 4.0 2 8 389.00
and Award.
14.................... Request to Make a 1.0 1 1 389.00
Settlement Agreement
Available.
15.................... Notice of Judicial 0.1 154 15.4 389.00
Review of a Board
Decision (e.g.,
Notice of Appeal
Under 35 U.S.C. Sec.
142).
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Totals............ ..................... .............. 11,349 1,459,184 ..............
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Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) Respondent Cost Burden:
$60,404,425.50. There are no capital start-up or maintenance costs
associated with this information collection. However, this collection
does have annual (non-hour) costs in the form of filing fees and
postage costs. The total annual (non-hour) costs for this collection
are calculated in the accompanying tables.
Filing Fees
The IC items in this collection that contain filing fees are listed
in the table below.
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IC No. Item Responses (yr) Filing fees Total cost (yr)
(a) (b) (a) x (b) = (c)
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1.......................... Petition for Inter Partes 1,685 $31,400.00 $52,909,000.00
Review. (average)
2.......................... Petition for Post-Grant 181 41,400.00 7,493,400.00
Review or Covered (average)
Business Method Patent
Review.
3.......................... Petition for Derivation... 3 400.00 1,200.00
14......................... Request to Make a 1 400.00 400.00
Settlement Agreement
Available.
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Totals................. .......................... 1,870 ................. 60,404,000.00
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Postage Costs
Customers may incur postage costs when submitting two of the
Information Collection instruments covered by this collection to the
USPTO by mail. Only the Petition for Inter Partes Review and the
Motions, Replies, and Oppositions After Institution in Inter Partes
Review are eligible for paper filings, and only if authorized by the
PTAB. The USPTO expects that approximately 99 percent of the responses
to those two items will be submitted electronically. Of the remaining 1
percent, the vast majority--98 percent--will be submitted by mail, for
a total of 74 mailed submissions. The average first class USPS postage
cost for a one-pound mailed submission in a flat rate envelope is
$5.75. Therefore, the USPTO estimates that the postage costs for the
mailed submissions in this collection will total $425.50.
The USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) cost burden
for this collection, in the form of filing fees ($60,404,000.00) and
postage costs ($425.50), is $60,404,425.50 per year.
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, including
the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
(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, including through the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses.
[[Page 32543]]
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized or
included in the request for OMB approval of this information
collection; they will also become a matter of public record.
Dated: June 1, 2015.
Marcie Lovett,
Records Management Division Director, USPTO, Office of the Chief
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-14094 Filed 6-8-15; 8:45 am]
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