[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 118 (Friday, June 19, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35318-35320]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-15117]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office


Practitioner Conduct and Discipline

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 the 
extension of 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 August 18, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by any of the following 
methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0017 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 Dahlia George, Office of Enrollment and 
Discipline, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-4097; or by email at 
[email protected] with ``0651-0017 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 Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office 
(USPTO) has the authority to establish regulations governing the 
conduct and discipline of agents, attorneys, or other persons 
representing applicants and other parties before the USPTO (35 U.S.C. 2 
and 32-33). The USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct at 37 CFR 11.101-
11.804 describe how agents, attorneys, or other practitioners 
representing applicants and other parties before the USPTO should 
conduct themselves professionally and outline their responsibilities 
for recordkeeping and reporting violations or complaints of misconduct 
to the USPTO, while the Investigations and Disciplinary Proceedings 
Rules (37 CFR 11.19-11.60) dictate how the USPTO can discipline agents, 
attorneys, or other persons representing applicants and other parties 
before the USPTO.
    The Rules require an attorney or agent to maintain complete records 
of all funds, securities, and other properties of clients coming into 
his or her possession, and to render appropriate accounts to the client 
regarding the funds, securities, and other properties of clients coming 
into the practitioner's possession, collectively known as ``client 
property.'' These recordkeeping requirements are necessary to maintain 
the integrity of client property. Each State Bar requires its attorneys 
to perform similar recordkeeping.
    The Rules also require an attorney or agent to report knowledge of 
certain violations of the Rules to the USPTO. If a complaint is found 
to have merit, the USPTO will investigate and possibly prosecute 
violations of the Rules and provide the practitioner with the 
opportunity to respond to the complaint. The Director of the Office of 
Enrollment and Discipline (OED Director) may, after notice and 
opportunity for a hearing, suspend,

[[Page 35319]]

exclude, or disqualify any practitioner from further practice before 
the USPTO based on non-compliance with the regulations. Practitioners 
who have been excluded or suspended from practice before the USPTO, 
practitioners transferred to disability inactive status, and 
practitioners who have resigned must keep and maintain records of their 
steps to comply with the suspension or exclusion order, transfer to 
disability inactive status, or resignation, should they seek 
reinstatement. These records may serve as the practitioner's proof of 
compliance with the order, transfer, resignation, and Rules.
    The information collected, i.e., reports of alleged violations of 
the Rules, is used by the OED Director to conduct investigations and 
prosecute violations, as appropriate. If this information is not 
collected, the OED Director would have no knowledge of alleged 
violations and would be unable to enforce this provision of the Rules.

II. Method of Collection

    Electronically via email; by postal mail, facsimile, or hand 
delivery in paper form.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0017.
    IC Instruments: 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: Individuals or households; businesses or other 
for-profits; and not-for-profit institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 11,065 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public between 1 hour and 20 hours to submit a single item in this 
collection depending on the instrument used, including the time to 
gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate form or 
petition, and submit the completed request to the USPTO. The time per 
response, estimated annual responses, and estimated annual hour burden 
associated with each instrument in this collection are shown in the 
table below.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 12,225 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent (Hourly) Cost Burden: 
$3,177,523.00. The USPTO expects that agents will complete the 
Recordkeeping Maintenance & Disclosure item at an hourly rate of $249 
as published in the 2013 AIPLA Report of the Economic Survey and that 
practitioners will complete the Recordkeeping Maintenance Under 
Suspension or Exclusion from the USPTO item at an hourly rate of $389 
as published in the 2013 AIPLA Report of the Economic Survey. The USPTO 
further expects that members of the public will complete the Complaint/
Violation Reporting at a blended hourly rate of $284.83. This blended 
rate is based on data from both the 2013 AIPLA Report of the Economic 
Survey and the 2014 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) National 
Occupation Employment and Wage Estimates, and is comprised of 50 
percent by the practitioner hourly rate of $389; 25 percent by the 
agent hourly rate of $249; and 25 percent by the hourly rate for 
Scientists and Engineers of $46.32. Using these hourly rates, the USPTO 
estimates $3,177,523.00 per year for the total hourly costs associated 
with respondents.

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                                              Information collection      Estimated time for   Estimated annual    Estimated annual
                 IC No.                             instrument             response (hours)        responses         burden hours         Rate ($/hr)
                                                                                         (a)                 (b)     (a) x (b) = (c)                 (d)
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1......................................  Recordkeeping Maintenance &                       1              10,825              10,825             $249.00
                                          Disclosure (includes
                                          advertisements, disclosure
                                          requirements relating to
                                          soliciting professional
                                          employment, notifications by
                                          non-attorney practitioner of
                                          inadvertently sent documents,
                                          and financial books and
                                          records such as trust
                                          accounts, fiduciary accounts,
                                          and operating accounts).
2......................................  Recordkeeping Maintenance                        20                  40                 800              389.00
                                          Regarding Practitioners Under
                                          Suspension or Exclusion from
                                          the USPTO.
3......................................  Complaint/Violation Reporting..                   3                 200                 600              284.83
                                        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total..............................  ...............................  ..................              11,065              12,225
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    Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) Respondent Cost Burden: 
$1,083.05. There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or recordkeeping 
costs, as well as no filing fees associated with this information 
collection. The recordkeeping costs included with the recordkeeping-
related responses are a burden hour/burden cost to respondents and are 
not part of the annualized cost burden for this collection. There are, 
however, associated postage costs.
    Customers may incur postage costs when submitting some of the items 
covered by this collection to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO expects that 
practitioners will submit affidavits with attachments via postal mail 
or hand delivery in association with the Recordkeeping Maintenance 
Regarding Practitioners Under Suspension or Exclusion item, and 
estimates that 99 percent of those affidavits will be submitted by mail 
with the remainder submitted by facsimile or hand delivery. The USPTO 
further expects that 25 percent of the Complaint/Violation Reporting 
item will be submitted electronically. Of the non-electronic 
submissions for this item, 1 percent of the item's total responses will 
be submitted by hand delivery or facsimile and the remaining 74 percent 
will be submitted by postal mail. These two items are estimated to 
produce a total of 187 mailed submissions.
    The average first-class USPS postage costs for a one-pound mailed

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submission in a flat-rate envelope and a three-pound mailed submission 
in a small flat-rate box are $5.75 and $5.95, respectively. The 
Recordkeeping Maintenance Regarding Practitioners Under Suspension or 
Exclusion item requires the more expensive of those two postage 
options, while the Complaint/Violation Reporting item requires the 
cheaper flat-rate envelope. The USPTO calculates that the total postage 
costs will be $1,083.05.
    Therefore, the USPTO estimates that the total annual non-hour cost 
burden for this collection, in the form of postage costs, is $1,083.05.

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., electronic 
submission of responses.
    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 12, 2015.
Marcie Lovett,
Records Management Division Director, USPTO, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-15117 Filed 6-18-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P