[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 121 (Thursday, June 23, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40876-40877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14856]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 Patent and Trademark Office


Legal Processes

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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

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 this 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 22, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0046 inquiry'' 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 Kyu Lee, Office of General Law, United States 
Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; 
by telephone at 571-272-6421; or by email at [email protected] with 
``0651-0046 inquiry'' 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 purpose of this collection is to cover information requirements 
related to civil actions and claims involving current and former 
employees of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The 
rules for these legal processes may be found under 37 CFR part 104, 
which outlines procedures for service of process, demands for employee 
testimony and production of documents in legal proceedings, reports of 
unauthorized testimony, employee indemnification, and filing claims 
against the USPTO under the Federal Tort Claims Act (28 U.S.C. 2672) 
and the corresponding Department of Justice regulations (28 CFR part 
14). The public may also petition the USPTO Office of General Counsel 
under 37 CFR 104.3 to waive or suspend these rules in extraordinary 
cases.
    The procedures under 37 CFR part 104 ensure that service of process 
intended for current and former employees of the USPTO is handled 
properly. The USPTO will only accept service of process for an employee 
acting in an official capacity. This collection is necessary so that 
respondents or their representatives can serve a summons or complaint 
on the USPTO, demand employee testimony and documents related to a 
legal proceeding, or file a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act. 
Respondents may also petition the USPTO to waive or suspend these rules 
for legal processes. This collection is also necessary so that current 
and former USPTO employees may properly forward service and demands to 
the Office of General Counsel, report unauthorized testimony, and 
request indemnification. The USPTO covers current employees as 
respondents under this information collection even though their 
responses do not require approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act. In 
those instances where both current and former employees may respond to 
the USPTO, the agency estimates that the number of respondents will be 
small.
    There are no forms provided by the USPTO for this collection. For 
filing claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the public may use 
Standard Form 95 ``Claim for Damage, Injury, or Death,'' which is 
provided by the Department of Justice and approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control Number 1105-0008.

II. Method of Collection

    By mail or hand delivery to the USPTO.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0046.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other 
for-profits; not-for-profit institutions; and the Federal Government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 299 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 from 5 minutes (0.08 hours) to 6 hours to prepare a single 
item in this collection, including gathering the necessary information, 
preparing the appropriate documents, and submitting the information 
required for this collection.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 87.08 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost Burden (Hourly): $35,539.05. The USPTO 
expects that the information in this collection will be prepared by 
attorneys and former employees at an hourly rate of $410, except for 
the requests for employee indemnification, which generally come from 
professional and supervisory staff at an hourly rate of $79.78. Since 
the majority of the former employees affected by this collection are 
attorneys, the estimated attorney hourly rate will be used for former 
employees as well. Using these hourly rates, the USPTO estimates that 
the total respondent cost burden for this collection will be 
approximately $35,539.05 per year.

                                     Table 1--Respondent Hourly Cost Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Estimated       Estimated       Estimated
           IC No./Item             response time      annual       annual burden    Rate ($/hr)   Total cost ($/
                                      (hours)        responses         hours                            yr)
                                             (a)             (b)     (a) x (b) =             (d)     (c) x (d) =
                                                                             (c)                             (e)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Petition to Waive Rules......            0.50               5            2.50         $410.00       $1,025.00

[[Page 40877]]

 
2. Service of Process...........            0.08             243           20.25          410.00        8,302.50
3. Forwarding Service...........            0.17               7            1.17          410.00          478.33
4. Employee Testimony and                   1.00              23           23.00          410.00        9,430.00
 Production of Documents in
 Legal Proceedings..............
5. Forwarding Demands...........            0.17              10            1.67          410.00          683.33
6. Report of Unauthorized                   0.50               1            0.50          410.00          205.00
 Testimony......................
7. Report of Possible                       0.50               3            1.50          410.00          615.00
 Indemnification Cases..........
8. Employee Indemnification.....            0.50               1            0.50           79.78           39.89
9. Tort Claims..................            6.00               6           36.00          410.00       14,760.00
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......................  ..............             299           87.08  ..............       35,539.05
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $3,436. 
There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or recordkeeping costs 
associated with this information collection. However, this collection 
does have annual (non-hour) costs in the form of filing fees and 
postage costs.

Filing Fees

    This collection has filing fees associated with the petition to 
waive or suspend the legal process rules under 37 CFR 104.3. The USPTO 
estimates that 5 petitions will be filed per year with a fee of $130, 
for a total fee cost of $650. There are no other fees associated with 
this information collection.

Postage Costs

    Customers may incur postage costs when submitting the information 
in this collection to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO estimates that the 
average first-class postage for a mailed submission, other than a 
Service of Process, will be $0.94 and that up to 56 of these 
submissions will be mailed to the USPTO per year, for a postage cost of 
$52.64. The USPTO estimates that the average postage for a Service of 
Process will be $11.35 and that up to 243 of these submissions will be 
mailed to the USPTO per year, for a postage cost of $2,758.05. The 
estimated postage cost for this collection is $2,810.69 per year.
    Therefore, the total annual (non-hour) respondent cost burden for 
this collection, in the form of filing fees ($650.00) and postage costs 
($2,810.69), is estimated to be approximately $3,460.69 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.
    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 16, 2016.
Marcie Lovett,
Records Management Division Director, OCIO, United States Patent and 
Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2016-14856 Filed 6-22-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P