[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]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Legal Processes
ACTION: Notice and request for comment.
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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 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 $35,539.05 per year.
Table 1--Respondent Hourly Cost Burden
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Estimated Estimated Estimated
IC No./Item response time annual annual burden Rate ($/hr) Total cost ($/
(hours) responses hours yr)
(a) (b) (a) x (b) = (d) (c) x (d) =
(c) (e)
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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
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Totals...................... .............. 299 87.08 .............. 35,539.05
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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