[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 162 (Monday, August 22, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56613-56614]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-19863]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Patent Law Treaty

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 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 October 21, 
2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0073 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 Raul Tamayo, Senior Legal Advisor, Office of 
Patent Legal Administration, United States Patent and Trademark Office 
(USPTO), P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-
272-7728; or by email at Raul.Tamayo.uspto.gov with ``0651-0073 
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 Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 (PLTIA) amends 
the patent laws to implement the provisions of the Patent Law Treaty 
(PLT) in title II. The PLT harmonizes and streamlines formal procedures 
pertaining to the filing and processing of patent applications.
    By a final rule titled ``Changes to Implement the Patent Law 
Treaty'' (RIN 0651-AC85) and published in the Federal Register on 
October 21, 2013, the USPTO revised the rules of practice for 
consistency with the changes in the PLT and title II of the PLTIA. One 
notable change pertains to the restoration of the right of priority to 
a foreign application or the benefit of a provisional application in a 
subsequent application filed within two months of the expiration of the 
twelve-month period (six-month period for design applications) for 
filing such a subsequent application. The information in this 
collection relates to the petitions for restoration that may be filed 
in accordance with the revised rules.
    The information in this collection can be submitted electronically 
through EFS-Web, the USPTO's Web-based electronic filing system, as 
well as on paper. The USPTO is therefore accounting for both electronic 
and paper submissions in this collection.

II. Method of Collection

    Electronically if applicants submit the information using EFS-Web. 
By mail or hand delivery in paper form.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0073.
    Form Number(s): No form numbers.
    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: 500 responses per year. The USPTO 
estimates that 120 responses will be received from small entities. 
Approximately 98% of the total responses for this collection will be 
submitted electronically.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates it will take 
approximately 60 minutes (1 hour) to complete the information in this 
collection, including the time it takes for reading the instructions 
for the forms, gathering the necessary information, completing the 
forms, and submitting them 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: 500 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent (Hourly) Cost Burden: 
$205,000.00. The USPTO expects that attorneys in private firms will 
complete these applications. The professional hourly rate for attorneys 
is $410. Using this hourly rate, the USPTO estimates that the total 
respondent cost burden for this collection is [AMOUNT] per year.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                           Burden (hrs/                     Total cost
               IC No.                                Item                      Hours      Responses (yr)        yr)         Rate ($/hr)       burden
                                                                                     (a)             (b)     (c) (a x b)             (d)     (e) (c x d)
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1...................................  Petition to Restore the Right of                 1             250             250         $410.00     $102,500.00
                                       Priority under 37 CFR 1.55(b)(2).

[[Page 56614]]

 
2...................................  Petition to Restore the Benefit of               1             250             250          410.00      102,500.00
                                       a Prior-Filed Provisional
                                       Application under 37 CFR
                                       1.7(a)(1)(ii).
                                                                         -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Total.............................  ..............             500             500  ..............      205,000.00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) Respondent Cost Burden: 
$748,064.50, based on filing fees and postage costs.

Filing Fees

    There are filing fees associated with this collection. The items 
with filing fees are listed in the table below.

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                                                                     Estimated                    Total non-hour
             IC No.                            Item                   annual      Filing fee ($)    cost burden
                                                                     responses                          ($)
                                                                             (a)             (b)     (a) x (b) =
                                                                                                             (c)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...............................  Grantable Petition to Restore              190       $1,700.00     $323,000.00
                                   the Right of Priority under
                                   37 CFR 1.55(b)(2).
2...............................  Grantable Petition to Restore               60          850.00       51,000.00
                                   the Right of Priority under
                                   37 CFR 1.55(b)(2)(small
                                   entity).
3...............................  Grantable Petition to Restore              190        1,700.00      323,000.00
                                   the Benefit of a Prior-Filed
                                   Provisional Application under
                                   37 CFR 1.78(a)(1)(ii).
4...............................  Grantable Petition to Restore               60          850.00       51,000.00
                                   the Benefit of a Prior-Filed
                                   Provisional Application under
                                   37 CFR 1.78(a)(1)(ii) (small
                                   entity).
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
                                  Total.........................             500  ..............      748,000.00
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    The USPTO estimates that the total non-hour cost burden associated 
with the filing fees for this collection will be $748,000.00

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 
approximately 98 percent of the responses in this collection will be 
submitted electronically. Of the remaining 2 percent, the vast majority 
(98%) will be submitted by mail, for a total of 10 mailed submissions. 
The average first class USPS postage cost for a one-pound mailed 
submission in a flat-rate envelope is $6.45. The USPTO estimates that 
the postage costs for the mailed submissions in this collection will 
total $64.50.
    Therefore, the USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) 
cost burden for this collection, in the form of fees and postage is 
$748,064.50 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;
    (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: August 16th, 2016.
Marcie Lovett,
Records Management Division Director, USPTO, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-19863 Filed 8-19-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P