[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 125 (Friday, June 30, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29848-29852]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13716]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
International Design Applications (Hague Agreement)
ACTION: Proposed extension of a continuing information collection;
comment request.
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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on a
proposed extension of an existing collection: 0651-0075 (International
Design Applications (Hague Agreement)).
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before August 29, 2017.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-0075
comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Mail: Marcie Lovett, Records and Information Governance Division
Director, Office of the Chief Technology Officer, United States Patent
and
[[Page 29849]]
Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Rafael Bacares, Senior Legal Advisor, Office of
Patent Legal Administration, United States Patent and Trademark Office,
P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-3276;
or by email at [email protected] with ``0651-0075 comment'' in
the subject line. Additional information about this collection is also
available at http://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection
Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Abstract
The Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 (PLTIA) amends
the patent laws to implement the provisions of the Geneva Act of the
Hague Agreement Concerning International Registration of Industrial
Designs (hereinafter ``Hague Agreement'') in title 1, and the Patent
Law Treaty (PLT) in title 2. The Hague Agreement is an international
agreement that enables an applicant to file a single international
design application which may have the effect of an application for
protection for the design(s) in countries and/or intergovernmental
organizations that are Parties to the Hague Agreement (the
``Contracting Parties'') designated in the application. The United
States is a Contracting Party to the Hague Agreement, which took effect
with respect to the United States on May 13, 2015. The Hague Agreement
is administered by the International Bureau (IB) of World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) located in Geneva, Switzerland.
Thus, under the Hague Agreement, a U.S. applicant could file an
international design application in English ``indirectly'' through the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (``USPTO''), which will forward the
application to the IB or ``directly'' with the IB. The industrial
design or designs will be eligible for protection in all the
Contracting Parties designated by the applicant.
The IB ascertains whether the international design application
complies with formal requirements, registers the international design
in the International register, and publishes the international
registration in the International Designs Bulletin. The international
registration contains all of the data of the international application,
any reproduction of the industrial design, date of the international
registration, number of the international registration, and relevant
class of the International Classification.
The IB will provide a copy of the publication of the international
registration to each Contracting party designated by the applicant. A
designated Contracting Party may perform a substantive examination of
the design application. The USPTO will perform a substantive
examination for patentability of the international design application,
as in the case of regular U.S. design applications.
The Hague Agreement enables applicants from a Contracting Party to
obtain protection of their designs with minimal formality and expense.
Additionally, under the Hague Agreement, the international registration
can be centrally maintained by the IB. For example, through the IB,
applicants can record changes of their representatives or changes in
ownership, and renew their international registration.
II. Method of Collection
Most of the items in this collection can be submitted
electronically through EFS-Web. The items can also be submitted by
mail.
III. Data
Collection Name: International Design Applications (Hague
Agreement).
OMB Number: 0651-0075.
IC Instruments and Forms: WIPO DM/1.
Type of Review: Extension of a Previously Reviewed Information
Collection.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; not-for-profit
institutions.
Estimated Number of Responses: 556 responses per year.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the response
time for activities related to International Design Applications will
take the public between approximately 15 minutes (0.25 hours) to 6
hours to complete. (See Table 1.) This includes the time to gather the
necessary information, create the document, and submit the completed
request to the USPTO. The USPTO calculates that, on balance, it takes
the same amount of time to do this, regardless of whether the public is
submitting the information in paper form or electronically.
Estimated Total Response Burden Hours: 1,898.00 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent (Hourly) Cost Burden: $778,180.
The USPTO expects that an attorney will complete these applications.
The professional hourly rate for attorneys is $410. This rate is
established by estimates in the 2015 Report of the Economic Survey,
published by the Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the
American Intellectual Property Law Association. Using this hourly rate,
the USPTO estimates that the total respondent cost burden for this
collection is $778,180 per year.
Table 1--Annual Hourly Cost Burden
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Estimated Estimated
IC No. Item Estimated time for annual annual burden Rate ($/hr) Estimated
response (hours) responses hours annual burden
(a)....................... (b) (a) x (b) = (d) (c) x (d) =
(c) (e)
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1................................ Applicant for 6.00...................... 156 936 $410.00 $383,750.00
International
Registration.
2................................ Claim and Reproductions 4.00...................... 156 624 410.00 255,840.00
(Drawings).
3................................ Transmittal Letter....... 2.00...................... 140 280 410.00 114,800.00
4................................ Appointment of a 0.25 (15 minutes)......... 15 3.75 410.00 1,537.50
Representative.
5................................ Petition to Excuse a 4.00...................... 1 4 410.00 1,640.00
Failure to Comply with a
Time Limit.
6................................ Petition to Convert to a 4.00...................... 1 4 410.00 1,640.00
Design Application under
35 U.S.C. Chapter 16.
7................................ Petition to Review a 4.00...................... 2 8 410.00 3,280.00
Filing Date.
8................................ Fee Authorization........ 0.25 (15 minutes)......... 31 7.75 410.00 3,177.50
9................................ Petitions to the 4.00...................... 1 4 410.00 1,640.00
Commissioner.
[[Page 29850]]
10............................... Transmittal of Issue Fee 0.50 (30 minutes)......... 1 0.50 410.00 205.00
to UPSTO for an
International Design
Application.
11............................... Declaration on 0.50 (30 minutes)......... 46 23 410.00 9,430.00
Inventorship for
Purposes of Designation
of the United States.
12............................... Substitute Statement in 0.50 (30 minutes)......... 1 0.50 410.00 205.00
Lieu of a Declaration of
Inventorship for the
Purposes of Designating
the United States.
13............................... Assignment Cover Sheet... 0.50 (30 minutes)......... 5 0.50 410.00 1,025.00
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Totals....................... ......................... .......................... 556 1,898.00 .............. 778,180.00
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Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) Respondent Cost Burden:
$424,245.90.
There are no maintenance, operation, capital start-up, or
recordkeeping costs associated with this collection. However, this
collection does have annual (non-hour) costs in the form of postage
costs and filing fees.
Although the USPTO prefers that the items in this collection be
submitted electronically, the items may be submitted by mail through
the United States Postal Service (USPS). The USPTO estimates that the
average cost for a paper submission will be $5.95 and that 62
submissions will be mailed to the USPTO per year.
Table 2--Postage Costs
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Estimated Estimated
IC No. Item annual Postage costs total postage
responses costs
(a) (b) (c)
(a) x (b)
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1.................................. Applicant for International 1 $5.95 $5.95
Registration.
2.................................. Claim and Reproductions 1 5.95 5.95
(Drawings).
3.................................. Transmittal Letter......... 1 5.95 5.95
4.................................. Appointment of a 1 5.95 5.95
Representative.
5.................................. Petition to Excuse a 1 5.95 5.95
Failure to Comply with a
Time Limit.
6.................................. Petition to Convert to a 1 5.95 5.95
Design Application under
35 U.S.C. Chapter 16.
7.................................. Petition to Review a Filing 1 5.95 5.95
Date.
8.................................. Fee Authorization.......... 1 5.95 5.95
9.................................. Petitions to the 1 5.95 5.95
Commissioner.
10................................. Transmittal of Issue Fee to 1 5.95 5.95
USPTO for an International
Design Application.
11................................. Declaration on Inventorship 46 5.95 273.70
for Purposes of
Designation of the United
States.
12................................. Substitute Statement in 1 5.95 5.95
Lieu of a Declaration of
Inventorship for the
Purposes of Designating
the United States.
13................................. Assignment Cover Sheet..... 5 5.95 29.75
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Total Postage Costs............ 62......................... .............. 368.90
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This collection also contains an annual (non-hour) cost burden in
the way of filing fees. The total estimated filing costs for this
collection is $423,876 detailed in Table 3 below.
Table 3--Filing Fees
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Estimated
IC No. Item annual Filing fee Total filing
response amount fee cost
(a) (b) (c)
(a) x (b)
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1.................................. Application for 155 $1,766.00 $273,730.00
International Registration
(electronic)--Average Fee
per registration to WIPO
(collecting for WIPO).
[[Page 29851]]
1.................................. Application for 155 760.00 117,800.00
International Registration
(electronic)--Designation
Fee (first part) for the
U.S. (collecting for WIPO)
(large entity).
1.................................. Application for 1 380.00 380.00
International Registration
(electronic)--Designation
Fee (first part) for the
U.S. (collecting for WIPO)
(small entity).
1.................................. Application for 1 190.00 190.00
International Registration
(electronic)--Designation
Fee (first part) for the
U.S. (collecting for WIPO)
(micro entity).
1.................................. Application for 155 120.00 18,600.00
International Registration
(electronic)--Transmittal
Fee (set by and collected
by USPTO) (large entity).
1.................................. Application for 1 120.00 120.00
International Registration
(electronic)--Transmittal
Fee (set by and collected
by USPTO) (small entity).
1.................................. Application for 1 120.00 120.00
International Registration
(electronic)--Transmittal
Fee (set by and collected
by USPTO) (micro entity).
1.................................. Application for 1 1,766.00 1,766.00
International Registration
(non-electronic)--Average
Fee per registration to
WIPO (collecting for WIPO).
1.................................. Application for 1 760.00 760.00
International Registration
(non-electronic)--
Designation Fee (first
part) for the U.S.
(collecting for WIPO)
(large entity).
1.................................. Application for 1 380.00 380.00
International Registration
(non-electronic)--
Designation Fee (first
part) for the U.S.
(collecting for WIPO)
(small entity).
1.................................. Application for 1 190.00 190.00
International Registration
(non-electronic)--
Designation Fee (first
part) for the U.S.
(collecting for WIPO)
(micro entity).
1.................................. Application for 1 120.00 120.00
International Registration
(non-electronic)--
Transmittal Fee (set by
and collected by USPTO)
(large entity).
1.................................. Application for 1 120.00 120.00
International Registration
(non-electronic)--
Transmittal Fee (set by
and collected by USPTO)
(small entity).
1.................................. Application for 1 120.00 120.00
International Registration
(non-electronic)--
Transmittal Fee (set by
and collected by USPTO)
(micro entity).
5.................................. Petition to Excuse a 1 1,700.00 1,700.00
Failure to Comply with a
Time Limit (electronic)
(large entity).
5.................................. Petition to Excuse a 1 850.00 850.00
Failure to Comply with a
Time Limit (electronic)
(small entity).
5.................................. Petition to Excuse a 1 850.00 850.00
Failure to Comply with a
Time Limit (electronic)
(micro entity).
5.................................. Petition to Excuse a 1 1,700.00 1,700.00
Failure to Comply with a
Time Limit (non-
electronic) (large entity).
5.................................. Petition to Excuse a 1 850.00 850.00
Failure to Comply with a
Time Limit (non-
electronic) (small entity).
5.................................. Petition to Excuse a 1 850.00 850.00
Failure to Comply with a
Time Limit (non-
electronic) (micro entity).
6.................................. Petition to Convert to a 1 180.00 180.00
Design Application under
35 U.S.C. Chapter 16
(electronic).
7.................................. Petition to Review a Filing 2 400.00 400.00
Date (electronic) (large
entity).
7.................................. Petition to Review a Filing 1 200.00 200.00
Date (electronic) (small
entity).
7.................................. Petition to Review a Filing 1 100.00 100.00
Date (electronic) (micro
entity).
7.................................. Petition to Review a Filing 1 400.00 400.00
Date (non-electronic)
(large entity).
7.................................. Petition to Review a Filing 1 200.00 200.00
Date (non-electronic)
(small entity).
7.................................. Petition to Review a Filing 1 100.00 100.00
Date (non-electronic)
(micro entity).
9.................................. Petitions to Commissioner 1 400.00 400.00
(electronic) (large
entity).
9.................................. Petitions to Commissioner 1 200.00 200.00
(electronic) (small
entity).
9.................................. Petitions to Commissioner 1 100.00 100.00
(electronic) (micro
entity).
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Totals..................... 493 .............. 423,876.00
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The USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) respondent
cost burden for this collection in the forms of postage costs and
filing fees is estimated to be approximately be $424,245.90 per year
($368.90 in postage costs and $423,876 in filing fees).
IV. Request for Comments
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the USPTO's request for OMB approval. All comments
will become a matter of public record.
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
[[Page 29852]]
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
Marcie Lovett,
Records and Information Governance Division Director, USPTO, Office of
the Chief Technology Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-13716 Filed 6-29-17; 8:45 am]
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