[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 141 (Tuesday, July 25, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34509-34511]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-15500]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office


Substantive Submissions Made During Prosecution of the Trademark 
Application

ACTION: Revision of an existing 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 
a proposed extension of an existing information collection.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before September 25, 
2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0054 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 Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 
22313-1450.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Catherine Cain, Attorney Advisor, United States 
Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; 
by telephone at 571-272-8946; or by email to [email protected] 
with ``0651-0054 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 United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) administers 
the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq., which provides for the 
Federal registration of trademarks, service marks, collective 
trademarks and service marks, collective membership marks, and 
certification marks. Individuals and businesses that use or intend to 
use such marks in commerce may file an application to register their 
mark with the USPTO.
    Such individuals and businesses may also submit various 
communications to the USPTO, including providing additional information 
needed to process a request to delete a particular filing basis from an 
application or to divide an application identifying multiple goods and/
or services into two or more separate applications. Applicants may seek 
a six-month extension of time to file a statement that the mark is in 
use in commerce or submit a petition to revive an application that 
abandoned for failure to submit a timely response to an office action 
or a timely statement of use or extension request. In some 
circumstances, an applicant may expressly abandon an application by 
filing a written request for withdrawal of the application.
    The rules implementing the Act are set forth in 37 CFR part 2. 
These rules mandate that each register entry include the mark, the 
goods and/or services in connection with which the mark is used, 
ownership information, dates of use, and certain other information. The 
USPTO also provides similar information concerning pending 
applications. The register and pending application information may be 
accessed by an individual or by businesses to determine the 
availability of a mark. By accessing the USPTO's information, parties 
may reduce the possibility of initiating use of a mark previously 
adopted by another. The Federal trademark registration process may 
thereby reduce the number of filings between both litigating parties 
and the courts.

II. Method of Collection

    The forms in this collection are available in electronic format 
through the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), which may 
be accessed on the USPTO Web site. TEAS Global Forms are available for 
the items where a TEAS form with dedicated data fields is not yet 
available. Applicants may also submit the information in paper form by 
mail, fax, or hand delivery.

[[Page 34510]]

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0054.
    IC Instruments and Forms: PTO Forms 1553, 1581, 2194, 2195, 2200, 
and 2202.
    Type of Review: Revision of a Previously Existing Information 
Collection.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; not-for-profit 
institutions; individuals.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 374,972 per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the response 
time for activities related to submissions regarding trademark 
prosecution will take the public from 10 minutes (0.17 hours) to 35 
minutes (0.58 hours) to complete. (See Table 1.) This includes the time 
to gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate documents, 
and submit the information to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 101,400.37 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent (Hourly) Cost Burden: 
$41,574,150.33. 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 respondent cost burden 
for this collection will be approximately $41,574,150.33 per year.

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                                                                                      Estimated time
                     No.                                       Item                    for  response    Estimated annual    Estimated annual    Rate ($/
                                                                                         (minutes)          responses         burden hours        hr)
                                                                                                  (a)                 (b)    (a) x (b) / 60 =
                                                                                                                                          (c)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1............................................  Trademark/Service Mark Allegation of                30                  27               13.50    $410.00
                                                Use (Statement of Use/Amendment to
                                                Allege Use) (Paper).
1............................................  Trademark/Service Mark Allegation of                25             109,086           45,452.50     410.00
                                                Use (Statement of Use/Amendment to
                                                Allege Use) (TEAS).
2............................................  Request for Extension of Time to                    15                  59               14.75     410.00
                                                File a Statement of Use (Paper).
2............................................  Request for Extension of Time to                    12             234,906           46,981.20     410.00
                                                File a Statement of Use (TEAS).
3............................................  Petition to Revive Abandoned                        25                   5                2.08     410.00
                                                Application--Failure to Respond
                                                Timely to Office Action (Paper).
3............................................  Petition to Revive Abandoned                        20              19,545            6,515.00     410.00
                                                Application--Failure to Respond
                                                Timely to Office Action (TEAS).
4............................................  Petition to Revive Abandoned                        20                   1                0.33     410.00
                                                Application--Failure to File Timely
                                                Statement of Use or Extension
                                                Request (Paper).
4............................................  Petition to Revive Abandoned                        15                 284               71.00     410.00
                                                Application--Failure to File Timely
                                                Statement of Use or Extension
                                                Request (TEAS).
5............................................  Request to Delete Section 1(b)                      15                   1                0.25     410.00
                                                Basis, Intent to Use (Paper).
5............................................  Request to Delete Section 1(b)                      10               1,400              233.33     410.00
                                                Basis, Intent to Use (TEAS).
6............................................  Request for Express Abandonment                     15                   1                0.25     410.00
                                                (Withdrawal) of Application (Paper).
6............................................  Request for Express Abandonment                     10               5,500              916.67     410.00
                                                (Withdrawal) of Application (TEAS).
7............................................  Request to Divide Application                       20                   1                0.33     410.00
                                                (Paper).
7............................................  Request to Divide Application (TEAS)                15               3,057              764.25     410.00
8............................................  Response to Intent-to-Use (ITU)                     35                   1                0.58     410.00
                                                Divisional Unit Office Action
                                                (Paper).
8............................................  Response to Intent-to-Use (ITU)                     30                   2                1.00     410.00
                                                Divisional Unit Office Action (TEAS
                                                Global).
9............................................  Response to Petition to Revive                      25                   1                0.42     410.00
                                                Deficiency Letter (Paper).
9............................................  Response to Petition to Revive                      20                 313              104.33     410.00
                                                Deficiency Letter (TEAS Global).
10...........................................  Petition to the Director Under                      30                   1                0.50     410.00
                                                Trademark Rule 2.146 (Paper).
10...........................................  Petition to the Director Under                      25                 750              312.50     410.00
                                                Trademark Rule 2.146 (TEAS Global).
11...........................................  Petition to Revive with Request to                  35                   1                0.58     410.00
                                                Delete Section 1(b) Basis or to
                                                Delete ITU Goods/Services After NOA
                                                (Paper).
11...........................................  Petition to Revive with Request to                  30                  30               15.00     410.00
                                                Delete Section 1(b) Basis or to
                                                Delete ITU Goods/Services After NOA
                                                (TEAS Global).
                                              ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals...................................  ....................................  ................             374,972          101,400.37
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[[Page 34511]]

    Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) Respondent Cost Burden: 
$42,650,873.51.
    There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or recordkeeping costs 
associated with this information collection. However, this collection 
does have annual (non-hour) cost burden in the form of postage costs 
and filing fees.
    Applicants incur postage costs when submitting information to the 
USPTO by mail through the United States Postal Service. The USPTO 
estimates that the majority of the paper forms are submitted to the 
USPTO via first-class mail at a rate of 49 cents per ounce. Therefore, 
the USPTO estimates that with a total of 99 paper submissions, the 
postage costs in this collection will be $48.51.
    The filing fees for several items in this collection are charged 
per class of goods and/or services; therefore, the filing fees will 
vary for each respondent depending on the number of classes. The total 
filing fees of $42,650,825.00 shown here are based on the minimum fee 
of one class for those items for which a fee is required.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Estimated  annual    Filing fee      Total non-hour
             IC No.                        Item                responses            ($)        cost Burden  ($)
                                 .......................                 (a)             (b)     (a) x (b) = (c)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1..............................  Trademark/Service Mark                   27            $200           $5,400.00
                                  Allegation of Use
                                  (Statement of Use/
                                  Amendment to Allege
                                  Use) (Paper).
1..............................  Trademark/Service Mark              109,086             100       10,908,600.00
                                  Allegation of Use
                                  (Statement of Use/
                                  Amendment to Allege
                                  Use) (TEAS).
2..............................  Request for Extension                    59             225           13,275.00
                                  of Time to File a
                                  Statement of Use
                                  (Paper).
2..............................  Request for Extension               234,906             125       29,363,250.00
                                  of Time to File a
                                  Statement of Use
                                  (TEAS).
3..............................  Petition to Revive                        5             200            1,000.00
                                  Abandoned Application--
                                  Failure to Respond
                                  Timely to Office
                                  Action (Paper).
3..............................  Petition to Revive                   19,545             100        1,954,500.00
                                  Abandoned Application--
                                  Failure to Respond
                                  Timely to Office
                                  Action (TEAS).
4..............................  Petition to Revive                        1             200              200.00
                                  Abandoned Application--
                                  Failure to File Timely
                                  Statement of Use or
                                  Extension Request
                                  (Paper).
4..............................  Petition to Revive                      203             100           20,300.00
                                  Abandoned Application--
                                  Failure to File Timely
                                  Statement of Use or
                                  Extension Request
                                  (TEAS).
7..............................  Request to Divide                         1             200              200.00
                                  Application (Paper).
7..............................  Request to Divide                     3,057             100          305,700.00
                                  Application (TEAS
                                  Global).
10.............................  Petition to the                           1             200              200.00
                                  Director Under
                                  Trademark Rule 2.146
                                  (Paper).
10.............................  Petition to the                         750             100           75,000.00
                                  Director Under
                                  Trademark Rule 2.146
                                  (TEAS Global).
11.............................  Petition to Revive with                   1             200              200.00
                                  Request to Delete
                                  Section 1(b) Basis or
                                  to Delete ITU Goods/
                                  Services After NOA
                                  (Paper).
11.............................  Petition to Revive with                  30             100            3,000.00
                                  Request to Delete
                                  Section 1(b) Basis or
                                  to Delete ITU Goods/
                                  Services After NOA
                                  (TEAS Global).
                                --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals.....................  .......................             374,891  ..............       42,650,825.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Therefore, the USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) 
cost burden for this collection, in the form of postage costs and 
filing fees is $42,650,873.51 per year.

IV. Request for Comments

    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.
    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.

Marcie Lovett,
Records and Information Governance Division Director, OCTO, United 
States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2017-15500 Filed 7-24-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P