[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 141 (Tuesday, July 25, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34506-34509]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-15501]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Patent Petitions Related to Application and Reexamination
Processing Fees
ACTION: Proposed 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 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-
0059 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 Raul Tamayo, 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 571-272-7728;
or by email to [email protected] with ``0651-
[[Page 34507]]
0059 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) is required
by 35 U.S.C. 131 et seq. to examine an application for patent and, when
appropriate, issue a patent. The USPTO also is required to publish
patent applications, with certain exceptions, promptly after the
expiration of a period of eighteen months from the earliest filing date
for which a benefit is sought under Title 35, United States Code.
Many actions taken by the USPTO during its examination of an
application for patent or for reissue of a patent, or during its
reexamination of a patent, are subject to review by an appeal to the
Patent Trial and Appeal Board. For other USPTO actions, review is in
the form of administrative review obtained via submission of a petition
to the USPTO. USPTO petitions practice also provides an opportunity for
a patent applicant or owner to supply additional information that may
be required in order for the USPTO to further process an application or
patent.
This collection covers petitions filed in patent applications and
reexamination proceedings that, when submitted to the USPTO, must be
accompanied by the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(f), (g), or (h). This
collection also covers the transmittals for the petition fees.
II. Method of Collection
The items in this collection can be submitted electronically
through EFS-Web, the USPTO's web-based electronic filing system. Items
also can be submitted on paper by mail, facsimile, or hand delivery to
the USPTO. The petitions to make special under the accelerated
examination program only can be filed through EFS-Web.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0059.
IC Instruments and Forms: PTO/SB/17P, PTO/SB/23, PTO/SB/24a, PTO/
SB/28 (EFS-Web only), and PTO/SB/140.
Type of Review: Revision of a Previously Existing Information
Collection.
Affected Public: Business or other for profit; non-profit
institutions.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 40,560 responses per year. The
USPTO estimates that 26% will be filed by small entities and 3% by
micro entities. 98% of all responses will be filed electronically.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the response
time for activities related to these patent petitions will take the
public approximately 5 minutes (0.08 hours) to 12 hours to complete,
depending on the particular item. (See Table 1.) This includes time to
gather the necessary information, create the documents, and submit the
completed request to the USPTO. The USPTO calculates that, on balance,
it takes the same amount of time to prepare the petition and the fee
transmittal form, and submit them to the USPTO, regardless of whether
the applicant or patent owner submits the material electronically or in
paper form.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 42,195.00 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent (Hourly) Cost Burden:
$17,284,617.00 The USPTO expects that attorneys will complete all of
the items in this collection, with the exception of the petitions for
requests for documents in a form other than that provided by 37 CFR
1.19 and the petitions for express abandonment to avoid publication
under 37 CFR 1.138(c), both of which the USPTO expects will be
completed by para-professionals. The hourly rates for attorneys and
paraprofessionals are $410 and $141, respectively. These rates are
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 these hourly
rates, the USPTO estimates that the total respondent cost burden for
this collection is $17,284,617.00 per year.
Table 1--Respondent Hourly Burden
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Estimated time Estimated Estimated
IC No. Item for response annual annual burden Rate ($/hr)
(hours) responses hours
..................................... (a) (b) (a) x (b)/60 =
(c)
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1............................................. Petitions (corresponding to the fee) 4.00 50 200.00 410
under 37 CFR 1.17(f) include:
Petition to Accord a Filing Date
under 1.57(b)(3) or 1.57(a)(3) (pre-
PLT).
Petition to Accord a Filing Date
under 1.53(e)(2).
Petition for Decision on a Question
Not Specifically Provided For under
1.182.
Petition to Suspend the Rules under
1.183.
1............................................. EFS-Web Petitions (corresponding to 4.00 2,750 11,000.00 410
the fee) under 37 CFR 1.17(f).
2............................................. Petitions (corresponding to the fee) 2.00 100 200.00 410
under 37 CFR 1.17(g):
Petition to Access an Assignment
Record under 1.12(c).
Petition for Access to an Application
under 1.14(i).
Petition for Expungement of
Information under 1.59(b).
Petition to Suspend Action in an
Application under 1.103(a).
2............................................. EFS-Web Petitions (corresponding to 2.00 5,000 10,000.00 410
the fee) under 37 CFR 1.17(g).
3............................................. Petitions (corresponding to the fee) 1.00 250 250.00 410
under 37 CFR 1.17(h):
Petition for Accepting Color Drawings
or Photographs under 1.84(a)(2).
Petition for Entry of a Model or
Exhibit under 1.91(a).
[[Page 34508]]
Petition to Withdraw an Application
from Issue under 1.313(a) PTO/SB/
140:
Petition to Defer Issuance of a
Patent under 1.314.
3............................................. EFS-Web Petitions (corresponding to 1.00 11,500 11,500.00 410
the fee) under 37 CFR 1.17(h).
4............................................. Petitions for Requests for Documents 1.00 5 5.00 141
in a Form Other than that Provided
by 37 CFR 1.19.
4............................................. EFS-Web Petitions for Requests for 1.00 50 50.00 141
Documents in a Form Other than that
Provided by 37 CFR 1.19.
5............................................. Petitions to Make Special Under 12.00 600 7,200.00 410
Accelerated Examination Program.
PTO/SB/28 (EFS-Web Only).............
6............................................. Petitions for Express Abandonment to 0.20 10 2.00 141
Avoid Publication Under 37 CFR
1.138(c).
PTO/SB/24a...........................
6............................................. EFS-Web Petitions for Express 0.20 490 98.00 410
Abandonment to Avoid Publication
Under 37 CFR 1.138(c).
7............................................. Petition for Extension of Time Under 0.50 5 2.50 410
37 CFR 1.136(b).
PTO/SB/23............................
7............................................. EFS-Web Petition for Extension of 0.50 100 50.00 410
Time Under 37 CFR 1.136(b).
8............................................. Petition Fee under 37 CFR 1.17(f), 0.08 400 33.33 410
(g), and (h) Transmittal.
PTO/SB/17P...........................
8............................................. EFS-Web Petition Fee under 37 CFR 0.08 19,250 1,604.17 410
1.17(f), (g), and (h) Transmittal.
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Totals.................................... ..................................... ................ 40,560 42,195.00
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Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) Respondent Cost Burden:
$3,147,594.80. There are no capital start-up, operation, or maintenance
costs associated with this information collection. However, the public
may incur cost burden in the form of postage and filing fees.
The public may incur postage costs when submitting the items in
this collection. Although the USPTO prefers that the items in this
collection be submitted electronically, the items may be submitted to
the USPTO by mail through the United States Postal Service. The USPTO
expects that approximately 98 percent of the items in this collection
will be submitted electronically (except for the petitions to make
special under the accelerated examination program, which must be
submitted electronically), resulting in 820 mailed submissions (though
items that are not electronically filed may alternatively be submitted
by mail, facsimile or hand delivery, for the purposes of this estimate,
the USPTO is treating all items that are not filed electronically as
though they were mailed). The average cost for a four-ounce large
envelope shipped first-class via USPS is $1.64. Therefore, the USPTO
estimates that the postage costs for the mailed submissions in this
collection will total $1,344.80.
There are filing fees associated with this collection, which were
previously accounted for in collection 0651-0072. That collection has
been discontinued, and the relevant fees have been consolidated into to
this collection. These fees are listed in the table below.
Table 2--Filing Fees
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Estimated annual Total non-hour
No. Item responses Filing fee ($) cost burden ($)
...................... (a) (b) (a) x (b) = (c)
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1............................. Petitions requiring 1,400 $400 $560,000.00
the petition fee set
forth in 37 CFR 1.17
(f) (Group I) (large
entity).
1............................. Petitions requiring 1,150 200 230,000.00
the petition fee set
forth in 37 CFR 1.17
(f) (Group I) (small
entity).
1............................. Petitions requiring 250 100 25,000.00
the petition fee set
forth in 37 CFR 1.17
(f) (Group I) (micro
entity).
2............................. Petitions requiring 4,500 200 900,000.00
the petition fee set
forth in 37 CFR 1.17
(g) (Group II) (large
entity).
2............................. Petitions requiring 550 100 55,000.00
the petition fee set
forth in 37 CFR 1.17
(g) (Group II) (small
entity).
2............................. Petitions requiring 50 50 2,500.00
the petition fee set
forth in 37 CFR 1.17
(g) (Group II) (micro
entity).
[[Page 34509]]
3............................. Petitions requiring 8,000 140 1,120,000.00
the petition fee set
forth in 37 CFR 1.17
(h) (Group III)
(large entity).
3............................. Petitions requiring 3,500 70 245,000.00
the petition fee set
forth in 37 CFR 1.17
(h) (Group III)
(small entity).
3............................. Petitions requiring 250 35 8,750.00
the petition fee set
forth in 37 CFR 1.17
(h) (Group III)
(micro entity).
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Totals.................... ...................... 19,650 ................ 3,146,250.00
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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 $3,147,594.80 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. 2017-15501 Filed 7-24-17; 8:45 am]
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