[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 174 (Monday, September 11, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 42661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-19183]



[[Page 42661]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; ``International 
Design Applications (Hague Agreement)''

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will submit 
to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance the 
following proposal for collection of information under the provisions 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).
    Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
    Title: International Design Applications (Hague Agreement).
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0075.
    Form Number(s): WIPO DM/1.
    Type of Request: Regular.
    Number of Respondents: 556 responses per year.
    Average Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the response 
time for activities related to International Design Applications (Hague 
Agreement) will take the public between approximately 15 minutes (0.25 
hours) to 6 hours to complete. 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 to the public 
is submitting the information in paper form or electronically.
    Burden Hours: 1,898 hours per year.
    Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $424,246.00 per year.
    Needs and Uses: The information requested in this collection is 
necessary for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), 
Contracting Parties, and the USPTO to process information design 
applications and related correspondences under the Hague Agreement. The 
Hague Agreement is an international agreement that enables an applicant 
to file a single international design application and have it function 
as an application for protection for the designs in countries and or 
organizations that are Parties to the Treaty and designated in the 
application.
    As an initial matter, the International Bureau (IB) of WIPO uses 
this information to perform its review under the treaty. Pursuant to 
Article 8 of the treaty, if the International Bureau (IB) finds that 
the applicant has not fulfilled the requirements of the Hague 
Agreements and the Common Regulations, the IB will invite the applicant 
to make the required connections within a prescribed time period. Once 
this review of the formalities of the application has been completed, 
the IB then issues an international registration, which includes the 
information collected from the international design application. The 
designated Contracting Parties then perform their review of the 
international design application. 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. Through the IB, applicants can record changes of 
their representatives, change ownership, and renew international 
registrations.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to Obtain or Retain Benefits.
    OMB Desk Officer: Nicholas A. Fraser, email: 
[email protected].
    Once submitted, the request will be publicly available in 
electronic format through www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to 
view Department of Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Further information can be obtained by:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0075 copy request'' in the subject line of the message.
     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.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent on or before October 11, 2017 to Nicholas A. 
Fraser, OMB Desk Officer, via email to [email protected], 
or by fax to 202-395-5167, marked to the attention of Nicholas A. 
Fraser.

Marcie Lovett,
Records and Information Governance Division Director, OCTO, United 
States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2017-19183 Filed 9-8-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P