[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 188 (Friday, September 29, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45579-45581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20836]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Applications for Trademark Registration
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: 0651-0009
(Applications for Trademark Registration).
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before November 28,
2017.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0009 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, Office of the
Commissioner for Trademarks, 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 ``0651-0009 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 who use their marks, or
intend to use their marks, in commerce regulated by Congress may file
an application with the USPTO to register their marks. Registered marks
remain on the register indefinitely, so long as the owner of the
registration files the necessary maintenance documents. The rules
implementing the Trademark Act are set forth in 37 CFR part 2.
The Act and rules mandate that each certificate of registration
include the mark, the particular goods and/or services for which the
mark is registered, the owner's name, dates of use of the mark in
commerce, and certain other information. The USPTO also provides
similar information to the public concerning pending applications.
Individuals or businesses may determine the availability of a mark by
accessing the register through the USPTO's Web site: www.uspto.gov/trademark. Accessing and reviewing the USPTO's publicly available
information may reduce the possibility of initiating use of a mark
previously registered or adopted by another. Thus, the Federal
trademark registration process reduces unnecessary litigation and its
associated costs and burdens.
Trademarks can be registered on either the Principal or
Supplemental Register. Registrations on the Principal Register confer
all of the benefits of registration provided under the Trademark Act.
Certain marks that are not eligible for registration on the Principal
Register, but are capable of functioning as a trademark, may be
registered on the Supplemental Register. Registrations on the
Supplemental Register cannot be transferred to the Principal Register,
but owners of registrations on the Supplemental Register may apply for
registration of their marks on the Principal Register.
The information in this collection can be submitted in paper format
or electronically through the Trademark Electronic Application System
(TEAS). Applicants who file using the TEAS RF or TEAS Plus forms pay a
lower filing fee than applicants who file using the TEAS Regular form.
These applicants must agree to file certain communications regarding
the application through TEAS and to receive communications by email.
TEAS Plus users must also file a ``complete'' application, select their
identification(s) of goods/services from the USPTO's Acceptable
Identification of Goods and Services Manual, and pay the fees for all
classes at the time of filing. TEAS Plus applications are only
available for trademark/service mark applications. There are no TEAS
Plus application forms available for certification marks, collective
marks, collective membership marks, and applications for registration
on the Supplemental Register at this time.
II. Method of Collection
Electronically via TEAS forms, by mail, or by hand delivery.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0009.
Instrument Number(s): PTO Forms 1478, 1479, 1480, 1481, 1482.
Type of Review: Extension of a Previously Existing Information
Collection.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; not-for-profit
institutions; individuals.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 437,599 responses per year.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it takes the
public approximately 23 minutes (0.38 hours) to 35 minutes (0.58 hours)
to complete this information, depending on the application. This
includes the time to gather the necessary information, prepare the
application, and submit the complete request to the USPTO. The time
estimates shown for the electronic forms in this collection are based
on the average amount of time needed to complete and electronically
file the associated form.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 205,854.64 hours
per year.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $90,164,332.32. The
USPTO expects that associated attorneys will complete these
applications. The professional hourly rate for attorneys is $438. The
rate is established by estimates in the 2017 Report on 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 $90,164,332.32 per year.
[[Page 45580]]
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Estimated time for Estimated Estimated Estimated
IC No. Item responses (hours) responses burden hours Rate respondent cost
(a)...................... (b) (c) (d) (e)
(a) x (b) (c) x (d)
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1............................. Use-Based Trademark/ 0.58 (35 minutes)........ 58 33.64 $438.00 $14,734.32
Service Mark
Applications (Paper).
1............................. Use-Based Trademark/ 0.50 (30 minutes)........ 7,752 3,876.00 438.00 1,697,688.00
Service Mark
Applications (TEAS).
1............................. Use-Based Trademark/ 0.50 (30 minutes)........ 94,756 47,378.00 438.00 20,751,564.00
Service Mark
Applications (TEAS RF).
1............................. Use-Based Trademark/ 0.58 (35 minutes)........ 82,053 47,590.74 438.00 20,844,744.12
Service Mark
Applications (TEAS Plus).
2............................. Intent to Use Trademark/ 0.47 (28 minutes)........ 70 32.90 438.00 14,410.20
Service Mark Application
(Paper).
2............................. Intent to Use Trademark/ 0.38 (23 minutes)........ 9,390 3,568.20 438.00 1,562,871.60
Service Mark Application
(TEAS).
2............................. Intent to Use Trademark/ 0.38 (23 minutes)........ 114,779 43,616.02 438.00 19,103,816.76
Service Mark Application
(TEAS RF).
2............................. Intent to Use Trademark/ 0.47 (28 minutes)........ 99,392 46,714.24 438.00 20,460,837.12
Service Mark Application
(TEAS Plus).
3............................. Applications for 0.50 (30 minutes)........ 9 4.50 438.00 1,971.00
Registration of
Trademark/Service Mark
under Sec. 44 (Paper).
3............................. Applications for 0.40 (24 minutes)........ 1,232 492.80 438.00 215,846.40
Registration of
Trademark/Service Mark
under Sec. 44 (TEAS).
3............................. Applications for 0.40 (24 minutes)........ 15,064 6,025.60 438.00 2,639,212.80
Registration of
Trademark/Service Mark
under Sec. 44 (TEAS
RF).
3............................. Applications for 0.50 (30 minutes)........ 13,044 6,522.00 438.00 2,867,636.00
Registration of
Trademark/Service Mark
under Sec. 44 (TEAS
Plus).
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Totals.................... ......................... ......................... 437,599 205,854.64 .............. 90,164,332.32
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Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) Respondent Cost Burden:
$109,770,653.13. There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or
operating fees associated with this information collection. However,
this collection does have annual (non-hour) cost burden in the form of
filing fees, processing fees, and postage costs. The USPTO amended its
rules to set, increase or decrease certain trademark fees, effective
January 14, 2017 affecting many of the fees in this collection.
There is also an annual (non-hour) cost burden associated with this
collection in the form of filing fees. Applicants who file their
applications electronically instead of submitting them on paper pay a
reduced filing fee. Those who choose to file TEAS RF or TEAS Plus
applications pay a further reduced fee. An application must include a
filing fee for each class of goods and services. Therefore, the total
filing fees associated with this collection can vary depending on the
number of classes in each application.
The total filing fees of $109,561,086.00, shown in the table below,
reflect the minimum filing fees associated with this information
collection.
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Total filing fee
IC No. Item Responses Filing fee cost
(a) (b) (c)
(a) x (b)
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1................................ Use-Based Trademark/Service 58 $600.00 $34,800.00
Mark Applications (Paper).
1................................ Use-Based Trademark/Service 7,752 400.00 3,100,800.00
Mark Applications (TEAS).
[[Page 45581]]
1................................ Use-Based Trademark/Service 94,756 275.00 26,057,900.00
Mark Applications (TEAS
RF).
1................................ Use-Based Trademark/Service 82,053 225.00 18,461,925.00
Mark Applications (TEAS
Plus).
2................................ Intent to Use Trademark/ 70 600.00 42,000.00
Service Mark Application
(Paper).
2................................ Intent to Use Trademark/ 9,390 400.00 375,600.00
Service Mark Application
(TEAS).
2................................ Intent to Use Trademark/ 114,779 275.00 31,564,225.00
Service Mark Application
(TEAS RF).
2................................ Intent to Use Trademark/ 99,392 225.00 22,363,200.00
Service Mark Application
(TEAS Plus).
3................................ Applications for 9 600.00 5,400.00
Registration of Trademark/
Service Mark under Sec.
44 (Paper).
3................................ Applications for 1,232 400.00 492,800.00
Registration of Trademark/
Service Mark under Sec.
44 (TEAS).
3................................ Applications for 15,064 275.00 4,127,536.00
Registration of Trademark/
Service Mark under Sec.
44.
(TEAS RF)..................
3................................ Applications for 13,044 225.00 2,934,900.00
Registration of Trademark/
Service Mark under Sec.
44 (TEAS Plus).
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Totals....................... ........................... 437,599 .............. 109,561,086.00
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In addition, the USPTO charges a processing fee of $125.00 per
class for certain TEAS RF and TEAS Plus applications. If an applicant
files a TEAS Plus or TEAS RF application that does not satisfy the
relevant requirements for TEAS RF or TEAS Plus, they will be required
to submit the additional $125 processing fee to bump the application
back up to TEAS Regular. The total processing fees associated with this
collection can vary depending on the number of classes in each
application.
The total processing fees of $209,500, shown in the table below,
reflect the minimum processing fees associated with this information
collection.
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Total
IC No. Item Responses Processing processing
fee fees
(a)
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1................................. Processing fee for 898 $125.00 $112,250.00
applications that fail to
meet the additional filing
and processing requirements
for the reduced filing fee
(TEAS RF).
1................................. Processing fee for 778 125.00 97,250.00
applications that fail to
meet the additional filing
and processing requirements
for reduced filing fee
(TEAS Plus).
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Totals........................ ............................ 1,676 .............. 209,500.00
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Applicants incur postage costs when submitting the non-electronic
information covered by this collection to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO
expects that approximately 99 percent of the responses in this
collection will be submitted electronically. The USPTO estimates that
the overwhelming majority of the paper forms are submitted to the USPTO
via first-class mail. The USPTO estimates that 137 will be mailed with
a first-class-postage cost of $0.49 per submission. Therefore, the
USPTO estimates that the postage costs for this collection will be
$67.13.
Therefore, the USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour)
cost burden for this collection in the form of filing fees
($109,561,086), processing fees ($209,500), and postage costs ($67.13)
is $109,770,653.13.
IV. Requests 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 estimation 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. 2017-20836 Filed 9-28-17; 8:45 am]
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