[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 14, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6532-6533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02988]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 Patent and Trademark Office


Patent Prosecution Highway Program

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 (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)), invites comments on a proposed extension of an existing 
information collection: 0651-0058 (Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) 
Program).

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before April 16, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0058 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
     Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
     Mail: Marcie Lovett, Director, Records and Information 
Governance Division, 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]. Additional information about this 
collection is also available at http://www.reginfo.gov under 
``Information Collection Review.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a framework in which an 
application whose claims have been determined to be patentable by an 
Office of Earlier Examination (OEE) is eligible to go through an 
accelerated examination in an Office of Later Examination with a simple 
procedure upon an applicant's request. By leveraging the search and 
examination work product of the OEE, PPH programs (1) deliver lower 
prosecution costs, (2) support applicants in their efforts to obtain 
stable patent rights efficiently around the world, and (3) reduce the 
search and examination burden, while improving the examination quality, 
of participating patent offices.
    Originally, the PPH programs were limited to the utilization of 
search and examination results of national applications between cross 
filings under the Paris Convention. Later, the potential of the PPH was 
greatly expanded by Patent Cooperation Treaty-Patent Prosecution 
Highway (PCT-PPH) programs, which permitted participating patent 
offices to draw upon the positive results of the PCT work product from 
another participating office. The PCT-PPH programs used international 
written opinions and international preliminary examination reports 
developed within the framework of the PCT, thereby making the PPH 
available to a larger number of applicants. Information collected for 
the PCT is approved under OMB control number 0651-0021.
    In 2014, the USPTO and several other offices acted to consolidate 
and replace existing PPH and PCT-PPH programs, with the goal of 
streamlining the PPH process for both offices and applicants. To that 
end, the USPTO and other offices established the Global PPH pilot 
program and the IP5 PPH pilot program. The Global PPH and IP5 PPH pilot 
programs are running concurrently and are substantially identical, 
differing only with regard to their respective participating offices. 
The USPTO is participating in both the Global PPH pilot program and the 
IP5 PPH pilot program. For USPTO applications, the Global PPH and IP5 
PPH pilot programs supersede any prior PPH program between the USPTO 
and each Global PPH and IP5 PPH participating office. Any existing PPH 
programs between the USPTO and offices that are not participating in 
either the Global PPH pilot program or the IP5 PPH pilot program remain 
in effect. Regardless of the pilot program used, the Global PPH pilot 
program, the IP5 PPH pilot program, and the other existing PPH 
programs, all provide pathways for patent applications to receive the 
benefits of coordinated patent review across intellectual property 
offices.
    The information gathered in this collection is integral to the PPH 
programs that USPTO participates in by identifying patent applications 
being

[[Page 6533]]

filed at multiple intellectual property offices across the globe, 
including at the USPTO. This includes declaring the OEE with whom the 
application has been filed, identifying information for the application 
at the OEE, and providing the necessary supporting documentation for 
the application. The forms also identify the correspondence between the 
claims being made at the USPTO with claims filed in the OEE and an 
explanation for that correspondence.
    The ten forms used to gather the information described above are: 
The Global Form (PTO/SB/20GLBL) and nine individual country forms 
allowing participants to file in a U.S. application to request to make 
the U.S. applicants special under a PPH or PCT-PPH program. The thirty-
four forms in this collection that previously operated under individual 
countries' Requests for Participation are being removed as they have 
been consolidated under the Global Form (PTO/SB/20GLBL).
    For more complete information on the PPH, including (1) a complete 
identification of participating countries and offices and the programs 
under which each country's patent office is participating, (2) the 
forms needed to request entry into the PPH, both at the USPTO and other 
participating offices, and (3) information as to which of the PPH 
program remain pilots and which have been made permanent, please visit 
http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/pph/index.jsp.

II. Method of Collection

    Requests to participate in the PPH program must be submitted online 
under EFS-Web, the USPTO's web-based electronic filing system.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0058.
    IC Instruments and Forms: PTO/SB/20GLBL, PTO/SB/20AR, PTO/SB/20BR, 
PTO/SB/20CZ, PTO/SB/20EA, PTO/SB/20MX, PTO/SB/20NI, PTO/SB/20PH, PTO/
SB/20RO, and PTO/SB/20TW.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; business or other for-
profits; and not-for-profit institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 8,110 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public approximately two hours to gather the necessary information, 
prepare the appropriate form, and submit a completed request to the 
USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 16,200 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $7,104,360. The 
USPTO expects that the information in this collection will be prepared 
by attorney. 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 $7,104,360 per year.

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                                                                                                                                        Respondent cost
       IC No.                     Item                     Response time  (hours)          Responses      Burden hours        Rate          burden;
                      ...........................  (a)..................................          (b)    (c) = (a) x (b)          (d)    (e) = (c) x (d)
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1...................  Request for Participation    2 (120 minutes)......................        8,000             16,000      $438.00      $7,008,000.00
                       in the Global/IP5 PPH
                       Pilot Program in the USPTO
                       (PTO/SB/20GLBL).
2...................  National Institute of        2 (120 minutes)......................           10                 20       438.00           8,760.00
                       Industrial Property of
                       Argentina (INPI-Argentina
                       (PTO/SB/20AR).
3...................  Instituto Nacional da        2 (120 minutes)......................           10                 20       438.00           8,760.00
                       Propriedade Industrial
                       (Brazil) (INPI) (PTO/SB/
                       20BR).
4...................  Industrial Property Office   2 (120 minutes)......................           10                 20       438.00           8,760.00
                       of the Czech Republic
                       (IPOCZ) (PTO/SB/20CZ).
5...................  Eurasian Patent Office of    2 (120 minutes)......................           10                 20       438.00           8,760.00
                       the Eurasian Patent
                       Organization (EAPO) (PTO/
                       SB/20EA).
6...................  Mexican Institute of         2 (120 minutes)......................           10                 20       438.00           8,760.00
                       Industrial Property (TMPI)
                       (PTO/SB/20MX).
7...................  Nicaraguan Registry of       2 (120 minutes)......................           10                 20       438.00           8,760.00
                       Intellectual Property
                       (NRIP) (PTO/SB/20NI).
8...................  Intellectual Property        2 (120 minutes)......................           10                 20       438.00           8,760.00
                       Office of the Philippines
                       (IPOPH) (PTO/SB/20PH).
9...................  Romanian State Office of     2 (120 minutes)......................           10                 20       438.00           8,760.00
                       Inventions and Trademarks
                       (OSIM) (PTO/SB/20RO).
10..................  Taiwan Intellectual          2 (120 minutes)......................           30                 60       438.00          26,280.00
                       Property Office (TIPO)
                       (PTO/SB/20TW).
                                                  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals..............  ...........................  .....................................        8,110             16,220  ...........       7,104,360.00
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    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $0. There 
are no capital start-up, maintenance, or postage costs associated with 
this collection. This collection also has no filing fees or 
recordkeeping costs.

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. 2018-02988 Filed 2-13-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P