[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 17, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16835-16836]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08021]



[[Page 16835]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Trademark Petitions

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: 0651-0061 
(Trademark Petitions).

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before June 18, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0061 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 ``0651-0061 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 
registration of trademarks, service marks, collective trademarks and 
collective 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 
marks with the USPTO.
    Individuals and businesses may also submit various communications 
to the USPTO, including letters of protest, requests to make special, 
responses to petition inquiry letters, petitions to make special, 
requests to restore a filing date, and requests for reinstatement. The 
USPTO uses the information described in this collection to process 
letters of protests, requests to make special, responses to petition 
inquiry letters, petitions to make special, requests to restore filing 
date, and requests for reinstatement. The information is used by the 
public for a variety of private business purposes related to 
establishing and enforcing trademark rights. Information relating to 
the registration of a trademark is made available to the public by the 
USPTO. However, the release of information in a letter of protest is 
controlled and may be available only upon request.
    A letter of protest is an informal procedure whereby third parties 
who object to the registration of a mark in a pending application may 
bring to the attention of the USPTO evidence bearing on the 
registrability of the mark. A letter of protest must identify the 
application being protested and the proposed grounds for refusing 
registration and include relevant evidence to support the protest.
    A request to make special may be submitted where an applicant 
requests that initial examination of an application be advanced out of 
its regular order because the mark in the application was the subject 
of an inadvertently cancelled or expired previous registration.
    A response to a petition inquiry letter is submitted by a 
petitioner who is responding to a notice of deficiency that the USPTO 
issued after receiving an incomplete petition to the Director. A 
petition may be considered incomplete if, for example, it does not 
include the fee required by 37 CFR 2.6 or if it includes an unverified 
assertion that is not supported by evidence.
    The USPTO generally examines applications in the order in which 
they are received. A petition to make special is a request by the 
applicant to advance the initial examination of an application out of 
its regular order.
    A request to restore a filing date is submitted by an applicant who 
previously filed an application that was denied a filing date. The 
request must include evidence showing that the applicant is entitled to 
the earlier filing date.
    If an applicant has proof that an application was inadvertently 
abandoned due to a USPTO error, an applicant may file a request to 
reinstate the application instead of a formal petition to revive. To 
support such a request, the applicant must include clear evidence of 
the USPTO error.

II. Method of Collection

    Electronically, if applicants submit the information using the 
forms available through the Trademark Electronic Application System 
(TEAS). By mail or hand delivery, if applicants choose to submit the 
information in paper form.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0061.
    IC Instruments and Forms: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; business or other for-
profit organizations; not-for-profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 4,768 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
approximately between 35 minutes (0.58 hours) to 75 minutes (1.25 
hours) to complete items in this collection. This includes the time to 
gather the necessary information, create the documents, and submit the 
completed request to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 4,333.63 hours per 
year.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent (Hourly) Cost Burden: 
$1,898,129.94. The USPTO expects that an attorney will complete the 
instruments associated with this information collection. The 
professional hourly rate for attorneys is $438, which is the median 
professional rate for intellectual property attorneys in private firms 
as shown in the 2017 Report of the Economic Survey published by the 
American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). Using this 
hourly rate, the USPTO estimates that the total respondent cost burden 
for this collection is $1,898,129.94 per year.

[[Page 16836]]



 
                                                  (a)................................             (b)             (c)             (d)                (e)
                                                                                                            (a) x (d)                          (c) x (d)
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1................  Letter of Protest (TEAS        1 (60 minutes).....................           3,475        3,475.00         $438.00      $1,522,050.00
                    Global).
1................  Letter of Protest (Paper)....  1.25 (75 minutes)..................              10           12.50          438.00           5,475.00
2................  Request to Make Special (TEAS  0.58 (35 minutes)..................             150           87.00          438.00          38,106.00
                    Global).
2................  Request to Make Special        0.75 (45 minutes)..................               1            0.75          438.00             328.50
                    (Paper).
3................  Response to Petition to        0.75 (45 minutes)..................             274          205.50          438.00          90,009.00
                    Director Inquiry Letter
                    (TEAS Global).
3................  Response to Petition to        1 (60 minutes).....................               1            1.00          438.00             438.00
                    Director Inquiry Letter
                    (Paper).
4................  Petition to Make Special       0.58 (35 minutes)..................             531          307.98          438.00         134,895.25
                    (TEAS Global).
4................  Petition to Make Special       0.75 (45 minutes)..................               2             1.5          438.00             657.00
                    (Paper).
5................  Request to Restore Filing      0.58 (35 minutes)..................               5            2.90          438.00           1,270.20
                    Date (TEAS Global).
5................  Request to Restore Filing      0.75 (45 minutes)..................               1            0.75          438.00             328.50
                    Date (Paper).
6................  Request for Reinstatement      0.75 (45 minutes)..................             317          237.75          438.00         104,134.50
                    (TEAS Global).
6................  Request for Reinstatement      1 (60 minutes).....................               1            1.00          438.00             438.00
                    (Paper).
                                                                                      ------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Total.......................  ...................................           4,768        4,333.63  ..............       1,898,129.94
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    Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) Respondent Cost Burden: 
$53,307.84 per year. This collection has no capital start-up, 
maintenance, or operating fees. This collection does have postage cost 
and filing fees.

Filing Fees

    There are fees associated with this collection, specifically for 
the Petition to Make Special, which has a fee amount of $100 per 
respondent. The total estimated filing-fee cost for this collection is 
$53,300.00

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           IC No.                            Item                    Responses      Filing fee      Total cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4...........................  Petition to Make Special (TEAS                 531         $100.00      $53,100.00
                               Global).
4...........................  Petition to Make Special (Paper)..               2          100.00          200.00
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
                               Totals...........................             533  ..............       53,300.00
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Postage Cost

    Applicants incur postage costs when submitting non-electronic 
information to the USPTO by mail through the United States Postal 
Service (USPS). The USPTO estimates that the vast majority--
approximately 98%--of the paper forms are submitted to the USPTO via 
first-class mail, while the rest are submitted by hand delivery. The 
USPTO estimates that 16 forms will be mailed. The average first-class 
USPS postage cost for a mailed submission is $0.50. Therefore, the 
USPTO estimates that the postage costs for the mailed submissions in 
this collection will total $8.
    Therefore, the USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) 
cost burden for this collection, in the form of filing fees ($53,300) 
and postage costs ($8), is $53,308 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. 2018-08021 Filed 4-16-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P