[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).
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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
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IC No. Item Responses Filing fee Total cost
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4........................... Petition to Make Special (TEAS 531 $100.00 $53,100.00
Global).
4........................... Petition to Make Special (Paper).. 2 100.00 200.00
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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]
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