[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 117 (Monday, June 18, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28205-28206]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13023]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office


Post Patent Public Submissions

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; 0651-0067: 
Post Patent Public Submissions.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before August 17, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0067 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 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] with ``0651-0067 comments'' 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) is required 
by 35 U.S.C. 131 to examine an application for patent and, when 
appropriate, issue a patent. The provisions of 35 U.S.C. 301 and 37 CFR 
1.501 govern the ability of a person to submit into the file of an 
issued patent (1) prior art consisting of patents or printed 
publications which the person making the submission believes to have a 
bearing on the patentability of any claim of the issued patent and (2) 
statements of the owner of the issued patent filed in a proceeding 
before a Federal court or the USPTO in which the owner of the issued 
patent took a position on the scope of any claim of the issued patent.
    The public may use this information collection to aid in 
ascertaining the patentability and/or scope of the claims of the issued 
patent. The USPTO may use this information during subsequent reissue or 
reexamination proceedings. The USPTO's use of the statements of the 
patent owners ((2) above) will be limited to determining the meaning of 
a patent claim in ex parte reexamination proceedings that already have 
been ordered and in inter partes review and post grant review 
proceedings that already have been instituted.

II. Method of Collection

    Electronically via the USPTO's electronic filing system (EFS-Web). 
By facsimile, mail or hand delivery, if the submitter chooses to submit 
the information in paper form.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0067.
    IC Instruments and Forms: PTO/SB/42.
    Type of Review: Extension of a Currently Existing Collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other 
for-profits; and not-for-profit institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 100 response per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public 10 hours to respond to the items in this collection. This 
includes the time to gather the necessary information, create the 
document, and submit the completed request to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 1,000 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent (Hour) Cost Burden: $438,000. The 
USPTO expects that attorneys will completed the instruments associated 
with this information collection. The professional hourly rate for 
intellectual property attorneys in private firms is $438. Using this 
hourly rate, the USPTO estimates that the total respondent cost burden 
for this collection is $438,000 per year.

[[Page 28206]]



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                                                                             Time for
              IC No.                                Item                     response        Responses     Annual burden       Rate         Hourly cost
                                                                              (hours)
                                   .....................................             (a)             (b)             (c)             (d)             (e)
                                                                                                               (a) x (b)                       (c) x (d)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1................................  Electronic Information Disclosure                  10              98             980         $438.00     $429,240.00
                                    Citation in a Patent.
1................................  Information Disclosure Citation in a               10               2              20          438.00        8,760.00
                                    Patent.
                                  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total........................  .....................................  ..............             100           1,000  ..............      438,000.00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) Respondent Cost Burden: $11.50. 
There are no capital startup, maintenance or operating costs, or filing 
fees associated with this information collection.
    There are postage costs associated with this information 
collection. Customers may incur postage costs when submitting the 
information in this collection to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO expects 
that approximately 98 percent of the responses in this collection will 
be submitted electronically via the USPTO's electronic filing system 
(EFS-Web). The USPTO is estimating that all of the submissions in this 
collection that are not submitted electronically will be submitted by 
mail, for a total of 2 mailed submissions. The average first clast 
postage cost for a one-pound mailed submission in a flat rate envelope 
will be $5.75, and the USPTO is estimating that none of the mailed 
submissions will exceed one pound. Therefore, the USPTO estimates that 
the postage costs for the mailed submissions in this collection will be 
$11.50.

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 will also 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. 2018-13023 Filed 6-15-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P