[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 21, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58761-58762]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-25408]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; ``Matters Related to 
First Inventor to File''

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.
    Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
    Title: Matters Related to First Inventor to File.
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0071.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular.
    Number of Respondents: 23,681 responses per year.
    Average Time per Response: The USPTO expects that it will take 
between 2 and 10 hours to respond to the items in this collection, 
depending upon the instrument used. This includes the time to gather 
the necessary information, create the document, and submit the 
completed request to the USPTO.
    Burden Hours: 207,362 hours per year.
    Cost Burden: $80.40 per year.
    Needs and Uses: This information collection is necessary so that 
patent applicants and/or patentees may: (1) Provide a statement if a 
nonprovisional application filed on or after March 16, 2013, other than 
a nonprovisional international design application, claims the benefit 
of, or priority to, the filing date of a foreign, provisional, or 
nonprovisional application filed prior to March 16, 2013, and also 
contains, or contained at any time, a claim to a claimed invention that 
has an effective filing date (as defined in 37 CFR 1.109) on or after 
March 16, 2013; (2) identify the inventorship and ownership or 
obligation to assign ownership of each claimed invention on its 
effective filing date (as defined in 37 CFR 1.109) or on its date of 
invention, as applicable, in an application or patent naming one or 
more joint inventors, when necessary for purposes of a USPTO 
proceeding; and (3) show that a disclosure was by the inventor or joint 
inventor, or was by a party who obtained the subject matter from the 
inventor or a joint inventor, or that there was a prior public 
disclosure by the inventor or a joint inventor, or by a party who 
obtained the subject matter from the inventor or a joint inventor.
    The USPTO will use the statement that a nonprovisional application 
filed on or after March 16, 2013, other than a nonprovisional 
international design application, that claims the benefit of, or 
priority to, the filing date of a foreign, provisional, or 
nonprovisional application filed prior to March 16, 2013, and contains, 
or contained at any time, a claim to a claimed invention that has an 
effective filing date (as defined in 37 CFR 1.109) on or after March 
16, 2013, (or lack of such a statement) to readily determine whether 
the nonprovisional application is subject to the changes to 35 U.S.C. 
102 and 103 in the AIA. The USPTO will use the identification of the 
inventorship and ownership or obligation to assign ownership when it is 
necessary to determine whether a U.S. patent or U.S. patent application 
publication resulting from another nonprovisional application qualifies 
as prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e). The 
USPTO will use information concerning whether a disclosure was by the 
inventor or joint inventor, or was by a party who obtained the subject 
matter from the inventor or a joint inventor, or that there was a prior 
public disclosure by the inventor or a joint inventor, or by a party 
who obtained the subject matter

[[Page 58762]]

from the inventor or a joint inventor, to determine whether the 
disclosure qualifies as prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or (a)(2).
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    OMB Desk Officer: Nicholas A. Fraser, email: 
[email protected].
    Once submitted, the request will be publicly available in 
electronic format through reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view 
Department of Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Further information can be obtained by:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0071 copy request'' in the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Marcie Lovett, Director, Records and Information 
Goverance Division, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, United 
States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 
22313-1450.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent on or before December 21, 2018 to Nicholas A. 
Fraser, OMB Desk Officer, via email to [email protected], 
or by fax to 202 395-5167, marked to the attention of Nicholas A. 
Fraser.

Marcie Lovett,
Director, Records and Information Governance Division, Office of the 
Chief Adiminstrative Officer, USPTO.
[FR Doc. 2018-25408 Filed 11-20-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 350-16-P