[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63841-63843]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-26846]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 Patent and Trademark Office


Practitioner Conduct and Discipline

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 
this proposed extension of an existing information collection.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before February 11, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by any of the following 
methods:

[[Page 63842]]

     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0017 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
     Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
     Mail: Dahlia George, Office of Enrollment and Discipline, 
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), P.O. Box 1450, 
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Dahlia George, Office of Enrollment and 
Discipline, United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), P.O. Box 
1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-4097; or by 
email at [email protected] with ``0651-0017 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 Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office has 
the authority to establish regulations governing the conduct and 
discipline of agents, attorneys, or other persons representing 
applicants and other parties before the USPTO (35 U.S.C. 2 and 32-33). 
The USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct at 37 CFR 11.101-11.804 
describe how agents, attorneys, or other practitioners representing 
applicants and other parties before the USPTO should conduct themselves 
professionally and outline their responsibilities for recordkeeping and 
reporting violations or complaints of misconduct to the USPTO, while 
the Investigations and Disciplinary Proceedings Rules (37 CFR 11.19-
11.60) dictate how the USPTO can discipline agents, attorneys, or other 
persons representing applicants and other parties before the USPTO. 
These sets of rules are collectively referred to here as ``Part 11.''
    This collection covers the various reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements set forth in Part 11 for all agents, attorneys, or other 
practitioners representing applicants and other parties before the 
USPTO. The Rules require a practitioner to maintain complete records of 
all funds, securities, and other properties of clients coming into his 
or her possession, and to render appropriate accounts to the client 
regarding the funds, securities, and other properties of clients coming 
into the practitioner's possession, collectively known as ``client 
property.'' These recordkeeping requirements are necessary to maintain 
the integrity of client property. Each State Bar requires its attorneys 
to perform similar recordkeeping and these Rules require patent agents 
to maintain similar recordkeeping for clients.
    Part 11 also requires a practitioner to report knowledge of certain 
violations of the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct to the USPTO. If 
a complaint or grievance is found to have merit, the USPTO will 
investigate and possibly prosecute such violations and provide the 
practitioner with the opportunity to respond to the complaint. The 
Director of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) may, after 
notice and opportunity for a hearing, suspend, exclude, or disqualify 
any practitioner from further practice before the USPTO based on non-
compliance with the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct. Practitioners 
who have been excluded or suspended from practice before the USPTO, 
practitioners transferred to disability inactive status, and 
practitioners who have resigned must keep and maintain records of their 
steps to comply with the suspension or exclusion order, transfer to 
disability inactive status, or resignation should they seek 
reinstatement. These records may serve as the practitioner's proof of 
compliance with the order, transfer, resignation, and Rules.
    The information collected, i.e., reports of alleged violations of 
the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct, is used by the Director of OED 
to conduct investigations and prosecute violations, as appropriate.

II. Method of Collection

    Electronically via email; by mail or hand delivery in paper form.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0017.
    IC Instruments: The individual instruments in this collection, as 
well as their associated forms, are listed in the table below.
    Type of Review: Revision of an existing information collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other 
for-profits; and not-for-profit institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 11,065 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public between 1 hour and 20 hours to complete a single item in 
this collection, depending on the instrument used, including the time 
to gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate form or 
petition, and submit the completed request to the USPTO. The time per 
response, estimated annual responses, and estimated annual hour burden 
associated with each instrument in this collection are shown in the 
table below.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 12,225 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent (Hourly) Cost Burden: 
$3,606,500.00. The USPTO expects that agents will complete the 
Recordkeeping Maintenance & Disclosure item at an hourly wage rate of 
$284 as published in the 2017 AIPLA Report of the Economic Survey and 
that practitioners will complete the Recordkeeping Maintenance Under 
Suspension or Exclusion from the USPTO item at an hourly rate of $438 
as published in the 2017 AIPLA Report of the Economic Survey. The USPTO 
further expects that a combination of individuals such as trademark 
applicants and applicants for patents as well as practitioners, 
including agents, will complete the Complaint/Violation Reporting, 
including grievances. USPTO estimates that this group has a blended 
hourly rate of $303; this blended rate is based on data from both the 
2017 AIPLA Report of the Economic Survey and the 2017 Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (BLS) National Occupation Employment and Wage Estimates. The 
BLS wage estimate for scientists and engineers (occupation code 19-
2099) is used for inventors and applicants. The blended rate is 
comprised 50 percent by the practitioner hourly rate of $438, 25 
percent by the agent hourly rate of $284, and 25 percent by the rate 
for scientists and engineers of $51.53. Using these hourly rates, the 
USPTO estimates $3,606,500 per year for the total hourly costs 
associated with respondents.

[[Page 63843]]



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                                                                          Estimated time     Estimated       Estimated
                IC No.                       Information collection        for response       annual      annual  burden    Rate ($/hr)     Respondent
                                                   instrument                 (hours)        responses         hours                           cost
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     (a)             (b)     (a) x (b) =             (d)     (c) x (d) =
                                                                                                                     (c)                             (e)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.....................................  Recordkeeping Maintenance &                    1          10,825          10,825            $284      $3,074,300
                                         Disclosure (includes
                                         advertisements, disclosure
                                         requirements relating to
                                         soliciting professional
                                         employment, notifications by
                                         non-attorney practitioner of
                                         inadvertently sent documents,
                                         and financial books and records
                                         such as trust accounts,
                                         fiduciary accounts, and
                                         operating accounts).
2.....................................  Recordkeeping Maintenance                     20              40             800             438         350,400
                                         Regarding Practitioners Under
                                         Suspension or Exclusion from
                                         the USPTO.
3.....................................  Complaint/Violation Reporting...               3             200             600             303         181,800
                                                                         -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.............................  ................................  ..............          11,065          12,225  ..............       3,606,500
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) Respondent Cost Burden: 
$1,244.35. There are no capital start-up or maintenance costs as well 
as no filing fees associated with this information collection. Any 
recordkeeping costs have been factored into the estimated hourly cost 
burden. There are, however, postage costs associated with this 
collection.
    Customers may incur postage costs when submitting the items covered 
by this collection to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO expects that 20 
percent of the Recordkeeping Maintenance & Disclosure item; 0 percent 
of the Recordkeeping Maintenance Regarding Practitioners Under 
Suspension or Exclusion item; and 25 percent of the Complaint/Violation 
Reporting item will be submitted electronically. The USPTO further 
expects that of the non-electronic submissions for this collection, 1 
percent of each item's total responses will be submitted by hand 
delivery and the rest will be submitted by mail, for a total of 187 
mailed submissions.
    The average first-class USPS postage cost for a one-pound mailed 
submission in a flat-rate envelope and a three-pound mailed submission 
in a small flat-rate box are $6.55 and $7.05, respectively. 25 percent 
of the mailed Recordkeeping Maintenance & Disclosure items are expected 
to require the more expensive flat-rate box mailing option, while all 
other items are expected to be mailed using the flat-rate envelope. 
Using these numbers, the USPTO estimates that the postage costs for the 
mailed submissions in this collection will total $1,244.35.
    Therefore, the USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) 
cost burden for this collection, in the form of postage costs, is 
$1,244.35 per year.

IV. Request for Comments

    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, including 
the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
    (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, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses.
    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.

Marcie Lovett,
Director, Records and Information Governance Division, Office of the 
Chief Administrative Officer, United States Patent and Trademark 
Office.
[FR Doc. 2018-26846 Filed 12-11-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P