[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 182 (Thursday, September 19, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49248-49250]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-20266]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Legal Processes

ACTION: Proposed collection; request for comment.

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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 the existing information collection: 0651-0046 
(Legal Processes).

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before November 18, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0046 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
     Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
     Mail: Kyu Lee, Office of General Law, 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 Kyu Lee, Office of General Law, United States 
Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; 
by telephone at 571-272-3000; or by email at [email protected] with 
``0651-0046 inquiry'' 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

    This collection covers information requirements related to civil 
actions and claims involving current and former employees of the United 
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The rules for these legal 
processes may be found under 37 CFR part 104, which outlines procedures 
for service of process, demands for employee testimony and production 
of documents in legal proceedings, reports of unauthorized testimony, 
employee indemnification, and filing claims against the USPTO under the 
Federal Tort Claims Act (28 U.S.C. 2672) and the corresponding 
Department of Justice regulations (28 CFR part 14). The public may also 
petition the USPTO Office of General Counsel under 37 CFR 104.3 to 
waive or suspend these rules in extraordinary cases.
    The procedures under 37 CFR part 104 ensure that service of process 
intended for current and former employees of the USPTO is handled 
properly. The USPTO will only accept service of process for an employee 
acting in an official capacity. This collection is necessary so that 
respondents or their representatives can serve a summons or complaint 
on the USPTO, demand employee testimony and documents related to a 
legal proceeding, or file a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act. 
Respondents may also petition the USPTO to waive or suspend these rules 
for legal processes. This collection is also

[[Page 49249]]

necessary so that current and former USPTO employees may properly 
forward service and demands to the Office of General Counsel, report 
unauthorized testimony, and request indemnification. The USPTO covers 
current employees as respondents under this information collection even 
though their responses do not require approval under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act. In those instances where both current and former 
employees may respond to the USPTO, the agency estimates that the 
number of respondents will be small.
    There are no forms provided by the USPTO for this collection. For 
filing claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the public may use 
Standard Form 95 ``Claim for Damage, Injury, or Death,'' which is 
provided by the Department of Justice and approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control Number 1105-0008.

II. Method of Collection

    By mail or hand delivery to the USPTO.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0046.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other 
for-profits; not-for-profit institutions; and the Federal Government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 299 responses per year. The USPTO 
estimates that approximately 10% of these responses will be from small 
entities.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public from 5 minutes (0.08 hours) to 6 hours to prepare a single 
item in this collection, including gathering the necessary information, 
preparing the appropriate documents, and submitting the information 
required for this collection.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 130 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost Burden (Hourly): $56,712.27. The USPTO 
estimates that the information in this collection will be prepared by 
attorneys and former employees at an hourly rate of $438, except for 
the requests for employee indemnification, which generally come from 
professional and supervisory staff at an hourly rate of $79.78. The 
attorney rates are found in the 2017 Report of the Economic Survey of 
the America Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). Since the 
majority of the former employees affected by this collection are 
attorneys, the estimated attorney hourly rate will be used for former 
employees as well. Using these hourly rates, the USPTO estimates that 
the total respondent cost burden for this collection will be 
approximately $56,712.27 per year.

                                                         Table 1--Respondent Hourly Cost Burden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                             Estimated       Estimated
               IC No.                           Item            Estimated  response time      annual       annual burden    Rate ($/hr)   Total cost ($/
                                                                                             responses         hours                            yr)
                                                               (a)......................             (b)     (a) x (b) =             (d)     (c) x (d) =
                                                                                                                     (c)                             (e)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...................................  Petition to Waive Rules  30 minutes...............               5            2.50         $438.00       $1,095.00
2...................................  Service of Process.....  5 minutes................             243           20.17          438.00        8,834.02
3...................................  Forwarding Service.....  10 minutes...............               7            1.12          438.00          490.56
4...................................  Employee Testimony and   2 hours..................              33           66.00          438.00       28,908.00
                                       Production of
                                       Documents in Legal
                                       Proceedings.
5...................................  Forwarding Demands.....  10 minutes...............              10            1.60          438.00          700.80
6...................................  Report of Unauthorized   30 minutes...............               1            0.50          438.00          219.00
                                       Testimony.
7...................................  Report of Possible       30 minutes...............               3            1.50          438.00          657.00
                                       Indemnification Cases.
8...................................  Employee                 30 minutes...............               1            0.50           79.78           39.89
                                       Indemnification.
9...................................  Tort Claims............  6 hours..................               6           36.00          438.00       15,768.00
                                                                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..........................  .......................  .........................             309             130  ..............       56,712.27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $6,928. 
There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or recordkeeping costs 
associated with this information collection. However, this collection 
does have annual (non-hour) costs in the form of filing fees and 
postage costs.

Filing Fees

    This collection has filing fees associated with the petition to 
waive or suspend the legal process rules under 37 CFR 104.3. The USPTO 
estimates that approximately 5 petitions will be filed per year with a 
fee of $130, for a total fee cost of $650. There are no other fees 
associated with this information collection.

Postage Costs

    Customers may incur postage costs when submitting the information 
in this collection to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO estimates that the 
average first-class postage for a mailed submission, other than a 
Service of Process, will be $1.45 and that up to 56 of these 
submissions will be mailed to the USPTO per year, for a postage cost of 
$82.64. The USPTO estimates that the average postage for a Service of 
Process will be mailed Priority Express at a cost of $25.50 and that up 
to 243 of these submissions will be mailed to the USPTO per year, for a 
postage cost of $6,197. The total estimated postage cost for this 
collection is approximately $6,279 per year.
    Therefore, the total annual (non-hour) respondent cost burden for 
this collection, in the form of filing fees ($650.00) and postage costs 
($6,279), is estimated to be approximately $6,928 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;

[[Page 49250]]

    (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,
Records Management Division Director, OCIO, United States Patent and 
Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2019-20266 Filed 9-18-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P