[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 76 (Monday, April 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21838-21840]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08344]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Appeals

ACTION: Notice of renewal of information collection; request for 
comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as 
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on 
the renewal and revision of an existing information collection: 0651-
0063 (Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Appeals).

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before June 19, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0063 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
     Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
     Mail: Kimberly Hardy, Office of the Chief Administrative 
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 Michael Tierney, Vice Chief Administrative Patent 
Judge, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, United States Patent and 
Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by 
telephone at 571-272-9797; or by email to [email protected]. 
Additional information about this information collection is also 
available at http://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection 
Review.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) is established by 
statute under 35 U.S.C. 6. This statute directs, in relevant part, that 
PTAB shall ``on written appeal of an applicant, review adverse 
decisions of examiners upon applications for patents pursuant to 
section 134(a).'' PTAB has the authority, under 35 U.S.C. 134 and 306 
to decide appeals in applications and ex parte reexamination 
proceedings, and under pre-AIA sections of the Patent Act, i.e., 35 
U.S.C. 134 and 315, to decide appeals in inter partes reexamination 
proceedings. In addition, 35 U.S.C. 6 establishes the membership of 
PTAB as the Director, the Deputy Director, the Commissioner for 
Patents, the Commissioner for Trademarks, and the Administrative Patent 
Judges. Each appeal is decided by a merits panel of at least three 
members of the Board. The Board's responsibilities under the statute 
include the review of ex parte appeals from adverse decisions of 
examiners in those situations where a written appeal is taken by a 
dissatisfied applicant or patent owner. In inter partes reexamination 
appeals, PTAB reviews examiner's decisions adverse to a patent owner or 
a third-party requester. PTAB's opinions and decisions for publicly 
available files are published on the USPTO website.
    The items associated with this information collection include 
appeals in applications and ex parte reexamination proceedings, and 
appeals in inter partes reexamination proceedings that are governed by 
the regulations in 37 CFR 41. Failure to comply with the appropriate 
regulations may result in dismissal of the appeal or denial of entry of 
the submission.
    The name of this information collection is being changed from 
``PTAB Actions'' to ``PTAB Appeals'' to better reflect the content of 
the information collection. In addition, this renewal adds three items 
currently approved in another information collection (0651-0031: Patent 
Processing) to include all items related to patent appeals in a single 
information collection. These three items are: Notice of Appeal, 
Amendment to Cancel Claims During an Appeal, and Request for Oral 
Hearing. A separate change request will be submitted to remove these 
three items from that information collection (0651-0031: Patent 
Processing).

II. Method of Collection

    Items in this information collection may be submitted via mail, 
hand delivery, facsimile, or filed as attachments through the USPTO's 
Web-based electronic filing system (EFS-Web).

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0063.
    Form Number(s): (AIA = American Invents; SB = Specimen Book):

[[Page 21839]]

     PTO/AIA/31: (Notice of Appeal from the Examiner to the 
Patent Trial and Appeal Board).
     PTO/SB/31: (Notice of Appeal).
     PTO/AIA/32: (Request for Oral Hearing before the Patent 
Trial and Appeal Board).
     PTO/SB/32: (Request for Oral Hearing before the Patent 
Trial and Appeal Board).
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; private sector. The 
USPTO estimates that the majority (95%) of respondents (i.e., 
applicants, patent owners, and requesters) will be from the private 
sector, but that about 5% will be individuals and households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 22,664 respondents.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 48,886 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it takes the 
public approximately .5 to 32 hours to complete this information 
collection, depending on the complexity of the request. This includes 
the time to gather the necessary information, prepare the brief, 
petition, and other papers, and submit the completed request to the 
USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 565,927 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $226,370,800. The 
USPTO expects that all of the responses in this information collection 
will be prepared by an intellectual property attorney. The attorney 
rates are found in the 2019 Report of the Economic Survey of the 
America Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA).\1\ Using the 
professional hourly rate of $400 for attorneys in private firms, the 
USPTO estimates that the total respondent cost burden for this 
information collection is $226,370,800 per year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The AIPLA 2019 rate of $400, for attorneys in private firms, 
is lower than the 2017 rate; this difference explains some (or all) 
of any reductions in the total hourly cost burden.

                                                     Table 1--Burden Hour/Burden Cost to Respondents
                                                                    [Private sector]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                             Responses                     Burden  (hrs/                  Total cost  ($/
      Item No.                 Item                  Respondents               (yr)            Hours            yr)        Rate  ($/hr)         hr)
                                                                                     (a)             (b)             (c)             (d)             (e)
                                                                                                               (a) x (b)                       (c) x (d)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...................  Notice of Appeal.....  21,531.....................          21,531              .5          10,766            $400      $4,306,400
2...................  Appeal Brief.........  Same as item 1.............          15,188              32         486,016             400     194,406,400
3...................  Amendment to Cancel    Same as item 1.............           1,495               2           2,990             400       1,196,000
                       Claims.
4...................  Reply Brief..........  Same as item 1.............           7,060               5          35,300             400      14,120,000
5...................  Request for Rehearing  Same as item 1.............             390               5           1,950             400         780,000
                       Before the PTAB.
6...................  Petitions to the       Same as item 1.............              65               4             260             400         104,000
                       Chief Administrative
                       Patent Judge Under
                       37 CFR 41.3.
7...................  Request for Oral       Same as item 1.............             712              .5             356             400         142,400
                       Hearing.
                                            ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..........  .....................  21,531.....................          46,441  ..............         537,638  ..............     215,055,200
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                                      Table 2--Burden Hour/Burden Cost to Respondents (Individuals and Households)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                             Responses                     Burden  (hrs/                  Total cost  ($/
      Item No.                 Item                  Respondents               (yr)            Hours            yr)        Rate  ($/hr)         hr)
                                                                                     (a)             (b)             (c)             (d)             (e)
                                                                                                               (a) x (b)                       (c) x (d)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...................  Notice of Appeal.....  1,133......................           1,133              .5             567            $400        $226,800
2...................  Appeal Brief.........  Same as item 1.............             799              32          25,568             400      10,227,200
3...................  Amendment to Cancel    Same as item 1.............              79               2             158             400          63,200
                       Claims.
4...................  Reply Brief..........  Same as item 1.............             372               5           1,860             400         744,000
5...................  Request for Rehearing  Same as item 1.............              21               5             105             400          42,000
                       Before the PTAB.
6...................  Petitions to the       Same as item 1.............               3               4              12             400           4,800
                       Chief Administrative
                       Patent Judge Under
                       37 CFR 41.3.
7...................  Request for Oral       Same as item 1.............              38              .5              19            $400          $7,600
                       Hearing.
                                            ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..........  .....................  1,133......................           2,445  ..............          28,289  ..............      11,315,600
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $48,712,078 
($48,704,205 in fees and $7,873 in postage costs). There are no 
maintenance, operation, capital start-up, or recordkeeping costs 
associated with

[[Page 21840]]

this information collection. However, this information collection does 
have annual (non-hour) costs in the form of postage costs and fees, 
which are explained below.

                                              Table 3--Filing Fees
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Estimated
          Item No.                           Item                     annual         Fee  ($)     Total cost ($)
                                                                     responses
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................  Notice of appeal (large)..........          16,092            $840     $13,517,280
1...........................  Notice of appeal (small)..........           5,439             420       2,284,380
1...........................  Notice of appeal (micro)..........           1,133             210         237,930
2...........................  Filing a brief in support of an                  7           2,100          14,700
                               appeal in an inter partes
                               reexamination proceeding (large).
2...........................  Filing a brief in support of an                  2           1,050           2,100
                               appeal in an inter partes
                               reexamination proceeding (small).
2...........................  Filing a brief in support of an                  1             525             525
                               appeal in an inter partes
                               reexamination proceeding (micro).
2...........................  Filing a Brief in Support of an             15,987               0               0
                               Appeal in an Application or Ex
                               Parte Reexamination Proceeding to
                               the Board.
4...........................  Forwarding an Appeal in an                  11,351           2,360      26,788,360
                               Application or Ex Parte
                               Reexamination Proceeding to the
                               Board (large).
4...........................  Forwarding an Appeal in an                   3,837           1,180       4,527,660
                               Application or Ex Parte
                               Reexamination Proceeding to the
                               Board (small).
4...........................  Forwarding an Appeal in an                     799             590         471,410
                               Application or Ex Parte
                               Reexamination Proceeding to the
                               Board (micro).
7...........................  Request for oral hearing (large)..             533           1,360         724,880
7...........................  Request for oral hearing (small)..             180             680         122,400
7...........................  Request for oral hearing (micro)..              37             340          12,580
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total...................  ..................................          55,398  ..............      48,704,205
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The briefs, petitions, and other papers may be submitted by mail 
through the United States Postal Service (USPS). The USPTO expects that 
about 2% of items in this information collection will be mailed by 
Express Mail using the flat rate envelope, resulting in an estimated 
postage cost of $7,873.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection. All comments will become a matter of public record.
    The USPTO invites public comments 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.

Kimberly Hardy,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2020-08344 Filed 4-17-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P