[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 146 (Wednesday, July 29, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45598-45600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16447]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Responses to Office Action and Voluntary Amendment Forms

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments 
on the extension and revision of an existing information collection: 
0651-0050 (Responses to Office Action and Voluntary Amendment Forms). 
The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comment 
preceding submission of the information collection to OMB.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this information 
collection must be received on or before September 28, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
any of the following methods. Do not submit Confidential Business 
Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0050 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 Catherine Cain, Attorney Advisor, Office of the 
Commissioner for Trademarks, United States Patent and Trademark Office, 
P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450, by telephone at 571-272-8946, 
or by email at [email protected]. Additional information about 
this information collection is also available at http://www.reginfo.gov 
under ``Information Collection Review.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    This collection of information is required by the Trademark Act 
(Act), 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.,\1\ which provides for the Federal 
registration of trademarks, service marks, collective trademark and 
service marks, collective membership marks, and certification marks. 
Individuals and businesses that use such marks, or intend to use such 
marks, in interstate commerce may file an application to register their 
marks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The 
USPTO also administers the Trademark Act through Title 37 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations. These regulations allow the USPTO to request 
and receive information required to process applications and allows 
applicants to submit certain amendments to their applications. This 
information collection includes information that was not submitted with 
the initial application and is needed by the USPTO to review 
applications for trademark registration.
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    \1\ https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/trademarks/law/Trademark_Statutes.pdf.
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    In some cases, the USPTO issues Office Actions to applicants who 
have applied to register a mark, requesting information that was not 
provided with the initial submission, but is required before the 
issuance of a registration. Also, the USPTO may determine that a mark 
is not entitled to registration, pursuant to one or more provisions of 
the Trademark Act. In such cases, the USPTO will issue an Office Action 
advising the applicant of the refusal to register the mark. Applicants 
reply to these Office Actions by providing the required information 
and/or by putting forth legal arguments as to why the refusal of 
registration should be withdrawn.
    Applicants may also supplement their applications and provide 
further information by filing a Voluntary Amendment Not in Response to 
USPTO Office Action/Letter, a Request for Reconsideration after Final 
Office Action, a Post-Approval/Publication/Post-Notice of Allowance 
(NOA) Amendment, a Petition to Amend Basis Post-Publication, or a 
Response to Suspension Inquiry or Letter of Suspension. In rare 
instances, an applicant may also submit a Substitute Trademark/
Servicemark, Substitute Certification Mark, Substitute Collective 
Membership Mark, or Substitute Collective Trademark/Servicemark 
application.

II. Method of Collection

    Items in this information collection may be submitted via online 
electronic submissions. In limited circumstances, applicants may be 
permitted to submit the information in paper form by mail, fax, or hand 
delivery.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0651-0050.
    Form Numbers:

 PTO-1957 (Response to Office Action)
 PTO-1960 (Request for Reconsideration After Final Office 
Action)
 PTO-1966 (Voluntary Amendment Not in Response to USPTO Office 
Action/Letter)
 PTO-1771 (Post-Approval/Publication/Post-Notice of Allowance 
(NOA) Amendment)
 PTO-1771 (Petition to Amend Basis Post-Publication)
 PTO-1822 (Response to Suspension Inquiry or Letter of 
Suspension)

    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; not-for-profit 
institutions; individuals and households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 393,657 respondents per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public between 15 minutes (0.25 hours) and 40 minutes (0.67 hours) 
to complete a response, depending on the complexity of the situation. 
This includes the time to gather the necessary information, prepare the 
appropriate documents, and submit the information to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 253,058 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $101,223,200.

[[Page 45599]]



                                               Table 1--Total Hourly Burden for Private Sector Respondents
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                                                                       Estimated
                                              Estimated annual          annual         Estimated time for       Estimated    Rate \2\ ($/    Estimated
    Item No.               Item                  respondents           responses        response (hours)      annual burden     hour)      annual burden
                                                                        (year)                                 (hour/year)
                                                                               (a)  (b)....................     (a) x (b) =          (d)     (c) x (d) =
                                                                                                                        (c)                          (e)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1..............  Response to Office       275,180.................         275,179  0.67 (40 minutes)......         184,370         $400     $73,748,000
                  Action (TEAS).
2..............  Substitute Trademark/    Same as line 1..........               2  0.50 (30 minutes)......               1          400             400
                  Servicemark
                  Application, Principal
                  Register (TEAS Global).
3..............  Substitute               Same as line 1..........               2  0.50 (30 minutes)......               1          400             400
                  Certification Mark
                  (TEAS Global).
4..............  Substitute Collective    Same as line 1..........               2  0.50 (30 minutes)......               1          400             400
                  Membership Mark (TEAS
                  Global).
5..............  Substitute Collective    Same as line 1..........               2  0.50 (30 minutes)......               1          400             400
                  Trademark/Servicemark
                  (TEAS Global).
6..............  Voluntary Amendment Not  10,897..................          10,897  0.33 (25 minutes)......           3,596          400       1,438,400
                  in Response to USPTO
                  Office Action/Letter
                  (TEAS).
7..............  Request for              15,762..................          15,762  0.67 (40 minutes)......          10,561          400       4,224,400
                  Reconsideration After
                  Final Office Action
                  (TEAS).
8..............  Post-Approval/           3,498...................           3,498  0.42 (25 minutes)......           1,469          400         587,600
                  Publication/Post-
                  Notice of Allowance
                  (NOA) Amendment (TEAS).
9..............  Petition to Amend Basis  623.....................             623  0.33 (25 minutes)......             206          400          82,400
                  Post-Publication (TEAS
                  Global).
10.............  Response to Suspension   8,965...................           8,965  0.25 (15 minutes)......           2,241          400         896,400
                  Inquiry or Letter of
                  Suspension (TEAS).
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals.....  .......................  314,925.................         314,932  .......................         202,447  ...........      80,978,800
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    \2\ 2019 Report of the Economic Survey, published by the 
Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American 
Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA); https://www.aipla.org/detail/journal-issue/2019-report-of-the-economic-survey. The USPTO uses the mean rate for attorneys in private firms 
which is $400 per hour.

                                          Table 2--Total Hourly Burden for Individual and Household Respondents
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                                                                       Estimated
                                                Estimated annual         annual       Estimated time for        Estimated    Rate \3\ ($/    Estimated
    Item  No.               Item                   respondents         responses       response (hours)       annual burden     hour)      annual burden
                                                                         (year)                               (hours/year)
                                                                              (a)  (b)                                  (c)          (d)             (e)
                                                                                                                (a) x (b) =                  (c) x (d) =
                                                                                                                        (c)                          (e)
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1...............  Response to Office        68,795..................       68,795  0.67 (40 minutes).......          46,093         $400     $18,437,200
                   Action (TEAS).
6...............  Voluntary Amendment Not   2,724...................        2,724  0.33 (25 minutes).......             899          400         359,600
                   in Response to USPTO
                   Office Action/Letter
                   (TEAS).
7...............  Request for               3,941...................        3,941  0.67 (40 minutes).......           2,640          400       1,056,000
                   Reconsideration After
                   Final Office Action
                   (TEAS).
8...............  Post-Approval/            875.....................          875  0.42 (25 minutes).......             368          400         147,200
                   Publication/Post-Notice
                   of Allowance (NOA)
                   Amendment (TEAS).
9...............  Petition to Amend Basis   156.....................          156  0.33 (25 minutes).......              51          400          20,400
                   Post-Publication (TEAS
                   Global).
10..............  Response to Suspension    2,241...................        2,241  0.25 (15 minutes).......             560          400         224,000
                   Inquiry or Letter of
                   Suspension (TEAS).
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......  ........................  78,732..................       78,732  ........................          50,611  ...........      20,244,400
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    Estimated Total Annual Non-Hour Respondent Cost Burden: $99,440. 
There are no maintenance, operation, capital start-up, or recordkeeping 
costs associated with this information collection. However, this 
information collection does have annual non-hour costs in the form of 
postage costs and filing fees.
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    \3\ 2019 Report of the Economic Survey, published by the 
Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American 
Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA);n https://www.aipla.org/detail/journal-issue/2019-report-of-the-economic-survey. The USPTO uses the mean rate for attorneys in private firms 
which is $400 per hour.

[[Page 45600]]



                                      Table 3--Annual Non-Hour Cost Burden
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                                                                     Estimated                    Estimated non-
           Item  No.                          Item                    annual      Estimated cost     hour cost
                                                                     responses          ($)           burden
                                                                             (a)             (b)     (a) x (b) =
                                                                                                             (c)
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Filing Fees:
    1-5.......................  Additional processing fee for                172         $125.00         $21,500
                                 application that does not meet
                                 TEAS Plus filing requirements,
                                 per Class.
    9.........................  Petition to Amend Basis Post-                779          100.00          77,900
                                 Publication (TEAS Global).
Postage Fees:
    1.........................  Response to Office Action.......               5            8.05              40
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................................  ..............  ..............          99,440
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    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.

IV. Request for Comments

    The USPTO is soliciting public comments to:
    (a) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    (b) Evaluate the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (c) Enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and
    (d) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.
    All comments submitted in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. USPTO will include or summarize each comment in the 
request to OMB to approve this information collection. Before including 
an address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying 
information in a comment, be aware that the entire comment-- including 
personal identifying information--may be made publicly available at any 
time. While you may ask in your comment to withhold personal 
identifying information from public view, USPTO cannot guarantee that 
it will be able to do so.

Kimberly Hardy,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2020-16447 Filed 7-28-20; 8:45 am]
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