[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 230 (Monday, November 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76537-76538]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26350]


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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; International Design Applications (Hague Agreement)

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will submit 
the following information collection request to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, on or after the date of 
publication of this notice. The USPTO invites comment on this 
information collection renewal, which helps the USPTO assess the impact 
of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on September 29, 2020 during a 60-day comment period. 
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of 
Commerce.
    Title: International Design Applications (Hague Agreement).
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0075.
    Form Number(s): WIPO DM = WIPO Dessins et Modeles (design 
representations); PTOL = Patent Trademark Office Legal

 PTO-1595: (Assignment Cover Sheet)
 PTOL-85 Part B (Hague): (Issue Fee to USPTO for an 
International Design Application)
 WIPO DM/1 (Application for International Registration--
entitled Hague Agreement Concerning The International Registration of 
Industrial Design)
 WIPO DM/1/I Annex: (Declaration on Inventorship for Purposes 
of Designation of the United States)
 WIPO DM/1/I Annex: (Substitute Statement in Lieu of a 
Declaration of Inventorship for the Purpose of Designating the United 
States)
 WIPO DM/1/III Annex: (Information On Eligibility For 
Protection)
 WIPO DM/1/IV Annex: (Reduction of United States Individual 
Designation Fee)
 WIPO DM/1/V Annex: (Supporting Document(s) Concerning Priority 
Claim To The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO))

    Type of Request: Extension and revision of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Number of Respondents: 1,406 respondents per year.
    Average Hour per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public between 15 minutes (0.25 hours) and 6 hours to complete a 
response, depending upon the complexity of the situation. This includes 
the time to gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate 
documents, and submit the completed response to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 2,301 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Non-Hour Cost Burden: $3,389,280.
    Needs and Uses: The Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 
(PLTIA) amends the patent laws to implement the provisions of the 
Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning International Registration 
of Industrial Designs (hereinafter ``Hague Agreement'') in title 1, and 
the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) in title 2. The Hague Agreement is an 
international agreement that enables an applicant to file a single 
international design application which may have the effect of an 
application for protection for the design(s) in countries and/or 
intergovernmental organizations that are Parties to the Hague Agreement 
(the ``Contracting Parties'') designated in the applications. The 
United States is a Contracting Party to the Hague Agreement, which took 
effect with respect to the United States on May 13, 2015. The Hague 
Agreeement is administered by the International Bureau (IB) of World 
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) located in Geneva, 
Switzerland.
    This information collection covers information filed by U.S. 
applicants for the prosecution of international design applications 
``indirectly'' through the United States Patent and Trademark

[[Page 76538]]

Office (USPTO), which will forward the applications to the IB or 
``directly'' with the IB. The IB ascertains whether the international 
design application complies with formal requirements, registers the 
international design in the International Register, and publishes the 
international registration in the International Designs Bulletin. The 
international registration contains all of the data of the 
international application, any reproduction of the industrial design, 
date of the international registration, number of the international 
registration, and relevant class of the International Classification.
    The IB will provide a copy of the publication of the international 
registration to each Contracting Party designated by the applicant. A 
designated Contracting Party may perform a substantive examination of 
the design application. The USPTO will perform a substantive 
examination for patentability of the international design application, 
as in the case of regular U.S. design applications. The industrial 
design or designs will be eligible for protection in all the 
Contracting Parties designated by applicants.
    In addition, this information collection covers the various fees 
related to the processing of International design applications, such as 
the: (1) basic fee; (2) standard designation fee(s); (3) individual 
designation fee(s); and (4) publication fee. Also, an additional fee is 
required where the applications contain a description that exceeds 100 
words, and a transmittal fee is required for international design 
applications filed through an office of indirect filing. The fees 
required by the IB may be paid either directly to the IB or through the 
USPTO as an office of indirect filing in the amounts specified on the 
WIPO website. If applicants want to pay the required fees through USPTO 
as an office of indirect filing, the fees must be paid no later than 
the date of payment of the transmittal fee. The fees will then be 
forwarded to the IB.
    The Hague Agreement enables applicants from Contracting Parties to 
obtain protection of their designs with minimal formalities and 
expenses in multiple countries and/or regions. The Hague Agreement is 
administered by the IB, which simplifies the management of an 
industrial design registration. For example, through the IB, applicants 
can record changes of their representatives or changes in ownership, 
and renew their international registration.
    Affected Public: Private sector; individuals or households.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of 
Commerce, USPTO information collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for this information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently 
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search 
function and entering either the title of the information collection or 
the OMB Control Number 0651-0075.
    Further information can be obtained by:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0075 information request'' in the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Kimberly Hardy, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 
Alexandria, VA 22313- 1450.

Kimberly Hardy,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2020-26350 Filed 11-27-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P