[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 250 (Wednesday, December 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 86544-86545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28869]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Patent Examiner Employment Application

    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 October 23, 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: Patent Examiner Employment Application.
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0042.
    Forms: None.
    Type of Request: Extension and revision of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Number of Respondents: 8,386 respondents per year.
    Average Hours per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public approximately 30 minutes (0.5 hours) to complete the patent 
examiner application questions. This includes the time to gather the 
necessary information, respond to the system prompts, and submit the 
completed request to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 4,193 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Non-Hour Cost Burden: $0.
    Needs and Uses: USPTO uses the Monster Hiring Management (MHM) 
system to rapidly review applications for employment of entry-level 
patent examiners. The use of such automated online systems during 
recruitment allows USPTO to remain competitive, meet hiring goals, and 
fulfill the Agency's Congressional commitment to reduce the pendency 
rate for the examination of patent applications. Given the time 
sensitive hiring needs of the Patent Examining Corps, the MHM system 
provides increased speed and accuracy during the employment process.
    This information collection covers respondent data gathered through 
the MHM system. The MHM online application collects supplemental 
information to a candidate's USAJOBS application. This information 
assists USPTO Human Resource Specialists and Hiring Managers in 
determining whether an applicant possesses the basic qualification 
requirements for a patent examiner position. From the information 
collected, the MHM system creates an electronic real-time candidate 
inventory on applicants' expertise and technical knowledge, which 
allows USPTO to immediately review applications from multiple 
applicants.
    Affected Public: 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 0651-0042.
    Further information can be obtained by:

[[Page 86545]]

     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0042 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. 2020-28869 Filed 12-29-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P