[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 72 (Friday, April 16, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20121-20123]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-07854]


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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; Recording Assignments

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: 
0651-0027 (Recording Assignments). 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 June 15, 2021.

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-
0027

[[Page 20122]]

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 Joyce R. Johnson, Manager, Assignment Division, 
Mail Stop 1450, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 
1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 703-756-1265; or by 
email to [email protected] with ``0651-0027 comment'' in the 
subject line. 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 35 U.S.C. 261 and 262 
for patents and 15 U.S.C. 1057 and 1060 for trademarks. These statutes 
authorize the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to 
record patent and trademark assignment documents, including transfers 
of properties (i.e., patents and trademarks), liens, licenses, 
assignments of interest, security interests, mergers, and explanations 
of transactions or other documents that record the transfer of 
ownership of a particular patent or trademark property from one party 
to another. Assignments are recorded for applications, patents, and 
trademark registrations.
    The USPTO administers these statutes through 37 CFR 2.146, 2.171, 
and 37 CFR 3. These regulations permit the public, corporations, other 
federal agencies, and Government-owned or Government-controlled 
corporations to submit patent and trademark assignment documents and 
other documents related to title transfers to the USPTO to be recorded. 
In accordance with 37 CFR 3.54, the recording of an assignment document 
by the USPTO is an administrative action and not a determination of the 
validity of the document or of the effect that the document has on the 
title to an application, patent, or trademark.
    In order to record an assignment document, the respondent must 
submit an appropriate cover sheet along with copies of the assignment 
document to be recorded. Once the assignment documents are recorded, 
they are available for public inspection. The public uses these records 
to conduct ownership and chain-of-title searches. The public may view 
these records either at the USPTO Public Search Facility or at the 
National Archives and Records Administration, depending on the date 
they were recorded. The public may also search patent and trademark 
assignment information online through the USPTO website. The only 
exceptions are those documents that are sealed under secrecy orders 
according to 37 CFR 3.58 or related to unpublished patent applications 
maintained in confidence under 35 U.S.C. 122 and 37 CFR 1.14.
    This information collection covers assignments submitted by paper 
and online through the use of the Electronic Patent Assignment System 
(EPAS) and the Electronic Trademark Assignment System (ETAS). The 
electronic systems allow customers to complete the required cover sheet 
information online using web-based forms and then attach the electronic 
assignment documents to be submitted for recordation. The electronic 
systems are available through the USPTO website at https://epas.uspto.gov/ and https://etas.uspto.gov/.

II. Method of Collection

    The items in this information collection can be submitted 
electronically through EPAS or ETAS, or on paper by mail, facsimile, or 
hand delivery to the USPTO.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0027.
    Form Numbers:

 PTO-1594 (Trademark Assignment Recordation Cover Sheet)
 PTO-1595 (Patent Assignment Recordation Cover Sheet)

    Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Affected Public: Private Sector; individuals or households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 649,880 respondents per year.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 649,880 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the response 
time for activities related to the recording assignment process will 
take approximately 30 minutes (0.5 hours) to complete. This includes 
the time to gather the necessary information, create the document, and 
submit the completed item to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 324,941 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost Burden (Hourly): $88,708,893.

                                               Table 1--Total Hourly Burden For Private Sector Respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Estimated
                                                Estimated        annual          Estimated time  for         Estimated     Rate \1\ ($/      Estimated
        Item No.                Item             annual         responses          response (hour)         annual burden       hour)       annual burden
                                               respondents       (year)                                    (hours/year)
                         ..................  ..............             (a)  (b)........................     (a) x (b) =             (d)     (c) x (d) =
                                                                                                                     (c)                             (e)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1......................  Trademark                   35,984          35,984  0.5 (30 minutes)...........          17,992            $273      $4,911,816
                          Assignment System
                          (ETAS) (PTO-1594).
2......................  Patent Assignment          353,945         353,945  0.5 (30 minutes)...........         176,973             273      48,313,629
                          System (EPAS)
                          (PTO-1595).
                                            ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total..............  ..................         389,929         389,929  ...........................         194,965  ..............      53,225,445
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\1\ 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. The hourly rate for paraprofessional/paralegals is estimated at $145 from data published in the 2018 Utilization and
  Compensation Survey by the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA); https://www.nala.org/paralegals/research-and-survey-findings. The USPTO
  estimates that the combined rate for respondents will be approximately $273 per hour.


[[Page 20123]]


                                         Table 2--Total Hourly Burden For Individuals or Households Respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Estimated
                                                Estimated        annual          Estimated time  for         Estimated     Rate \2\ ($/      Estimated
        Item No.                Item             annual         responses          response  (hour)        annual burden       hour)       annual burden
                                               respondents       (year)                                    (hours/year)
                         ..................  ..............             (a)  (b)........................     (a) x (b) =             (d)     (c) x (d) =
                                                                                                                     (c)                             (e)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1......................  Trademark                   23,989          23,989  0.5 (30 minutes)...........          11,995            $273      $3,274,635
                          Assignment System
                          (ETAS) (PTO-1594).
2......................  Patent Assignment          235,962         235,962  0.5 (30 minutes)...........         117,981             273      32,208,813
                          System (EPAS)
                          (PTO-1595).
                                            ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total..............  ..................         259,951         259,951  ...........................         129,976  ..............      35,483,448
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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. The hourly rate for paraprofessional/paralegals is estimated at $145 from data published in the 2018 Utilization and
  Compensation Survey by the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA); https://www.nala.org/paralegals/research-and-survey-findings. The USPTO
  estimates that the combined rate for respondents will be approximately $273 per hour.

    Estimated Total Annual Cost Burden (Non-Hourly): $3,968,076. This 
information collection has annual (non-hour) costs in the form of 
filing fees and postage costs.

Filing Fees

    The filing fee for submitting a non-electronic patent assignment as 
indicated by 37 CFR 1.21(h) is $50 per property for recording each 
document, while the filing fee for submitting a trademark assignment as 
indicated by 37 CFR 2.6(b)(6) is $40.00 for recording the first 
property in a document and $25.00 for each additional property in the 
same document. The USPTO estimates that the average fee for a trademark 
assignment recordation request is approximately $65.00. Therefore, this 
information collection has an estimated total of $3,969,795 in filing 
fees per year.

                                              Table 3--Filing Fees
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Estimated                    Estimated non-
             Item No.                           Item                  annual      Estimated cost     hour cost
                                                                     responses                        burden
                                    ............................             (a)             (b)     (a) x (b) =
                                                                                                             (c)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.................................  Patent Recordation Form                1,351             $50         $67,550
                                     Cover Sheet (PTO-1595).
2.................................  Trademark Recordation Form             1,050              65          68,250
                                     Cover Sheet (PTO-1594).
4.................................  Electronic Trademark                  58,923              65       3,829,995
                                     Assignment System (ETAS)
                                     (PTO-1594).
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
                                    Total.......................  ..............  ..............       3,965,795
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Postage Costs

    Customers may incur postage costs when submitting a patent or 
trademark assignment request to the USPTO by mail. The Patent and 
Trademark Recordation Cover Sheets can be submitted by mail, for a 
total of 2,401 mailed submissions. The average postage cost for a 
mailed Patent or Trademark Recordation Form Cover Sheet is $0.95, 
resulting in a total postage cost of $2,281 per year for this 
information collection.

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. 2021-07854 Filed 4-15-21; 8:45 am]
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