[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50086-50089]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19202]


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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; Representative and Address Provisions

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), as 
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on 
the extension and revision of an existing information collection: 0651-
0035 (Representative and Address Provisions). 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 November 8, 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-
0035 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 Parikha Mehta, Legal Advisor, Office of Patent 
Legal Administration, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. 
Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-3248; 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

    This information collection includes the information necessary to 
submit a request to grant or revoke power of attorney for an 
application, patent, or reexamination proceeding, and for a registered 
practitioner to withdraw as attorney or agent of record. This also 
includes the information necessary to change the correspondence address 
for an application, patent, or reexamination proceeding, to request a 
Customer Number and manage the correspondence address and list of 
practitioners associated with a Customer Number, and to designate or 
change the correspondence address or fee address for one or more 
patents or applications by using a Customer Number.
    Under 35 U.S.C. 2 and 37 CFR 1.31-1.32, power of attorney may be 
granted to one or more joint inventors or a person who is registered to 
practice before the USPTO to act in an application or a patent. In 
particular, for an application filed before September 16, 2012, or for 
a patent which issued from an application filed before September 16, 
2012, power of attorney may be granted by the applicant for patent (as 
set forth in 37 CFR 1.41(b) (pre-AIA)) or the assignee of the entire 
interest of the applicant. For an application filed on or after 
September 16, 2012, or for a patent which issued from an application 
filed on or after September 16, 2012, power of attorney may be granted 
by the applicant for patent (as set forth in 37 CFR 1.42) or the patent 
owner. The USPTO provides two different versions of the forms for 
establishing power of attorney based upon whether the application 
filing date is before or after September 16, 2012, to thereby reduce 
applicants' burden in having to determine the appropriate power of 
attorney requirements for a given application.
    37 CFR 1.36 provides for the revocation of a power of attorney at 
any stage in the proceedings of a case. 37 CFR 1.36 also provides a 
path by which a registered patent attorney or patent agent who has been 
given a power of attorney may withdraw as attorney or agent of record.
    The USPTO's Customer Number practice permits applicants, patent 
owners, assignees, and practitioners of record, or the representatives 
of record for a number of applications or patents, to change the 
correspondence address of a patent application or patent with one 
change request instead of filing separate requests for each patent or 
application.

[[Page 50087]]

Any changes to the address or practitioner information associated with 
a Customer Number will be applied to all patents and applications 
associated with said Customer Number.
    The Customer Number practice is optional, in that changes of 
correspondence address or power of attorney may be filed separately for 
each patent or application without using a Customer Number. However, a 
Customer Number associated with the correspondence address for a patent 
application is required in order to access private information about 
the application using the Patent Application Information Retrieval 
(PAIR) system, which is available through the USPTO website. The use of 
a Customer Number is also required in order to grant power of attorney 
to more than ten practitioners or to establish a separate ``fee 
address'' for maintenance fee purposes that is different from the 
correspondence address for a patent or application.

II. Method of Collection

    Items in this information collection may be submitted by mail, 
facsimile, hand delivery, or online electronic submissions.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0651-0035.
    Form Number(s): (AIA= American Invents; SB = Specimen Book).

 PTO/AIA/80; PTO/SB/80 (Power of Attorney to Prosecute 
Applications Before the USPTO)
 PTO/AIA/81 (Power of Attorney to one or More of the Joint 
Inventors and Change of Correspondence Address)
 PTO/SB/81 (Power of Attorney or Revocation of Power of 
Attorney with a New Power of Attorney and Change of Correspondence 
Address)
 PTO/AIA/81A; PTO/SB/81A (Patent--Power of Attorney or 
Revocation of Power of Attorney with a New Power of Attorney and Change 
of Correspondence Address)
 PTO/AIA/81B (Reexamination or Supplemental Examination--Patent 
Owner Power of Attorney or Revocation of Power of Attorney With a New 
Power of Attorney and Change of Correspondence Address for 
Reexamination or Supplemental Examination and Patent)
 PTO/SB/81B (Reexamination--Patent Owner Power of Attorney or 
Revocation of Power of Attorney with a New Power of Attorney and Change 
of Correspondence Address)
 PTO/SB/81C (Reexamination--Third Party Requester Power of 
Attorney or Revocation of Power of Attorney with a New Power of 
Attorney and Change of Correspondence Address)
 PTO/AIA/82A; PTO/AIA/82B; PTO/AIA/82C (Transmittal for Power 
of Attorney To One Or More Registered Practitioners/Power Of Attorney 
By Applicant)
 PTO/AIA/83; PTO/SB/83 (Request for Withdrawal as Attorney or 
Agent and Change of Correspondence Address)
 PTO/SB/124 (Request for Customer Number Data Change)
 PTO/SB/125 (Request for Customer Number)
 PTO-2248 (Request to Update a PCT Application with a Customer 
Number)

    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Affected Public: Private sector; individuals or households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 184,743 respondents per year.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 226,573 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the response 
time for activities related to Representative Address Provisions will 
take the public between 0.20 hours (12 minutes) to 1.5 hours (90 
minutes) to complete. This includes the time to gather the necessary 
information, create the document, and submit the completed request to 
the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 111,104 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $16,561,175.

                                               Table 1--Total Hourly Burden For Private Sector Respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Estimated                                                                    Estimated
                                                Estimated        annual           Estimated time for         Estimated     Rate \1\ ($/       annual
     Item No.                Item                annual         responses          response  (hour)       annual  burden       hour)        respondent
                                               respondents       (year)                                     (hour/year)                     cost burden
                                                                        (a)  (b)........................     (a) x (b) =             (d)     (c) x (d) =
                                                                                                                     (c)                             (e)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1................  Power of Attorney to               2,425           2,910  0.5 (30 minutes)...........           1,455            $145        $210,975
                    Prosecute Applications
                    Before the USPTO. PTO/
                    AIA/80, PTO/SB/80.
2................  Power of Attorney or             165,870         204,670  0.5 (30 minutes)...........         102,335             145      14,838,575
                    Revocation of Power of
                    Attorney with a New
                    Power of Attorney and
                    Change of
                    Correspondence. PTO/AIA/
                    82A, PTO/AIA/82B, PTO/
                    AIA/82C.
3................  Patent--Power of                     165             194  0.5 (30 minutes)...........              97             145          14,065
                    Attorney or Revocation
                    of Power of Attorney
                    with a New Power of
                    Attorney and Change of
                    Correspondence Address.
                    PTO/AIA/81, PTO/SB/81,
                    PTO/AIA/81A, PTO/SB/81A.
4................  Reexamination--Patent                 29              29  0.5 (30 minutes)...........              15             145           2,175
                    Owner Power of Attorney
                    or Revocation of Power
                    of Attorney with a New
                    Power of Attorney and
                    Change of
                    Correspondence Address.
                    PTO/AIA/81B PTO/SB/81B.
5................  Reexamination--Third                  24              24  0.5 (30 minutes)...........              12             145           1,740
                    Party Requester Power
                    of Attorney or
                    Revocation of Power of
                    Attorney with a New
                    Power of Attorney and
                    Change of
                    Correspondence Address.
                    PTO/SB/81C.
6................  Request for Withdrawal             2,134           3,395  0.5 (30 minutes)...........           1,698             400         679,200
                    as Attorney or Agent
                    and Change of
                    Correspondence Address.
                    PTO/AIA/83, PTO/SB/83.

[[Page 50088]]

 
7................  Petition Under 37 CFR                  9               9  1 (60 minutes).............               9             400           3,600
                    1.36(a) to Revoke Power
                    of Attorney by Fewer
                    than All the Applicants.
8................  Petition to Waive 37 CFR               9               9  1 (60 minutes).............               9             400           3,600
                    1.32(b)(4) and Grant
                    Power of Attorney by
                    Fewer than All the
                    Applicants.
9................  Request for Customer               1,067           1,067  0.2 (12 minutes)...........             213             145          30,885
                    Number Data Change. PTO/
                    SB/124.
10...............  Request for Customer               6,111           6,111  0.2 (12 minutes)...........           1,222             145         177,190
                    Number. PTO/SB/125.
11...............  Customer Number Upload               291             291  1.5 (90 minutes)...........             437             145          63,365
                    Spreadsheet.
12...............  Request to Update a PCT            1,067           1,067  0.25 (15 minutes)..........             267             145          38,715
                    Application with a
                    Customer Number. PTO-
                    2248.
                                            ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals.......  ........................         179,201         219,776  ...........................         107,769  ..............      16,064,085
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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.


                                         Table 2--Total Hourly Burden For Individuals or Households Respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Estimated                                                                    Estimated
                                                Estimated        annual           Estimated time for         Estimated     Rate \2\ ($/       annual
     Item No.                Item                annual         responses          response  (hour)       annual  burden       hour)        respondent
                                               respondents       (year)                                     (hour/year)                     cost burden
                                                                        (a)  (b)........................     (a) x (b) =             (d)     (c) x (d) =
                                                                                                                     (c)                             (e)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1................  Power of Attorney to                  75              90  0.5 (30 minutes)...........              45            $145          $6,525
                    Prosecute Applications
                    Before the USPTO. PTO/
                    AIA/80, PTO/SB/80.
2................  Power of Attorney or               5,130           6,330  0.5 (30 minutes)...........           3,165             145         458,925
                    Revocation of Power of
                    Attorney with a New
                    Power of Attorney and
                    Change of
                    Correspondence. PTO/AIA/
                    82A, PTO/AIA/82B, PTO/
                    AIA/82C.
3................  Patent--Power of                       5               6  0.5 (30 minutes)...........               3             145             435
                    Attorney or Revocation
                    of Power of Attorney
                    with a New Power of
                    Attorney and Change of
                    Correspondence Address.
                    PTO/AIA/81, PTO/SB/81,
                    PTO/AIA/81A, PTO/SB/81A.
4................  Reexamination--Patent                  1               1  0.5 (30 minutes)...........               1             145             145
                    Owner Power of Attorney
                    or Revocation of Power
                    of Attorney with a New
                    Power of Attorney and
                    Change of
                    Correspondence Address.
                    PTO/AIA/81B, PTO/SB/81B.
5................  Reexamination--Third                   1               1  0.5 (30 minutes)...........               1             145             145
                    Party Requester Power
                    of Attorney or
                    Revocation of Power of
                    Attorney with a New
                    Power of Attorney and
                    Change of
                    Correspondence Address.
                    PTO/SB/81C.
6................  Request for Withdrawal                66             105  0.5 (30 minutes)...........              53             400          21,200
                    as Attorney or Agent
                    and Change of
                    Correspondence Address.
                    PTO/AIA/83, PTO/SB/83.
9................  Request for Customer                  33              33  0.2 (12 minutes)...........               7             145           1,015
                    Number Data Change. PTO/
                    SB/124.
10...............  Request for Customer                 189             189  0.2 (12 minutes)...........              38             145           5,510
                    Number. PTO/SB/125.
11...............  Customer Number Upload                 9               9  1.5 (90 minutes)...........              14             145           2,030
                    Spreadsheet.
12...............  Request to Update a PCT               33              33  0.25 (15 minutes)..........               8             145           1,160
                    Application with a
                    Customer Number. PTO-
                    2248.
                                            ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals.......  ........................           5,542           6,797  ...........................           3,335  ..............         497,090
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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. 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.


[[Page 50089]]

    The USPTO published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register in 
support of the renewal of this collection on January 15, 2021. In 
response to public feedback received regarding the January 2021 60-day 
notice, and after further consideration of the estimated times for 
response for items 1-6, the USPTO has increased the estimated times for 
response for items 1-5 from 3 minutes to 30 minutes and the estimated 
time for response for item 6 from 12 minutes to 30 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $26,686. 
There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or recordkeeping costs 
associated with this information collection. However, USPTO estimates 
that the total annual (non-hour) cost burden for this information 
collection, in the form of filing fees and postage is $26,686.

Filing Fees

    The two petitions in this information collection have associated 
filing fees under 37 CFR 1.17(f), resulting in $8,000 in filing fees.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Estimated
            Item No.                           Item                   annual      Filing fee ($)  Total non-hour
                                                                     responses                      cost burden
                                                                             (a)             (b)     (a) x (b) =
                                                                                                             (c)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7..............................  Petitions Under 37 CFR 1.36(a)               10         $400.00          $4,000
                                  to Revoke Power of Attorney by
                                  Fewer than All the Applicants.
8..............................  Petitions to Waive 37 CFR                    10          400.00           4,000
                                  1.32(b)(4) and Grant Power of
                                  Attorney by Fewer than All the
                                  Applicants.
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total......................  ...............................  ..............  ..............           8,000
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Postage Costs

    Although the USPTO prefers that the items in this information 
collection be submitted electronically, responses may be submitted by 
mail through the United States Postal Service (USPS). The USPTO 
estimates that 1% of the 226,573 items will be submitted in the mail 
resulting in 2,265 mailed items. The USPTO estimates that the average 
postage cost for a mailed submission, using a Priority Mail 2-day flat 
rate legal envelope, will be $8.25. Therefore, the USPTO estimates the 
total mailing costs for this information collection at $18,686.
    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 personally 
identifiable information (PII) in a comment, be aware that the entire 
comment-- including PII--may be made publicly available at any time. 
While you may ask in your comment to withhold PII 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. 2021-19202 Filed 9-3-21; 8:45 am]
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