[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 14, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51127-51128]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19798]


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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; Third-Party Submissions and Protests

    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 April 30, 2021 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: Third-Party Submissions and Protests.
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0062.
    Form Number: PTO/SB/429 (Third-Party Submission Under 37 CFR 
1.290).
    Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Number of Respondents: 880 respondents per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public approximately 10 hours to gather the necessary information, 
create the documents, and submit the completed items to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 8,800 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Non-Hour Cost Burden: $80,613.
    Needs and Uses: The USPTO is required by 35 U.S.C. 131 et seq. to 
examine an application for patent and, when appropriate, issue a 
patent. The provisions of 35 U.S.C. 122(c), 122(e), 131, and 151, as 
well as 37 CFR 1.290 and 1.291, limit the ability of a third-party to 
have information entered and considered in, or to protest, a patent 
application pending before the USPTO. 37 CFR 1.290 provides a mechanism 
for third parties to submit to the USPTO, for consideration and 
inclusion in the record of a patent application, any patents, published 
patent applications, or other printed publications of potential 
relevance to the examination of the application. A preissuance 
submission under 37 CFR 1.290 may be made in any non-provisional 
utility, design, and plant application, as well as in any continuing 
application. A preissuance submission under 37 CFR 1.290 must include a 
concise description of the asserted relevance of each document 
submitted, and must be submitted within a certain statutorily specified 
period. 37 CFR 1.291 permits a member of the public to file a protest

[[Page 51128]]

against a pending application. Protests pursuant to 37 CFR 1.291 are 
supported by a separated statutory provision from third-party 
submissions under 37 CFR 1.290.
    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 0651-0062.
    Further information can be obtained by:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0062 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. 2021-19798 Filed 9-13-21; 8:45 am]
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