[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 199 (Tuesday, October 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 57812]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-22699]


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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; Patent Reexaminations, Supplemental Examinations, and Post 
Patent Submissions

    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 July 26, 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: Patent Reexaminations, Supplemental Examinations, and Post 
Patent Submissions.
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0064.
    Form Number(s):
     PTO/SB/42 (Information Disclosure Citation in a Patent).
     PTO/SB/57 (Request for Ex Parte Reexamination Transmittal 
Form).
     PTO/SB/59 (Request for Supplemental Examination 
Transmittal Form).
    Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Number of Respondents: 864 respondents per year.
    Number of Responses: 880 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it takes the 
public approximately between 30 minutes (0.5 hours) to 55 hours, 
depending on the complexity of the situation and item, to gather the 
necessary information, prepare the appropriate document(s), and submit 
the information to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 23,574 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Non-Hour Cost Burden: $2,439,335.
    Needs and Uses: This information collection covers information 
contained in: (1) Requests for ex parte reexamination, (2) requests for 
supplemental examination, (3) submissions made by patent owners and 
third-party requesters related to the prosecution of an ex parte or 
inter partes reexamination proceeding, (4) information submitted by the 
public to aid in ascertaining the patentability and/or scope of the 
claims of the issued patent, and (5) information submitted by patent 
owners regarding a position taken before the USPTO or a Federal court 
regarding the scope of any claim in their issued patent. The USPTO's 
use of the statements of the patent owners ((5) above) will be limited 
to determining the meaning of a patent claim in ex parte reexamination 
proceedings that already have been ordered and in inter partes review 
and post grant review proceedings that already have been instituted.
    The purpose of this information collection is to facilitate 
requests for ex parte reexamination and supplemental examination, to 
facilitate prosecution of reexamination and reissue proceedings, and to 
ensure that the associated documentation is submitted to the USPTO, and 
to permit relevant post-patent prior art and claim scope information to 
be entered into a patent file.
    This renewal request incorporates an item that was previously 
approved under OMB control number 0651-0067 (Post Patent Public 
Submissions), specifically `information disclosure citations'. The 
title of this information collection is being updated to reflect that 
change with the inclusion of ``Post Patent Submissions''. As the 
information disclosure citation was the only item contained in 0651-
0067, that information collection will be discontinued.
    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 0651-0064.
    Further information can be obtained by:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0064 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. 2021-22699 Filed 10-18-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P