[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 23, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 66537]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25559]


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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; Fee Deficiency 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 August 25, 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: Fee Deficiency Submissions.
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0070.
    Form Numbers:
     PTO/SB/460 (Fee Deficiency Payment Form).
    Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,000 respondents per year.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 3,002 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public approximately 2 hours to gather the necessary information, 
create the document, and submit the completed information to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 6,004 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Non-Hour Cost Burden: $248.
    Needs and Uses: Under section 10(b) of the Leahy-Smith America 
Invents Act (``Act'') (See Pub. L. 112-29, 125 Stat. 283 (2011)), 
eligible small entities shall receive a 50 percent fee reduction from 
the undiscounted fees for filing, searching, examining, issuing, 
appealing, and maintaining patent applications and patents. The Act 
further provides that micro entities shall receive a 75 percent fee 
reduction from the undiscounted fees for filing, searching, examining, 
issuing, appealing, and maintaining patent applications and patents.
    This information collection covers the submissions made by patent 
applicants and patentees to excuse small and micro entity fee payment 
errors, in accordance with the procedures set forth in 37 CFR 1.28(c) 
and 1.29(k). Specifically, 37 CFR 1.28(c) provides a procedure by which 
patent applicants and patentees may be excused for erroneous payments 
of fees in the small entity amount. 37 CFR 1.29(k) provides a procedure 
by which patent applicants and patentees may be excused for erroneous 
payments of fees in the micro entity amount.
    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 0651-0070.
    Further information can be obtained by:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0070 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. 2021-25559 Filed 11-22-21; 8:45 am]
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