[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 100 (Tuesday, May 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31533-31534]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11149]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 Patent and Trademark Office

[OMB Control No. 0651-NEW; Docket No. PTO-C-2022-0018]


Information Collection; Improving Customer Experience (OMB 
Circular A-11, Section 280 Implementation)

AGENCY: Department of Commerce, United States Patent and Trademark 
Office.

ACTION: Notice; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or 
Agency) as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and 
respondent burden, is announcing an opportunity for public comment on a 
new proposed collection of information by the Agency. Under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Federal agencies are required to 
publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed 
collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in 
response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on new collection 
proposed by the Agency.

DATES: Submit comments on or before: July 25, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 0651-
NEW, Improving Customer Experience (OMB Circular A-11, Section 280 
Implementation), by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments to https://www.regulations.gov, 
will be posted to the docket unchanged.
    Mail: Kimberly Hardy, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, 
United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, 
VA 22313-1450. 0651-NEW, Improving Customer Experience (OMB Circular A-
11, Section 280 Implementation).
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 0651-NEW, Improving Customer Experience (OMB Circular A-11, 
Section 280 Implementation), in all correspondence related to this 
collection. To confirm receipt of your comment(s), please check 
regulations.gov, approximately 2-3 business days after submission to 
verify posting (except allow 30 days for posting of comments submitted 
by mail).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Charles Thomas, Customer Experience Administrator 
for Trademarks, and/or Toni Krasnic, Customer Experience Administrator 
for Patents, via email to [email protected] and/or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Purpose

    Under the PRA, (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) Federal agencies must obtain 
approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each 
collection of information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of 
information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and 
includes Agency requests

[[Page 31534]]

or requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep 
records, or provide information to a third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) 
of the PRA requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the 
Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, 
including each proposed extension of an existing collection of 
information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To 
comply with this requirement, USPTO is publishing notice of the 
proposed collection of information set forth in this document.
    Whether seeking a loan, Social Security benefits, veteran's 
benefits, or other services provided by the Federal Government, 
individuals and businesses expect Government customer services to be 
efficient and intuitive, just like services from leading private-sector 
organizations. Yet the 2016 American Consumer Satisfaction Index and 
the 2017 Forrester Federal Customer Experience Index show that, on 
average, Government services lag nine percentage points behind the 
private sector.
    A modern, streamlined, and responsive customer experience means: 
Raising governmentwide customer experience to the average of the 
private sector service industry; developing indicators for high-impact 
Federal programs to monitor progress towards excellent customer 
experience and mature digital services; and providing the structure 
(including increasing transparency) and resources to ensure customer 
experience is a focal point for agency leadership. To support this, OMB 
Circular A-11 Section 280 established governmentwide standards for 
mature customer experience organizations in government and measurement. 
To enable Federal programs to deliver the experience taxpayers deserve, 
they must undertake three general categories of activities: Conduct 
ongoing customer research, gather and share customer feedback, and test 
services and digital products.
    These data collection efforts may be either qualitative or 
quantitative in nature or may consist of mixed methods. Additionally, 
data may be collected via a variety of means, including but not limited 
to electronic or social media, direct or indirect observation (i.e., in 
person, video, and audio collections), interviews, questionnaires, 
surveys, and focus groups. USPTO will limit its inquiries to data 
collections that solicit strictly voluntary opinions or responses. 
Steps will be taken to ensure anonymity of respondents in each activity 
covered by this request.
    The results of the data collected will be used to improve the 
delivery of Federal services and programs. It will include the creation 
of personas, customer journey maps, and reports and summaries of 
customer feedback data and user insights. It will also provide 
governmentwide data on customer experience that can be displayed on 
performance.gov to help build transparency and accountability of 
Federal programs to the customers they serve.

Method of Collection

    USPTO will collect this information by electronic means when 
possible, as well as by mail, fax, telephone, technical discussions, 
and in-person interviews. USPTO may also utilize observational 
techniques to collect this information.

Data

    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: New.

B. Annual Reporting Burden

    Affected Public: Collections will be targeted to the solicitation 
of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or 
may have experience with the program in the near future. For the 
purposes of this request, ``customers'' are individuals, businesses, 
and organizations that interact with a Federal Government agency or 
program, either directly or via a Federal contractor. This could 
include individuals or households; businesses or other for-profit 
organizations; not-for-profit institutions; State, local or tribal 
governments; Federal government; and universities.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,001,550.
    Estimated Time per Response: Varied, dependent upon the data 
collection method used. The possible response time to complete a 
questionnaire or survey may be 3 minutes or up to 1.5 hours to 
participate in an interview.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 101,125.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $2,737,454.

C. Public Comments

    USPTO invites comments on: (a) 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) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology. Comments submitted in response to this notice will be 
summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this 
information collection; they also will become a matter of public 
record.

Kimberly Hardy,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2022-11149 Filed 5-23-22; 8:45 am]
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