[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 100 (Tuesday, May 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31534-31535]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11156]


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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; Patents External Quality Survey

    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 March 15, 2022 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: Patents External Quality Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0057.
    Needs and Uses: The USPTO's Patents External Quality Survey is an 
instrument designed to measure opinions about the services that USPTO 
provides its patent application customers. The results from this 
voluntary survey will assist the USPTO in guiding improvements and 
enhancements in the future. The USPTO conducts the Patents External 
Quality Survey as part of its quality improvement efforts under E.O. 
14058, Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to

[[Page 31535]]

Rebuild Trust in Government (Dec. 13, 2021). This survey narrows the 
focus of customer satisfaction to examination quality and uses a 
longitudinal, rotating panel design to assess changes in customer 
perceptions and to identify key areas for examiner training and 
opportunities for improvement. The USPTO surveys patent agents, 
attorneys, and other individuals from large domestic corporations 
(including those with 500+ employees), small and medium-size 
businesses, independent inventors, and universities, and other non-
profit research organizations. This survey does not include foreign 
entities. The USPTO random sample used in this survey is drawn from the 
Patent Application and Location Management (PALM) database. The sample 
population is drawn from the top filing firms and entities that have 
filed five or more patent applications in a 12-month period. This 
ongoing survey is generally conducted twice a year. The USPTO uses a 
rotating panel design where participants will take the survey twice in 
back-to-back survey periods. Half the participants in each survey 
period are new, completing the survey for the first time, and half are 
returning to complete the survey for a second time. This design allows 
a precise measurement of changes in customer experience over time. The 
Patents External Quality Survey is primarily a web-based survey, 
although respondents can also complete the survey via paper and mail if 
they prefer. The content of both versions is identical. Potential 
respondents are sent either an email or mailed pre-survey letter, 
depending on noted preferences for contact. At the beginning of each 
survey period, respondents are provided instructions for accessing and 
completing the survey electronically. After a specified response 
period, a survey packet containing a questionnaire, a separate cover 
letter prepared by the Deputy Commissioner for Patents, and a postage-
paid, preaddressed return envelope are mailed to all sample members 
that have not yet submitted a response. Sampled members receiving a 
paper survey can still complete the survey electronically if they 
prefer. Reminder/thank you postcards and telephone calls are used to 
encourage responses from sample members.
    Form Numbers:
     PTO/2325 (Patents External Quality Survey).
    Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Affected Public: Private sector.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 1,875 respondents.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 3,100 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses 
in this information collection will take the public between 2 minutes 
(0.03 hours) and 10 minutes (0.17 hours) to complete. This includes the 
time to gather the necessary information, answer the survey prompts, 
and submit the completed request to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 444 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $0.
    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 0651-0057.
    Further information can be obtained by:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0057 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. 2022-11156 Filed 5-23-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P