[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 200 (Tuesday, October 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63046-63047]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-22566]


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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 Cooperation Treaty

    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 June 7, 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: Patent Cooperation Treaty.
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0021.
    Needs and Uses: This collection of information is required by the 
provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which became 
operational in June 1978 and is administered by the International 
Bureau (IB) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 
Geneva, Switzerland. The provisions of the PCT have been implemented by 
the United States in Part IV of Title 35 of the U.S. Code (Chapters 35-
37) and Subpart C of Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations (37 
CFR 1.401-1.499). The purpose of the PCT is to provide a standardized

[[Page 63047]]

filing format and procedure that allows an applicant to seek protection 
for an invention in several countries by filing one international 
application in one location, in one language, and paying one initial 
set of fees.
    The information in this collection is used by the public to submit 
a patent application under the PCT and by the United States Patent and 
Trademark Office (USPTO) to fulfill its obligation to process, search, 
and examine the application as directed by the treaty. The filing, 
search, written opinion, and publication procedures are provided for in 
Chapter I of the PCT. Additional procedures for a preliminary 
examination of PCT international applications are provided for in 
optional PCT Chapter II. Under Chapter I, an applicant can file an 
international application in the national or home office (Receiving 
Office (RO)) or the IB. The USPTO acts as the United States Receiving 
Office (RO/US) for international applications filed by residents and 
nationals of the United States. These applicants send most of their 
correspondence directly to the USPTO, but they may also file certain 
documents directly with the IB. The USPTO serves as an International 
Searching Authority (ISA) to perform searches and issues an 
international search report (ISR) and a written opinion (WOISA) on 
international applications. The USPTO also issues an international 
preliminary report on patentability (IPRP Chapter II) when acting as an 
International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA).
    The RO reviews the application and, if it contains all of the 
necessary information, assigns a filing date to the application. The RO 
maintains the home copy of the international application and forwards 
the record copy of the application to the IB and the search copy to the 
ISA. The IB maintains the record copy of all international applications 
and publishes them 18 months after the earliest priority date, which is 
the earliest date for which a benefit is claimed. The ISA performs a 
search to determine whether there is any prior art relevant to the 
claims of the international application and will issue an international 
search report and written opinion as to whether each claim is novel, 
involves an inventive step, and is industrially applicable. The ISA 
then forwards the international search report and written opinion to 
the applicant and the IB. The IB will normally publish the application 
and search report 18 months after the priority date, unless early 
publication is requested by the applicant. Until international 
publication, no third person or national or regional office is allowed 
access to the international patent application unless so requested or 
authorized by the applicant. If the applicant wishes to withdraw the 
application (and does so before international publication), 
international publication does not take place.
    Under optional Chapter II of the Treaty, an applicant who has filed 
an international application in a RO must file a demand for an 
international preliminary examination of the application by an IPEA, 
such as the USPTO. The filing of a Demand must be filed within a 
prescribed time period. It involves filing a form and paying certain 
fees. A Demand is usually filed with amendments and/or arguments under 
PCT Article 34 addressing objections raised in the WOISA. The 
International preliminary examination is a second evaluation of the 
potential patentability of the claimed invention (usually the claims 
have been amended), using the same standards on which the written 
opinion of the ISA was based. A copy of the examination report is sent 
to the applicant and to the IB. The IB then forwards a copy of the 
examination report to each Office elected by the applicant.
    Form Number(s): (IB = International Bureau; IPEA = International 
Preliminary Examination; RO = Receiving Office; SB = Specimen Book).
     PCT/IB/372 (Notice of Withdrawal)
     PCT/IPEA/401 (Demand and Fee Calculation Sheet)
     PCT/RO/101 (Request and Fee Calculation Sheet)
     PCT/RO/134 (Indications Relating to Deposited 
Microorganism or Other Biological Material)
     PTO-1382 (Transmittal Letter to the United States 
Receiving Office (RO/US))
     PTO-1390 (Transmittal Letter to the United States 
Designated/Elected Office (DO/E.O./US) Concerning a Filing Under 35 
U.S.C. 371)
     PTO/SB/64/PCT (Petition for Revival of an International 
Application for Patent Designating the U.S. Abandoned Unintentionally 
Under 37 CFR 1.137(b))
    Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Affected Public: Private sector; individuals or households.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 420,816 respondents.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 420,816 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses 
in this information collection will take the public between 
approximately 0.25 hours (15 minutes) and 4 hours to complete. This 
includes the time to gather the necessary information, create the 
document, and submit the completed request to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 358,269 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: 
$367,468,923.
    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 0651-0021.
    Further information can be obtained by:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0021 information request'' in the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Justin Isaac, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.

Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2022-22566 Filed 10-17-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P