[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 221 (Thursday, November 17, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69011-69013]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25000]


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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 Law Treaty

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

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as 
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on 
the extension and revision of an existing information collection: 0651-
0073 Patent Law Treaty. The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days 
for public comment preceding submission of the information collection 
to OMB.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this information 
collection must be received on or before January 17, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
any of the following methods. Do not submit Confidential Business 
Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0073 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
     Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
     Mail: Justin Isaac, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Parikha Mehta, Senior Legal Advisor, United 
States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 
22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-3248; or by email at 
[email protected] with ``0651-0073 comment'' in the subject line. 
Additional information about this information collection is also 
available at http://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection 
Review.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 (PLTIA) 
implements the provisions of the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) in title II. 
PLT Article 13 provides for the restoration of the right of priority 
where there is a failure to timely claim priority to the prior 
application, and also where there is a failure to file the subsequent 
application within 12 months of the filing date of the priority 
application.
    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rules of 
practice are consistent with the PLT and title II of the PLTIA. Section 
201(c) of the PLTIA amended 35 U.S.C. 119 to provide that the 12 month 
periods set forth in 35 U.S.C. 119(a) and (e) may be extended by an 
additional 2 months if the delay in filing an application claiming 
priority to a foreign application or the benefit of a provisional 
application within that 12-month period was unintentional.
    The information in this information collection is necessary so that 
patent applicants and/or patentees may seek restoration of the right of 
priority to a prior-filed foreign application or of the right to the 
benefit of a prior-filed provisional application. The USPTO will use 
the petition to restore the right of priority to a prior filed foreign 
application or the right to the benefit of a prior-filed provisional 
application to determine whether the applicant has satisfied the 
conditions of the applicable statute (35 U.S.C. 119) and regulation (37 
CFR 1.55(c) or 1.78(b)).

II. Method of Collection

    Electronically via the USPTO's patent electronic filing system, by 
mail or hand delivery to the USPTO.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0651-0073.
    Forms: (SB = Specimen Book).
     PTO/SB/459 (Petition to Restore the Right of Priority 
under 37 CFR 1.55(c) or Petition to Restore the Benefit of a Prior-
Filed Provisional Application under 37 CFR 1.78(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.
    Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 800 respondents.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 800 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses 
in this information collection will take the public approximately 1 
hour to complete. This includes the time to gather the necessary 
information, create the document, and submit the completed item to the 
USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 800 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $348,000.

[[Page 69012]]



                                       Table 1--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Private Sector Respondents
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                                       Estimated                                       Estimated time                                   Estimated annual
   Item No.            Item             annual       Responses per   Estimated annual   for response    Estimated burden  Rate \1\ ($/  respondent cost
                                      respondents     respondent        responses          (hours)        (hour/year)        hour)           burden
               ...................             (a)             (b)    (a) x (b) = (c)             (d)    (c) x (d) = (e)          (f)    (e) x (f) = (g)
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1............  Petition to Restore
                the Right of
                Priority under 37
                CFR 1.55(c)
               Or
               Petition to Restore             780               1                780               1                780         $435           $339,300
                the Benefit of a
                Prior-Filed
                Provisional
                Application under
                37 CFR 1.78(b).
               PTO/SB/459
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                  Totals..........             780  ..............                780  ..............                780  ...........            339,300
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                                  Table 2--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Individuals or Households Respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Estimated                                       Estimated time                                   Estimated annual
   Item No.            Item             annual       Responses per   Estimated annual   for response    Estimated burden  Rate \2\ ($/  respondent cost
                                      respondents     respondent        responses          (hours)        (hour/year)        hour)           burden
               ...................             (a)             (b)    (a) x (b) = (c)             (d)    (c) x (d) = (e)          (f)    (e) x (f) = (g)
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1............  Petition to Restore
                the Right of
                Priority under 37
                CFR 1.55(c)
               Or
               Petition to Restore              20               1                 20               1                 20         $435             $8,700
                the Benefit of a
                Prior-Filed
                Provisional
                Application under
                37 CFR 1.78(b).
               PTO/SB/459
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                  Totals..........              20  ..............                 20  ..............                 20  ...........              8,700
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    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden: 
$1,464,824.
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    \1\ 2021 Report of the Economic Survey, published by the 
Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American 
Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA); pg. F-27. The USPTO 
uses the average billing rate for intellectual property attorneys in 
private firms which is $435 per hour. (https://www.aipla.org/home/news-publications/economic-survey).
    \2\ Ibid.
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    There are no maintenance costs, capital start-up costs, or 
recordkeeping costs associated with this information collection. 
However, the USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) cost 
burden for this information collection, in the form of filing fees and 
postage, is $1,464,824.

Filing Fees

    The items with filing fees are listed in the table below.

                                              Table 3--Filing Fees
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                                                                  Estimated
         Item No.           Information collection instrument      annual          Amount            Totals
                                                                  responses
                            .................................             (a)             (b)    (a) x (b) = (c)
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1.........................  Grantable Petition to Restore the             310          $2,100           $651,000
                             Right of Priority under 37 CFR
                             1.55(c) (undiscounted entity).
1.........................  Grantable Petition to Restore the              65           1,050             68,250
                             Right of Priority under 37 CFR
                             1.55(c) (small entity).
1.........................  Grantable Petition to Restore the              25             525             13,125
                             Right of Priority under 37 CFR
                             1.55(c) (micro entity).
1.........................  Grantable Petition to Restore the             310           2,100            651,000
                             Benefit of a Prior-Filed
                             Provisional Application under 37
                             CFR 1.78(b) (undiscounted
                             entity).
1.........................  Grantable Petition to Restore the              65           1,050             68,250
                             Benefit of a Prior-Filed
                             Provisional Application under 37
                             CFR 1.78(b) (small entity).
1.........................  Grantable Petition to Restore the              25             525             13,125
                             Benefit of a Prior-Filed
                             Provisional Application under 37
                             CFR 1.78(b) (micro entity)..
                                                              --------------------------------------------------
                               Total Fees....................  ..............  ..............          1,464,750
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Postage

    Customers may incur postage costs when submitting some of the items 
covered by this information collection to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO 
estimates that the average postage cost for a paper submission will be 
$9.25 (USPS Priority Mail flat rate envelope) and that approximately 8 
submissions will be mailed to the USPTO per year, for a total of $74.

IV. Request for Comments

    The USPTO is soliciting public comments to:
    (a) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the

[[Page 69013]]

Agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;
    (b) Evaluate the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of 
the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    (c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    (d) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.
    All comments submitted in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. USPTO will include or summarize each comment in the 
request to OMB to approve this information collection. Before including 
an address, phone number, email address, or other personally 
identifiable information (PII) in a comment, be aware that the entire 
comment-- including PII--may be made publicly available at any time. 
While you may ask in your comment to withhold PII from public view, 
USPTO cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.

Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Adminstrative 
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2022-25000 Filed 11-16-22; 8:45 am]
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