[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 224 (Tuesday, November 22, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71306-71307]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25381]


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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; Legal Processes

    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 September 16, 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: Legal Processes.
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0046.
    Needs and Uses: This collection covers information requirements 
related to civil actions and claims involving current and former 
employees of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The 
rules for these legal processes may be found under 37 CFR part 104, 
which outlines procedures for service of process, demands for employee 
testimony and production of documents in legal

[[Page 71307]]

proceedings, reports of unauthorized testimony, employee 
indemnification, and filing claims against the USPTO under the Federal 
Tort Claims Act (28 U.S.C. 2672) and the corresponding Department of 
Justice regulations (28 CFR part 14). The public may also petition the 
USPTO Office of General Counsel under 37 CFR 104.3 to waive or suspend 
these rules in extraordinary cases.
    The procedures under 37 CFR part 104 ensure that service of process 
intended for current and former employees of the USPTO is handled 
properly. The USPTO will only accept service of process for an employee 
acting in an official capacity. This collection is necessary so that 
respondents or their representatives can serve a summons or complaint 
on the USPTO, demand employee testimony and documents related to a 
legal proceeding, or file a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act. 
Respondents may also petition the USPTO to waive or suspend these rules 
for legal processes. This collection is also necessary so that current 
and former USPTO employees may properly forward service and demands to 
the Office of General Counsel, report unauthorized testimony, and 
request indemnification. The USPTO covers current employees as 
respondents under this information collection even though their 
responses do not require approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act. In 
those instances where both current and former employees may respond to 
the USPTO, the agency estimates that the number of respondents will be 
small.
    There are no forms provided by the USPTO for this collection. For 
filing claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the public may use 
Standard Form 95 ``Claim for Damage, Injury, or Death,'' which is 
provided by the Department of Justice and approved by OMB under OMB 
Control Number 1105-0008.
    Form Number(s):
     Standard Form 95 (Claim for Damage, Injury, or Death).
    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: 309 respondents.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 309 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses 
in this information collection will take the public between 
approximately 5 minutes (0.08 hours) and 6 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: 133 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $4,569.
    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 0651-0046.
    Further information can be obtained by:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0046 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. 2022-25381 Filed 11-21-22; 8:45 am]
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