[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 227 (Monday, November 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Page 72965]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25865]



[[Page 72965]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; 
NIST Invention Disclosure and Inventor Information Collection

    The Department of Commerce 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. We invite the 
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and 
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of 
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on August 31, 2022, during a 60-day comment period. 
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
    Title: NIST Invention Disclosure and Inventor Information 
Collection.
    OMB Control Number: 0693-0085.
    Form Number(s): NIST DN-45.
    Type of Request: Regular submission, extension of a current 
information collection.
    Number of Respondents:
    Invention Disclosure Form: 10 per year.
    Inventor Information Form: 100 per year.
    Average Hours per Response:
    Invention Disclosure Form: 3 hours.
    Inventor Information Form: 30 minutes.
    Burden Hours:
    Invention Disclosure Form: 30 hours.
    Inventor Information Form: 50 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The NIST DN-45 Invention Disclosure Form is used to 
collect information pertaining to inventions created by Federal 
employees or by non-Federally employed individuals who have created an 
invention using NIST laboratory facilities as NIST Associates. The 
collection of this information is required to protect the United States 
rights to inventions created using Federal resources. The information 
collected on the form allows the Government to determine: (1) if an 
invention has been created; (2) the status of any statutory bar that 
pertains to the potential invention or that may pertain to the 
invention in the future. The information collected may allow the 
Government to begin a patent application process.
    The Inventor Information Sheet is used to collect from individuals 
who have been named as potential inventors on a NIST Invention 
Disclosure Form. The collection of this information is used for 
multiple purposes:
    (1) Some of the information may be required to file a patent 
application, if NIST seeks to protect a federally owned invention, 
pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 207.
    (2) The form, in part, is a statement made by the respondent 
declaring whether the respondent considers herself/himself to be an 
inventor.
    (3) Some of the information is needed for NIST to determine 
potential assignees with which NIST would potentially negotiate 
consolidation of rights and other patent related matters.
    (4) Some of the information helps NIST determine under which 
statutory authority NIST may consolidate rights in an invention with 
other potential assignees.
    (5) Country citizenship information is required to determine 
whether a Scientific and Technology agreement or treaty with the 
respondent's country may impact the U.S. Government's rights to the 
invention.
    The information is collected by the Technology Partnerships Office 
and shared with the Office of Chief Counsel at NIST. The information 
may also be shared with non-Governmental entities that may have 
ownership rights to the potential invention. The Government collects 
this information to execute the policy and objective of the Congress 
expressed at 35 U.S.C. 200. 35 U.S.C. 207 authorizes Federal agencies 
to apply for, obtain, and maintain patents or other forms of protection 
on inventions in which the Federal Government owns a right, title, or 
interest. 35 U.S.C. 207 also authorizes each Federal agency to 
undertake all other suitable and necessary steps to protect and 
administer rights to federally owned inventions on behalf of the 
Federal government.
    The information collected through the NIST DN-45 is necessary for 
NIST to execute the authority granted at 35 U.S.C. 207.
    Affected Public: Individuals.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of 
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 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 collection or the OMB 
Control Number 0693-0085.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2022-25865 Filed 11-25-22; 8:45 am]
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