[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 19 (Monday, January 30, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5862-5863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-01749]


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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 and PTAB Pro Bono Programs

    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 August 30, 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 and PTAB Pro Bono Programs.
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0082.
    Needs and Uses: The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), Public 
Law 112-29 Sec.  32 (2011) directs the USPTO to work with and support 
intellectual property law associations across the country in the 
establishment of pro bono programs designed to assist financially 
under-resourced independent inventors and small

[[Page 5863]]

businesses. To support this, the USPTO--in collaboration with various 
non-profit organizations--implemented the Patent Pro Bono program; a 
series of autonomous regional programs that act as matchmakers to help 
connect low-income inventors with volunteer patent attorneys across the 
United States. The Patent Pro Bono program comprises a network of 
regional programs organized by various bar associations, law school IP 
clinics, and lawyer referral services that provide services across all 
fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
    In 2022, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) began 
coordinating pro bono opportunities through the newly created PTAB Pro 
Bono Program, having supported the establishment of a national 
clearinghouse that acts as a matchmaker to connect under-resourced 
inventors with volunteer patent practitioners across the United States 
for assistance in preparing and arguing ex parte appeals before the 
PTAB. The PTAB Bar Association's national clearinghouse provides access 
to legal representation for pro bono ex parte appeal services across 
all fifty states and the District of Columbia.
    Each pro bono program will be requesting that their respective 
regional programs and a national clearinghouse collect demographic 
information from those seeking assistance that will be self-identified 
by the applicant. The requested standardized demographic information, 
collected through Applicant Intake Forms, will be a voluntary part of 
the overall application materials that each independent inventor fills 
out when seeking pro bono assistance. The information collected will be 
kept confidential by the regional programs and the national 
clearinghouse and only aggregate information is shared with the USPTO. 
This aggregate information, will also be used to help determine the 
extent to which women, minorities, and veterans engage the Pro Bono 
Programs supported by USPTO.
    This renewal of 0651-0082 broadens the scope of the information 
collection to include the PTAB Pro Bono Program, in addition to the 
Patent Pro Bono Program that was covered under this collection. The 
name of the information collection has been adjusted from ``Pro Bono 
Survey'' to ``Patent and PTAB Pro Bono Programs'' in order to include 
related programs under this single information collection. This 
information collection includes an instrument capturing data for the 
Patent Pro Bono program (Patent Pro Bono Survey) and its applicant 
participations (Patent Applicant Intake Form). The information 
collection also has a similar instrument that covers the collection of 
data for the PTAB program (PTAB Pro Bono Survey) and the applicants 
requesting to participate in that PTAB offering (PTAB Applicant Intake 
Form).
    Form Number(s):

 USPTO/550 (Patent Pro Bono Survey)
 USPTO/551 (Patent Applicant Intake Form)
 USPTO/552 (PTAB Pro Bono Survey)
 USPTO/553 (PTAB Applicant Intake Form)

    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: 1,763 respondents.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 1,832 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 2 hours to complete. This 
includes the time to gather the necessary information, fill out the 
item, and submit the completed request to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 332 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $1,333.
    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 0651-0082.
    Further information can be obtained by:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0082 information request'' in the subject line of the message.
     Postal 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. 2023-01749 Filed 1-27-23; 8:45 am]
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