[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14353-14354]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04759]


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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; Native American Tribal Insignia Database

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-
0048 Native American Tribal Insignia Database. 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 May 8, 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.
     Federal Rulemaking Portal: https://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 Catherine Cain, Attorney Advisor, United States 
Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; 
by telephone at 571-272-8946; or by email at [email protected] 
with ``0651-0048 comment'' in the subject line. Additional information 
about this information collection is also available at https://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection Review.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The Trademark Law Treaty Implementation Act of 1998 \1\ (Pub. L. 
105-330, section 302, 112 Stat. 3071) required the USPTO to study 
issues surrounding the protection of the official insignia of federally 
and state-recognized Native American tribes under trademark law. The 
USPTO conducted the study and presented a report to the House and 
Senate Judiciary Committees on November 30, 1999. One of the 
recommendations made in the report was that the USPTO create and 
maintain an accurate and comprehensive database containing the official 
insignia of all federally and state-recognized Native American tribes. 
In accordance with this recommendation, the Senate Committee on 
Appropriations directed the USPTO to create this database. The USPTO 
published the final procedures for establishing and maintaining the 
tribal insignia database in the Federal Register on August 24, 2001 (66 
FR 44603).\2\
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    \1\ https://www.uspto.gov/trademark/laws-regulations/trademark-law-treaty-implementation-act.
    \2\ https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2001/08/24/01-21479/establishment-of-a-database-containing-the-official-insignia-of-federally-and-state-recognized.
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    The USPTO database of official tribal insignias provides evidence 
of what a federally or state-recognized Native American tribe considers 
to be its official insignia. Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act, 15 
U.S.C. 1052(a), disallows the registration of marks that falsely 
suggest a connection with a non-sponsoring person or institution, 
including a Native American tribe. The database thereby assists 
trademark examining attorneys in their examination of applications for 
trademark registration by serving as a reference for determining the 
registrability of a mark that may falsely suggest a connection to the 
official insignia of a Native American tribe. The database, included 
within Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS),\3\ is available to 
the public on the USPTO website, and includes an online help program 
for using the system. More information about the program is available 
on the website at https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/laws/native-american-tribal-insignia.
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    \3\ https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/search-trademark-database.
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    Tribes are not required to request that their official insignia be 
included in the database. The entry of an official insignia into the 
database does not confer any rights to the tribe that submitted the 
insignia, and entry is not the legal equivalent of registering the 
insignia as a trademark under 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq. The inclusion of 
an official tribal insignia in the database does not create any legal 
presumption of validity or priority, does not carry any of the benefits 
of federal trademark registration, and is not a determination as to 
whether a particular insignia would be allowed or refused registration 
as a trademark pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.
    Requests from federally recognized tribes to enter an official 
insignia into the database must be submitted in writing and include: 
(1) a depiction of the insignia, including the name of the tribe and 
the address for correspondence; (2) a copy of the tribal resolution 
adopting the insignia in question as the official insignia of the 
tribe; and (3) a statement, signed by an official with authority to 
bind the tribe, confirming that the insignia included with the request 
is identical to the official insignia adopted by the tribal resolution.
    Requests from state-recognized tribes must also be in writing and 
include each of the three items described above that are submitted by 
federally recognized tribes. Additionally, requests from state-
recognized tribes must include either: (a) a document issued by a state 
official that evidences the state's determination that the entity is a 
Native American tribe; or (b) a citation to a state statute designating 
the entity as a Native American tribe.
    The USPTO enters insignia that have been properly submitted by 
federally or state-recognized Native American tribes into the database 
and does not

[[Page 14354]]

investigate whether the insignia is actually the official insignia of 
the tribe making the request.
    This information collection includes the information needed by the 
USPTO to enter an official insignia for a federally or state-recognized 
Native American tribe into a database of such insignia. No forms are 
associated with this information collection.

II. Method of Collection

    Electronically by email, mail, or hand delivery to the USPTO.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0651-0048.
    Forms: None.
    Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal Government.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 5 respondents.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 5 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses 
in this information collection will take the respondents approximately 
1 hour to complete, depending on the complexity of the situation and 
item, to gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate 
document(s), and submit the information to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 5 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $301.

                                      Table 1--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Tribal Government Respondents
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                                                                                                                                             Estimated
                                             Estimated     Responses per     Estimated    Estimated time     Estimated     Rate \4\ ($/       annual
     Item No.               Item              annual        respondent        annual       per response    burden (hour/       hour)        respondent
                                            respondents                      responses        (hours)          year)                        cost burden
                                                     (a)             (b)     (a) x (b) =             (d)     (c) x (d) =             (f)     (e) x (f) =
                                                                                     (c)                             (e)                             (g)
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1.................  Request to Record an               4               1               4               1               4          $60.13            $241
                     Official Insignia
                     of a Federally
                     Recognized Tribe.
2.................  Request to Record an               1               1               1               1               1           60.13              60
                     Official Insignia
                     of a State-
                     Recognized Tribe.
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    Totals........  ....................               5  ..............               5  ..............               5  ..............             301
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    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden: $19. 
There are no maintenance costs, capital start-up costs, record keeping 
costs, or filing fees 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 postage, is $19.
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    \4\ Bureau of Labor Statistic rate for lawyers in local 
government (23-1011--Lawyers), plus 30% added for beenfits and 
overhead (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes230000.htm).
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Postage

    The USPTO estimates that 40% of the items in this information 
collection will be submitted in the mail. The USPTO estimates that the 
average postage cost for a mailed submission, using a Priority Mail 2-
day flat rate legal envelope, will be $9.35 and that approximately 2 
submissions will be mailed to the USPTO per year. Therefore, the USPTO 
estimates that postage costs in this collection will be $19.

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 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. The 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, the 
USPTO cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.

Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-04759 Filed 3-7-23; 8:45 am]
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