[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 107 (Monday, June 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36541-36543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11889]


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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; Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) Actions

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-
0040 (Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) Actions). 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 August 4, 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: http://www.regulations.gov.
     Mail: Justin Isaac, Information Collection Officer, 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 LaToya Brown, United States Patent and Trademark 
Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-
272-4283; or by email to [email protected] with ``0651-0040 
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 USPTO administers the Trademark Act of 1946, 15 U.S.C. 1051 et 
seq., as amended, which provides for the Federal registration of 
trademarks, service marks, collective marks and certification marks. 
Individuals and businesses that use or intend to use such marks in 
commerce may file an application to register their marks with the 
USPTO.
    Section 13 of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. 1063, allows individuals 
and entities who believe that they would be damaged by the registration 
of a mark to file an opposition, or an extension of time to file an 
opposition, to the registration of the mark. Section 14 of the 
Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. 1064, allows individuals and entities to file 
a petition to cancel a registration of a mark. Section 20 of the 
Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. 1070, allows individuals and entities to 
appeal any final decision of the examiner in charge of the registration 
of marks or a final decision by an examiner in an ex parte expungement 
proceeding or ex parte reexamination proceeding.
    The USPTO administers certain provisions of the Trademark Act of 
1946 through the regulations at 37 CFR part 2, which contains the 
various rules that govern the filings identified above and other 
submissions filed in connection with inter partes and ex parte 
proceedings. These petitions, notices, extensions, and additional 
papers are filed with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), an 
administrative tribunal empowered to determine the right to register 
and subsequently determine the validity of a trademark. The information 
in this collection must be submitted electronically through the TTAB's 
electronic filing system. If applicants or entities wish to submit the 
petitions, notices, extensions, and additional papers in inter partes 
and ex parte cases, they may use the forms provided through the TTAB's 
electronic filing system.
    This information collection includes the items needed for 
individuals or entities to file inter partes and ex parte proceedings 
regarding federal registration of their trademarks or service marks. 
Information is collected in view of the provisions of the Trademark Act 
of 1946. The responses in this information collection are a matter of 
public record, and are used by the public for a variety of private 
business purposes related to establishing and enforcing trademark 
rights. This information is important to the public, as both common law 
trademark owners and federal trademark registrants must actively 
protect their own rights.

II. Method of Collection

    Items in this information collection must be submitted through the 
TTAB's electronic filing system. However, in certain circumstances, 
information may be submitted in paper form by mail or hand delivery.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0651-0040.
    Forms:

 PTO 2120 (Notice of Opposition)
 PTO 2151 (Papers in Inter Partes Cases)
 PTO 2153 (Request for Extension of Time to File an Opposition)
 PTO 2188 (Petition for Cancellation)
 PTO 2189 (Ex Parte Appeal General Filing)
 PTO 2190 (Notice of Appeal)

    Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Affected Public: Private sector.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 41,300 respondents.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 76,650 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 
the public from 10 minutes (0.17 hours) to

[[Page 36542]]

21 hours to complete, depending on the complexity of the situation and 
item, to gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate 
documents, and submit them to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 1,038,747 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $303,314,124.

                                       Table 1--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Private Sector Respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                         Estimated                            Estimated
                                                            Estimated        Estimated      Estimated    time for     Estimated   Rate \1\     annual
       Item No.                       Item                    annual       responses per     annual      response   burden (hour/ ($/hour)   respondent
                                                           respondents      respondent      responses     (hours)       year)                cost burden
                                                                     (a)             (b)   (a) x (b) =         (d)   (c) x (d) =       (f)   (e) x (f) =
                                                                                                   (c)                       (e)                     (g)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.....................  Petition to Cancel.............            2,300               1         2,300          18        41,400      $292   $12,088,800
                        PTO-2188.......................
2.....................  Notice of Opposition...........            6,800               1         6,800          18       122,400       292    35,740,800
                        PTO-2120.......................
3.....................  Request for Extension of Time             10,000            1.75        17,500         0.3         5,250       292     1,533,000
                         to File an Opposition.
                        PTO-2153.......................
4.....................  Submissions in Inter Partes               18,200            2.25        40,950          21       859,950       292   251,105,400
                         Cases.
                            Answers............
                            Amendments to
                            Pleadings.
                            Amendment of
                            Application or Registration
                            During Proceeding.
                            Motions (such as
                            consent motions, motions to
                            extend, motions to suspend,
                            etc.).
                            Evidence...........
                            Briefs.............
                            Oral hearing
                            requests.
                            Surrender of
                            Registration.
                            Abandonment of
                            Application.
                            Documents Related
                            to Concurrent Use
                            Applications.
                            Notice of Intent to
                            Appeal a TTAB decision.
                        PTO-2151.......................
5.....................  Notice of Appeal...............            3,400               1         3,400        1.20         4,080       292     1,191,360
                        PTO-2190.......................
6.....................  Appeal Briefs..................              600               1           600           8         4,800       292     1,401,600
                        PTO-2189.......................
7.....................  Miscellaneous Ex Parte            Same as line 5            1.50         5,100        0.17           867       292       253,164
                         Submissions.
                            Requests to extend
                            time to file Appeal Briefs.
                            Oral hearing
                            requests.
                        PTO-2189.......................
                                                        ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Totals........................           41,300  ..............        76,650  ..........     1,038,747  ........   303,314,124
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The hourly rate for attorneys is $435, published in the 2021 Report of the Economic Survey from the Law Practice Management Committee of the
  American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). The hourly rate for paraprofessional/paralegals is $149 as published in the 2020 Utilization
  and Compensation Survey by the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA). After calculating the average of these rates, the USPTO estimates that
  the hourly rate will be $292.

    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden: 
$9,080,047.
    There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or record keeping 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 ($9,079,500) and 
postage ($547) is $9,080,047.

Filing Fees

    The 15 filing fees associated with this information collection are 
listed in the table below.

                                              Table 2--Filing Fees
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Estimated                    Total non-hour
       Item No.           Fee code                Item                annual      Filing fee ($)    cost burden
                                                                     responses                          ($)
                                                                             (a)             (b)     (a) x (b) =
                                                                                                             (c)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1....................            6401  Petition to Cancel (Paper               5            $700          $3,500
                                        Submission).
1....................            7401  Petition to Cancel.......           2,295             600       1,377,000
2....................            6402  Notice of Opposition                   20             700          14,000
                                        (Paper Submission).
2....................            7402  Notice of Opposition.....           6,780             600       4,068,000
3....................            6405  Request for Extension of                5             500           2,500
                                        Time to File an
                                        Opposition under Sec.
                                        2.102(c)(3) (Paper
                                        Submission).
3....................            7405  Request for Extension of            2,400             400         960,000
                                        Time to File an
                                        Opposition under Sec.
                                        2.102(c)(3).
3....................            6404  Request for Extension of                5             400           2,000
                                        Time to File an
                                        Opposition under Sec.
                                        2.102(c)(1)(ii) or
                                        (c)(2) (Paper
                                        Submission).

[[Page 36543]]

 
3....................            7404  Request for Extension of            8,345             200       1,669,000
                                        Time to File an
                                        Opposition under Sec.
                                        2.102(c)(1)(ii) or
                                        (c)(2).
5....................            6403  Ex Parte Appeal to the                 10             325           3,250
                                        Trademark Trial and
                                        Appeal Board Filed
                                        (Paper Submission).
5....................            7403  Ex Parte Appeal to the              3,390             225         762,750
                                        Trademark Trial and
                                        Appeal Board.
6....................            6406  Brief in an Ex Parte                    5             300           1,500
                                        Appeal to the Board, per
                                        Class (Paper Submission).
6....................            7406  Electronic Brief in an Ex             595             200         119,000
                                        Parte Appeal to the
                                        Board, per Class.
7....................            6407  Second or Subsequent                    5             200           1,000
                                        Request for an Extension
                                        of Time to File an
                                        Appeal Brief, per
                                        Application (Paper
                                        Submission).
7....................            7407  Electronic Second or                  335             100          33,500
                                        Subsequent Request for
                                        an Extension of Time to
                                        File an Appeal Brief,
                                        per Application.
7....................            7408  Request for an Oral                   125             500          62,500
                                        Hearing.
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total............  ..............  .........................          24,320  ..............       9,079,500
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Postage Costs

    Express or first-class mail through the United States Postal 
Service or hand delivery to the TTAB is only available under 
extraordinary circumstances. The USPTO estimates that the average 
postage cost for a mailed submission, using a Priority Mail flat rate 
legal envelope, will be $9.95 and that approximately 55 submissions 
will be mailed to the USPTO per year. Therefore, the USPTO estimates 
that postage costs in this information collection will be $547.

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. 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 Administrative 
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-11889 Filed 6-2-23; 8:45 am]
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