[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 126 (Monday, July 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42699-42700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14014]



[[Page 42699]]

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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 Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Appeals

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-
0063 Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Appeals. 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 September 1, 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.
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0063 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
     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: Request for additional information 
should be directed to Michael Tierney, Vice Chief Administrative Patent 
Judge, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, United States Patent and 
Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by 
telephone at 571-272-9797; or by email to [email protected]. 
Additional information about this information collection is also 
available at http://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection 
Review.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) is established by 
statute under 35 U.S.C. 6. This statute directs, in relevant part, that 
PTAB shall ``on written appeal of an applicant, review adverse 
decisions of examiners upon applications for patents pursuant to 
section 134(a).'' PTAB has the authority, under 35 U.S.C. 134 and 306 
to decide appeals in applications and ex parte reexamination 
proceedings, and under pre-AIA sections of the Patent Act, i.e., 35 
U.S.C. 134, 135, and 315, to decide appeals in inter partes 
reexamination proceedings and interferences. In addition, 35 U.S.C. 6 
establishes the membership of PTAB as the Director, the Deputy 
Director, the Commissioner for Patents, the Commissioner for 
Trademarks, and the Administrative Patent Judges. Each appeal and 
interference is decided by a merits panel of at least three members of 
the Board.
    The Board's responsibilities under the statute include the review 
of ex parte appeals from adverse decisions of examiners in those 
situations where a written appeal is taken by a dissatisfied applicant 
or patent owner. In inter partes reexamination appeals, PTAB reviews 
examiner's decisions adverse to a patent owner or a third-party 
requester. PTAB's opinions and decisions for publicly available files 
are published on the USPTO website. The Board also conducts 
interference proceedings.
    The items associated with this information collection include 
appeals in applications and ex parte reexamination proceedings, and 
appeals in inter partes reexamination proceedings and interference 
proceedings that are governed by the regulations in 37 CFR part 41. 
Failure to comply with the appropriate regulations may result in 
dismissal of the appeal or denial of entry of the submission.
    This revision and extension of the information collection includes 
a line item to expressly specify certain filings made to the Board 
related to interference proceedings, including statements, motions, 
oppositions, and replies in preliminary and priority phases of an 
interference.

II. Method of Collection

    Items in this information collection may be submitted via mail, 
hand delivery, facsimile, filed as attachments through the USPTO's 
patent electronic filing system, or through the Patent Trial and Appeal 
Board End-to-End System (PTAB E2E), a separate electronic filing 
system.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0651-0063.
    Forms: (AIA = America Invents Act; SB = Specimen Book).
     PTO/AIA/31: (Notice of Appeal from the Examiner to the 
Patent Trial and Appeal Board).
     PTO/SB/31: (Notice of Appeal).
     PTO/AIA/32: (Request for Oral Hearing before the Patent 
Trial and Appeal Board).
     PTO/SB/32: (Request for Oral Hearing before the Patent 
Trial and Appeal Board).
    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 Respondents: 12,529 respondents.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 22,149 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses 
in this information collection will take the public approximately 0.5 
to 120 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: 238,999 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $103,964,565.

                                       Table 1--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Private Sector Respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                     Estimated                               Estimated
                                                       Estimated     Responses per     Estimated      time for     Estimated    Rate \1\      annual
       Item No.                    Item                 annual        respondent        annual        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....................  Notice of Appeal...........          12,312               1          12,312          0.5         6,156       $435      $2,677,860
2....................  Appeal Brief...............         * 6,768               1           6,768           32       216,576        435      94,210,560
3....................  Amendment to Cancel Claims.           * 112               1             112            2           224        435          97,440
4....................  Reply Brief................         * 2,197               1           2,197            5        10,985        435       4,778,475

[[Page 42700]]

 
5....................  Petitions to the Chief                 * 46               1              46            4           184        435          80,040
                        Administrative Patent
                        Judge Under 37 CFR 41.3.
6....................  Request for Oral Hearing...           * 477               1             477          0.5           239        435         103,965
7....................  Request for Rehearing                   207               1             207            5         1,035        435         450,225
                        Before the PTAB.
8....................  Statements, Motions,                     10               3              30          120         3,600        435       1,566,000
                        Oppositions, and Replies
                        in Preliminary and
                        Priority Phases of an
                        Interference.
                                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Totals..................          12,529  ..............          22,149  ...........       238,999  .........     103,964,565
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\1\ 2021 Report of the Economic Survey published by the Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American Intellectual Property Law Association
  (AIPLA); pg. F-27. The USPTO uses the average billing rate for attorneys in private firms which is $435 per hour.
* These lines (2-6) are subsets of the respondents from line 1, and not included in the total for this column. USPTO includes these numbers to show how
  the values in column C are calculated.

    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden: 
$17,185,623. There are no capital start-up, maintenance cost, or 
recordkeeping costs associated with this information collection. 
However, USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) cost burden 
for this information collection, in the form of filing fees 
($17,183,424) and postage ($2,199) is $17,185,623.

Filing Fees

    The 12 filing fees associated with this information collection as 
outlined in the table below:

                                              Table 2--Filing Fees
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                                                                            Estimated
        Item No.            Fee                    Item                      annual      Fee ($)  Total cost ($)
                            code                                            responses
                                                                                    (a)      (b)     (a) x (b) =
                                                                                                             (c)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.......................     1401  Notice of appeal (undiscounted).....           8,737     $840      $7,339,080
1.......................     2401  Notice of appeal (small)............           3,230      336       1,085,280
1.......................     3401  Notice of appeal (micro)............             345      168          57,960
2.......................     1404  Filing a brief in support of an                    1    2,100           2,100
                                    appeal in an inter partes
                                    reexamination proceeding
                                    (undiscounted).
2.......................     2404  Filing a brief in support of an                    1      840             840
                                    appeal in an inter partes
                                    reexamination proceeding (small).
2.......................     3404  Filing a brief in support of an                    1      420             420
                                    appeal in an inter partes
                                    reexamination proceeding (micro).
4.......................     1413  Forwarding an Appeal in an                     3,131    2,360       7,389,160
                                    Application or Ex Parte
                                    Reexamination Proceeding to the
                                    Board (undiscounted).
4.......................     2413  Forwarding an Appeal in an                       797      944         752,368
                                    Application or Ex Parte
                                    Reexamination Proceeding to the
                                    Board (small).
4.......................     3413  Forwarding an Appeal in an                        91      472          42,952
                                    Application or Ex Parte
                                    Reexamination Proceeding to the
                                    Board (micro).
6.......................     1403  Request for oral hearing                         319    1,360         433,840
                                    (undiscounted).
6.......................     2403  Request for oral hearing (small)....             134      544          72,896
6.......................     3403  Request for oral hearing (micro)....              24      272           6,528
                                                                        ----------------------------------------
                                      Totals...........................          16,811  .......      17,183,424
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Postage Costs

    Although the USPTO prefers that the items in this information 
collection be submitted electronically, responses may be submitted by 
mail through the United States Postal Service (USPS). The USPTO 
estimates that 1% of the 22,149 items will be submitted in the mail 
resulting in 221 mailed items. The USPTO estimates that the average 
postage cost for a mailed submission, using a Priority Mail 2-day flat 
rate legal envelope, will be $9.95. Therefore, the USPTO estimates the 
total mailing costs for this information collection at $2,199.

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. 2023-14014 Filed 6-30-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P