[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 231 (Monday, December 4, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84132-84134]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26556]
[[Page 84132]]
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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; Substantive Submissions Made During the Prosecution of the
Trademark Application
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-
0054 Substantive Submissions Made During the Prosecution of the
Trademark Application. 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 February 2, 2024.
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-
0054 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://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 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 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
This collection of information is required by the Trademark Act, 15
U.S.C. 1051 et seq., which provides for the registration of trademarks,
service marks, collective trademarks and collective service marks,
collective membership 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 United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO).
Such individuals and businesses may also submit various
communications to the USPTO, including providing additional information
needed to process a request to delete a particular filing basis from an
application or to divide an application identifying multiple goods and/
or services into two or more separate applications. Applicants may seek
a six-month extension of time to file a statement that the mark is in
use in commerce or submit a petition to revive an application that was
abandoned for failure to submit a timely response to an office action
or a timely statement of use or extension request. In some
circumstances, an applicant may expressly abandon an application by
filing a request for withdrawal of the application.
The rules implementing the Trademark Act are set forth in 37 CFR
part 2. These rules mandate that each register entry include the mark,
the goods and/or services in connection with which the mark is used,
ownership information, dates of use, and certain other information. The
USPTO also provides similar information concerning pending
applications. The register and pending application information may be
accessed by an individual or by businesses to determine the
availability of a mark. By accessing the USPTO's information, parties
may reduce the possibility of initiating use of a mark previously
adopted by another. As a result, the Federal trademark registration
process is intended to reduce unnecessary litigation, and its
accompanying costs and burdens.
The information in this collection is used to process the
substantive submissions made during prosecution of the trademark
application. The submissions 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. The information is accessible online, through the
USPTO website, as well as through various USPTO facilities.
II. Method of Collection
Items in this information collection must be submitted
electronically. In limited circumstances, applicants may be permitted
to submit the information in paper form by mail, fax, or hand delivery.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0651-0054.
Forms:
PTO Form 1553 (Allegation of Use (Statement of Use/Amendment
to Allege Use))
PTO Form 1554 (Request to Divide Application)
PTO Form 1555 (Response to Intent-to-Use/Divisional (ITU/
Divisional) Unit Office Action)
PTO Form 1556 (Response to Petition to Revive Deficiency
Letter)
PTO Form 1557 (Petition to Revive with Request to Delete
Section 1(b) Basis or to Delete ITU Goods/Services/Collective
Membership Organization After NOA)
PTO Form 1581 (Request for Extension of Time to File a
Statement of Use)
PTO Form 2194 (Petition to Revive Abandoned Application--
Failure to Respond Timely to Office Action)
PTO Form 2195 (Petition to Revive Abandoned Application--
Failure to File Timely Statement of Use or Extension Request)
PTO Form 2200 (Request to Delete Section 1(b) Basis, Intent to
Use)
PTO Form 2202 (Request for Express Abandonment (Withdrawal) of
Application)
PTO Form 2301 (Petition to Director)
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: 373,293 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 373,293 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection will take the public approximately
between 30 minutes (0.5 hours) and 70 minutes (1.17 hours) to complete.
This includes the time to gather the necessary information, create the
document, and submit the information to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 265,556 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $118,703,532.
[[Page 84133]]
Table 1--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Private Sector Respondents
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Estimated
Estimated Responses per Estimated Estimated time for Estimated Rate \1\ ($/ annual
Item no. Item annual respondent annual response (hours) burden (hour/ hour) respondent
respondents responses year) burden
................. (a) (b) (a) x (b) = (d)................ (c) x (d) = (f) (e) x (f) =
(c) (e) (g)
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1.............. Allegation of Use 94,729 1 94,729 1 (60 minutes)..... 94,729 $447 $42,343,863
(Statement of
Use/Amendment to
Allege Use).
(PTO Form 1553)..
2.............. Request for 238,839 1 238,839 0.58 (35 minutes).. 138,527 447 61,921,569
Extension of
Time to File a
Statement of Use
(PTO Form 1581).
3.............. Petition to 20,665 1 20,665 1 (60 minutes)..... 20,665 447 9,237,255
Revive Abandoned
Application--Fai
lure to Respond
Timely to Office
Action (PTO Form
2194).
4.............. Petition to 1,067 1 1,067 0.67 (40 minutes).. 715 447 319,605
Revive Abandoned
Application--Fai
lure to File
Timely Statement
of Use or
Extension
Request (PTO
Form 2195).
5.............. Request to Delete 2,188 1 2,188 0.5 (30 minutes)... 1,094 447 489,018
Section 1(b)
Basis, Intent to
Use (PTO Form
2200).
6.............. Request for 9,702 1 9,702 0.5 (30 minutes)... 4,851 447 2,168,397
Express
Abandonment
(Withdrawal) of
Application (PTO
Form 2202).
7.............. Request to Divide 3,223 1 3,223 0.67 (40 minutes).. 2,159 447 965,073
Application (PTO
Form 1554).
8.............. Response to 5 1 5 1.17 (70 minutes).. 6 447 2,682
Intent-to-Use/
Divisional (ITU/
Divisional) Unit
Office Action
(PTO Form 1555).
9.............. Response to 436 1 436 0.83 (50 minutes).. 362 447 161,814
Petition to
Revive
Deficiency
Letter (PTO Form
1556).
10............. Petition to 2,385 1 2,385 1 (60 minutes)..... 2,385 447 1,066,095
Director (PTO
Form 2301).
11............. Petition to 54 1 54 1.17 (70 minutes).. 63 447 28,161
Revive with
Request to
Delete Section
1(b) Basis or to
Delete ITU Goods/
Services/
Collective
Membership
Organization
After NOA (PTO
Form 1557).
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Totals..... ................. 373,293 ............... 373,293 ................... 265,556 .............. 118,703,532
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\1\ 2023 Report of the Economic Survey, published by the Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American Intellectual Property Law Association
(AIPLA); pg. F-41. The USPTO uses the average billing rate for intellectual property work in all firms which is $447 per hour (https://www.aipla.org/home/news-publications/economic-survey).
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden:
$43,517,005. There are no capital start-up, maintenance costs, 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 and postage
is $43,517,005.
Filing Fees
There are fees associated with submitting certain items in this
information collection as outlined in Table 2 below:
Table 2--Filing Fees
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Estimated Estimated non-
Item No. Fee code Item annual Estimated fee hour cost
responses amount burden
(a) (b) (a) x (b) =
(c)
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1.............................................. 6002 Allegation of Use (Statement of Use/ 1 $200 $200
6003 Amendment to Allege Use) (Paper).
1.............................................. 7002 Allegation of Use (Statement of Use/ 94,729 100 9,472,900
7003 Amendment to Allege Use) (Electronic).
[[Page 84134]]
2.............................................. 6004 Request for Extension of Time to File a 1 225 225
Statement of Use (Paper).
2.............................................. 7004 Request for Extension of Time to File a 238,839 125 29,854,875
Statement of Use (Electronic).
3.............................................. 6010 Petition to Revive Abandoned 1 250 250
Application--Failure to Respond Timely
to Office Action (Paper).
3.............................................. 7010 Petition to Revive Abandoned 20,665 150 3,099,750
Application--Failure to Respond Timely
to Office Action (Electronic).
4.............................................. 6010 Petition to Revive Abandoned 1 250 250
Application--Failure to File Timely
Statement of Use or Extension Request
(Paper).
4.............................................. 7010 Petition to Revive Abandoned 1,067 150 160,050
Application--Failure to File Timely
Statement of Use or Extension Request
(Electronic).
7.............................................. 6006 Request to Divide Application (Paper).. 1 200 200
7.............................................. 7006 Request to Divide Application 3,223 100 322,300
(Electronic).
10............................................. 6005 Petition to Director (Paper)........... 1 350 350
10............................................. 7005 Petition to Director (Electronic)...... 2,385 250 596,250
11............................................. 6010 Petition to Revive with Request to 1 250 250
Delete Section 1(b) Basis or to Delete
ITU Goods/Services/Collective
Membership Organization After NOA
(Paper).
11............................................. 7010 Petition to Revive with Request to 54 150 8,100
Delete Section 1(b) Basis or to Delete
ITU Goods/Services/Collective
Membership Organization After NOA
(Electronic).
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Totals................................. .............. .............. 43,515,950
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Postage
Although the USPTO requires that the items in this information
collection be submitted electronically, in certain circumstances,
respondents may be permitted to submit responses by mail through the
United States Postal Service (USPS). The USPTO estimates that the
average postage cost for a mailed submission, using a Priority Mail
legal flat rate envelope, will be $9.95. The USPTO estimates
approximately 106 submissions per year may be mailed to the USPTO, for
an estimated total postage cost of $1,055 per year.
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. 2023-26556 Filed 12-1-23; 8:45 am]
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