[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 19, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87754-87758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27844]
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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; International Design Applications (Hague Agreement)
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-
0075 International Design Applications (Hague Agreement). 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 20, 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-
0075 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 Rafael Bacares, Senior Legal Advisor, Office of
Patent Legal Administration, United States Patent and Trademark Office,
P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-3276;
or by email at [email protected] with ``0651-0075 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 Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 \1\ (PLTIA)
amends the patent laws to implement the provisions of the Geneva Act of
the Hague Agreement Concerning International Registration of Industrial
Designs (hereinafter ``Hague Agreement'') in title 1, and the Patent
Law Treaty \2\ (PLT) in title 2. The Hague Agreement is an
international agreement that enables an applicant to file a single
international design application which may have the effect of an
application for protection for the design(s) in countries and/or
intergovernmental organizations that are Parties to the Hague Agreement
(the ``Contracting Parties'') designated in the applications. The
United States is a Contracting Party to the Hague Agreement, which took
effect with respect to the United States on May 13, 2015. The Hague
Agreement is administrated by the International Bureau (IB) of the
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) located in Geneva,
Switzerland.
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\1\ https://www.congress.gov/112/plaws/publ211/PLAW-112publ211.pdf.
\2\ https://wipolex.wipo.int/en/text/288773.
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Under the Hague Agreement, U.S. applicants can file international
design applications in English ``indirectly'' through the United States
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which will forward the
applications to the IB or ``directly'' with the IB. An international
design application is subject to the payment of three types of fees:
(1) a basic fee, (2) a publication fee, and (3) in respect of each
Contracting Party where protection is sought, either in a standard or
an individual designation fee. All applications are subject to a three-
level structure of standard fees, which reflects the level of
examination carried out by the Office of a Contracting Party. Also, an
additional fee is required where the application contains a description
that exceeds 100 words. In addition, a transmittal fee is required for
international design applications filed through an office of indirect
filing. Thus, international design applications filed through the USPTO
as an Office of indirect filing are subject to payment of a transmittal
fee for processing and forwarding the international design applications
to the IB. The fees required by the IB may be paid either directly to
the IB or through the USPTO as an office of indirect filing
[[Page 87755]]
in the amounts specified on the World Intellectual Property
Organization website. If applicants want to pay the required fees
through USPTO as an office of indirect filing, the fees must be paid no
later than the date of payment of the transmittal fee. The fees will
then be forwarded to the IB. The industrial design or designs will be
eligible for protection in all the Contracting Parties designated by
applicants.
The IB ascertains whether the international design application
complies with formal requirements, registers the international design
to the international register, and publishes the international
registration in the International Designs Bulletin. The international
registration contains all of the data of the international application,
any reproduction of the international design, date of the international
registration, number of the international registration, and the
relevant class of the International Classification.
The IB will provide a copy of the publication of the international
registration to each Contracting party designated by the application. A
designated Contracting Party may perform a substantive examination of
the design application. The USPTO will perform a substantive
examination for patentability of the international design application,
as in the case of regular U.S. design applications.
This information collection covers all the necessary information
required for a international design application that is filed through
the USPTO as an Office of indirect filing and those filed directly
through the IB. The information in this collection is used to register
a design patent under the provisions of the Hague Agreement. The
majority of the items are WIPO forms managed by the IB, but this
information collection also includes two forms maintained by the USPTO.
II. Method of Collection
The items in this information collection can either be submitted
electronically through the USPTO patents electronic filing system or
mailed to the USPTO.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0651-0075.
Forms: WIPO DM = WIPO Dessins et Modeles (design representations);
PTOL = Patent Trademark Office Legal
PTO-1595: (Recordation Form Cover Sheet)
PTOL-85 Part B (Hague): Fee(s) Transmittal
WIPO DM/1 (E): Application for International Registration
WIPO DM/1/I (E): (Annex I: Oath or Declaration of the Creator
under Rule 8(1)(a)(ii) of the Common Regulations)
WIPO DM/1/III (E): (Annex III: Information On Eligibility For
Protection under Rule 7(5)(g) and Section 408(d) of the Administrative
Instructions)
WIPO DM/1/IV (E): (Annex IV: Reduction of United States
Individual Designation Fee under Section 408(b) of the Administrative
Instructions)
WIPO DM/1/V (E): (Annex V: Supporting Document(s) Concerning
Priority Claim under Article 4 of the Paris Convention--Korean
Intellectual Property Office (KIPO))
WIPO DM/7 (E): Appointment of a Representative
Two forms listed above have received OMB approval and clearance
through other USPTO information collections. While these forms are used
by this information collection, they are routinely approved as part of
the other information collections. These forms are:
PTO-1595--approved through USPTO information collection
0651-0027 (Recording Assignments).
PTOL-85 Part B (Hague)--approved through USPTO information
collection 0651-0033 (Post Allowance and Refiling).
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: 1,231 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 1,231 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection will take the public approximately
between 15 minutes (0.25 hours) and 6 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: 2,052 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $917,244.
Table 1--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Private Sector Respondents
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Estimated
Estimated Responses per Estimated Estimated time Estimated Rate \3\ ($/ annual
Item No. Item annual respondent annual for 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................... Application for 155 1 155 6............... 930 $447 $415,710
International
Registration
(WIPO DM/1 (E)
and PTO-1595).
2................... Claim and 155 1 155 4............... 620 447 277,140
Reproductions
(Drawings).
3................... Transmittal 5 1 5 2............... 10 447 4,470
Letter.
4................... Appointment of a 62 1 62 0.25 (15 16 447 7,152
Representative minutes).
(WIPO DM/7)
filed
indirectly
through the
USPTO.
5................... Petition to 3 1 3 4............... 12 447 5,364
Excuse a
Failure to
Comply with a
Time Limit.
6................... Petition to 3 1 3 4............... 12 447 5,364
Convert to a
Design
Application
under 35 U.S.C.
Chapter 16.
7................... Petition to 3 1 3 4............... 12 447 5,364
Review a Filing
Date.
8................... Fee 11 1 11 0.25 (15 3 447 1,341
Authorization. minutes).
[[Page 87756]]
9................... Petitions to the 5 1 5 4............... 20 447 8,940
Commissioner.
10.................. Oath or 31 1 31 0.50 (30 16 447 7,152
Declaration of minutes).
the Creator
under Rule
8(1)(a)(ii) of
the Common
Regulations
(WIPO DM/1/I
(E))
(Declaration of
Inventorship
for the
Designation of
the United
States of
America) filed
indirectly
through the
USPTO.
11.................. Oath or 2 1 2 0.50 (30 1 447 447
Declaration of minutes).
the Creator
under Rule
8(1)(a)(ii) of
the Common
Regulations
(WIPO DM/1/I
(E))
(Substitute
Statement in
Lieu of a
Declaration of
Inventorship
for the
Designating the
United States
of America)
filed
indirectly
through the
USPTO.
12.................. Information On 3 1 3 1............... 3 447 1,341
Eligibility For
Protection
(WIPO DM/1/III
(E)) filed
indirectly
through the
USPTO.
13.................. Reduction of 8 1 8 0.50 (30 4 447 1,788
United States minutes).
Individual
Designation Fee
under Section
408(b) of the
Administrative
Instructions
(WIPO DM/1/IV
(E)) filed
indirectly
through the
USPTO.
14.................. Supporting 5 1 5 0.50 (30 3 447 1,341
Document(s) minutes).
Concerning
Priority Claim
under Article 4
of the Paris
Convention--Kor
ean
Intellectual
Property Office
(KIPO) (WIPO DM/
1/V (E)) filed
indirectly
through the
USPTO.
15.................. Fee(s) 780 1 780 0.50 (30 390 447 174,330
Transmittal to minutes).
USPTO for an
International
Design
Application
(PTOL-85 Part B
(Hague)).
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Totals.......... ................ 1,231 .............. 1,231 ................ 2,052 .............. 917,244
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Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden:
$3,708,240.
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\3\ 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).
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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
collection is $3,708,240, which includes $3,398,121 in filing fees,
$310,000 in drawing costs, and $119 in postage costs.
Filing Fees
The filing fees associated with this information collection are
listed in the table below.
[[Page 87757]]
Table 2--Filing Fees for Private Sector Respondents
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Estimated Total non-hour
Item No. Fee code Item annual Filing fee cost burden
responses ($) (yr)
(a) (b) (a) x (b) =
(c)
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1.............................. WIPO....................... Application for International Registration 157 $2,131 $334,567
(electronic)--Average Fee per
registration to WIPO (USPTO collects and
transmits it to WIPO).
1.............................. WIPO....................... Application for International Registration 10 960 9,600
(electronic)--Designation Fee (first
part) for the U.S. (collecting for WIPO)
(undiscounted entity).
1.............................. WIPO....................... Application for International Registration 11 480 5,280
(electronic)--Designation Fee (first
part) for the U.S. (collecting for WIPO)
(small entity).
1.............................. WIPO....................... Application for International Registration 6 240 1,440
(electronic)--Designation Fee (first
part) for the U.S. (collecting for WIPO)
(micro entity).
1.............................. WIPO....................... Application for International Registration 1,651 960 1,584,960
submitted to WIPO--Designation Fee (first
part) for the U.S. (Transmitting to the
USPTO by WIPO) (undiscounted entity).
1.............................. WIPO....................... Application for International Registration 527 480 252,960
submitted to WIPO--Designation Fee (first
part) for the U.S. (Transmitting to the
USPTO by WIPO) (small entity).
1.............................. WIPO....................... Application for International Registration 138 240 33,120
submitted to WIPO--Designation Fee (first
part) for the U.S. (Transmitting to the
USPTO by WIPO) (micro entity).
1.............................. 1781....................... Application for International Registration 62 120 7,440
(electronic)--Transmittal Fee (set by and
collected by USPTO) (undiscounted entity).
1.............................. 2781....................... Application for International Registration 85 48 4,080
(electronic)--Transmittal Fee (set by and
collected by USPTO) (small entity).
1.............................. 3781....................... Application for International Registration 18 24 432
(electronic)--Transmittal Fee (set by and
collected by USPTO) (micro entity).
5.............................. 1784....................... Petition to Excuse a Failure to Comply 1 2,100 2,100
with a Time Limit (undiscounted entity).
5.............................. 2784....................... Petition to Excuse a Failure to Comply 1 840 840
with a Time Limit (small entity).
5.............................. 3784....................... Petition to Excuse a Failure to Comply 1 420 420
with a Time Limit (micro entity).
6.............................. 1783....................... Petition to Convert to a Design 1 180 180
Application under 35 U.S.C. Chapter 16
(undiscounted entity).
6.............................. 2783....................... Petition to Convert to a Design 1 72 72
Application under 35 U.S.C. Chapter 16
(small entity).
6.............................. 3783....................... Petition to Convert to a Design 1 36 36
Application under 35 U.S.C. Chapter 16
(micro entity).
7.............................. 1462....................... Petition to Review a Filing Date 1 420 420
(undiscounted entity).
7.............................. 2462....................... Petition to Review a Filing Date (small 1 168 168
entity).
7.............................. 3462....................... Petition to Review a Filing Date (micro 1 84 84
entity).
9.............................. 1462....................... Petitions to Commissioner (undiscounted 1 420 420
entity).
9.............................. 2462....................... Petitions to Commissioner (small entity).. 2 168 336
9.............................. 3462....................... Petitions to Commissioner (micro entity).. 1 84 84
15............................. 1509....................... Issue Fee Transmittal to USPTO for an 972 740 719,280
International Design Application
(undiscounted entity).
15............................. 2509....................... Issue Fee Transmittal to USPTO for an 247 296 73,112
International Design Application (small
entity).
15............................. 3509....................... Issue Fee Transmittal to USPTO for an 30 148 4,440
International Design Application (micro
entity).
15............................. WIPO....................... Application for International Registration 420 700 294,000
submitted to WIPO--Issue Fee (Second
part) for the U.S. (Transmitting to the
USPTO by WIPO) (undiscounted entity).
15............................. WIPO....................... Application for International Registration 155 350 54,250
submitted to WIPO--Issue Fee (Second
part) for the U.S. (Transmitting to the
USPTO by WIPO) (small entity).
15............................. WIPO....................... Application for International Registration 80 175 14,000
submitted to WIPO--Issue Fee (Second
part) for the U.S. (Transmitting to the
USPTO by WIPO) (micro-entity).
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Totals..................... 4,582 .............. $3,398,121
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Drawing Costs
The USPTO estimates that the costs to produce design drawings can
range from $50 to $350 per sheet. Taking the average of this range, the
USPTO estimates that it can cost $200 per sheet to produce design
drawings. On average, 10 sheets of drawings are submitted for an
application resulting in an average cost of $2,000 to produce the
design drawings. The USPTO estimates that 155 respondents will file
international design applications. Overall, the costs associated with
submitting these drawings are estimated to be $310,000.
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 1,231 items in this information collection
will be submitted by mail, resulting in 12 mailed items. The USPTO
estimates that the average postage cost for a mailed submission, using
a Priority Mail legal flat rate envelope, will be $9.95. Therefore, the
USPTO estimates the total mailing costs for this information collection
at $119.
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
[[Page 87758]]
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. 2023-27844 Filed 12-18-23; 8:45 am]
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