[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 75 (Wednesday, April 17, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27420-27421]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08089]
[[Page 27420]]
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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 Submissions Regarding Correspondence and Regarding
Attorney Representation
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-
0056 (Trademark Submissions Regarding Correspondence and Regarding
Attorney Representation). 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 June 17, 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-
0056 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal eRulemaking 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 at [email protected]
with ``0651-0056 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 United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) administers
the Trademark Act (Act), 15 U.S.C 1051 et seq., which provides for the
Federal registration of trademarks, service marks, collective
trademarks and 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 USPTO.
Such individuals and businesses may also submit various
communications to the USPTO regarding their pending applications or
registered trademarks, including providing additional information
needed to process a pending application, filing amendments to the
application, or filing the papers necessary to keep a trademark in
force. In the majority of circumstances, individuals and businesses
retain attorneys to handle these matters. As such, these parties may
also submit communications to the USPTO regarding the appointment of
attorneys to represent applicants or registrants in the application or
post-registration processes or, in the case of applicants or
registrants who are not domiciled in the United States, the appointment
of domestic representatives on whom may be served notices of process in
proceedings affecting the mark, the revocation of an attorney's or
domestic representative's appointment, and requests for permission to
withdraw from representation.
The regulations implementing the Act are set forth in 37 CFR part
2. Regulations regarding representation of others before the USPTO are
also set forth in 37 CFR part 11. In addition to governing the
registration of trademarks, the Act and regulations govern the
appointment and revocation of attorneys and domestic representatives
and provide the specifics for filing requests for permission to
withdraw as the attorney of record. The information in this information
collection is available to the public.
This information collection covers various actions concerning the
appointment and retention of attorneys and domestic representatives in
trademark registrations. The information in this collection is also a
matter of public record and is utilized by the public for a variety of
private business purposes related to establishing and enforcing
trademark rights.
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: 0651-0056.
Forms:
PTO-2201 (Request for Withdrawal as Attorney of Record/Update
of USPTO's Database After Power of Attorney Ends)
PTO-2300 (Change Address or Representation Form)
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: 486,000 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 486,000 responses.
Frequency: On occasion.
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 1 hour to complete. This includes
the time to gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate
documents, and submit the completed request to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 156,650 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $70,022,550.
[[Page 27421]]
Table 1--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Private Sector Respondents
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Estimated
Estimated Responses per Estimated Estimated time for Estimated Rate \1\ annual
Item No. Item annual respondent annual response (hours) burden (hour/ ($/hour) respondent
respondents responses year) cost burden
(a) (b) (a) x (b) = (d)...................... (c) x (d) = (f) (e) x (f) =
(c) (e) (g)
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1........... Revocation, 430,000 1 430,000 0.33 (20 minutes)........ 141,900 $447 $63,429,300
Appointment, and/or
Change of Address
of Attorney/
Domestic
Representative--PTO
-2300.
2........... Request for 45,000 1 45,000 0.25 (15 minutes)........ 11,250 447 5,028,750
Withdrawal as
Attorney of Record/
Update of USPTO's
Database After
Power of Attorney
Ends--PTO-2201.
3........... Replacement of 1,000 1 1,000 1........................ 1,000 447 447,000
Attorney of Record
with Another
Already-Appointed
Attorney--PTO-2300.
4........... Request to Withdraw 10,000 1 10,000 0.25 (15 minutes)........ 2,500 447 1,117,500
as Domestic
Representative--PTO
-2300.
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Totals........... 486,000 .............. 486,000 ......................... 156,650 ......... 70,022,550
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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: $508.
There are no capital start-up, maintenance costs, recordkeeping costs,
or filing fees associated with this information collection. However,
USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) cost burden for this
information collection, in the form of postage is $508.
Postage Costs: In limited circumstances, applicants may be
permitted to submit the information in paper form by mail, fax, or hand
delivery. Applicants and registrants incur postage costs when
submitting information to the USPTO by mail through the United States
Postal Service. The USPTO estimates that 50 of the items in this
information collection will submitted via mail. The USPTO estimates
that the average postage cost for a mailed submission, using a Priority
Mail legal flat rate envelope, will be $10.15. Therefore, the USPTO
estimates the total mailing costs for this information collection at
$508.
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. 2024-08089 Filed 4-16-24; 8:45 am]
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