[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 186 (Wednesday, September 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78288-78289]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-21931]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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; Rules for Patent Maintenance Fees

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will submit 
the following information collection request to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, on or after the date of 
publication of this notice. The USPTO invites comments on this 
information collection renewal, which helps the USPTO assess the impact 
of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on July 17, 2024 during a 60-day comment period (89 FR 
58138).

[[Page 78289]]

This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comment.
    Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of 
Commerce.
    Title: Rules for Patent Maintenance Fees.
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0016.
    Needs and Uses: Under 35 U.S.C. 41 and 37 CFR 1.20(e)-(h), 1.362, 
1.363, 1.366, 1.377, and 1.378, the USPTO charges fees for maintaining 
in force all patents based on applications filed on or after December 
12, 1980, except for plant and design patents. Furthermore, maintenance 
fees are required for a reissue patent unless the patent being reissued 
did not require maintenance fees. Payment of these maintenance fees is 
due at 3\1/2\, 7\1/2\, and 11\1/2\ years after the date the patent was 
granted. See section 2504 of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure 
(MPEP) (9th Edition, Rev. 07.2022, February 2023) for more information.
    If the USPTO does not receive payment of the appropriate 
maintenance fee and any applicable surcharge within a grace period of 
six months following each of the above due dates (at 4, 8, or 12 years 
after the date of grant), the patent will expire at that time. After a 
patent expires, it is no longer enforceable. Payments of maintenance 
fees that are submitted during the 6-month grace period before patent 
expiration must include the appropriate surcharge as indicated by 37 
CFR 1.20(h). Submissions of maintenance fee payments and surcharges 
must include the relevant patent number and the corresponding United 
States application number in order to identify the correct patent and 
ensure proper crediting of the fee being paid. See MPEP 2506, 2510, and 
2515 for more information.
    If the USPTO refuses to accept and record a maintenance fee payment 
that was submitted prior to the expiration of a patent, the patentee 
may petition the Director to accept and record the maintenance fee 
under 37 CFR 1.377. This petition must be accompanied by the fee 
indicated in 37 CFR 1.17(g), which may be refunded if it is determined 
that the refusal to accept the maintenance fee was due to an error by 
the USPTO.
    If a patent has expired due to nonpayment of a maintenance fee, the 
patentee may petition the Director to accept a delayed payment of the 
maintenance fee under 37 CFR 1.378(b). The Director may accept the 
payment of a maintenance fee after the expiration of the patent if the 
petitioner shows to the satisfaction of the Director that the delay in 
payment was unintentional. Petitions to accept unintentionally delayed 
payment must also be accompanied by the required maintenance fee and 
the petition fee as set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(m). If the Director 
accepts the maintenance fee payment upon petition, then the patent is 
reinstated. If the USPTO denies a petition to accept delayed payment of 
a maintenance fee in an expired patent, the patentee may petition the 
Director to reconsider that decision under 37 CFR 1.378(d).
    This information collection covers maintenance fee petition 
information, including the electronic interface and form provided by 
the USPTO to assist the public with maintenance fee petitions. To pay a 
maintenance fee after patent expiration, the maintenance fee payment 
and the petition fee, as set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(m), must be filed 
together with a petition to accept an unintentionally delayed payment 
of the maintenance fee in an expired patent under 37 CFR 1.378(b). The 
USPTO offers two different versions of the form for petitions to accept 
unintentionally delayed payments of maintenance fees: a web-based 
ePetition and form PTO/SB/66 (a fillable PDF). The USPTO recommends the 
use of the web-based ePetition. The USPTO does not offer forms for the 
petitions to review the refusal to accept the payment of a maintenance 
fee prior to the expiration of the patent under 37 CFR 1.377 or the 
petitions for the reconsideration of decisions on petitions refusing to 
accept the delayed payment of a maintenance fee in an expired patent 
under 37 CFR 1.378(d).
    The fee address indication form (PTO/AIA/47 and PTO/SB/47) 
available at www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/forms was previously 
associated with this information collection. This form permits 
applicants, patentees, assignees, or their representatives of record to 
specify a ``fee address'' for correspondence related to maintenance 
fees that is separate from the correspondence address associated with a 
patent or application. This item is considered by OMB to be exempt from 
the PRA and therefore, though this item remains available, it is no 
longer included in this information collection.
    Forms: (SB = Specimen Book).

 PTO/SB/66 (Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment 
of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(b))

    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.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 2,616 respondents.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 2,616 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses 
in this information collection will take the public approximately 
between 1 hour and 8 hours to complete. This includes the time to 
gather the necessary information, create the document, and submit the 
completed item to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 3,424 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: 
$2,577,316.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of 
Commerce, USPTO information collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for this information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice on the following website, www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting 
``Currently under 30-day Review-Open for Public Comments'' or by using 
the search function and entering either the title of the information 
collection or the OMB Control Number, 0651-0016.
    Further information can be obtained by:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0016 information request'' in the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Justin Isaac, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.

Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-21931 Filed 9-24-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P