[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 97 (Wednesday, May 21, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21760-21762]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-09141]
[[Page 21760]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Representative and Address Provisions
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comments.
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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-
0035 (Representative and Address Provisions). The purpose of this
notice is to allow 60 days for public comments preceding submission of
the information collection to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB).
DATES: To ensure consideration, you must submit comments regarding this
information collection on or before July 21, 2025.
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-
0035 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal eRulemaking 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: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Jeffrey West, Senior Legal Advisor, at: United
States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA
22313-1450; 571-272-2226; or [email protected] with ``0651-0035
comment'' in the subject line. Additional information about this
information collection is also available at https://www.reginfo.gov
under ``Information Collection Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
This information collection includes the information necessary to
submit a request to grant or revoke power of attorney for an
application, patent, or reexamination proceeding, and for a registered
practitioner to withdraw as attorney or agent of record. This also
includes the information necessary to change the correspondence address
for an application, patent, or reexamination proceeding, to request a
Customer Number and manage the correspondence address and list of
practitioners associated with a Customer Number, and to designate or
change the correspondence address or fee address for one or more
patents or applications by using a Customer Number.
Under 35 U.S.C. 2 and 37 CFR 1.31 and 1.32, power of attorney may
be granted to one or more joint inventors or a person who is registered
to practice before the USPTO to act in an application or a patent. For
an application filed before September 16, 2012, or for a patent which
issued from an application filed before September 16, 2012, power of
attorney may be granted by the applicant for patent (as set forth in 37
CFR 1.41(b) (pre-AIA)) or the assignee of the entire interest of the
applicant. For an application filed on or after September 16, 2012, or
for a patent which issued from an application filed on or after
September 16, 2012, power of attorney may be granted by the applicant
for patent (as set forth in 37 CFR 1.42) or the patent owner. The USPTO
provides two different versions of most forms for establishing power of
attorney based upon whether the application was filed before September
16, 2012 or was filed on or after September 16, 2012. Providing forms
based upon whether the application was filed before September 16, 2012
or was filed on or after September 16, 2012 reduces applicants' burden
in having to determine the appropriate power of attorney requirements
for a given application.
37 CFR 1.36 provides for the revocation of a power of attorney at
any stage in the proceedings of a case. 37 CFR 1.36 also provides a
path by which a registered patent attorney or patent agent who has been
given a power of attorney may withdraw as attorney or agent of record.
A Customer Number is a unique number created by the USPTO and is
used instead of a physical address. The Customer Number allows a group
of filings to be associated with a single correspondence mailing
address. The USPTO's Customer Number practice permits applicants,
patent owners, assignees, and practitioners of record, or the
representatives of record for a number of applications or patents, to
change the correspondence address of a patent application or patent
with one change request instead of filing separate requests for each
patent or application. Any changes to the address or practitioner
information associated with a Customer Number will be applied to all
patents and applications associated with said Customer Number.
Changes of correspondence address or power of attorney may be filed
separately for each patent or application without using a Customer
Number. However, a valid Customer Number provides secure access to
patent information through the registered USPTO.gov account using the
USPTO patent electronic filing system (Patent Center), which is
available through the USPTO website. Additionally, the use of a
Customer Number is also required in order to grant power of attorney to
more than ten practitioners or to establish a separate ``fee address''
for maintenance fee purposes that is different from the correspondence
address for a patent or application.
II. Method of Collection
Items in this information collection may be submitted as online
submissions or by mail, fax, or hand delivery.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0651-0035.
Forms: (AIA = America Invents Act; SB = Specimen Book):
PTO/AIA/80 (Power of Attorney to Prosecute Applications Before
the USPTO)
PTO/AIA/81 (Power of Attorney to One or More of the Joint
Inventors and Change of Correspondence Address)
PTO/AIA/81A (Patent--Power of Attorney or Revocation of Power
of Attorney with a New Power of Attorney and Change of Correspondence
Address)
PTO/AIA/81B (Reexamination or Supplemental Examination--Patent
Owner Power of Attorney or Revocation of Power of Attorney With a New
Power of Attorney and Change of Correspondence Address for
Reexamination or Supplemental Examination and Patent)
PTO/AIA/82A (Transmittal for Power of Attorney To One Or More
Registered Practitioners)
PTO/AIA/82B; PTO/AIA/82C (Power of Attorney by Applicant)
PTO/AIA/83 (Request for Withdrawal as Attorney or Agent and
Change of Correspondence Address)
PTO/SB/80 (Power of Attorney to Prosecute Applications Before
the USPTO)
PTO/SB/81 (Power of Attorney or Revocation of Power of
Attorney with a New Power of Attorney and Change of Correspondence
Address)
[[Page 21761]]
PTO/SB/81A (Patent--Power of Attorney or Revocation of Power
of Attorney with a New Power of Attorney and Change of Correspondence
Address)
PTO/SB/81B (Reexamination--Patent Owner Power of Attorney or
Revocation of Power of Attorney with a New Power of Attorney and Change
of Correspondence Address)
PTO/SB/81C (Reexamination--Third Party Requester Power of
Attorney or Revocation of Power of Attorney with a New Power of
Attorney and Change of Correspondence Address)
PTO/SB/83 (Request for Withdrawal as Attorney or Agent and
Change of Correspondence Address)
PTO/SB/124A (Request for Customer Number Data Change)
PTO/SB/124B (Request for Customer Number Data Change;
Practitioner Registration Number Supplemental Sheet)
PTO/SB/125A (Request for Customer Number)
PTO/SB/125B (Request for Customer Number; Practitioner
Registration Number Supplemental Sheet)
PTO-2248 (Request to Update a PCT Application With a Customer
Number)
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: 182,085 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 182,085 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection will take the public approximately 12
minutes (0.20 hours) to 1.5 hours (90 minutes) to complete. This
includes the time to gather the necessary information, create the
document, and submit the completed item(s) to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 88,922 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $12,493,972.
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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; pg. F-41. The USPTO uses the
average billing rate for intellectual property work in all firms,
which is $447 per hour (www.aipla.org/home/news-publications/economic-survey).
2024 National Utilization & Compensation Report Executive
Summary published by the National Association of Legal Assistants
(NALA); pg. 2. The USPTO uses the average billing rate for
paralegals/paraprofessionals, which is $134 per hour (https://nala.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2024-NALA-Compensation-Utilization-Report-ExecSumm-FINAL-1-15-25.pdf).
Table 1--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Private Sector Respondents
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Estimated
Estimated Responses Estimated Estimated time for Estimated Rate \1\ ($/ annual
Item No. Item annual per annual response (hours) burden (hour/ hour) respondent
respondents respondent 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............... Power of Attorney to 2,454 1 2,454 0.50 (30 minutes)..... 1,227 $134 $164,418
Prosecute Applications
Before the USPTO.
PTO/AIA/80.............
PTO/SB/80..............
2............... Power of Attorney or 167,843 1 167,843 0.50 (30 minutes)..... 83,922 134 11,245,548
Revocation of Power of
Attorney with a New
Power of Attorney and
Change of
Correspondence.
PTO/AIA/82A............
PTO/AIA/82B............
PTO/AIA/82C............
3............... Patent--Power of 167 1 167 0.50 (30 minutes)..... 84 134 11,256
Attorney or Revocation
of Power of Attorney
with a New Power of
Attorney and Change of
Correspondence Address.
PTO/AIA/81.............
PTO/SB/81..............
PTO/AIA/81A............
PTO/SB/81A.............
4............... Reexamination--Patent 75 1 75 0.50 (30 minutes)..... 38 134 5,092
Owner Power of
Attorney or Revocation
of Power of Attorney
with a New Power of
Attorney and Change of
Correspondence Address.
PTO/AIA/81B............
PTO/SB/81B.............
5............... Reexamination--Third 71 1 71 0.50 (30 minutes)..... 36 134 4,824
Party Requester Power
of Attorney or
Revocation of Power of
Attorney with a New
Power of Attorney and
Change of
Correspondence Address.
PTO/SB/81C.............
6............... Request for Withdrawal 3,659 1 3,659 0.50 (30 minutes)..... 1,830 447 818,010
as Attorney or Agent
and Change of
Correspondence Address.
PTO/AIA/83.............
PTO/SB/83..............
7............... Petition Under 37 CFR 9 1 9 1 (60 minutes)........ 9 447 4,023
1.36(a) to Revoke
Power of Attorney by
Fewer than All the
Applicants.
8............... Petition to Waive 37 9 1 9 1 (60 minutes)........ 9 447 4,023
CFR 1.32(b)(4) and
Grant Power of
Attorney by Fewer than
All the Applicants.
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9............... Request for Customer 619 1 619 0.20 (12 minutes)..... 124 134 16,616
Number Data Change.
PTO/SB/124A............
PTO/SB/124B............
10.............. Request for Customer 5,789 1 5,789 0.20 (12 minutes)..... 1,158 134 155,172
Number.
PTO/SB/125A............
PTO/SB/125B............
11.............. Customer Number Upload 110 1 110 1.50 (90 minutes)..... 165 134 22,110
Spreadsheet.
12.............. Request to Update a PCT 1,280 1 1,280 0.25 (15 minutes)..... 320 134 42,880
Application With a
Customer Number.
PTO-2248...............
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Totals................. 182,085 ........... 182,085 ...................... 88,922 ........... 12,493,972
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Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden: $24,698.
There are no capital start-up costs, maintenance costs, or
recordkeeping costs associated with this information collection.
However, the USPTO estimates that the total annual non-hour cost burden
for this information collection, in the form of filing fees and
postage, is $24,698.
Filing Fees
The two petitions in this information collection have associated
filing fees under 37 CFR 1.17(f), these fees are listed in the table
below.
Table 2--Filing Fees
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Estimated
Item No. Fee code Item annual Filing fee ($) Non-hourly
responses cost burden
(a) (b) (a) x (b) =
(c)
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7.................................... 1462 Petitions Under 37 CFR 1.36(a) to Revoke Power of 5 $450 $2,250
Attorney by Fewer than All the Applicants
(undiscounted entity).
7.................................... 2462 Petitions Under 37 CFR 1.36(a) to Revoke Power of 3 180 540
Attorney by Fewer than All the Applicants (small
entity).
7.................................... 3462 Petitions Under 37 CFR 1.36(a) to Revoke Power of 1 90 90
Attorney by Fewer than All the Applicants (micro
entity).
8.................................... 1462 Petition to Waive 37 CFR 1.32(b)(4) and Grant 5 450 2,250
Power of Attorney by Fewer than All the
Applicants (undiscounted entity).
8.................................... 2462 Petition to Waive 37 CFR 1.32(b)(4) and Grant 3 180 540
Power of Attorney by Fewer than All the
Applicants (small entity).
8.................................... 3462 Petition to Waive 37 CFR 1.32(b)(4) and Grant 1 90 90
Power of Attorney by Fewer than All the
Applicants (micro entity).
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Totals........................... .............. ................................................. 18 .............. 5,760
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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. The USPTO estimates that
1% of the 182,085 items will be submitted via postal mail, resulting in
1,821 mailed items. The USPTO estimates that the average postage cost
for a mailed submission, using a Priority Mail legal flat rate
envelope, will be $10.40. Therefore, the USPTO estimates the total
mailing costs for this information collection at $18,938.
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. The 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 one may ask in one's comment to withhold PII from public view,
the 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. 2025-09141 Filed 5-20-25; 8:45 am]
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