[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 107 (Thursday, June 5, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23918-23919]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-10202]
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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; Practitioner Conduct and Discipline
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) 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
[[Page 23919]]
information collection renewal, which helps the USPTO assess the impact
of its information collection requirements and minimize the reporting
burden to the public. Public comments were previously requested via the
Federal Register on March 11, 2025, during a 60-day comment period.
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
DATES: To ensure consideration, you must submit comments regarding this
information collection on or before July 7, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for this information
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of
this notice on the following website, http://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, 0651-0017. Do not submit
Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected
information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
This information collection request may be viewed at
http://www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department
of Commerce, USPTO information collections currently under review by
OMB.
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0017 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.
Telephone: Dahlia Girgis, Office of Enrollment and
Discipline, 571-272-4097.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Practitioner Conduct and Discipline.
OMB Control Number: 0651-0017.
Needs and Uses: The Director of the USPTO has the authority to
establish regulations governing the conduct and discipline of agents,
attorneys, or other persons representing applicants and other parties
before the USPTO (35 U.S.C. 2, 32-33). The USPTO Rules of Professional
Conduct, set forth in 37 CFR part 11, subpart D, prescribe the manner
in which agents, attorneys, and other persons (collectively,
``practitioners'') representing applicants and other parties before the
USPTO should conduct themselves professionally. Part 11 outlines
practitioners' responsibilities for recordkeeping and reporting
violations or complaints of misconduct to the USPTO. Part 11, subpart
C, sets forth the manner by which the USPTO investigates misconduct and
imposes discipline.
The USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct require all practitioners
to maintain complete records of all funds, securities, and other
properties of clients coming into their possession, and to render
appropriate accounts to the client regarding the funds, securities, and
other properties of clients coming into the practitioner's possession,
collectively known as ``client property.'' These recordkeeping
requirements are necessary to maintain the integrity of client
property. State bars require attorneys to perform similar
recordkeeping.
Part 11 also requires a practitioner to report knowledge of certain
violations of the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct to the USPTO. The
Director of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) may, after
notice and an opportunity for a hearing, suspend, exclude, or
disqualify any practitioner from further practice before the USPTO
based on non-compliance with the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct.
Practitioners who have been excluded or suspended from practice before
the USPTO, and practitioners transferred to disability inactive status,
must maintain records of their compliance with the suspension or
exclusion order, or the transfer to disability inactive status. These
records are necessary to demonstrate eligibility for reinstatement.
Reports of alleged violations of the USPTO Rules of Professional
Conduct are used by the Director of OED to conduct investigations and
disciplinary hearings, as appropriate.
This information collection covers the various reporting and
recordkeeping requirements set forth in part 11 for practitioners
representing applicants and other parties before the USPTO. Also
covered are petitions for reinstatement for suspended or excluded
practitioners and the means for reporting violations or complaints of
misconduct to the USPTO.
Forms:
PTO-107R (Reinstatement--Data Sheet--Register of Patent
Attorneys and Agents). PTO-107R is also approved for use under USPTO
information collection 0651-0012.
Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved
information collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
Frequency: On occasion.
Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 52,411 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 52,411 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection that require reporting to the USPTO will
take the public approximately 1 to 3 hours to complete. This includes
the time to gather the necessary information, create the document, and
submit the completed item to the USPTO. The USPTO Rules of Professional
Conduct also require practitioners to maintain various records to
maintain the integrity of client property and meet other requirements.
Additional recordkeeping requirements are applicable to practitioners
under suspension or exclusion. The USPTO estimates it will take a
practitioner approximately 1 to 20 hours to perform these recordkeeping
actions.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 58,187 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $5,439.
Changes from the 60-Day Federal Register Notice: Since the 60-day
Federal Register notice was published, the estimated postage costs have
decreased from $10.75 to $10.40 per mailed item. This lowers the
estimated total postage costs from $22 to $21. This results in the
total annual respondent non-hourly cost decreasing from $5,440 to
$5,439.
Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2025-10202 Filed 6-4-25; 8:45 am]
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