[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 139 (Wednesday, July 23, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34643-34644]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-13811]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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; Patents External Quality Survey
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 the
information collection renewal of 0651-0057 (Patents External Quality
Survey), 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
May 1, 2025 during a 60-day comment period (90 FR 18648). 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 August 22, 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, 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, 0651-0057. Do not submit
Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected
information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
This information collection request may be viewed at
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Follow the instructions to view
Department of Commerce, USPTO information collections currently under
review by OMB.
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0057 information request'' in the subject line of the message.
[[Page 34644]]
Mail: Justin Isaac, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450,
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
Telephone: Robyn Sirkis, Chief Patent Statistician Office,
571-270-0935
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Patents External Quality Survey.
OMB Control Number: 0651-0057.
Abstract: The USPTO Quality Survey is designed to measure opinions
about the services the USPTO provides to its patent application
customers. This information collection contains a survey that the USPTO
uses to gauge customer satisfaction with patent examination quality.
The results from this voluntary survey will assist the USPTO in
guiding improvements and enhancements in the future. The USPTO conducts
the Patents External Quality Survey as part of its quality improvement
efforts. This survey narrows the focus of customer satisfaction to
examination quality and uses a longitudinal, rotating panel design to
assess changes in customer perceptions and to identify key areas for
examiner training and opportunities for improvement. The USPTO uses
this survey to identify problems with examination quality and works to
resolve these issues in a timely manner. The USPTO surveys patent
agents, attorneys, and other individuals from large domestic
corporations (including those with 500+ employees), small and medium-
sized businesses, independent inventors, and universities and other
non-profit research organizations. This survey does not include foreign
entities.
The random sample used in this survey is drawn from One Patent
Service Gateway. The sample population is drawn from the top filing
firms, which are entities that have filed more than five patent
applications in a 12-month period. This ongoing survey is generally
conducted twice a year. The USPTO uses a rotating panel design where
participants take the survey twice in back-to-back survey periods
(waves). Half the participants in each survey period are new and
complete the survey for the first time and half return to complete the
same survey for a second time. This design allows a precise measurement
of changes in customer experience over time. The rotating panels and
their impact on respondents are described in more detail in the table
below.
Table 1--The Rotating Panel
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Panel 1........................... Holdover panel from the previous
year, respondents are surveyed once
in Wave 1.
Panel 2........................... Wave 1 and Wave 2 in the current
year, respondents are surveyed in
both waves.
Panel 3........................... New panel in the current year,
respondents are only surveyed once
in Wave 2.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Patents External Quality Survey is a web-based survey. The
USPTO sends potential respondents either an email or mailed pre-survey
letter, depending on the respondent's preferred method of contact. At
the beginning of each survey period, the USPTO provides respondents
with instructions for accessing and completing the survey
electronically. After a specified response period, the USPTO sends a
reminder to all sample members who have not yet submitted a response.
The USPTO also uses reminder/thank-you postcards and telephone calls to
encourage a response from sample members.
Forms:
PTO/2535 (External Quality Survey)
Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved
information collection.
Affected Public: Private sector.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency: On occasion.
Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 750 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 1,000 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection will take the public approximately 10
minutes (0.17 hours) 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: 171 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $0. The
USPTO covers the costs of all survey materials.
Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2025-13811 Filed 7-22-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P