[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 154 (Wednesday, August 13, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38958-38959]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-15361]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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; Patent Review and Derivation Proceedings
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 0651-0069 (Patent Review and
Derivation Proceedings), which helps the USPTO assess the impact of its
information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting
burden. Public
[[Page 38959]]
comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on May 21,
2025, during a 60-day comment period (90 FR 21757). 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 September 12, 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, 0651-0069. 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-
0069 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: Michael P. Tierney, Vice Chief Administrative
Patent Judge, 571-272-4676.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Patent Review and Derivation Proceedings.
OMB Control Number: 0651-0069.
Abstract: The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, which was enacted
into law on September 16, 2011, changed the procedures of the Patent
Trial and Appeal Board (``PTAB'' or ``Board,'' formerly the Board of
Patent Appeals and Interferences). These changes included the
introduction of inter partes review, post-grant review, derivation
proceedings, and the transitional program for covered business method
patents. Under these administrative trial proceedings, third parties
may file a petition with the PTAB challenging the validity of issued
patents, with each proceeding having different requirements regarding
timing restrictions, grounds for challenging validity, and who may
request review.
Inter partes review is a trial proceeding conducted at the Board to
review the patentability of one or more claims in a patent, but only on
a ground that could be raised under 35 U.S.C. 102 or 103, and only on
the basis of prior art consisting of patents or printed publications.
Post-grant review is a trial proceeding conducted at the Board to
review the patentability of one or more claims in a patent on any
ground that could be raised under section 282(b)(2) or (3). A
derivation proceeding is a trial proceeding conducted at the Board to
determine whether: (1) an inventor named in an earlier application
derived the claimed invention from an inventor named in the
petitioner's application, and (2) the earlier application claiming such
invention was filed without authorization. The transitional program for
covered business method patents is a trial proceeding conducted at the
Board to review the patentability of one or more claims in a covered
business method patent. The covered business method program expired on
September 16, 2020, and the Board no longer accepts new petitions
related to this program, but continues to accept papers in previously-
instituted proceedings.
The USPTO's projections are based on data from the past year. The
USPTO recognizes that the numbers may fluctuate given interim changes
to the institution process. The USPTO has adjusted the estimated burden
hours and the number of estimated filings based on recent changes to
these proceedings.
This collection covers information submitted by the public to
petition the Board to initiate an inter partes review, post-grant
review, derivation proceeding, and the transitional program for covered
business method patents, as well as any responses to such petitions,
and the filing of any motions, replies, oppositions, and other actions,
after a review/proceeding has been instituted.
Forms: None.
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: 7,897 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 11,947 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection will take the public approximately 18
minutes (0.30 hours) to 170 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: 590,630 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden:
$76,099,956.
Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2025-15361 Filed 8-12-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P