[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 160 (Thursday, August 21, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40824-40825]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-16000]
[[Page 40824]]
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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; Complaints Regarding Invention Promoters
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
information collection renewal of 0651-0044 (Complaints Regarding
Invention Promoters), 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 19, 2025, during a 60-day comment period (90 FR 21295)
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comment.
DATES: To ensure consideration, you must submit comments regarding this
information collection on or before September 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, 0651-0044. 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-
0044 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: Toni Krasnic, Office of Patents Stakeholder
Experience, 571-272-7182.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
Title: Complaints Regarding Invention Promoters.
OMB Control Number: 0651-0044.
Needs and Uses: Pursuant to the Inventors' Rights Act of 1999, 35
U.S.C. 297, and implementing regulations at 37 CFR, Part 4, the United
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is required to provide a
form for the publication of complaints concerning invention promoters.
Upon receipt of a complaint, the USPTO will forward it to the invention
promoter for a response. The USPTO does not investigate these
complaints or participate in any legal proceedings against invention
promoters or invention promotion companies. Under the Inventors' Rights
Act, the USPTO is responsible only for publishing complaints and
responses on the USPTO website, making them available to the public.
A complaint submitted to the USPTO must be clearly marked, or
otherwise identified, as a complaint. The complaint must include:
(1) the name and address of the complainant;
(2) the name and address of the invention promoter;
(3) the name of the customer;
(4) the invention promotion services offered or performed by the
invention promoter;
(5) the name of the mass media in which the invention promoter
advertised such services;
(6) an example of the relationship between the customer and the
invention promoter; and
(7) a signature of the complainant.
Identifying information is necessary so that the USPTO can both
forward the complaint to the invention promoters or invention promotion
companies as well as notify the complainant that the complaint has been
forwarded. Complainants should understand that the complaints will be
forwarded to the invention promoter for response and that the complaint
and response will be made available to the public as required by the
Inventors' Rights Act. If the USPTO does not receive a response from
the invention promoter within 30 days, the complaint will be published
without a response. Under this program, the USPTO does not accept
complaints that request confidentiality. The USPTO may refer submitted
complaints to the USPTO Office of Enrollment and Discipline, as
appropriate.
This information collection contains one form, PTO/2048A (Complaint
Regarding Invention Promotion), which is used by the public to submit a
complaint under this program. This form is available for download from
the USPTO website. Use of this form is voluntary.
Complainants may submit a complaint without the form as long as the
complaint includes the necessary information and the submission is
clearly marked as a complaint filed under the Inventors' Rights Act.
Invention promotion firms may use any format when responding to a
submitted complaint; there is no associated USPTO form. Complaints and
responses are posted at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/basics/using-legal-services/scam-prevention/published-complaints/published. Although
the USPTO typically receives only a few complaints each year, that
number is expected to rise given the recent announcement of new efforts
to mitigate threats and protect the integrity of the U.S. patent
system: https://www.uspto.gov/patents/fraud.
The name of this information collection is being changed from
``Invention Promoters/Promotion Firm Complaints'' to ``Complaints
Regarding Invention Promoters' to better align with how this program is
usually referenced.
Forms
PTO/2048A (Complaint Regarding Invention Promoter).
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved information
collection.
Affected Public: Individuals and households; Private sector.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency: On occasion.
Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 22 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 22 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection will take the public approximately 15
minutes (0.25 hours) to 30 minutes (0.50 hours). This includes the time
to gather the necessary information, create the document, and submit
the completed items to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 8 hours.
[[Page 40825]]
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden: $9.
Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2025-16000 Filed 8-20-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P