[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 176 (Monday, September 15, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44372-44373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-17767]
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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) 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 0651-0035, 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 May 21, 2025, during a
60-day comment period (90 FR 21760). 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 October 15, 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, 0651-0035. 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/public/do/PRAMain. Follow the instructions to
view the Department of Commerce, USPTO information collections
currently under review by OMB.
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0035 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: Jeffrey West, Senior Legal Advisor, 571-272-
2226.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Representative and Address Provisions.
OMB Control Number: 0651-0035.
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 1.31-1.32, a 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 a 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 a patent (as set forth in 37 CFR 1.42) or the patent owner. The
USPTO provides two different versions of most forms for establishing a
power of attorney based upon whether the application was filed before
September 16, 2012 or on or after September 16, 2012. Providing forms
based upon whether the application was filed before September 16, 2012,
or 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.
[[Page 44373]]
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.
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)
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 1.50 hours (90 minutes) 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: 88,922 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $24,698.
Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2025-17767 Filed 9-12-25; 8:45 am]
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