[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 221 (Wednesday, November 19, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52041-52043]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-20246]
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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; Secrecy and License To Export
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 (hereafter
``USPTO'' or ``Agency''), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, invites comments on the extension and revision of an existing
information collection: 0651-0034 (Secrecy and License to Export). The
purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comments
preceding submission of the information collection to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB).
DATES: To ensure consideration, you must submit comments regarding this
information collection on or before January 20, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
any of the following methods. Do not submit Confidential Business
Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0034 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Jeffrey West, Senior Legal Advisor at: United
States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA
22313-1450; 571-272-2226; or [email protected] with ``0651-0034
comment'' in the subject line. Additional information about this
information collection is also available at http://www.reginfo.gov
under ``Information Collection Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
In the interest of national security, patent laws and regulations
place certain limitations on the disclosure of information contained in
patents and patent applications and on the filing of applications for
patents in foreign countries.
This information collection includes the information needed by the
USPTO to review the various types of petitions regarding secrecy orders
and foreign filing licenses. This collection of information is required
by 35 U.S.C. 181-186 and is administered by the USPTO through 37 CFR
5.1-5.5, 5.11-5.15, 5.18-5.20, and 5.25.
Secrecy Orders
Whenever the publication or disclosure of an invention by the
publication of an application or by the granting of a patent is, in the
opinion of the head of an interested Government agency, determined to
be detrimental to national security, the USPTO Commissioner for Patents
must issue a secrecy order and withhold the publication of a patent
application and the grant of a patent for such period as the national
security interest requires. A patent will not be issued on the
application, nor will the application be published, as long as the
secrecy order is in force. If a secrecy order is applied to an
international application, the application will not be forwarded to the
International Bureau as long as the secrecy order is in effect.
The Commissioner for Patents can issue three types of secrecy
orders, each of a different scope. The first type, Secrecy Order and
Permit for Foreign Filing in Certain Countries, is intended to permit
the widest utilization of the technical data in the patent application
while still controlling any publication or disclosure that would result
in an unlawful exportation. The second type, the Secrecy Order and
Permit for Disclosing Classified Information, is to treat classified
technical data presented in a patent application in the same manner as
any other classified material. The third type of secrecy order, the
General Secrecy Order, is used where the other types of orders are not
applicable, including orders issued by agencies other than the
Department of Defense.
Under the provision of 35 U.S.C. 181, a secrecy order remains in
effect for a period of one year from its date of
[[Page 52042]]
issuance. A secrecy order may be renewed for additional periods of not
more than one year upon notice by a Government agency that the national
interest continues to require it. The applicant is notified of the
renewal.
When the USPTO places a secrecy order on a patent application, the
regulations authorize the applicant to petition the USPTO for permits
to allow disclosure, modification, or rescission of the secrecy order,
or to obtain a general or group permit. In each of these circumstances,
the petition is forwarded to the appropriate defense agency for
decision. Also, the Commissioner for Patents may rescind any order upon
notification from the heads of the departments and the chief officers
of the agencies who issued the order that the disclosure of the
invention is no longer deemed detrimental to national security.
Unless expressly ordered otherwise, action on the application and
prosecution by the applicant will proceed during the time the
application is under a secrecy order to a specific point as indicated
under 37 CFR 5.3. See the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP)
Section 130 (9th ed., rev. 01.2024, November 2024). For example,
prosecution of a national application under a secrecy order may proceed
only to the point where it is found to be in condition for allowance.
See 37 CFR 5.3(c). Prosecution of international applications under a
secrecy order, on the other hand, will proceed only to the point before
record and search copies would be transmitted to the international
authorities or the applicant. See 37 CFR 5.3(d). National applications
under a secrecy order that come to a final rejection must be appealed
or otherwise prosecuted to avoid abandonment. Appeals in such cases
must be completed by the applicant, but unless specifically indicated
by the Commissioner of Patents, will not be scheduled for hearing until
the secrecy order is removed.
Foreign Filing License
This information collection also covers information gathered with
respect to foreign filing licenses. The filing of a patent application
is considered a request for a foreign filing license. However, in some
instances an applicant may need a license for filing patent
applications in foreign countries prior to a filing in the USPTO or
sooner than the anticipated licensing of a pending patent application.
For such circumstances, this information collection covers
petitions for a foreign filing license either with or without a
corresponding United States application. In addition, this information
collection covers petitions to change the scope of a license and
petitions for a retroactive license for instances when a patent
application is erroneously filed in a foreign country without the
appropriate filing license.
II. Method of Collection
Items in this information collection may be submitted as electronic
submissions. Applicants may also submit the information in paper form
by mail, fax, or hand delivery.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0651-0034.
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: 7,318 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 7,318 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection will take the public approximately 30
minutes (0.50 hours) to 4 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: 4,207 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $1,880,529.
Table 1--Total Reporting Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Respondents
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Estimated
Estimated Responses per Estimated Estimated time Estimated Rate \1\ ($/ annual
Item No. Item annual respondent annual for response burden (hour/ hour) respondent
respondents responses (hours) year) cost burden
.................... (a) (b) (a) x (b) = (d) (c) x (d) = (f) (e) x (f) =
(c) (e) (g)
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1................. Petition for 5 1 5 3 15 $447 $6,705
Recission of
Secrecy Order.
2................. Petition to Disclose 20 1 20 2 40 447 17,880
or Modification of
Secrecy Order.
3................. Petition for General 1 1 1 1 1 447 447
and Group Permits.
4................. Petition for 6,948 1 6,948 0.50 (30 3,474 447 1,552,878
Expedited Handling minutes)
of License (no
corresponding
application).
5................. Petition for 199 1 199 0.50 (30 100 447 44,700
Expedited Handling minutes)
of License
(corresponding U.S.
application).
6................. Petition for 1 1 1 0.50 (30 1 447 447
Changing Scope of minutes)
License.
7................. Petition for 144 1 144 4 576 447 257,472
Retroactive License.
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Totals........ .................... 7,318 .............. 7,318 .............. 4,207 .............. 1,880,529
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\1\ 2023 Report of the Economic Survey, published by the Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American Intellectual Property Law Association,
pg. F-41. The USPTO uses the average billing rate for intellectual property work in all firms, which is $447 per hour (www.aipla.org/home/news-publications/economic-survey).
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden:
$1,622,976. There are no capital startup costs, maintenance costs, or
recordkeeping costs associated with this information collection.
However, the USPTO estimates that the total annual non-hour cost burden
for this information collection, in the form of filing fees and postage
costs, is $1,622,976.
[[Page 52043]]
Filing Fees
There are four filing fees associated with this information
collection. The fees are listed in Table 2 below.
Table 2--Filing Fees
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Estimated
Item no. Fee code Item annual Filing fee ($) Non-hourly
responses cost burden
................... ...................... (a) (b) (a) x (b) =
(c)
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4.................. 1463............... Petition for Expedited 6,342 $235 $1,490,370
Handling of License
(no corresponding
application)
(undiscounted entity).
4.................. 2463............... Petition for Expedited 567 94 53,298
Handling of License
(no corresponding
application) (small
entity).
4.................. 3463............... Petition for Expedited 39 47 1,833
Handling of License
(no corresponding
application) (micro
entity).
5.................. 1463............... Petition for Expedited 182 235 42,770
Handling of License
(corresponding U.S.
application)
(undiscounted entity).
5.................. 2463............... Petition for Expedited 16 94 1,504
Handling of License
(corresponding U.S.
application) (small
entity).
5.................. 3463............... Petition for Expedited 1 47 47
Handling of License
(corresponding U.S.
application) (micro
entity).
6.................. 1463............... Petition for Changing 1 235 235
Scope of License
(undiscounted entity).
6.................. 2463............... Petition for Changing 1 94 94
Scope of License
(small entity).
6.................. 3463............... Petition for Changing 1 47 47
Scope of License
(micro entity).
7.................. 1463............... Petition for 131 235 30,785
Retroactive License
(undiscounted entity).
7.................. 2463............... Petition for 12 94 1,128
Retroactive License
(small entity).
7.................. 3463............... Petition for 1 47 47
Retroactive License
(micro entity).
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Totals......... ................... ...................... 7,294 .............. 1,622,158
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Postage Costs
Although the USPTO prefers that the items in this information
collection be submitted electronically, responses may be submitted by
mail through the United States Postal Service. The USPTO estimates that
1% of the 7,318 items will be submitted in the mail, resulting in 73
mailed items. The USPTO estimates that the average postage cost for a
mailed submission, using a Priority Mail legal flat-rate envelope, will
be $11.20. Therefore, the USPTO estimates the total mailing costs for
this information collection is $818.
IV. Request for Comments
The USPTO is soliciting public comments to:
(a) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including
whether the information will have practical utility;
(b) Evaluate the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of
the collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
(c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(d) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses.
All comments submitted in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. The USPTO will include or summarize each comment in the
request to OMB to approve this information collection. Before including
an address, phone number, email address, or other personally
identifiable information (PII) in a comment, be advised that the entire
comment--including PII--may be made publicly available at any time.
While you may request to withhold PII from public view, the USPTO
cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.
Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2025-20246 Filed 11-18-25; 8:45 am]
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