[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 75 (Monday, April 20, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20986-20988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07574]
[[Page 20986]]
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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; Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Appeals
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: 0651-0063 (Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)
Appeals). 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 June 22, 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-
0063 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://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: Stacey White, 571-272-9797.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Stacey White at: Patent Trial and Appeal Board,
United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria,
VA 22313-1450; 571-272-9797; or [email protected] with ``0651-0063
comment'' in the subject line. Additional information about this
information collection is also available at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/ under ``Information Collection Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (hereafter ``PTAB'' or Board'')
is established by statute under 35 U.S.C. 6. This statute directs, in
relevant part, that PTAB shall ``on written appeal of an applicant,
review adverse decisions of examiners upon applications for patents
pursuant to section 134(a).'' PTAB has the authority, under 35 U.S.C.
134 and 306 to decide appeals in applications and ex parte
reexamination proceedings, and under pre-AIA sections of the Patent
Act, i.e., 35 U.S.C. 134, 135, and 315, to decide appeals in inter
partes reexamination proceedings and interferences. In addition, 35
U.S.C. 6 establishes the membership of PTAB as the Director, the Deputy
Director, the Commissioner for Patents, the Commissioner for
Trademarks, and the Administrative Patent Judges. Appeals and
interference are decided by a merits panel of at least three members of
the Board.
The Board's responsibilities under the statute include the review
of ex parte appeals from adverse decisions of examiners in those
situations where a written appeal is taken by a dissatisfied applicant
or patent owner. In inter partes reexamination appeals, PTAB reviews an
examiner's decision adverse to a patent owner or a third-party
requester. PTAB's opinions and decisions for publicly available files
are published on the USPTO website.\1\ The Board also conducts
interference proceedings.
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\1\ https://www.uspto.gov/patents/ptab/decisions.
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The items associated with this information collection include
appeals in applications and ex parte reexamination proceedings, and
appeals in inter partes reexamination proceedings and interference
proceedings that are governed by the regulations in 37 CFR 41. Failure
to comply with the appropriate regulations may result in dismissal of
the appeal or denial of entry of the submission.
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: 0651-0063.
Forms: (AIA = America Invents Act; SB = Specimen Book).
PTO/AIA/31: (Notice of Appeal from the Examiner to the
Patent Trial and Appeal Board).
PTO/SB/31: (Notice of Appeal from the Examiner to the
Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences).
PTO/AIA/32: (Request for Oral Hearing before the Patent
Trial and Appeal Board).
PTO/SB/32: (Request for Oral Hearing before the Patent
Trial and Appeal Board).
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: 16,905 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 31,494 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 120 hours to complete. This includes the time
to gather the necessary information, create the document, and submit
the completed item(s) to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 337,662 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $150,934,914.
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\2\ 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 $447 per hour (https://www.aipla.org/home/news-publications/economic-survey).
Table 1--Total Reporting Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Private Sector Respondents
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Estimated
Estimated Responses Estimated Estimated time for Estimated Rate \2\ ($/ annual
Item No. Item annual per annual response (hours) burden (hour/ hour) respondent
respondents respondent responses year) cost burden
(a) (b) (a) x (b) = (d)................... (c) x (d) = (f) (e) x (f) =
(c) (e) (g)
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1............... Notice of Appeal....... 16,562 1 16,562 0.50 (30 minutes)..... 8,281 $447 $3,701,607
2............... Appeal Brief........... (*) 1 9,038 32.................... 289,216 447 129,279,552
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3............... Amendment to Cancel (*) 1 112 2..................... 224 447 100,128
Claims.
4............... Reply Brief............ (*) 1 4,795 5..................... 23,975 447 10,716,825
5............... Petitions to the Chief (*) 1 35 4..................... 140 447 62,580
Administrative Patent
Judge Under 37 CFR
Sec. 41.3.
6............... Request for Oral (*) 1 531 0.50 (30 minutes)..... 266 447 118,902
Hearing.
7............... Request for Rehearing 304 1 304 5..................... 1,520 447 679,440
Before the PTAB.
8............... Statements, Motions, 39 3 117 120................... 14,040 447 6,275,880
Oppositions, and
Replies in Preliminary
and Priority Phases of
an Interference.
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Totals................. 16,905 ........... 31,494 ...................... 337,662 ........... 150,934,914
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* These lines (2-6) are the same filers as the respondents in Item 1. As these are subsets of Item 1, they are not included in the total for this
column.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden:
$24,085,946. There are no capital start-up 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, is $24,085,946.
Filing Fees
The fees are listed in Table 2 below.
Table 2--Filing Fees
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Estimated
Item No. Fee code Item annual Fee ($) Total cost ($)
responses
(a) (b) (a) x (b) =
(c)
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1................................. 1401 Notice of appeal 12,176 $905 $11,019,280
(undiscounted).
1................................. 2401 Notice of appeal 3,978 362 1,440,036
(small).
1................................. 3401 Notice of appeal 408 181 73,848
(micro).
2................................. 1404 Filing a brief in 1 2,260 2,260
support of an appeal
in an inter partes
reexamination
proceeding
(undiscounted).
2................................. 2404 Filing a brief in 1 904 904
support of an appeal
in an inter partes
reexamination
proceeding (small).
2................................. 3404 Filing a brief in 1 452 452
support of an appeal
in an inter partes
reexamination
proceeding (micro).
4................................. 1413 Forwarding an Appeal 3,908 2,535 9,906,780
in an Application or
Ex Parte
Reexamination
Proceeding to the
Board (undiscounted).
4................................. 2413 Forwarding an Appeal 920 1,014 932,880
in an Application or
Ex Parte
Reexamination
Proceeding to the
Board (small).
4................................. 3413 Forwarding an Appeal 97 507 49,179
in an Application or
Ex Parte
Reexamination
Proceeding to the
Board (micro).
5................................. 1405/2405/ Petitions to the 35 452 15,820
3405 Chief Administrative
Patent Judge under
37 CFR Sec. 41.3
(undiscounted).
7................................. 1403 Request for oral 382 1,460 557,720
hearing
(undiscounted).
7................................. 2403 Request for oral 135 584 78,840
hearing (small).
7................................. 3403 Request for oral 14 292 4,088
hearing (micro).
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Totals............... 22,056 ........... 24,082,087
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Postage Costs
The briefs, petitions, amendments, and requests may be submitted by
mail through the United States Postal Service. The USPTO estimates that
1% of the 31,494 items in this information collection will be submitted
by postal mail, resulting in 315 mailed items. The USPTO estimates that
the average postage cost for a mailed submission, using a Priority Mail
legal flat-rate envelope, will be $12.25. Therefore, the USPTO
estimates the total mailing costs for this information collection is
$3,859.
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 for those
who intend 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
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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 one
may request in a comment 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. 2026-07574 Filed 4-17-26; 8:45 am]
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