[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 75 (Monday, April 20, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20984-20985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07575]
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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; Global Intellectual Property Academy (GIPA) Surveys
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: 0651-0065 (Global Intellectual Property Academy
(GIPA) Surveys). 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-
0065 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: Kortney Hammonds, 571-272-1626.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Kortney Hammonds at: Global Intellectual Property
Academy (GIPA), United States Patent and Trademark Office, Mail Stop
OPIA, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; 571-272-1626; or
[email protected] with ``0651-0065 comment'' in the subject line.
Additional information about this information collection is also
available at https://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection
Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The Global Intellectual Property Academy (GIPA) was established in
2006 and is a critical resource of the United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO) for encouraging the development of effective
and balanced intellectual property (IP) systems around the world.
Through targeted international technical assistance activities, GIPA
helps to promote both domestic and international IP rights. GIPA's
activities cover every aspect of intellectual property law and policy,
including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets,
commercialization, and enforcement. By participating in GIPA courses,
foreign government officials learn about global intellectual property
rights protection
[[Page 20985]]
and enforcement and discuss strategies to handle the protection and
enforcement issues in their respective countries. GIPA is an important
instrument that the USPTO utilizes to achieve its objective of
preventing intellectual property theft and advancing intellectual
property right policies.
The surveys in this information collection are conducted in an
effort to measure the effectiveness of each activity or intervention.
Specifically, the GIPA surveys help to demonstrate the impact of the
specific activity on each participant's work and the relevance of each
activity to the country's efforts to improve systems for protecting and
enforcing IP rights. The survey information is then used to further
tailor and improve future interventions. The data captured is also used
to help meet organizational performance and accountability goals
through the following legislative mandates and performance:
Government Performance and Results Act of 1993; \1\
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\1\ https://www.congress.gov/103/statute/STATUTE-107/STATUTE-107-Pg285.pdf.
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Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of
2010 (GPRMA); \2\
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\2\ https://www.congress.gov/111/plaws/publ352/PLAW-111publ352.pdf.
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President's Management Agenda (PMA); \3\ and
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\3\ https://www.performance.gov/blog/2025-pma-impact-report/.
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Foundations for Evidence Based Policy Making Act of
2018.\4\
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\4\ https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ435/PLAW-115publ435.pdf.
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Evaluations and measurement efforts provide methodologically
rigorous data activity and analyses rather than subjective, ad hoc, and
non-standardized anecdotal material.
These voluntary surveys support various business goals developed by
the USPTO to fulfill customer service and performance goals, to assist
the USPTO in strategic planning for future initiatives, to verify
existing service standards, and to establish new ones. The USPTO also
uses these surveys to implement Executive Order 12862 of September 11,
1993, Setting Customer Service Standards, published in the Federal
Register on September 14, 1993 (58 FR 48257).\5\
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\5\ https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/fedreg/fr058/fr058176/fr058176.pdf.
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II. Method of Collection
Items in this information collection may be submitted as electronic
submissions and occasionally as in-person surveys.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0651-0065.
Forms: None.
Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved
information collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency: On occasion.
Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 14,508 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 14,508 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 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: 3,627 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $355,700.
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\6\ The USPTO uses the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
Occupation Employment Statistics wage category 23-1021
(Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officials;
Federal Executive Branch) to represent an estimated wage of program
attendees. The USPTO estimates that the hourly wage rate will be in
the 90th percentile, as respondents will likely be senior officials
living in metropolitan areas; https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/.
Table 1--Total Reporting Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Individual and Household Respondents
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Estimated Estimated
annual Responses Estimated Estimated time for Estimated Rate \6\ ($/ annual
Item No. Item respondents per annual response (hours) burden (hour/ hour) respondent
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............... Post-Program 4,000 1 4,000 0.25 (15 minutes)..... 1,000 $98.07 $98,070
Streamlined Survey.
2............... Alumni Survey.......... 10,508 1 10,508 0.25 (15 minutes)..... 2,627 98.07 257,630
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Totals................. 14,508 ........... 14,508 ...................... 3,627 ........... 355,700
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Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden: $0. There
are no capital start-up costs, maintenance costs, recordkeeping costs,
filing fees, or postage costs associated with this information
collection.
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 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 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. 2026-07575 Filed 4-17-26; 8:45 am]
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