[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 77 (Wednesday, April 22, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21449-21450]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07831]
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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 (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 0651-0034, 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 November 19, 2025
during a 60-day comment period (90 FR 52041). 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 May 22, 2026.
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, 0651-0034. 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. Follow the instructions to view the Department
of Commerce, USPTO information collections currently under review by
OMB.
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0034 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 R. West, Senior Legal Advisor, 571-272-
2226.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Secrecy and License to Export.
OMB Control Number: 0651-0034.
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.
[[Page 21450]]
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
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 do not
apply, including orders issued by direction of 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 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 so 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 by the heads of the departments and the chief officers of
the agencies who caused the order to be issued 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 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 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 set 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 filed through error in a foreign country without the
appropriate filing license.
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 Non-hourly Cost Burden:
$1,623,052.
Since the publication of the 60-day notice, the USPTO has updated
the postage costs rates associated with this information collection.
This results in an increase of $76 in non-hourly burden, for a new
estimated total annual respondent cost burden of $1,623,052.
Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2026-07831 Filed 4-21-26; 8:45 am]
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