[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63841-63843]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-26846]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Practitioner Conduct and Discipline
ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.
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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on
this proposed extension of an existing information collection.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before February 11,
2019.
ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by any of the following
methods:
[[Page 63842]]
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0017 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Mail: Dahlia George, Office of Enrollment and Discipline,
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), P.O. Box 1450,
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Dahlia George, Office of Enrollment and
Discipline, United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), P.O. Box
1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-4097; or by
email at [email protected] with ``0651-0017 comment'' in the
subject line. Additional information about this collection is also
available at http://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection
Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office has
the authority to establish regulations governing the conduct and
discipline of agents, attorneys, or other persons representing
applicants and other parties before the USPTO (35 U.S.C. 2 and 32-33).
The USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct at 37 CFR 11.101-11.804
describe how agents, attorneys, or other practitioners representing
applicants and other parties before the USPTO should conduct themselves
professionally and outline their responsibilities for recordkeeping and
reporting violations or complaints of misconduct to the USPTO, while
the Investigations and Disciplinary Proceedings Rules (37 CFR 11.19-
11.60) dictate how the USPTO can discipline agents, attorneys, or other
persons representing applicants and other parties before the USPTO.
These sets of rules are collectively referred to here as ``Part 11.''
This collection covers the various reporting and recordkeeping
requirements set forth in Part 11 for all agents, attorneys, or other
practitioners representing applicants and other parties before the
USPTO. The Rules require a practitioner to maintain complete records of
all funds, securities, and other properties of clients coming into his
or her possession, and to render appropriate accounts to the client
regarding the funds, securities, and other properties of clients coming
into the practitioner's possession, collectively known as ``client
property.'' These recordkeeping requirements are necessary to maintain
the integrity of client property. Each State Bar requires its attorneys
to perform similar recordkeeping and these Rules require patent agents
to maintain similar recordkeeping for clients.
Part 11 also requires a practitioner to report knowledge of certain
violations of the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct to the USPTO. If
a complaint or grievance is found to have merit, the USPTO will
investigate and possibly prosecute such violations and provide the
practitioner with the opportunity to respond to the complaint. The
Director of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) may, after
notice and opportunity for a hearing, suspend, exclude, or disqualify
any practitioner from further practice before the USPTO based on non-
compliance with the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct. Practitioners
who have been excluded or suspended from practice before the USPTO,
practitioners transferred to disability inactive status, and
practitioners who have resigned must keep and maintain records of their
steps to comply with the suspension or exclusion order, transfer to
disability inactive status, or resignation should they seek
reinstatement. These records may serve as the practitioner's proof of
compliance with the order, transfer, resignation, and Rules.
The information collected, i.e., reports of alleged violations of
the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct, is used by the Director of OED
to conduct investigations and prosecute violations, as appropriate.
II. Method of Collection
Electronically via email; by mail or hand delivery in paper form.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0017.
IC Instruments: The individual instruments in this collection, as
well as their associated forms, are listed in the table below.
Type of Review: Revision of an existing information collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other
for-profits; and not-for-profit institutions.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 11,065 responses per year.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
the public between 1 hour and 20 hours to complete a single item in
this collection, depending on the instrument used, including the time
to gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate form or
petition, and submit the completed request to the USPTO. The time per
response, estimated annual responses, and estimated annual hour burden
associated with each instrument in this collection are shown in the
table below.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 12,225 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent (Hourly) Cost Burden:
$3,606,500.00. The USPTO expects that agents will complete the
Recordkeeping Maintenance & Disclosure item at an hourly wage rate of
$284 as published in the 2017 AIPLA Report of the Economic Survey and
that practitioners will complete the Recordkeeping Maintenance Under
Suspension or Exclusion from the USPTO item at an hourly rate of $438
as published in the 2017 AIPLA Report of the Economic Survey. The USPTO
further expects that a combination of individuals such as trademark
applicants and applicants for patents as well as practitioners,
including agents, will complete the Complaint/Violation Reporting,
including grievances. USPTO estimates that this group has a blended
hourly rate of $303; this blended rate is based on data from both the
2017 AIPLA Report of the Economic Survey and the 2017 Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) National Occupation Employment and Wage Estimates. The
BLS wage estimate for scientists and engineers (occupation code 19-
2099) is used for inventors and applicants. The blended rate is
comprised 50 percent by the practitioner hourly rate of $438, 25
percent by the agent hourly rate of $284, and 25 percent by the rate
for scientists and engineers of $51.53. Using these hourly rates, the
USPTO estimates $3,606,500 per year for the total hourly costs
associated with respondents.
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Estimated time Estimated Estimated
IC No. Information collection for response annual annual burden Rate ($/hr) Respondent
instrument (hours) responses hours cost
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(a) (b) (a) x (b) = (d) (c) x (d) =
(c) (e)
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1..................................... Recordkeeping Maintenance & 1 10,825 10,825 $284 $3,074,300
Disclosure (includes
advertisements, disclosure
requirements relating to
soliciting professional
employment, notifications by
non-attorney practitioner of
inadvertently sent documents,
and financial books and records
such as trust accounts,
fiduciary accounts, and
operating accounts).
2..................................... Recordkeeping Maintenance 20 40 800 438 350,400
Regarding Practitioners Under
Suspension or Exclusion from
the USPTO.
3..................................... Complaint/Violation Reporting... 3 200 600 303 181,800
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Total............................. ................................ .............. 11,065 12,225 .............. 3,606,500
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Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) Respondent Cost Burden:
$1,244.35. There are no capital start-up or maintenance costs as well
as no filing fees associated with this information collection. Any
recordkeeping costs have been factored into the estimated hourly cost
burden. There are, however, postage costs associated with this
collection.
Customers may incur postage costs when submitting the items covered
by this collection to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO expects that 20
percent of the Recordkeeping Maintenance & Disclosure item; 0 percent
of the Recordkeeping Maintenance Regarding Practitioners Under
Suspension or Exclusion item; and 25 percent of the Complaint/Violation
Reporting item will be submitted electronically. The USPTO further
expects that of the non-electronic submissions for this collection, 1
percent of each item's total responses will be submitted by hand
delivery and the rest will be submitted by mail, for a total of 187
mailed submissions.
The average first-class USPS postage cost for a one-pound mailed
submission in a flat-rate envelope and a three-pound mailed submission
in a small flat-rate box are $6.55 and $7.05, respectively. 25 percent
of the mailed Recordkeeping Maintenance & Disclosure items are expected
to require the more expensive flat-rate box mailing option, while all
other items are expected to be mailed using the flat-rate envelope.
Using these numbers, the USPTO estimates that the postage costs for the
mailed submissions in this collection will total $1,244.35.
Therefore, the USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour)
cost burden for this collection, in the form of postage costs, is
$1,244.35 per year.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on:
(a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden (including
hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information, including
the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
respondents, including through the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized or
included in the request for OMB approval of this information
collection; they will also become a matter of public record.
Marcie Lovett,
Director, Records and Information Governance Division, Office of the
Chief Administrative Officer, United States Patent and Trademark
Office.
[FR Doc. 2018-26846 Filed 12-11-18; 8:45 am]
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