[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 13, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61600-61602]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24617]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Post Allowance and Refiling
ACTION: Notice of renewal of information collection; request for
comment.
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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
the extension of an existing information collection: 0651-0033 (Post
Allowance and Refiling).
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before January 13,
2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Email: InformationCollection@uspto.gov. Include ``0651-
0033 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Mail: Marcie Lovett, Records and Information Governance
Branch, Office
[[Page 61601]]
of the Chief Administrative Officer, United States Patent and Trademark
Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Raul Tamayo, Senior Legal Advisor, Office of
Patent Legal Administration, United States Patent and Trademark Office,
P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-7728;
or by email to Raul.Tamayo@uspto.gov. Additional information about this
collection is also available at http://www.reginfo.gov under
``Information Collection Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
This collection of information covers the submission of issue fee
payments to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The
USPTO is required by 35 U.S.C. 131 and 151 to examine applications and,
when appropriate, allow applications and issue them as patents. When an
application for a patent is allowed by the USPTO, the USPTO issues a
notice of allowance and the applicant must pay the specified issue fee
within three months to avoid abandonment of the application. If the
appropriate fees are paid within the proper time period, the USPTO can
then issue the patent. If the fees are not paid within the designated
time period, the application is abandoned (applicant may petition the
Director to accept a delayed payment and revive the application with a
statement that the delay was unintentional; the Petition for Revival of
an Application for Patent Abandoned Unintentionally (Form PTO/SB/64) is
approved under information collection 0651-0031). The rules outlining
the procedures for payment of the issue fee and issuance of a patent
are found at 37 CFR 1.18 and 1.311-1.317.
This collection of information also covers several transactions
that may be taken after issuance of a patent, pursuant to Chapter 25 of
Title 35 U.S.C. A certificate of correction may be requested to correct
an error or errors in the patent. If the USPTO determines that the
request should be approved, the USPTO will issue a certificate of
correction. For an original patent that is believed to be wholly or
partly inoperative or invalid, the original patentee, or the current
patent owner if there has been a subsequent assignment, may apply for
reissue of the patent, which entails several formal requirements,
including provision of an oath or declaration specifically identifying
at least one error being relied upon as the basis for reissue and
stating the reason for the belief that the original patent is wholly or
partly inoperative or invalid (e.g., a defective specification or
drawing, or claiming more or less than the patentee had the right to
claim in the patent). The rules outlining these procedures are found at
37 CFR 1.171-1.178 and 1.322-1.325.
II. Method of Collection
By mail, facsimile, hand delivery, or electronically to the USPTO.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0033.
Form Number(s): PTO/SB/44/50/51/51S/52/53/56/141, PTO/AIA/05/06/07,
and PTOL-85B.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other
for-profits; and not-for-profit institutions.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 392,149 responses per year. The
USPTO estimates that approximately 25% (98,037) of these responses will
be from small entities (22%) and micro entities (3%).
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
the public from 12 minutes (0.20 hours) to 5 hours to gather the
necessary information, prepare the appropriate form or document, and
submit the information to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 213,789.50 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $37,691,207.50. The
USPTO expects that the information in this collection will be prepared
by attorneys at an estimated rate of $438 per hour, except for the
Issue Fee Transmittal, which will be prepared by paraprofessionals at
an estimated rate of $125 per hour. The attorney rates are found in the
2017 Report of the Economic Survey of the America Intellectual Property
Law Association (AIPLA). The paraprofessional rate is found in the 2016
National Utilization and Compensation Survey Report published by the
National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA). Therefore, the USPTO
estimates that the respondent cost burden for this collection will be
approximately $37,691,207.50 per year.
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Estimated Estimated
IC No. Item Estimated time for response (hr) annual annual burden Rate ($/hr) Total cost
responses hours burden ($/hr)
........................ (a)............................. (b) (a) x (b) = (d) (c) x (d) = (e)
(c)
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1.......................... Certificate of 1............................... 29,000 29,000.00 $438.00 $12,702,000.00
Correction (PTO/SB/44).
2.......................... Petition to Correct 0.50 (30 minutes)............... 800 400.00 438.00 175,200.00
Assignee After Payment
of Issue Fee (37 CFR
3.81(b)) (PTO/SB/141).
3.......................... Reissue Documentation... 5............................... 900 4,500.00 438.00 1,971,000.00
4.......................... Reissue Patent 0.20 (12 minutes)............... 900 180.00 438.00 78,840.00
Application Transmittal
(PTO/SB/50)Office (RO/
US) (PTO-1382).
5.......................... Reissue Application 0.50 (30 minutes)............... 1,150 575.00 438.00 251,850.00
Declaration by the
Inventor or the
Assignee (PTO/SB/51/52
and PTO/AIA/05/06) or
Substitute Statement in
Lieu of an Oath or
Declaration for Reissue
Patent Application (35
U.S.C. Sec. 115(d)
and 37 CFR 1.64) (PTO/
AIA/07).
6.......................... Supplemental Declaration 0.30 (18 minutes)............... 50 15.00 438.00 6,570.00
for Reissue Patent
Application to Correct
``Errors'' Statement
(37 CFR 1.175) (PTO/SB/
51S).
7.......................... Reissue Application: 0.20 (12 minutes)............... 950 190.00 438.00 83,220.00
Consent of Assignee;
Statement of Non-
assignment (PTO/SB/53).
8.......................... Reissue Application Fee 0.20 (12 minutes)............... 900 180.00 438.00 78,840.00
Transmittal Form (PTO/
SB/56).
9.......................... Issue Fee Transmittal 0.50 (30 minutes)............... 35,750 17,875.00 125.00 2,234,375.00
(PTOL-85B).
10......................... Issue Fee Transmittal 0.50 (30 minutes)............... 321,749 160,874.50 125.00 20,109,312.50
(electronic) (PTOL-85B).
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Totals................. ........................ ................................ 392,149 213,789.50 .............. 37,691,207.50
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[[Page 61602]]
Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden:
$305,708,615. There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or
recordkeeping costs associated with this information collection.
However, this collection does have annual (non-hour) costs in the form
of filing fees and postage costs.
Filing Fees: There are filing fees associated with this collection.
The items with filing fees are listed in the table below.
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Estimated Total non-hour
IC No. Information collection annual Filing fee cost burden
instrument responses ($) (yr)
............................. (a) (b) (a) x (b) = (c)
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1............................... Certificate of correction.... 10,395 $150.00 $1,559,250.00
3............................... Basic filing fee--Reissue 672 300.00 201,600.00
(Large entity).
3............................... Basic filing fee--Reissue 225 150.00 33,750.00
(Small entity).
3............................... Basic filing fee--Reissue 11 75.00 825.00
(Micro entity).
3............................... Reissue Search Fee (Large 669 660.00 441,540.00
entity).
3............................... Reissue Search Fee (Small 226 330.00 74,580.00
entity).
3............................... Reissue Search Fee (Micro 11 165.00 1,815.00
entity).
3............................... Reissue independent claims in 694 460.00 319,240.00
excess of three (Large
entity).
3............................... Reissue independent claims in 228 230.00 52,440.00
excess of three (Small
entity).
3............................... Reissue independent claims in 10 115.00 1,150.00
excess of three (Micro
entity).
3............................... Reissue claims in excess of 5,374 100.00 537,400.00
20 (Large entity).
3............................... Reissue claims in excess of 1,588 50.00 79,400.00
20 (Small entity).
3............................... Reissue claims in excess of 82 25.00 2,050.00
20 (Micro entity).
3, 4............................ Reissue Application Size Fee-- 41 400.00 16,400.00
for each additional 50
sheets that exceeds 100
sheets (Large entity).
3, 4............................ Reissue Application Size Fee-- 9 200.00 1,800.00
for each additional 50
sheets that exceeds 100
sheets (Small entity).
3, 4............................ Reissue Application Size Fee-- 1 100.00 100.00
for each additional 50
sheets that exceeds 100
sheets (Micro entity).
3............................... Reissue Examination Fee 670 2,200.00 1,474,000.00
(Large entity).
3............................... Reissue Examination Fee 222 1,100.00 244,200.00
(Small entity).
3............................... Reissue Examination Fee 11 550.00 6,050.00
(Micro entity).
9, 10........................... Utility issue fee (Large 248,775 1,000.00 248,775,000.00
entity).
9, 10........................... Utility issue fee (Small 63,994 500.00 31,997,000.00
entity).
9, 10........................... Utility issue fee (Micro 7,952 250.00 1,988,000.00
entity).
9, 10........................... Design issue fee (Large 16,668 700.00 11,667,600.00
entity).
9, 10........................... Design issue fee (Small 12,415 350.00 4,345,250.00
entity).
9, 10........................... Design issue fee (Micro 2,586 175.00 452,550.00
entity).
9, 10........................... Plant issue fee (Large 768 800.00 614,400.00
entity).
9, 10........................... Plant issue fee (Small 650 400.00 260,000.00
entity).
9, 10........................... Plant issue fee (Micro 15 200.00 3,000.00
entity).
9, 10........................... Reissue issue fee (Large 463 1,000.00 463,000.00
entity).
9, 10........................... Reissue issue fee (Small 132 500.00 66,000.00
entity).
9, 10........................... Reissue issue fee (Micro 2 250.00 500.00
entity).
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Total....................... ............................. 375,559 .............. 305,679,890
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Postage Costs: Customers may also incur postage costs when
submitting the information in this collection by the USPTO by mail. The
USPTO estimates the average USPS Priority Mail postage cost for a legal
flat rate envelop is estimated to be $7.65 and that approximately 1%
(3,755) of the submissions will be mailed to the USPTO per year, for a
total estimated postage cost of $28,725 per year.
The total annual (non-hour) respondent cost burden for this
collection is estimated to be approximately $305,708,615 per year.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will
become a matter of public record.
USPTO invites public comments on:
(a) 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) 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, e.g, 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.
Marcie Lovett,
Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, Records and Information
Governance Branch, USPTO.
[FR Doc. 2019-24617 Filed 11-12-19; 8:45 am]
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