[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50086-50089]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19202]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Representative and Address Provisions
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice 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 and revision of an existing information collection: 0651-
0035 (Representative and Address Provisions). The purpose of this
notice is to allow 60 days for public comment preceding submission of
the information collection to OMB.
DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this information
collection must be received on or before November 8, 2021.
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-
0035 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Mail: Kimberly Hardy, Office 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 Parikha Mehta, Legal Advisor, Office of Patent
Legal Administration, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O.
Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-3248; or
by email to [email protected]. Additional information about this
information collection is also available at http://www.reginfo.gov
under ``Information Collection Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
This information collection includes the information necessary to
submit a request to grant or revoke power of attorney for an
application, patent, or reexamination proceeding, and for a registered
practitioner to withdraw as attorney or agent of record. This also
includes the information necessary to change the correspondence address
for an application, patent, or reexamination proceeding, to request a
Customer Number and manage the correspondence address and list of
practitioners associated with a Customer Number, and to designate or
change the correspondence address or fee address for one or more
patents or applications by using a Customer Number.
Under 35 U.S.C. 2 and 37 CFR 1.31-1.32, power of attorney may be
granted to one or more joint inventors or a person who is registered to
practice before the USPTO to act in an application or a patent. In
particular, for an application filed before September 16, 2012, or for
a patent which issued from an application filed before September 16,
2012, power of attorney may be granted by the applicant for patent (as
set forth in 37 CFR 1.41(b) (pre-AIA)) or the assignee of the entire
interest of the applicant. For an application filed on or after
September 16, 2012, or for a patent which issued from an application
filed on or after September 16, 2012, power of attorney may be granted
by the applicant for patent (as set forth in 37 CFR 1.42) or the patent
owner. The USPTO provides two different versions of the forms for
establishing power of attorney based upon whether the application
filing date is before or after September 16, 2012, to thereby reduce
applicants' burden in having to determine the appropriate power of
attorney requirements for a given application.
37 CFR 1.36 provides for the revocation of a power of attorney at
any stage in the proceedings of a case. 37 CFR 1.36 also provides a
path by which a registered patent attorney or patent agent who has been
given a power of attorney may withdraw as attorney or agent of record.
The USPTO's Customer Number practice permits applicants, patent
owners, assignees, and practitioners of record, or the representatives
of record for a number of applications or patents, to change the
correspondence address of a patent application or patent with one
change request instead of filing separate requests for each patent or
application.
[[Page 50087]]
Any changes to the address or practitioner information associated with
a Customer Number will be applied to all patents and applications
associated with said Customer Number.
The Customer Number practice is optional, in that changes of
correspondence address or power of attorney may be filed separately for
each patent or application without using a Customer Number. However, a
Customer Number associated with the correspondence address for a patent
application is required in order to access private information about
the application using the Patent Application Information Retrieval
(PAIR) system, which is available through the USPTO website. The use of
a Customer Number is also required in order to grant power of attorney
to more than ten practitioners or to establish a separate ``fee
address'' for maintenance fee purposes that is different from the
correspondence address for a patent or application.
II. Method of Collection
Items in this information collection may be submitted by mail,
facsimile, hand delivery, or online electronic submissions.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0651-0035.
Form Number(s): (AIA= American Invents; SB = Specimen Book).
PTO/AIA/80; PTO/SB/80 (Power of Attorney to Prosecute
Applications Before the USPTO)
PTO/AIA/81 (Power of Attorney to one or More of the Joint
Inventors and Change of Correspondence Address)
PTO/SB/81 (Power of Attorney or Revocation of Power of
Attorney with a New Power of Attorney and Change of Correspondence
Address)
PTO/AIA/81A; PTO/SB/81A (Patent--Power of Attorney or
Revocation of Power of Attorney with a New Power of Attorney and Change
of Correspondence Address)
PTO/AIA/81B (Reexamination or Supplemental Examination--Patent
Owner Power of Attorney or Revocation of Power of Attorney With a New
Power of Attorney and Change of Correspondence Address for
Reexamination or Supplemental Examination and Patent)
PTO/SB/81B (Reexamination--Patent Owner Power of Attorney or
Revocation of Power of Attorney with a New Power of Attorney and Change
of Correspondence Address)
PTO/SB/81C (Reexamination--Third Party Requester Power of
Attorney or Revocation of Power of Attorney with a New Power of
Attorney and Change of Correspondence Address)
PTO/AIA/82A; PTO/AIA/82B; PTO/AIA/82C (Transmittal for Power
of Attorney To One Or More Registered Practitioners/Power Of Attorney
By Applicant)
PTO/AIA/83; PTO/SB/83 (Request for Withdrawal as Attorney or
Agent and Change of Correspondence Address)
PTO/SB/124 (Request for Customer Number Data Change)
PTO/SB/125 (Request for Customer Number)
PTO-2248 (Request to Update a PCT Application with a Customer
Number)
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved information
collection.
Affected Public: Private sector; individuals or households.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 184,743 respondents per year.
Estimated Number of Responses: 226,573 responses per year.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the response
time for activities related to Representative Address Provisions will
take the public between 0.20 hours (12 minutes) to 1.5 hours (90
minutes) to complete. This includes the time to gather the necessary
information, create the document, and submit the completed request to
the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 111,104 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $16,561,175.
Table 1--Total Hourly Burden For Private Sector Respondents
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Estimated Estimated
Estimated annual Estimated time for Estimated Rate \1\ ($/ annual
Item No. Item annual responses response (hour) annual burden hour) respondent
respondents (year) (hour/year) cost burden
(a) (b)........................ (a) x (b) = (d) (c) x (d) =
(c) (e)
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1................ Power of Attorney to 2,425 2,910 0.5 (30 minutes)........... 1,455 $145 $210,975
Prosecute Applications
Before the USPTO. PTO/
AIA/80, PTO/SB/80.
2................ Power of Attorney or 165,870 204,670 0.5 (30 minutes)........... 102,335 145 14,838,575
Revocation of Power of
Attorney with a New
Power of Attorney and
Change of
Correspondence. PTO/AIA/
82A, PTO/AIA/82B, PTO/
AIA/82C.
3................ Patent--Power of 165 194 0.5 (30 minutes)........... 97 145 14,065
Attorney or Revocation
of Power of Attorney
with a New Power of
Attorney and Change of
Correspondence Address.
PTO/AIA/81, PTO/SB/81,
PTO/AIA/81A, PTO/SB/81A.
4................ Reexamination--Patent 29 29 0.5 (30 minutes)........... 15 145 2,175
Owner Power of Attorney
or Revocation of Power
of Attorney with a New
Power of Attorney and
Change of
Correspondence Address.
PTO/AIA/81B PTO/SB/81B.
5................ Reexamination--Third 24 24 0.5 (30 minutes)........... 12 145 1,740
Party Requester Power
of Attorney or
Revocation of Power of
Attorney with a New
Power of Attorney and
Change of
Correspondence Address.
PTO/SB/81C.
6................ Request for Withdrawal 2,134 3,395 0.5 (30 minutes)........... 1,698 400 679,200
as Attorney or Agent
and Change of
Correspondence Address.
PTO/AIA/83, PTO/SB/83.
[[Page 50088]]
7................ Petition Under 37 CFR 9 9 1 (60 minutes)............. 9 400 3,600
1.36(a) to Revoke Power
of Attorney by Fewer
than All the Applicants.
8................ Petition to Waive 37 CFR 9 9 1 (60 minutes)............. 9 400 3,600
1.32(b)(4) and Grant
Power of Attorney by
Fewer than All the
Applicants.
9................ Request for Customer 1,067 1,067 0.2 (12 minutes)........... 213 145 30,885
Number Data Change. PTO/
SB/124.
10............... Request for Customer 6,111 6,111 0.2 (12 minutes)........... 1,222 145 177,190
Number. PTO/SB/125.
11............... Customer Number Upload 291 291 1.5 (90 minutes)........... 437 145 63,365
Spreadsheet.
12............... Request to Update a PCT 1,067 1,067 0.25 (15 minutes).......... 267 145 38,715
Application with a
Customer Number. PTO-
2248.
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Totals....... ........................ 179,201 219,776 ........................... 107,769 .............. 16,064,085
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\1\ 2019 Report of the Economic Survey, published by the Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American Intellectual Property Law Association
(AIPLA); https://www.aipla.org/detail/journal-issue/2019-report-of-the-economic-survey. The USPTO uses the mean rate for attorneys in private firms
which is $400 per hour. The hourly rate for paraprofessional/paralegals is estimated at $145 from data published in the 2018 Utilization and
Compensation Survey by the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA); https://www.nala.org/paralegals/research-and-survey-findings.
Table 2--Total Hourly Burden For Individuals or Households Respondents
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Estimated Estimated
Estimated annual Estimated time for Estimated Rate \2\ ($/ annual
Item No. Item annual responses response (hour) annual burden hour) respondent
respondents (year) (hour/year) cost burden
(a) (b)........................ (a) x (b) = (d) (c) x (d) =
(c) (e)
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1................ Power of Attorney to 75 90 0.5 (30 minutes)........... 45 $145 $6,525
Prosecute Applications
Before the USPTO. PTO/
AIA/80, PTO/SB/80.
2................ Power of Attorney or 5,130 6,330 0.5 (30 minutes)........... 3,165 145 458,925
Revocation of Power of
Attorney with a New
Power of Attorney and
Change of
Correspondence. PTO/AIA/
82A, PTO/AIA/82B, PTO/
AIA/82C.
3................ Patent--Power of 5 6 0.5 (30 minutes)........... 3 145 435
Attorney or Revocation
of Power of Attorney
with a New Power of
Attorney and Change of
Correspondence Address.
PTO/AIA/81, PTO/SB/81,
PTO/AIA/81A, PTO/SB/81A.
4................ Reexamination--Patent 1 1 0.5 (30 minutes)........... 1 145 145
Owner Power of Attorney
or Revocation of Power
of Attorney with a New
Power of Attorney and
Change of
Correspondence Address.
PTO/AIA/81B, PTO/SB/81B.
5................ Reexamination--Third 1 1 0.5 (30 minutes)........... 1 145 145
Party Requester Power
of Attorney or
Revocation of Power of
Attorney with a New
Power of Attorney and
Change of
Correspondence Address.
PTO/SB/81C.
6................ Request for Withdrawal 66 105 0.5 (30 minutes)........... 53 400 21,200
as Attorney or Agent
and Change of
Correspondence Address.
PTO/AIA/83, PTO/SB/83.
9................ Request for Customer 33 33 0.2 (12 minutes)........... 7 145 1,015
Number Data Change. PTO/
SB/124.
10............... Request for Customer 189 189 0.2 (12 minutes)........... 38 145 5,510
Number. PTO/SB/125.
11............... Customer Number Upload 9 9 1.5 (90 minutes)........... 14 145 2,030
Spreadsheet.
12............... Request to Update a PCT 33 33 0.25 (15 minutes).......... 8 145 1,160
Application with a
Customer Number. PTO-
2248.
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Totals....... ........................ 5,542 6,797 ........................... 3,335 .............. 497,090
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\2\ 2019 Report of the Economic Survey, published by the Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American Intellectual Property Law Association
(AIPLA); https://www.aipla.org/detail/journal-issue/2019-report-of-the-economic-survey. The USPTO uses the mean rate for attorneys in private firms
which is $400 per hour. The hourly rate for paraprofessional/paralegals is estimated at $145 from data published in the 2018 Utilization and
Compensation Survey by the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA); https://www.nala.org/paralegals/research-and-survey-findings.
[[Page 50089]]
The USPTO published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register in
support of the renewal of this collection on January 15, 2021. In
response to public feedback received regarding the January 2021 60-day
notice, and after further consideration of the estimated times for
response for items 1-6, the USPTO has increased the estimated times for
response for items 1-5 from 3 minutes to 30 minutes and the estimated
time for response for item 6 from 12 minutes to 30 minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $26,686.
There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or recordkeeping costs
associated with this information collection. However, USPTO estimates
that the total annual (non-hour) cost burden for this information
collection, in the form of filing fees and postage is $26,686.
Filing Fees
The two petitions in this information collection have associated
filing fees under 37 CFR 1.17(f), resulting in $8,000 in filing fees.
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Estimated
Item No. Item annual Filing fee ($) Total non-hour
responses cost burden
(a) (b) (a) x (b) =
(c)
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7.............................. Petitions Under 37 CFR 1.36(a) 10 $400.00 $4,000
to Revoke Power of Attorney by
Fewer than All the Applicants.
8.............................. Petitions to Waive 37 CFR 10 400.00 4,000
1.32(b)(4) and Grant Power of
Attorney by Fewer than All the
Applicants.
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Total...................... ............................... .............. .............. 8,000
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Postage Costs
Although the USPTO prefers that the items in this information
collection be submitted electronically, responses may be submitted by
mail through the United States Postal Service (USPS). The USPTO
estimates that 1% of the 226,573 items will be submitted in the mail
resulting in 2,265 mailed items. The USPTO estimates that the average
postage cost for a mailed submission, using a Priority Mail 2-day flat
rate legal envelope, will be $8.25. Therefore, the USPTO estimates the
total mailing costs for this information collection at $18,686.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
IV. Request for Comments
The USPTO is soliciting public comments to:
(a) Evaluate whether the proposed 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 proposed 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 on 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. 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 aware that the entire
comment-- including PII--may be made publicly available at any time.
While you may ask in your comment to withhold PII from public view,
USPTO cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.
Kimberly Hardy,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2021-19202 Filed 9-3-21; 8:45 am]
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