[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 100 (Tuesday, May 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31533-31534]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11149]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
[OMB Control No. 0651-NEW; Docket No. PTO-C-2022-0018]
Information Collection; Improving Customer Experience (OMB
Circular A-11, Section 280 Implementation)
AGENCY: Department of Commerce, United States Patent and Trademark
Office.
ACTION: Notice; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or
Agency) as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and
respondent burden, is announcing an opportunity for public comment on a
new proposed collection of information by the Agency. Under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Federal agencies are required to
publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed
collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in
response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on new collection
proposed by the Agency.
DATES: Submit comments on or before: July 25, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 0651-
NEW, Improving Customer Experience (OMB Circular A-11, Section 280
Implementation), by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted
electronically, including attachments to https://www.regulations.gov,
will be posted to the docket unchanged.
Mail: Kimberly Hardy, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer,
United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria,
VA 22313-1450. 0651-NEW, Improving Customer Experience (OMB Circular A-
11, Section 280 Implementation).
Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information
Collection 0651-NEW, Improving Customer Experience (OMB Circular A-11,
Section 280 Implementation), in all correspondence related to this
collection. To confirm receipt of your comment(s), please check
regulations.gov, approximately 2-3 business days after submission to
verify posting (except allow 30 days for posting of comments submitted
by mail).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Charles Thomas, Customer Experience Administrator
for Trademarks, and/or Toni Krasnic, Customer Experience Administrator
for Patents, via email to [email protected] and/or
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Purpose
Under the PRA, (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) Federal agencies must obtain
approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each
collection of information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of
information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and
includes Agency requests
[[Page 31534]]
or requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep
records, or provide information to a third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A)
of the PRA requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the
Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information,
including each proposed extension of an existing collection of
information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To
comply with this requirement, USPTO is publishing notice of the
proposed collection of information set forth in this document.
Whether seeking a loan, Social Security benefits, veteran's
benefits, or other services provided by the Federal Government,
individuals and businesses expect Government customer services to be
efficient and intuitive, just like services from leading private-sector
organizations. Yet the 2016 American Consumer Satisfaction Index and
the 2017 Forrester Federal Customer Experience Index show that, on
average, Government services lag nine percentage points behind the
private sector.
A modern, streamlined, and responsive customer experience means:
Raising governmentwide customer experience to the average of the
private sector service industry; developing indicators for high-impact
Federal programs to monitor progress towards excellent customer
experience and mature digital services; and providing the structure
(including increasing transparency) and resources to ensure customer
experience is a focal point for agency leadership. To support this, OMB
Circular A-11 Section 280 established governmentwide standards for
mature customer experience organizations in government and measurement.
To enable Federal programs to deliver the experience taxpayers deserve,
they must undertake three general categories of activities: Conduct
ongoing customer research, gather and share customer feedback, and test
services and digital products.
These data collection efforts may be either qualitative or
quantitative in nature or may consist of mixed methods. Additionally,
data may be collected via a variety of means, including but not limited
to electronic or social media, direct or indirect observation (i.e., in
person, video, and audio collections), interviews, questionnaires,
surveys, and focus groups. USPTO will limit its inquiries to data
collections that solicit strictly voluntary opinions or responses.
Steps will be taken to ensure anonymity of respondents in each activity
covered by this request.
The results of the data collected will be used to improve the
delivery of Federal services and programs. It will include the creation
of personas, customer journey maps, and reports and summaries of
customer feedback data and user insights. It will also provide
governmentwide data on customer experience that can be displayed on
performance.gov to help build transparency and accountability of
Federal programs to the customers they serve.
Method of Collection
USPTO will collect this information by electronic means when
possible, as well as by mail, fax, telephone, technical discussions,
and in-person interviews. USPTO may also utilize observational
techniques to collect this information.
Data
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Review: New.
B. Annual Reporting Burden
Affected Public: Collections will be targeted to the solicitation
of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or
may have experience with the program in the near future. For the
purposes of this request, ``customers'' are individuals, businesses,
and organizations that interact with a Federal Government agency or
program, either directly or via a Federal contractor. This could
include individuals or households; businesses or other for-profit
organizations; not-for-profit institutions; State, local or tribal
governments; Federal government; and universities.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,001,550.
Estimated Time per Response: Varied, dependent upon the data
collection method used. The possible response time to complete a
questionnaire or survey may be 3 minutes or up to 1.5 hours to
participate in an interview.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 101,125.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $2,737,454.
C. Public Comments
USPTO invites comments on: (a) 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) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information;
(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. Comments submitted in response to this notice will be
summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this
information collection; they also will become a matter of public
record.
Kimberly Hardy,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2022-11149 Filed 5-23-22; 8:45 am]
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