[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 100 (Tuesday, May 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31534-31535]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11156]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Patents External Quality Survey
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 comment on this
information collection renewal, which helps the USPTO assess the impact
of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the
Federal Register on March 15, 2022 during a 60-day comment period. This
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
Title: Patents External Quality Survey.
OMB Control Number: 0651-0057.
Needs and Uses: The USPTO's Patents External Quality Survey is an
instrument designed to measure opinions about the services that USPTO
provides its patent application customers. The results from this
voluntary survey will assist the USPTO in guiding improvements and
enhancements in the future. The USPTO conducts the Patents External
Quality Survey as part of its quality improvement efforts under E.O.
14058, Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to
[[Page 31535]]
Rebuild Trust in Government (Dec. 13, 2021). This survey narrows the
focus of customer satisfaction to examination quality and uses a
longitudinal, rotating panel design to assess changes in customer
perceptions and to identify key areas for examiner training and
opportunities for improvement. The USPTO surveys patent agents,
attorneys, and other individuals from large domestic corporations
(including those with 500+ employees), small and medium-size
businesses, independent inventors, and universities, and other non-
profit research organizations. This survey does not include foreign
entities. The USPTO random sample used in this survey is drawn from the
Patent Application and Location Management (PALM) database. The sample
population is drawn from the top filing firms and entities that have
filed five or more patent applications in a 12-month period. This
ongoing survey is generally conducted twice a year. The USPTO uses a
rotating panel design where participants will take the survey twice in
back-to-back survey periods. Half the participants in each survey
period are new, completing the survey for the first time, and half are
returning to complete the survey for a second time. This design allows
a precise measurement of changes in customer experience over time. The
Patents External Quality Survey is primarily a web-based survey,
although respondents can also complete the survey via paper and mail if
they prefer. The content of both versions is identical. Potential
respondents are sent either an email or mailed pre-survey letter,
depending on noted preferences for contact. At the beginning of each
survey period, respondents are provided instructions for accessing and
completing the survey electronically. After a specified response
period, a survey packet containing a questionnaire, a separate cover
letter prepared by the Deputy Commissioner for Patents, and a postage-
paid, preaddressed return envelope are mailed to all sample members
that have not yet submitted a response. Sampled members receiving a
paper survey can still complete the survey electronically if they
prefer. Reminder/thank you postcards and telephone calls are used to
encourage responses from sample members.
Form Numbers:
PTO/2325 (Patents External Quality Survey).
Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved
information collection.
Affected Public: Private sector.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency: On occasion.
Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 1,875 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 3,100 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection will take the public between 2 minutes
(0.03 hours) and 10 minutes (0.17 hours) to complete. This includes the
time to gather the necessary information, answer the survey prompts,
and submit the completed request to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 444 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $0.
This information collection request may be viewed at
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of
Commerce, USPTO information collections currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and recommendations for this information
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of
this notice on the following website 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 0651-0057.
Further information can be obtained by:
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0057 information request'' in the subject line of the message.
Mail: Kimberly Hardy, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450,
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
Kimberly Hardy,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2022-11156 Filed 5-23-22; 8:45 am]
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