[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 179 (Friday, September 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56931-56933]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-20132]
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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; Legal Processes
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-
0046 Legal Processes. 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 15, 2022.
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-
0046 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Mail: Justin Isaac, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450,
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Request for additional information
should be directed to Kyu Lee, Office of General Law, United States
Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450;
by telephone at 571-272-3000; or by email at [email protected] with
``0651-0046 comment'' in the subject line. Additional information about
this information collection is also available at http://www.reginfo.gov
under ``Information Collection Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
This collection covers information requirements related to civil
actions and claims involving current and former employees of the United
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The rules for these legal
processes may be found under 37 CFR part 104, which outlines procedures
for service of process, demands for employee testimony and production
of documents in legal proceedings, reports of unauthorized testimony,
employee indemnification, and filing claims against the USPTO under the
Federal Tort Claims Act (28 U.S.C. 2672) and the corresponding
Department of Justice regulations (28 CFR part 14). The public may also
petition the USPTO Office of General Counsel under 37 CFR 104.3 to
waive or suspend these rules in extraordinary cases.
The procedures under 37 CFR part 104 ensure that service of process
intended for current and former employees of the USPTO is handled
properly. The USPTO will only accept service of process for an employee
acting in an official capacity. This collection is necessary so that
respondents or their representatives can serve a summons or complaint
on the USPTO, demand employee testimony and documents related to a
legal proceeding, or file a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
Respondents may also petition the USPTO to waive or suspend these rules
for legal processes. This collection is also necessary so that current
and former USPTO employees may properly forward service and demands to
the Office of General Counsel, report unauthorized testimony, and
request indemnification. The USPTO covers current employees as
respondents under this information collection even though their
responses do not require approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act. In
those instances where both current and former employees may respond to
the USPTO, the agency estimates that the number of respondents will be
small.
There are no forms provided by the USPTO for this collection. For
filing claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the public may use
Standard Form 95 ``Claim for Damage, Injury, or Death,'' which is
provided by the Department of Justice and approved by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control Number 1105-0008.
II. Method of Collection
By mail or hand delivery to the USPTO.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0651-0046.
Forms:
Standard Form 95 (Claim for Damage, Injury, or Death).
Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved
information collection.
Affected Public: Private sector; individuals or households.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 309 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 309 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection will take the public approximately
between 5 minutes (0.08 hours) and 6 hours to complete. This includes
the time to gather the necessary information, create the document, and
submit the completed item to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 133 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $57,513.
[[Page 56932]]
Table 1--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Private Sector Respondents
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Estimated
Estimated Responses per Estimated Estimated time Estimated Rate \1\ ($/ annual
Item No. Item annual respondent annual for response burden (hour/ hour) respondent
respondents responses (hours) year) cost burden
(a) (b) (a) x (b) = (d).............. (c) x (d) = (f) (e) x (f) =
(c) (e) (g)
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1................. Petition to Waive 4 1 4 0.5 (30 minutes). 2 $435 $870
Rules.
2................. Service of 195 1 195 0.08 (5 minutes). 16 435 6,960
Process.
3................. Forwarding 6 1 6 0.17 (10 minutes) 1 435 435
Service.
4................. Employee 27 1 27 2................ 54 435 23,490
Testimony and
Production of
Documents in
Legal
Proceedings.
5................. Forwarding 8 1 8 0.17 (10 minutes) 1 435 435
Demands.
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Totals........ 240 .............. 240 ................. 74 .............. $32,190
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\1\ 2021 Report of the Economic Survey, published by the Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American Intellectual Property Law Association
(AIPLA); pg. F-27. The USPTO uses the average billing rate for intellectual property attorneys in private firms which is $435 per hour. (https:/
;www.aipla.org/home/news-publications/economic-survey).
Table 2--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Individual and Household Respondents
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Estimated
Estimated Responses per Estimated Estimated time Estimated Rate \2\ ($/ annual
Item No. Item annual respondent annual for response burden (hour/ hour) respondent
respondents responses (hours) year) cost burden
(a) (b) (a) x (b) = (d).............. (c) x (d) = (f) (e) x (f) =
(c) (e) (g)
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1................. Petition to Waive 1 1 1 0.5 (30 minutes). 1 $435 $435
Rules.
2................. Service of 48 1 48 0.08 (5 minutes). 4 435 1,740
Process.
3................. Forwarding 1 1 1 0.17 (10 minutes) 1 435 435
Service.
4................. Employee 6 1 6 2................ 12 435 5,220
Testimony and
Production of
Documents in
Legal
Proceedings.
5................. Forwarding 2 1 2 0.17 (10 minutes) 1 435 435
Demands.
6................. Report of 1 1 1 0.5 (30 minutes). 1 435 435
Unauthorized
Testimony.
7................. Report of 3 1 3 0.5 (30 minutes). 2 435 870
Possible
Indemnification
Cases.
8................. Employee 1 1 1 0.5 (30 minutes). 1 92.50 93
Indemnification.
9................. Tort Claims...... 6 1 6 6................ 36 435 15,660
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Totals........ 69 .............. 69 ................. 59 .............. 25,323
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\2\ Ibid.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $4,569.
There are no capital start-up, maintenance costs, 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
$4,569.
Filing Fees
This collection has filing fees associated with the petition to
waive or suspend the legal process rules under 37 CFR 104.3. The USPTO
estimates that approximately 5 petitions will be filed per year with a
fee of $130, for a total fee cost of $650. There are no other fees
associated with this information collection.
Postage Costs
The USPTO estimates that all submissions in this collection will be
submitted by mail. The average first-class postage for a four-ounce
mailed submission (for items other than a Service of Process) will be
$1.76 cents, resulting in a total of $116.16 ($1.76 x 66) for
submissions other than a Service of Process. The USPTO estimates that
the average postage for a Service of Process will be $15.65 (Priority
Mail flat-rate envelope by certified mail with return receipt),
resulting in a total of $3,802.95 ($15.65 x 243) for Sevice of Process
submissions. Therefore, the USPTO estimates the total postage cost for
this collection is $3,919.
IV. Request for Comments
The USPTO is soliciting public comments to:
(a) Evaluate 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) Evaluate the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of
the 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
[[Page 56933]]
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.
Justin Isaac,
Acting Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief
Adminstrative Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2022-20132 Filed 9-15-22; 8:45 am]
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