[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 224 (Tuesday, November 22, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71306-71307]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25381]
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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
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 September 16, 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: Legal Processes.
OMB Control Number: 0651-0046.
Needs and Uses: 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
[[Page 71307]]
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 OMB under OMB
Control Number 1105-0008.
Form Number(s):
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.
Frequency: On occasion.
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 between
approximately 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 request to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 133 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $4,569.
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 0651-0046.
Further information can be obtained by:
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0046 information request'' in the subject line of the message.
Mail: Justin Isaac, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450,
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2022-25381 Filed 11-21-22; 8:45 am]
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