[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 107 (Monday, June 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36541-36543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11889]
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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; Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) Actions
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-
0040 (Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) Actions). 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 August 4, 2023.
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.
Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Mail: Justin Isaac, Information Collection Officer, 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 LaToya Brown, United States Patent and Trademark
Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-
272-4283; or by email to [email protected] with ``0651-0040
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
The USPTO administers the Trademark Act of 1946, 15 U.S.C. 1051 et
seq., as amended, which provides for the Federal registration of
trademarks, service marks, collective marks and certification marks.
Individuals and businesses that use or intend to use such marks in
commerce may file an application to register their marks with the
USPTO.
Section 13 of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. 1063, allows individuals
and entities who believe that they would be damaged by the registration
of a mark to file an opposition, or an extension of time to file an
opposition, to the registration of the mark. Section 14 of the
Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. 1064, allows individuals and entities to file
a petition to cancel a registration of a mark. Section 20 of the
Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. 1070, allows individuals and entities to
appeal any final decision of the examiner in charge of the registration
of marks or a final decision by an examiner in an ex parte expungement
proceeding or ex parte reexamination proceeding.
The USPTO administers certain provisions of the Trademark Act of
1946 through the regulations at 37 CFR part 2, which contains the
various rules that govern the filings identified above and other
submissions filed in connection with inter partes and ex parte
proceedings. These petitions, notices, extensions, and additional
papers are filed with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), an
administrative tribunal empowered to determine the right to register
and subsequently determine the validity of a trademark. The information
in this collection must be submitted electronically through the TTAB's
electronic filing system. If applicants or entities wish to submit the
petitions, notices, extensions, and additional papers in inter partes
and ex parte cases, they may use the forms provided through the TTAB's
electronic filing system.
This information collection includes the items needed for
individuals or entities to file inter partes and ex parte proceedings
regarding federal registration of their trademarks or service marks.
Information is collected in view of the provisions of the Trademark Act
of 1946. The responses in this information collection are a matter of
public record, and are used by the public for a variety of private
business purposes related to establishing and enforcing trademark
rights. This information is important to the public, as both common law
trademark owners and federal trademark registrants must actively
protect their own rights.
II. Method of Collection
Items in this information collection must be submitted through the
TTAB's electronic filing system. However, in certain circumstances,
information may be submitted in paper form by mail or hand delivery.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0651-0040.
Forms:
PTO 2120 (Notice of Opposition)
PTO 2151 (Papers in Inter Partes Cases)
PTO 2153 (Request for Extension of Time to File an Opposition)
PTO 2188 (Petition for Cancellation)
PTO 2189 (Ex Parte Appeal General Filing)
PTO 2190 (Notice of Appeal)
Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved
information collection.
Affected Public: Private sector.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 41,300 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 76,650 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
the public from 10 minutes (0.17 hours) to
[[Page 36542]]
21 hours to complete, depending on the complexity of the situation and
item, to gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate
documents, and submit them to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 1,038,747 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $303,314,124.
Table 1--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Private Sector Respondents
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Estimated Estimated
Estimated Estimated Estimated time for Estimated Rate \1\ annual
Item No. Item annual responses per annual response burden (hour/ ($/hour) respondent
respondents respondent 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 Cancel............. 2,300 1 2,300 18 41,400 $292 $12,088,800
PTO-2188.......................
2..................... Notice of Opposition........... 6,800 1 6,800 18 122,400 292 35,740,800
PTO-2120.......................
3..................... Request for Extension of Time 10,000 1.75 17,500 0.3 5,250 292 1,533,000
to File an Opposition.
PTO-2153.......................
4..................... Submissions in Inter Partes 18,200 2.25 40,950 21 859,950 292 251,105,400
Cases.
Answers............
Amendments to
Pleadings.
Amendment of
Application or Registration
During Proceeding.
Motions (such as
consent motions, motions to
extend, motions to suspend,
etc.).
Evidence...........
Briefs.............
Oral hearing
requests.
Surrender of
Registration.
Abandonment of
Application.
Documents Related
to Concurrent Use
Applications.
Notice of Intent to
Appeal a TTAB decision.
PTO-2151.......................
5..................... Notice of Appeal............... 3,400 1 3,400 1.20 4,080 292 1,191,360
PTO-2190.......................
6..................... Appeal Briefs.................. 600 1 600 8 4,800 292 1,401,600
PTO-2189.......................
7..................... Miscellaneous Ex Parte Same as line 5 1.50 5,100 0.17 867 292 253,164
Submissions.
Requests to extend
time to file Appeal Briefs.
Oral hearing
requests.
PTO-2189.......................
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Totals........................ 41,300 .............. 76,650 .......... 1,038,747 ........ 303,314,124
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\1\ The hourly rate for attorneys is $435, published in the 2021 Report of the Economic Survey from the Law Practice Management Committee of the
American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). The hourly rate for paraprofessional/paralegals is $149 as published in the 2020 Utilization
and Compensation Survey by the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA). After calculating the average of these rates, the USPTO estimates that
the hourly rate will be $292.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden:
$9,080,047.
There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or record keeping costs
associated with this information collection. However, the USPTO
estimates that the total annual (non-hour) cost burden for this
information collection, in the form of, filing fees ($9,079,500) and
postage ($547) is $9,080,047.
Filing Fees
The 15 filing fees associated with this information collection are
listed in the table below.
Table 2--Filing Fees
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Estimated Total non-hour
Item No. Fee code Item annual Filing fee ($) cost burden
responses ($)
(a) (b) (a) x (b) =
(c)
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1.................... 6401 Petition to Cancel (Paper 5 $700 $3,500
Submission).
1.................... 7401 Petition to Cancel....... 2,295 600 1,377,000
2.................... 6402 Notice of Opposition 20 700 14,000
(Paper Submission).
2.................... 7402 Notice of Opposition..... 6,780 600 4,068,000
3.................... 6405 Request for Extension of 5 500 2,500
Time to File an
Opposition under Sec.
2.102(c)(3) (Paper
Submission).
3.................... 7405 Request for Extension of 2,400 400 960,000
Time to File an
Opposition under Sec.
2.102(c)(3).
3.................... 6404 Request for Extension of 5 400 2,000
Time to File an
Opposition under Sec.
2.102(c)(1)(ii) or
(c)(2) (Paper
Submission).
[[Page 36543]]
3.................... 7404 Request for Extension of 8,345 200 1,669,000
Time to File an
Opposition under Sec.
2.102(c)(1)(ii) or
(c)(2).
5.................... 6403 Ex Parte Appeal to the 10 325 3,250
Trademark Trial and
Appeal Board Filed
(Paper Submission).
5.................... 7403 Ex Parte Appeal to the 3,390 225 762,750
Trademark Trial and
Appeal Board.
6.................... 6406 Brief in an Ex Parte 5 300 1,500
Appeal to the Board, per
Class (Paper Submission).
6.................... 7406 Electronic Brief in an Ex 595 200 119,000
Parte Appeal to the
Board, per Class.
7.................... 6407 Second or Subsequent 5 200 1,000
Request for an Extension
of Time to File an
Appeal Brief, per
Application (Paper
Submission).
7.................... 7407 Electronic Second or 335 100 33,500
Subsequent Request for
an Extension of Time to
File an Appeal Brief,
per Application.
7.................... 7408 Request for an Oral 125 500 62,500
Hearing.
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Total............ .............. ......................... 24,320 .............. 9,079,500
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Postage Costs
Express or first-class mail through the United States Postal
Service or hand delivery to the TTAB is only available under
extraordinary circumstances. The USPTO estimates that the average
postage cost for a mailed submission, using a Priority Mail flat rate
legal envelope, will be $9.95 and that approximately 55 submissions
will be mailed to the USPTO per year. Therefore, the USPTO estimates
that postage costs in this information collection will be $547.
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 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,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-11889 Filed 6-2-23; 8:45 am]
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