[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31143-31145]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08756]
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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; Applications for Trademark Registration
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-
0009 (Applications for Trademark Registration). 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 June 24, 2024.
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-
0009 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal eRulemaking 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: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Catherine Cain, Attorney Advisor, Office of the
Commissioner for Trademarks, United States Patent and Trademark Office,
P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-8946;
or by email at [email protected] with ``0651-0009 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 United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) administers
the Trademark Act (Act), 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq., which provides for the
federal registration of trademarks, service marks, collective
trademarks and service marks, collective membership 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. Registered marks may remain on the register
indefinitely, so long as the owner of the registration files the
necessary maintenance documents.
This information collection addresses submissions required by the
regulations at 37 CFR part 2 for initial applications regarding the
registration of trademarks, service marks, collective trademarks and
[[Page 31144]]
service marks, collective memberships marks, and certification marks.
Trademarks can be registered on either the Principal or Supplemental
Register. The Trademark Act and rules mandate that each certificate of
registration include the mark, the goods and/or services in connection
with which the mark is used, ownership information, dates of use, and
certain other information. The USPTO also provides similar information
concerning pending applications. The register and pending application
information may be accessed by an individual or by businesses to
determine the availability of a mark. By accessing the USPTO's
information, parties may reduce the possibility of initiating use of a
mark previously adopted by another. The federal trademark registration
process may thereby reduce the number of filings between both
litigating parties and the courts.
II. Method of Collection
Items in this information collection must be submitted
electronically. In limited circumstances, applicants may also be
permitted to submit the information in paper form by mail, fax, or hand
delivery.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0651-0009.
Forms:
PTO-1478 (Trademark/Service Mark Application, Principal
Register)
PTO-1479 (Trademark/Service Mark Form, Supplemental Register)
PTO-1480 (Certification Mark Form, Principal Register)
PTO-1481 (Collective Membership Mark Form, Principal Register)
PTO-1482 (Collective Trademark/Service Mark Form, Principal
Register)
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: 581,377 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 581,377 responses.
Frequency: On occasion.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection will take the public approximately
between 45 minutes (0.75 hours) and 1 hour 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: 508,394 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $227,252,118.
Table 1--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Private Sector Respondents
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Estimated Estimated
Estimated Responses Estimated time for Estimated Rate \1\ ($/ annual
Item No. Item annual 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............................... Use-Based 71,914 1 71,914 0.83 (50 59,689 $447 $26,680,983
Trademark/Service minutes)
Mark Applications
(TEAS Standard).
1............................... Use-Based 217,872 1 217,872 1 217,872 447 97,388,784
Trademark/Service
Mark Applications
(TEAS Plus).
1............................... Use-Based 1 1 1 1 1 447 447
Trademark/Service
Mark Applications
(Paper).
2............................... Intent to Use 121,227 1 121,227 0.75 (45 90,920 447 40,641,240
Trademark/Service minutes)
Mark Application
(TEAS Standard).
2............................... Intent to Use 142,832 1 142,832 0.83 (50 118,551 447 52,992,297
Trademark/Service minutes)
Mark Application
(TEAS Plus).
2............................... Intent to Use 1 1 1 1 1 447 447
Trademark/Service
Mark Application
(Paper).
3............................... Application for 18,632 1 18,632 0.75 (45 13,974 447 6,246,378
Registration of minutes)
Trademark/Service
Mark under 37 CFR
44 (TEAS
Standard).
3............................... Application for 8,897 1 8,897 0.83 (50 7,385 447 3,301,095
Registration of minutes)
Trademark/Service
Mark under 37 CFR
44 (TEAS Plus).
3............................... Application for 1 1 1 1 1 447 447
Registration of
Trademark/Service
Mark under 37 CFR
44 (Paper).
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Totals...................... .................. 581,377 ........... 581,377 ........... 508,394 ........... 227,252,118
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Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden:
$166,906,580. There are no capital start-up, maintenance costs, or
recordkeeping 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 filling fees,
processing fees, and postage costs, is $166,906,580.
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\1\ 2023 Report of the Economic Survey, published by the
Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American
Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA); pg. F-41. The USPTO
uses the average billing rate for intellectual property work in all
firms which is $447 per hour (https://www.aipla.org/home/news-publications/economic-survey).
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Filing Fees
A complete application must include a filing fee for each class of
goods and services. Therefore, the total filing fees associated with
this information collection can vary depending on the number of classes
in each application. The total filing fees shown in the table below
reflect the minimum filing fees associated with this information
collection.
[[Page 31145]]
Table 2--Filing Fees
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Estimated
Item No. Fee code Item annual Filing fee Non-hourly
responses ($) cost burden
....................... (a) (b) (a) x (b) =
(c)
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1............................... 7009 Use-Based Trademark/ 71,914 $350 $25,169,900
Service Mark
Applications (TEAS
Standard).
1............................... 7007 Use-Based Trademark/ 217,872 250 54,468,000
Service Mark
Applications (TEAS
Plus).
1............................... 6001 Use-Based Trademark/ 1 750 750
Service Mark
Applications (Paper).
2............................... 7009 Intent to Use Trademark/ 121,227 350 42,429,450
Service Mark
Application (TEAS
Standard).
2............................... 7007 Intent to Use Trademark/ 142,832 250 35,708,000
Service Mark
Application (TEAS
Plus).
2............................... 6001 Intent to Use Trademark/ 1 750 750
Service Mark
Application (Paper).
3............................... 7009 Applications for 18,632 350 6,521,200
Registration of
Trademark/Service Mark
under 37 CFR 44 (TEAS
Standard).
3............................... 7007 Applications for 8,897 250 2,224,250
Registration of
Trademark/Service Mark
under 37 CFR 44 (TEAS
Plus).
3............................... 6001 Applications for 1 750 750
Registration of
Trademark/Service Mark
under 37 CFR 44
(Paper).
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Totals...................... ........... ....................... 581,377 ........... 166,523,050
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Processing Fees
The USPTO charges a processing fee of $100 per class for TEAS Plus
applications that do not meet the TEAS Plus filing requirements. The
total processing fees associated with this information collection can
vary depending on the number of classes in each application.
The total processing fees shown in the table below reflect the
minimum processing fees associated with this information collection.
Table 3--Processing Fees
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Estimated
Item No. Item annual Filing Fee Non-hourly
responses ($) cost burden
(a) (b) (a) x (b) =
(c)
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1..................................... Processing fee for use-based 1,911 $100 $191,100
application that fails to
meet the additional filing
requirements for reduced
filing fee (TEAS Plus).
2..................................... Processing fee for intent-to- 1,742 100 174,200
use application that fails to
meet the additional filing
requirements for reduced
filing fee (TEAS Plus).
3..................................... Processing fee for Section 44 182 100 18,200
application that fails to
meet the additional filing
requirements for reduced
filing fee (TEAS Plus).
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Totals............................ .............................. 3,835 ........... 383,500
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Postage Costs
In limited circumstances, applicants may be permitted to submit the
information in paper form by mail, fax, or hand delivery. Applicants
and registrants incur postage costs when submitting information to the
USPTO by mail through the United States Postal Service. The USPTO
estimates that 3 items will be submitted in the mail. The USPTO
estimates that the average postage cost for a mailed submission, using
a Priority Mail legal flat rate envelope, will be $10.15. Therefore,
the USPTO estimates the total mailing costs for this information
collection at $30.
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. The 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, the
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. 2024-08756 Filed 4-23-24; 8:45 am]
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