[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 130 (Monday, July 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55926-55927]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14919]
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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; Fastener Quality Act Insignia Recordal Process
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 comments 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 April 23, 2024 during a 60-day comment period (89
FR 30324). This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public
comment.
Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
Title: Fastener Quality Act Insignia Recordal Process.
OMB Control Number: 0651-0028.
Needs and Uses: Under Section 5 of the Fastener Quality Act (FQA)
of 1999,\1\ 15 U.S.C. 5401 et seq., certain industrial fasteners must
bear an insignia identifying the manufacturer. It is also mandatory for
manufacturers of fasteners covered by the FQA to submit an application
to the USPTO for recordal of the insignia on the Fastener Insignia
Register.
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\1\ https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-106publ34/pdf/PLAW-106publ34.pdf.
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The procedures for the recordal of fastener insignia under the FQA
are set forth in 15 CFR 280.300 et seq. The purpose of requiring both
the insignia and the recordation is to ensure that certain fasteners
can be traced to their manufacturers and to protect against the sale of
mismarked, misrepresented, or counterfeit fasteners.
The insignia may be a unique alphanumeric designation that the
USPTO will issue upon request or a trademark that is registered at the
USPTO or is the subject of an application to obtain a registration.
After a manufacturer submits a complete application for recordal, the
USPTO issues a Certificate of Recordal. These certificates remain
active for five years. Applications to renew the certificates must be
filed within six months of the expiration date or, upon payment of an
additional surcharge, within six months following the expiration date.
If a recorded alphanumeric designation is assigned by the
manufacturer to a new owner, the designation becomes ``inactive'' and
the
[[Page 55927]]
new owner must submit an application to reactivate the designation
within six months of the date of assignment. If the recordal is based
on a trademark application or registration and the registration is
assigned to a new owner, the recordal becomes ``inactive'' and cannot
be reassigned. Instead, the new owner of the trademark application or
registration must apply for a new recordal. Manufacturers who record
insignia must notify the USPTO of any changes of address.
This information collection includes one form, the Application for
Recordal of Insignia or Renewal/Reactivation of Recordal Under the
Fastener Quality Act (PTO-1611), which provides manufacturers with a
convenient way to submit a request for the recordal of a fastener
insignia or to renew or reactivate an existing Certificate of Renewal.
The public uses this information collection to comply with the
insignia recordal provisions of the FQA. The USPTO uses the information
in this collection to record or renew insignias under the FQA and to
maintain the Fastener Insignia Register, which is open for public
inspection and is updated quarterly. The public may download the
Fastener Insignia Register from the USPTO website.\2\
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\2\ https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/laws/fastener-quality-act-fqa/fastener-quality-act-fqa.
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Forms
PTO-1611 (Application for Recordal of Insignia or Renewal/
Reactivation of Recordal Under the Fastener Quality Act)
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.
Frequency: On occasion.
Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 90 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 90 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection will take the public approximately 30
minutes (0.50 hours) to complete. This includes the time to gather the
necessary information, complete the form, and submit the completed
request to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 45 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $2,413.
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, 0651-0028.
Further information can be obtained by:
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0028 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. 2024-14919 Filed 7-5-24; 8:45 am]
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