[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 203 (Monday, October 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84123-84124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24251]


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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 Post Registration

    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 July 25, 2024 during a 60-day comment period (89 FR 
60405). This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public 
comment.
    Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of 
Commerce.
    Title: Trademark Post Registration.
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0055.
    Needs and Uses: The United States Patent and Trademark Office 
(USPTO) administers the Trademark Act (Act), 15 U.S.C. 1501 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.
    This information collection covers various communications submitted 
by individuals and businesses to the USPTO after the registration of a 
trademark. One type of communication is a request to amend a 
registration to delete goods or services that are no longer being used 
by the owner. Registered marks remain on the register for 10 years and 
can be renewed, but will be cancelled unless the owner files with the 
USPTO a declaration attesting to the continued use (or excusable non-
use) of the mark in commerce, and a renewal application, with specific 
deadlines. Owners may also request to amend or divide a registration, 
respond to a post-registration office action, and surrender a 
registration.
    The regulations implementing the Act are set forth in 37 CFR part 
2. These regulations mandate that each register entry 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 
information in this information collection is used to maintain the 
quality of the trademark register. The register may be accessed by an 
individual or by businesses to determine the availability of a mark. By 
keeping the register current and accurate, parties may reduce the 
possibility of initiating use of a mark previously adopted by another.
    This information collection also incorporates responses to office 
actions related to ex parte expungements and reexaminations and 
Director-initiated expungements and reexaminations (accounted for under 
Reponses to Office Actions for Post-Registration Matters (PTO-2302). Ex 
parte expungement and reexamination proceedings were established by the 
Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (TMA), Public Law 116-260 (Dec. 27, 
2020), to cancel, either in whole or in part, registered marks for 
which the required use in commerce was not made. The burden estimates 
for responses to office actions regarding ex parte expungements or 
reexaminations and Director-initiated expungements and reexaminations 
were previously contained in OMB Control No. 0651-0086 (Changes to 
Implement Provisions of the Trademark Modernization Act), but are being 
transferred into this information collection for efficiency. All the 
burdens associated with responses to office actions from 0651-0086 are 
now being accounted for under IC No. 7 (Response to Office Action for 
Post-Registration Matters) in this information collection. The 60-day 
notice, published for this information collection, already accounted 
for the burdens being transferred.
    Forms:

 PTO-1563 (Declaration of Use of Mark in Commerce Under Section 
8)
 PTO-1573 (Declaration of Incontestability of a Mark Under 
Section 15)
 PTO-1583 (Combined Declaration of Use and Incontestability 
Under Sections 8 and 15)
 PTO-1597 (Section 7 Request)
 PTO-1963 (Combined Declaration of Use of Mark in Commerce and 
Application for Renewal of Registration of a Mark Under Sections 8 and 
9)
 PTO-2302 (Response to Office Action for Post-Registration 
Matters)
 PTO-2309 (Surrender of Registration for Cancellation)
 PTO-2310 (Request to Divide Registration)
 PTO-2311 (Section 12(c) Affidavit)

    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: 271,793 respondents.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 271,793 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses 
in this information collection will take the public approximately 
between 12 minutes (0.20 hours) and 50 minutes (0.83 hours) to 
complete. This includes the time to gather the necessary information, 
create the document, and

[[Page 84124]]

submit the completed request to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 162,987 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: 
$103,718,072.
    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, 0651-0055.
    Further information can be obtained by:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0055 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. 2024-24251 Filed 10-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P