[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 14, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 3037-3038]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00274]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
37 CFR Parts 2 and 7
[Docket No. PTO-T-2022-0034]
RIN 0651-AD65
Setting and Adjusting Trademark Fees During Fiscal Year 2025
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule; correction.
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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is
correcting nonsubstantive errors in the preamble and regulatory text of
a final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on November 18,
2024. That final rule set or adjusted trademark fees as authorized by
the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), as amended by the Study of
Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success Act of
2018 (SUCCESS Act). This action is necessary to address potential
confusion for impacted entities that could result if these errors are
not corrected. These corrections do not result in any substantive
changes to the final rule.
DATES: The final rule correction is effective January 18, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: C. Brett Lockard, Director,
Forecasting and Analysis Division, at 571-272-0928 or
Christopher.Lockard@uspto.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 18, 2024, the USPTO published a
final rule setting or adjusting trademark fees as authorized by the
AIA, as amended by the SUCCESS Act. See 89 FR 91062. Subsequent to the
publication of that final rule, it was discovered that the rule
inadvertently omitted applicable cross-references in 37 CFR 2.22(a)(6)
and (9) and contained an incorrect cross-reference in Sec. 2.22(a)(8),
which referenced a fee that did not apply. This correction amends these
sections to provide the correct cross-references.
Section 2.22 applies to all applications under section 1 and/or 44
of the Trademark Act, which includes not only trademark and service
mark applications, but also applications for collective, collective
membership, and certification marks. However, the cross-references in
Sec. 2.22(a)(6) and (9) referred only to Sec. Sec. 2.34 and 2.33,
respectively, which set out the requirements for trademark and service
mark applications. Sections 2.22(a)(6) and (9) each should have
included cross-references to Sec. Sec. 2.44 and 2.45, which set forth
the corresponding applicable requirements for collective, collective
membership, and certification marks. This omission was unintentional
and adding the applicable cross-references is not a substantive change
to the final rule.
As noted in the preamble of the final rule, the USPTO is
implementing a single electronic filing option for all section 1 and/or
44 applications, which includes collective and certification marks.
Applicants choosing to comply with the base application requirements
set forth in Sec. 2.22 will pay the lowest fees under the final fee
schedule. Applicants were always subject to the requirements for
collective, collective membership, and certification marks at
Sec. Sec. 2.44 and 2.45, as applicable. The addition of these sections
in Sec. 2.22(a)(6) and (9) do not impose any new limitations but
provide clarity to applicants that the requirements for collective,
collective membership, and certification marks apply. This correction
amends the preamble and Sec. 2.22(a)(6) and (9) to add the
inadvertently omitted cross-references.
In addition, Sec. 2.22(a)(8) contained an incorrect cross-
reference to Sec. 2.6(a)(1)(ii), which is the fee for filing an
application under section 66(a) of the Trademark Act and therefore does
not apply to applications filed under section 1 and/or 44. This section
should have cross-referenced only Sec. 2.6(a)(1)(iii), which provides
for the applicable fee. This correction amends the preamble and Sec.
2.22(a)(9) to remove the cross-reference to Sec. 2.6(a)(1)(ii).
Rulemaking Considerations
Administrative Procedure Act
This final rule corrects inadvertent errors in a rulemaking setting
and adjusting trademark fees. The changes in this final rule involve
rules of agency
[[Page 3038]]
practice and procedure and/or interpretive rules and do not require
notice-and-comment rulemaking. See Perez v. Mortg. Bankers Ass'n, 135
S.Ct. 1199, 1204 (2015) (explaining that interpretive rules ``advise
the public of the agency's construction of the statutes and rules which
it administers'' and do not require notice-and-comment rulemaking when
issued or amended); Cooper Techs. Co. v. Dudas, 536 F.3d 1330, 1336-37
(Fed. Cir. 2008) (stating that 5 U.S.C. 553, and thus 35 U.S.C.
2(b)(2)(B), do not require notice-and comment rulemaking for
``interpretative rules, general statements of policy, or rules of
agency organization, procedure, or practice''); and JEM Broadcasting
Co. v. F.C.C., 22 F.3d 320, 328 (D.C. Cir. 1994) (explaining that rules
are not legislative because they do not ``foreclose effective
opportunity to make one's case on the merits'').
Moreover, the Director of the USPTO, pursuant to authority at 5
U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and (d)(1), finds good cause to adopt the changes in
this final rule without prior notice and an opportunity for public
comment or a 30-day delay in effectiveness, as such procedures would be
unnecessary, impracticable, and contrary to the public interest. As
discussed above, the changes in this rulemaking involve corrections of
errors in the final rule published on November 18, 2024, (which itself
underwent notice and comment rulemaking and a 30-day delay in effective
date) that provide clarity and without imposing any new requirements.
The corrections will provide clarity and address potential confusion
that could result if these errors are not corrected prior to the
effective date of the November 18, 2024, final rule. Therefore, good
cause exists to dispense with the requirement for prior notice and an
opportunity for public comment and a 30-day delay in effectiveness.
Correction
In FR Doc. 2024-26644 appearing on page 91062 in the Federal
Register of Monday, November 18, 2024, at 89 FR 91062, the following
corrections are made:
0
1. On page 91069, in the second column, the 6th, 8th, and 9th bullets
are corrected to read as follows:
One or more bases for filing that satisfy all the
requirements of Sec. Sec. 2.34, 2.44, or 2.45, as applicable. If more
than one basis is set forth, the applicant must comply with the
requirements of Sec. Sec. 2.34, 2.44, or 2.45 for each asserted basis,
as applicable;
* * * * *
A filing fee for each class of goods and/or services, as
required by Sec. 2.6(a)(1)(iii);
A verified statement that meets the requirements of
Sec. Sec. 2.33, 2.44, or 2.45, as applicable, dated and signed by a
person properly authorized to sign on behalf of the owner pursuant to
Sec. 2.193(e)(1);
0
2. On page 91090, in the third column, in amendatory instruction 3, in
Sec. 2.22, paragraphs (a)(6), (8), and (9) are corrected to read as
follows:
Sec. 2.22 [Corrected]
(a) * * *
(6) One or more bases for filing that satisfy all the requirements
of Sec. Sec. 2.34, 2.44, or 2.45, as applicable. If more than one
basis is set forth, the applicant must comply with the requirements of
Sec. Sec. 2.34, 2.44, or 2.45 for each asserted basis, as applicable;
* * * * *
(8) A filing fee for each class of goods and/or services, as
required by Sec. 2.6(a)(1)(iii);
(9) A verified statement that meets the requirements of Sec. 2.33,
Sec. 2.44, or Sec. 2.45, as applicable, dated and signed by a person
properly authorized to sign on behalf of the owner pursuant to Sec.
2.193(e)(1);
* * * * *
Derrick L. Brent,
Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2025-00274 Filed 1-13-25; 8:45 am]
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