[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 11, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11726-11728]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-03831]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Practitioner Conduct and Discipline
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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-
0017 (Practitioner Conduct and Discipline). The purpose of this notice
is to allow 60 days for public comments preceding submission of the
information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
DATES: To ensure consideration, you must submit comments regarding this
information collection on or before May 12, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
[[Page 11727]]
any of the following methods. Do not submit Confidential Business
Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.
Email: InformationCollection@uspto.gov. Include ``0651-
0017 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: 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 Dahlia Girgis at: Office of Enrollment and
Discipline, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450,
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; 571-272-4097; or dahlia.girgis@uspto.gov
with ``0651-0017 comment'' in the subject line. Additional information
about this information collection is also available at www.reginfo.gov
under ``Information Collection Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The Director of the USPTO has the authority to establish
regulations governing the conduct and discipline of agents, attorneys,
or other persons representing applicants and other parties before the
USPTO (35 U.S.C. 2, 32-33). The USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct,
set forth in 37 CFR part 11, subpart D, prescribe the manner in which
agents, attorneys, and other persons (collectively, ``practitioners'')
representing applicants and other parties before the USPTO should
conduct themselves professionally. Part 11 outlines practitioners'
responsibilities for recordkeeping and reporting violations or
complaints of misconduct to the USPTO. Part 11, subpart C sets forth
the manner by which the USPTO investigates misconduct and imposes
discipline.
The USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct require all practitioners
to maintain complete records of all funds, securities, and other
properties of clients coming into their possession, and to render
appropriate accounts to the client regarding the funds, securities, and
other properties of clients coming into the practitioner's possession,
collectively known as ``client property.'' These recordkeeping
requirements are necessary to maintain the integrity of client
property. State bars require attorneys to perform similar
recordkeeping.
Part 11 also requires a practitioner to report knowledge of certain
violations of the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct to the USPTO. The
Director of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) may, after
notice and an opportunity for a hearing, suspend, exclude, or
disqualify any practitioner from further practice before the USPTO
based on non-compliance with the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct.
Practitioners who have been excluded or suspended from practice before
the USPTO, and practitioners transferred to disability inactive status,
must maintain records of their compliance with the suspension or
exclusion order, or the transfer to disability inactive status. These
records are necessary to demonstrate eligibility for reinstatement.
Reports of alleged violations of the USPTO Rules of Professional
Conduct are used by the Director of OED to conduct investigations and
disciplinary hearings, as appropriate.
This information collection covers the various reporting and
recordkeeping requirements set forth in part 11 for practitioners
representing applicants and other parties before the USPTO. Also
covered are petitions for reinstatement for suspended or excluded
practitioners and the means for reporting violations or complaints of
misconduct to the USPTO.
II. Method of Collection
Items in this information collection may be submitted as electronic
submissions. Applicants may also submit the information in paper form
by mail, fax, or hand delivery.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0651-0017.
Forms:
PTO-107R (Reinstatement--Data Sheet--Register of Patent
Attorneys and Agents). PTO-107R is also approved for use under USPTO
information collection 0651-0012.
Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved
information collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
Frequency: On occasion.
Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 52,411 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 52,411 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection will take the public approximately one
to three hours to complete. This includes the time to gather the
necessary information, create the document, and submit the completed
item to the USPTO. The USPTO also estimates that the required
recordkeeping actions will take a practitioner 1 to 20 hours to
perform.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 58,187 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $26,009,589.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 2023 Report of the Economic Survey, published by the
Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American
Intellectual Property Law Association, pg. F-41. The USPTO uses the
average billing rate for intellectual property work in all firms,
which is $447 per hour (www.aipla.org/home/news-publications/economic-survey).
Table 1--Total Reporting Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Individual and Household Respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated
Estimated Responses Estimated Estimated time Estimated Rate \1\ ($/ annual
Item No. Item annual per annual for 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)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1................... Complaint/Violation 171 1 171 3 513 $447 $229,311
Reporting.
2................... Petition for Reinstatement 3 1 3 1 3 447 1,341
Under the Provisions
Section 11.60(c).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total..................... 174 ........... 174 .............. 516 ........... 230,652
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 11728]]
The USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct require practitioner agents
to maintain various records to uphold the integrity of client property
and meet other requirements. Additional recordkeeping requirements are
also given for practitioners under suspension or exclusion.
Table 2--Total Recordkeeping Hours and Hourly Costs to Individual and Household Respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated
Estimated Responses Estimated Estimated time Estimated Rate \2\ ($/ annual
Item No. Item annual per annual for 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)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3................... Recordkeeping Maintenance 51,951 1 51,951 1 51,951 $447 $23,222,097
and Disclosure.
4................... Recordkeeping Maintenance 286 1 286 20 5,720 447 2,556,840
Regarding Practitioners
Under Suspension or
Exclusion.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total.................. 52,237 ........... 52,237 .............. 57,671 ........... 25,778,937
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden: $5,440.
There are no capital startup costs, maintenance costs, or non-hourly
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 filing fees and
postage, is $5,440.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filing Fees
There is one filing fee associated with this information
collection. The fee is listed in Table 3 below.
Table 3--Filing Fees
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated
Item No. Fee code Item annual Filing fee Non-hourly
responses ($) cost burden
........................... (a) (b) (a) x (b) =
(c)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2................ 9014....................... Petition for 3 $1,806 $5,418
Reinstatement Under
37 CFR 11.60(c).
-----------------------------------------
Total................... ...................... 3 ........... 5,418
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Postage Costs
Although the USPTO prefers that the items in this information
collection be submitted electronically, responses may be submitted by
mail through the United States Postal Service. The USPTO estimates that
1% of the 174 items will be submitted in the mail, resulting in two
mailed items. The USPTO estimates that the average postage cost for a
mailed submission, using a Priority Mail legal flat-rate envelope, will
be $10.75. Therefore, the USPTO estimates the total mailing costs for
this information collection at $22.
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. 2025-03831 Filed 3-10-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P