80 FR 49215 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; “Patents for Humanity Program”

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 158 (August 17, 2015)

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 158 (Monday, August 17, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49215-49216]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20193]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; ``Patents for 
Humanity Program''

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 
U.S.C. Chapter 35).
    Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
    Title: Patents for Humanity Program.
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0066.
    Form Number(s):

 PTO/PFH/001
 PTO/PFH/002
 PTO/SB/431

    Type of Request: Regular.
    Number of Respondents: 110 responses per year.
    Average Minutes per Response: 60 minutes (attorney) or 180 minutes 
(paralegal) for the Humanitarian Program Application, and 60 minutes 
for the Petition to Extend the Redemption Period of the Humanitarian 
Awards Certificate.
    Burden Hours: 410.
    Cost Burden: $0.

Needs and Uses

    The Patents for Humanity Program is designed to incentivize the 
distribution of patented technologies or products to address 
humanitarian needs, and is open to any patent owners or patent 
licensees, including inventors who have not assigned their ownership 
rights to others, assignees, and exclusive or non-exclusive licensees. 
Applications are considered in five categories: Medicine, Nutrition, 
Sanitation, Household Energy, and Living Standards.
    The USPTO has developed two application forms that applicants can 
use to apply for participation in the Patents for Humanity Program--one 
application covers the humanitarian uses of technologies or products 
and the other application covers humanitarian research. Applicants may 
optionally provide contact information for the public to reach them 
with any inquiries. Additionally, applicants may provide non-public 
contact information by email to the USPTO in order to be notified about 
their award status. Applications must be submitted electronically as 
described at http://www.uspto.gov/patentsforhumanity. Complete 
submitted applications will be available on the public Web site after 
being screened for inappropriate material.
    The applications are reviewed by external judges working 
independently. A selection committee composed of representatives from 
other federal agencies and laboratories will make recommendations for 
the awards based on the judges' reviews. Those applicants who are 
selected for an award will receive a certificate redeemable to 
accelerate select matters before the USPTO and public recognition of 
their efforts, including an awards ceremony at the USPTO. The 
certificates can be redeemed to accelerate one of the following 
matters: an ex parte reexamination proceeding, including one appeal to 
the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) from that proceeding; a patent 
application, including one appeal to the PTAB from that application; or 
an appeal to the PTAB of a claim twice rejected in a patent application 
or reissue application or finally rejected in an ex parte 
reexamination, without accelerating the underlying matter which 
generated the appeal. The certificates cannot be transferred to other 
parties.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households, businesses or other 
for-profits; not-for-profit institutions.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    OMB Desk Officer: Nicholas A. Fraser, email: 
[email protected].

[[Page 49216]]

    Once submitted, the request will be publicly available in 
electronic format through reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view 
Department of Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Further information can be obtained by:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0066 copy request'' in the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Marcie Lovett, Records Management Division Director, 
Office of the Chief Information Officer, United States Patent and 
Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent on or before September 16, 2015 to Nicholas 
A. Fraser, OMB Desk Officer, via email to 
[email protected], or by fax to 202-395-5167, marked to 
the attention of Nicholas A. Fraser.

    Dated: August 6, 2015.
Marcie Lovett,
Records Management Division Director, USPTO, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-20193 Filed 8-14-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P