81 FR 87550 - Native American Tribal Insignia Database

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 233 (December 5, 2016)

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), is proposing an extension of an existing information collection; the Native American Tribal Insignia Database.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 233 (Monday, December 5, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87550-87551]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-29095]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 Patent and Trademark Office


Native American Tribal Insignia Database

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as 
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A), is proposing an extension of an existing information 
collection; the Native American Tribal Insignia Database.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before February 3, 
2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0048 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
     Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
     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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Catherine Cain, Attorney Advisor, Office of the 
Deputy Commissioner for Trademark Examination Policy, United States 
Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1451, Alexandria, VA 22313-1451; 
by telephone at 571-272-8946; or by email to [email protected]. 
Additional information about this collection is also available at 
http://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection Review.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The Trademark Law Treaty Implementation Act of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-
330, 302, 112 Stat. 3071) required the United States Patent and 
Trademark Office (USPTO) to study issues surrounding the protection of 
the official insignia of federally and state-recognized Native American 
tribes under trademark law. The USPTO conducted the study and presented 
a report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on November 30, 
1999. One of the recommendations made in the report was that the USPTO 
create and maintain an accurate and comprehensive database containing 
the official insignia of all federally and state-recognized Native 
American tribes. In accordance with this recommendation, the Senate 
Committee on Appropriations directed the USPTO to create this database.
    The USPTO database of official tribal insignias provides evidence 
of what a federally or state-recognized Native American tribe considers 
to be its official insignia. The database thereby assists trademark 
examining attorneys in their examination of applications for trademark 
registration by serving as a reference for determining the 
registrability of a mark that may falsely suggest a connection to the 
official insignia of a Native American tribe. The database is also 
available to the public on the USPTO Web site at http://www.uspto.gov.
    Tribes are not required to request that their official insignia be 
included in the database. The entry of an official insignia into the 
database does not confer any rights to the tribe that submitted the 
insignia, and entry is not the legal equivalent of registering the 
insignia as a trademark under 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq. The inclusion of 
an official tribal insignia in the database does not create any legal 
presumption of validity or priority, does not carry any of the benefits 
of federal trademark registration, and is not a determination as to 
whether a particular insignia would be refused registration as a 
trademark pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.
    Requests from federally recognized tribes to enter an official 
insignia into the database must be submitted in writing and include: 
(1) A depiction of the insignia, including the name of the tribe and 
the address for correspondence; (2) a copy of the tribal resolution 
adopting the insignia in question as the official insignia of the 
tribe; and (3) a statement, signed by an official with authority to 
bind the tribe, confirming that the insignia included with the request 
is identical to the official insignia adopted by the tribal resolution.
    Requests from state-recognized tribes must also be in writing and 
include each of the three items described above that are submitted by 
federally recognized tribes. Additionally, requests from state-
recognized tribes must include either: (a) A document issued by a state 
official that evidences the state's determination that the entity is a 
Native American tribe; or (b) a citation to a state statute designating 
the entity as a Native American tribe.
    The USPTO enters insignia that have been properly submitted by 
federally or state-recognized Native American tribes into the database 
and does not investigate whether the insignia is actually the official 
insignia of the tribe making the request.
    This collection includes the information needed by the USPTO to 
enter an official insignia for a federally or state-recognized Native 
American tribe into a database of such insignia. No forms are 
associated with this collection.

II. Method of Collection

    By mail, facsimile, or hand delivery to the USPTO.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0651-0048.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Tribal governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 4 responses per year.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that a federally 
or state-recognized Native American tribe will require an average of 45 
minutes (0.75 hours) to complete a request to record an official 
insignia, including time to prepare the appropriate documents and 
submit the completed request to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 3 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $256.50. The USPTO 
expects that the information in this collection will be prepared by 
both paraprofessionals and administrative staff. The estimated rate of 
$85.50 per hour used in this submission is an average of the 
paraprofessional rate of $141 per hour and the administrative rate of 
$30 per hour. Therefore, the USPTO estimates that the respondent cost 
burden for this collection will be approximately $256.50 per year.

[[Page 87551]]



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                                                                                       Estimated time     Estimated
                     IC #                                        Item                   for response       annual       Estimated annual   Rate  ($/hr)
                                                                                          (minutes)       responses       burden hours
                                                                                                  (a)             (b)     (a) x (b)/60 =  ..............
                                                                                                                                     (c)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.............................................  Request to Record an Official                      45               3               2.25          $85.50
                                                 Insignia of a Federally Recognized
                                                 Tribe.
2.............................................  Request to Record an Official                      45               1               0.75           85.50
                                                 Insignia of a State-Recognized Tribe.
                                                                                      ------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Totals...............................  ..............               4                  3  ..............
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    Estimated Total Annual Non-Hour Respondent Cost Burden: $4.80. 
There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or recordkeeping costs 
associated with this information collection. There are also no filing 
fees for submitting a tribal insignia for recording. However, this 
collection does have annual (non-hour) cost burden in the form of 
postage costs.
    Customers may incur postage costs when submitting the information 
in this collection to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO estimates that the 
average first-class postage cost for a submission mailed through the 
U.S. Postal Service will be $1.20 (based on a large 9'' by 12'' 
envelope weighing 2 ounces) and that 4 submissions will be mailed to 
the USPTO per year. Therefore, the total annual (non-hour) respondent 
cost burden for this collection is estimated to be approximately $4.80 
per year.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will 
become a matter of public record.
    The USPTO is soliciting public comments to:
    (a) Evaluate whether the proposed 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 proposed 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.

    Dated: November 30, 2016.
Marcie Lovett,
Records Management Division Director, OCIO, United States Patent and 
Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2016-29095 Filed 12-2-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P