82 FR 22519 - Responses to Office Action and Voluntary Amendment Forms
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 93 (May 16, 2017)
Patent and Trademark Office
Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 93 (May 16, 2017)
| Page Range | 22519-22521 | |
| FR Document | 2017-09809 |
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 93 (Tuesday, May 16, 2017)] [Notices] [Pages 22519-22521] From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org] [FR Doc No: 2017-09809] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Patent and Trademark Office Responses to Office Action and Voluntary Amendment Forms ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on a proposed extension of an existing information collection: 0651-0050 (Responses to Office Action and Voluntary Amendment Forms). DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before July 17, 2017. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651- 0050 comment'' 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. Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information should be directed to Catherine Cain, Attorney Advisor, Office of the Commissioner for Trademarks, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450, by telephone at 571-272-8946, or by email at [email protected]. Additional information about this collection is also available at http://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection Review.'' SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Abstract This collection of information is required by the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq., which provides for the federal registration of trademarks, service marks, collective trademarks and services marks, collective membership marks, and certification marks. Individuals and business that use such marks, or intend to use such marks, in interstate commerce may file an application to register their marks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This collection generally contains information that is not submitted with the initial trademark application but is associated with, or required for, the USPTO review of applications for registration. In some cases, the USPTO issues Office Actions to applicants who have applied to register a mark, requesting information that was not provided with the initial submission, but is required before the issuance of a registration. Also, the USPTO may determine that a mark is not entitled to registration, pursuant to one or more provisions of the Trademark Act. In such cases, the USPTO will issue an Office Action advising the applicant of the refusal to register the mark. Applicants reply to these Office Actions by providing the required information and/or by putting forth legal arguments as to why the refusal of registration should be withdrawn. The USPTO administers the Trademark Act through Chapter 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations. These rules allow the USPTO to request and receive information required to process applications. These rules also allow applicants to submit certain amendments to their applications. Applicants may also supplement their applications and provide further information by filing a Voluntary Amendment Not in Response to USPTO Office Action/Letter, a Request for Reconsideration after Final Office Action, a Post-Approval/Publication/Post-Notice of Allowance (NOA) Amendment, a Petition to Amend Basis Post-Publication, or a Response to Suspension Inquiry or Letter of Suspension. In rare instances, an applicant may also submit a Substitute Trademark/ Servicemark, Substitute Certification Mark, Substitute Collective Membership Mark, or Substitute Collective Trademark/Servicemark application. II. Method of Collection The forms in this collection are available in electronic format through the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), which may be accessed on the USPTO Web site. TEAS Global Forms are available for the items where a TEAS form with dedicated data fields is not yet available. Applicants may also submit the information in paper form by mail, fax, or hand delivery. III. Data OMB Number: 0651-0050. Form Numbers: PTO-1771, PTO-1822, PTO-1957, PTO-1960, and PTO-1966. Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection. Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; not-for-profit institutions; individuals. Estimated Number of Respondents: 472,301 responses per year. Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take the public between 10 minutes (0.16 hours) and 45 minutes (0.75 hours), depending on the complexity of the situation, to gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate documents, and submit the information required for this collection. Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 266,184 hours per year. Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $109,135,440.00. The USPTO expects that the information in this collection will be prepared by attorneys at an estimated rate of $410 per hour. Therefore, the USPTO estimates that the respondent cost burden for this collection will be approximately $109,135,440.00 per year. Table 1--Total Hourly Burden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Estimated Estimated IC # Item Estimated time for annual annual burden Rate ($/hr) Estimated response (hours) responses hours annual burden (a)...................... (b) (a) x (b) = (d) (c) x (d) = (e) (c) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1........................... Response to Office Action 0.58 (35 minutes)........ 410,722 238,219 $410.00 $97,699,790.00 (TEAS). 1........................... Response to Office Action 0.67 (40 minutes)........ 9,847 6,597 410.00 2,704,770..00 (Paper). [[Page 22520]] 2........................... Substitute Trademark/ 0.50 (30 minutes)........ 1 1 410.00 410.00 Servicemark Application, Principal Register (TEAS Global). 2........................... Substitute Trademark/ 0.50 (30 minutes)........ 1 1 410.00 410.00 Servicemark Application, Principal Register (Paper). 3........................... Substitute Certification Mark 0.50 (30 minutes)........ 1 1 410.00 410.00 (TEAS Global). 3........................... Substitute Certification Mark 0.50 (30 minutes)........ 1 1 410.00 410.00 (Paper). 4........................... Substitute Collective 0.50 (30 minutes)........ 1 1 410.00 410.00 Membership Mark (TEAS Global). 4........................... Substitute Collective 0.50 (30 minutes)........ 1 1 410.00 410.00 Membership Mark (Paper). 5........................... Substitute Collective 0.50 (30 minutes)........ 1 1 410.00 410.00 Trademark/Servicemark (TEAS Global). 5........................... Substitute Collective 0.50 (30 minutes)........ 1 1 410.00 410.00 Trademark/Servicemark (Paper). 6........................... Voluntary Amendment Not in 0.33 (20 minutes)........ 16,117 5,319 410.00 2,180,790.00 Response to USPTO Office Action/Letter (TEAS). 6........................... Voluntary Amendment Not in 0.50 (30 minutes)........ 163 82 410.00 33,620.00 Response to USPTO Office Action/Letter (Paper). 7........................... Request for Reconsideration 0.67 (40 minutes)........ 17,515 11,735 410.00 4,811,350.00 After Final Office Action (TEAS). 7........................... Request for Reconsideration 0.75 (45 minutes)........ 44 33 410.00 13,530.00 After Final Office Action (Paper). 8........................... Post-Approval/Publication/Post- 0.42 (25 minutes)........ 4,541 1,907 410.00 781,870.00 Notice of Allowance (NOA) Amendment (TEAS). 8........................... Post-Approval/Publication/Post- 0.50 (30 minutes)........ 11 6 410.00 2,460.00 Notice of Allowance (NOA) Amendment (Paper). 9........................... Petition to Amend Basis Post- 0.33 (20 minutes)........ 800 264 410.00 108,240.00 Publication (TEAS Global). 9........................... Petition to Amend Basis Post- 0.42 (25 minutes)........ 33 14 410.00 5,740.00 Publication (Paper). 10.......................... Response to Suspension Inquiry 0.16 (10 minutes)........ 12,499 2,000 410.00 820,000.00 or Letter of Suspension (TEAS). 10.......................... Response to Suspension Inquiry 0.25 (15 minutes)........ 13 3 410.00 1,230.00 or Letter of Suspension. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Total................... .............................. ......................... 472,300 266,184 .............. 109,135,440.00 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $113,053.35. There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or record- keeping costs associated with this information collection. However, this collection does have annual (non-hour) costs in the form of postage costs and filing fees. Customers incur postage costs when submitting non-electronic information to the USPTO by mail through the United States Postal Service. The USPTO expects that the majority (roughly 98%) of the paper forms are submitted to the USPTO via first-class mail. The USPTO estimates that these submissions will typically weigh approximately one ounce and that the first-class postage for these submissions is $0.49 per submission. Table 2--Postage Costs ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total (non- IC # Item Responses Postage costs hour) cost ($) burden (a) (b) (a x b) = (c) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1............................. Response to Office Action...... 9,847 $0.49 $4,825.03 2............................. Substitute Trademark/ 1 0.49 0.49 Servicemark Application, Principal Register. 3............................. Substitute Certification Mark.. 1 0.49 0.49 4............................. Substitute Collective 1 0.49 0.49 Membership Mark. 5............................. Substitute Collective Trademark/ 1 0.49 0.49 Servicemark. [[Page 22521]] 6............................. Voluntary Amendment Not in 163 0.49 79.87 Response to USPTO Office Action/Letter. 7............................. Request for Reconsideration 44 0.49 21.56 After Final Office Action. 8............................. Post-Approval/Publication/Post- 11 0.49 5.39 Notice of Allowance (NOA) Amendment. 9............................. Petition to Amend Basis Post- 33 0.49 16.17 Publication. 10............................ Response to Suspension Inquiry 13 0.49 6.37 or Letter of Suspension. ------------------------------------------------ Total.......................... 9,850 .............. 4,953.35 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are three filing fees associated with the collection, detailed in Table 3 below. Table 3--Filing Fees ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Annual IC # Item estimated Filing Fee Filing fee responses costs ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.................................. Additional fee for 172 $125.00 $21,500.00 application that does not meet TEAS Plus or TEAS RF filing requirements, per Class. 9.................................. Petition to Amend Basis 800 100.00 80,000.00 Post-Publication (TEAS Global). 9.................................. Petition to Amend Basis 33 200.00 6,600.00 Post-Publication (Paper). ----------------------------------------------- Total ........................ 1,005 .............. 108,100.00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The USPTO estimates that the total (non-hour) respondent cost burden for this collection in the form of both postage costs and filing fees is $113,053.35 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 shall 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. Marcie Lovett, Records Management Division Director, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer. [FR Doc. 2017-09809 Filed 5-15-17; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510-16-P
![Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 93 / Tuesday, May 16, 2017 / Notices 22519
the TTAB. The Office also invites any collection is also available at http:// Post-Notice of Allowance (NOA)
other input the public wishes to convey www.reginfo.gov under ‘‘Information Amendment, a Petition to Amend Basis
about the topics addressed in this Collection Review.’’ Post-Publication, or a Response to
Request for Comments. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Suspension Inquiry or Letter of
Dated: May 10, 2017. Suspension. In rare instances, an
I. Abstract applicant may also submit a Substitute
Michelle K. Lee,
This collection of information is Trademark/Servicemark, Substitute
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual
Property and Director of the United States required by the Trademark Act, 15 Certification Mark, Substitute Collective
Patent and Trademark Office. U.S.C. 1051 et seq., which provides for Membership Mark, or Substitute
[FR Doc. 2017–09856 Filed 5–15–17; 8:45 am]
the federal registration of trademarks, Collective Trademark/Servicemark
service marks, collective trademarks and application.
BILLING CODE P
services marks, collective membership
II. Method of Collection
marks, and certification marks.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Individuals and business that use such The forms in this collection are
marks, or intend to use such marks, in available in electronic format through
Patent and Trademark Office interstate commerce may file an the Trademark Electronic Application
application to register their marks with System (TEAS), which may be accessed
Responses to Office Action and the United States Patent and Trademark on the USPTO Web site. TEAS Global
Voluntary Amendment Forms Office (USPTO). This collection Forms are available for the items where
generally contains information that is a TEAS form with dedicated data fields
ACTION: Proposed collection; comment not submitted with the initial trademark is not yet available. Applicants may also
request. application but is associated with, or submit the information in paper form by
required for, the USPTO review of mail, fax, or hand delivery.
SUMMARY: The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO), as required applications for registration. III. Data
by the Paperwork Reduction Act of In some cases, the USPTO issues
Office Actions to applicants who have OMB Number: 0651–0050.
1995, invites comments on a proposed
applied to register a mark, requesting Form Numbers: PTO–1771, PTO–
extension of an existing information
information that was not provided with 1822, PTO–1957, PTO–1960, and PTO–
collection: 0651–0050 (Responses to
the initial submission, but is required 1966.
Office Action and Voluntary
before the issuance of a registration. Type of Review: Extension of a
Amendment Forms).
Also, the USPTO may determine that a currently approved collection.
DATES: Written comments must be Affected Public: Businesses or other
mark is not entitled to registration,
submitted on or before July 17, 2017. pursuant to one or more provisions of for-profits; not-for-profit institutions;
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments the Trademark Act. In such cases, the individuals.
by any of the following methods: USPTO will issue an Office Action Estimated Number of Respondents:
• Email: InformationCollection@ advising the applicant of the refusal to 472,301 responses per year.
uspto.gov. Include ‘‘0651–0050 register the mark. Applicants reply to Estimated Time per Response: The
comment’’ in the subject line of the these Office Actions by providing the USPTO estimates that it will take the
message. required information and/or by putting public between 10 minutes (0.16 hours)
• Mail: Marcie Lovett, Records forth legal arguments as to why the and 45 minutes (0.75 hours), depending
Management Division Director, Office of refusal of registration should be on the complexity of the situation, to
the Chief Information Officer, United withdrawn. gather the necessary information,
States Patent and Trademark Office, The USPTO administers the prepare the appropriate documents, and
P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313– Trademark Act through Chapter 37 of submit the information required for this
1450. the Code of Federal Regulations. These collection.
• Federal Rulemaking Portal: http:// rules allow the USPTO to request and Estimated Total Annual Respondent
www.regulations.gov. receive information required to process Burden Hours: 266,184 hours per year.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: applications. These rules also allow Estimated Total Annual Respondent
Requests for additional information applicants to submit certain Cost Burden: $109,135,440.00. The
should be directed to Catherine Cain, amendments to their applications. USPTO expects that the information in
Attorney Advisor, Office of the Applicants may also supplement their this collection will be prepared by
Commissioner for Trademarks, United applications and provide further attorneys at an estimated rate of $410
States Patent and Trademark Office, information by filing a Voluntary per hour. Therefore, the USPTO
P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313– Amendment Not in Response to USPTO estimates that the respondent cost
1450, by telephone at 571–272–8946, or Office Action/Letter, a Request for burden for this collection will be
by email at Catherine.Cain@uspto.gov. Reconsideration after Final Office approximately $109,135,440.00 per
Additional information about this Action, a Post-Approval/Publication/ year.
TABLE 1—TOTAL HOURLY BURDEN
Estimated Estimated
Estimated time for Rate Estimated
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
IC # Item annual annual burden
response (hours) ($/hr) annual burden
responses hours
(a) (b) (a) × (b) = (c) (d) (c) × (d) = (e)
1 ..................... Response to Office Action (TEAS) .. 0.58 (35 minutes) 410,722 238,219 $410.00 $97,699,790.00
1 ..................... Response to Office Action (Paper) .. 0.67 (40 minutes) 9,847 6,597 410.00 2,704,770..00
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![Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 93 / Tuesday, May 16, 2017 / Notices 22521
TABLE 2—POSTAGE COSTS—Continued
Total
Postage costs
IC # Item Responses (non-hour) cost
($) burden
(a) (b) (a × b) = (c)
6 ..................... Voluntary Amendment Not in Response to USPTO Office Action/Letter .... 163 0.49 79.87
7 ..................... Request for Reconsideration After Final Office Action ................................. 44 0.49 21.56
8 ..................... Post-Approval/Publication/Post-Notice of Allowance (NOA) Amendment .... 11 0.49 5.39
9 ..................... Petition to Amend Basis Post-Publication .................................................... 33 0.49 16.17
10 ................... Response to Suspension Inquiry or Letter of Suspension ........................... 13 0.49 6.37
Total .............................................................................................................. 9,850 ........................ 4,953.35
There are three filing fees associated
with the collection, detailed in Table 3
below.
TABLE 3—FILING FEES
Annual Filing fee
IC # Item estimated Filing Fee costs
responses
2 .......................... Additional fee for application that does not meet TEAS Plus or TEAS RF 172 $125.00 $21,500.00
filing requirements, per Class.
9 .......................... Petition to Amend Basis Post-Publication (TEAS Global) ......................... 800 100.00 80,000.00
9 .......................... Petition to Amend Basis Post-Publication (Paper) .................................... 33 200.00 6,600.00
Total ............................................................................................................. 1,005 ........................ 108,100.00
The USPTO estimates that the total e.g., permitting electronic submission of ADDRESSES: The address of the closed
(non-hour) respondent cost burden for responses. meeting is the Nunn-Lugar Conference,
this collection in the form of both Room 3E863, 3140 Defense Pentagon,
Marcie Lovett,
postage costs and filing fees is Washington, DC 20301.
Records Management Division Director,
$113,053.35 per year. USPTO, Office of the Chief Information FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Officer. Defense Science Board Designated
IV. Request for Comments
[FR Doc. 2017–09809 Filed 5–15–17; 8:45 am] Federal Officer (DFO) Ms. Karen D.H.
Comments submitted in response to BILLING CODE 3510–16–P
Saunders, (703) 571–0079 (Voice), (703)
this notice will be summarized and/or 697–1860 (Facsimile),
included in the request for OMB karen.d.saunders.civ@mail.mil (Email).
approval. All comments will become a Mailing address is Defense Science
matter of public record. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Board, 3140 Defense Pentagon, Room
3B888A, Washington, DC 20301–3140.
The USPTO is soliciting public Office of the Secretary Web site: http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/.
comments to: (a) Evaluate whether the The most up-to-date changes to the
proposed collection of information is Defense Science Board; Notice of meeting agenda can be found on the
necessary for the proper performance of Federal Advisory Committee Meeting Web site.
the functions of the agency, including AGENCY: Under Secretary of Defense for SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Due to
whether the information shall have Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, circumstances beyond the control of the
practical utility; (b) evaluate the Department of Defense. Designated Federal Officer and the
accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the Department of Defense, the Defense
ACTION: Notice of Federal Advisory
burden of the proposed collection of Committee meeting. Science Board was unable to provide
information, including the validity of public notification concerning its
the methodology and assumptions used; SUMMARY: The Department of Defense meeting on May 17 through 18, 2017, as
(c) enhance the quality, utility, and (DoD) is publishing this notice to required by 41 CFR 102–3.150(a).
clarity of the information to be announce that the following Federal Accordingly, the Advisory Committee
collected; and (d) minimize the burden Advisory Committee meeting of the Management Officer for the Department
of the collection of information on those Defense Science Board (DSB) will take of Defense, pursuant to 41 CFR 102–
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
who are to respond, including through place. 3.150(b), waives the 15-calendar day
the use of appropriate automated, DATES: Day 1—Closed to the public notification requirement.
electronic, mechanical, or other Wednesday, May 17, 2017, from 8:00 This meeting is being held under the
technological collection techniques or a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 provisions of the Federal Advisory
other forms of information technology, p.m.; Day 2—Closed to the public Committee Act (FACA) of 1972 (5
Thursday, May 18, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. U.S.C., Appendix, as amended), the
to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Government in the Sunshine Act of
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Document Created: 2017-05-16 13:52:52
Document Modified: 2017-05-16 13:52:52
| Category | Regulatory Information | |
| Collection | Federal Register | |
| sudoc Class | AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106: | |
| Publisher | Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration | |
| Section | Notices | |
| Action | Proposed collection; comment request. | |
| Dates | Written comments must be submitted on or before July 17, 2017. | |
| Contact | Requests for additional information should be directed to Catherine Cain, Attorney Advisor, Office of the Commissioner for Trademarks, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450, by telephone at 571-272-8946, or by email at [email protected] Additional information about this collection is also available at http://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection Review.'' | |
| FR Citation | 82 FR 22519 |
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