82 FR 45581 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Patent Petitions Related to Application and Reexamination Processing Fees

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 188 (September 29, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 188 (Friday, September 29, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45581-45582]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20835]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Patent Petitions 
Related to Application and Reexamination Processing Fees

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USTPO) 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).
    Title: Patent Petitions Related to Application and Reexamination 
Processing Fees.
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0059.
    Form Number(s):

 PTO/SB/17P
 PTO/SB/23
 PTO/SB/24a
 PTO/SB/28 (EFS-Web only)
 PTO/SB/140 (EFS-Web only)


[[Page 45582]]


    Type of Request: Revision of a currently existing collection.
    Number of Respondents: 374,972 responses per year.
    Average Hours per Response: The USPTO estimates that it takes the 
public approximately 5 minutes (0.08 hours) to 12 hours to complete 
items in this collection, depending on the petition. This includes the 
time to gather the necessary information, prepare the petitions and 
petition fee transmittals, and submit them to the USPTO. The USPTO 
estimates that it takes the same amount of time to gather the necessary 
information, prepare the submission, and submit it electronically as it 
does to submit the information in paper form.
    Burden Hours: 42,195 hours annually.
    Cost Burden: $3,147,594.80.
    Needs and Uses: USPTO petitions practice provides patent applicants 
the ability to request certain administrative reviews of USPTO 
decisions and also supply additional information to applications 
currently being processed. The public uses the information in this 
collection to petition for various actions under 37 CFR 1.17(f), (g), 
and (h), such as petitioning for a suspension of the rules, requesting 
access to an assignment record, or requesting the withdrawal of an 
application from issue either before or after paying the issue fee. In 
addition, the public uses these petitions to request accelerated 
examination, to request abandonment of an application to avoid 
publication of said application, and to request certain extensions of 
time. The public uses the transmittal form to remit the required fees 
for the various petitions. The USPTO uses the information collected 
from the petitions and transmittal form to determine whether to grant 
the various requests and to ensure that the proper fees have been 
remitted and are processed accordingly.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to Obtain or Retain Benefits.
    OMB Desk Officer: Nicholas A. Fraser, email: 
[email protected].
    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-
0059 copy request'' in the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Marcie Lovett, Records and Information Governance 
Division Director, Office of the Chief Technology 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 October 30, 2017 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.

Marcie Lovett,
Records and Information Governance Division Director, OCTO, United 
States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2017-20835 Filed 9-28-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P