Requirements for Patent Applications Containing Nucleotide Sequence and/or Amino Acid Sequence Disclosures, 40163-40165 [E9-19179]
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 153 / Tuesday, August 11, 2009 / Notices
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[FR Doc. E9–19117 Filed 8–10–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Requirements for Patent Applications
Containing Nucleotide Sequence and/
or Amino Acid Sequence Disclosures
ACTION:
Proposed collection; comment
request.
SUMMARY: The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO), as part of its
continuing effort to reduce paperwork
and respondent burden, invites the
general public and other Federal
agencies to take this opportunity to
comment on the revision of a continuing
information collection, as required by
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A)).
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted on or before October 13,
2009.
You may submit comments
by any of the following methods:
• E-mail: Susan.Fawcett@uspto.gov.
Include A0651–0024 comment@ in the
subject line of the message.
• Fax: 571–273–0112, marked to the
attention of Susan K. Fawcett.
• Mail: Susan K. Fawcett, Records
Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Administrative Management
Group, United States Patent and
Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450,
Alexandria, VA 22313–1450.
• Federal Rulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov.
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
ADDRESSES:
VerDate Nov<24>2008
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information
should be directed to Robert A. Clarke,
Director, Office of Patent Legal
Administration, United States Patent
and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450,
Alexandria, VA 22313–1450; by
telephone at 571–272–7735; or by e-mail
to Robert.Clarke@uspto.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
Patent applications that contain
nucleotide and/or amino acid sequence
disclosures must include a copy of the
sequence listing in accordance with the
requirements in 37 CFR 1.821–1.825.
The rules of practice require applicants
to submit these sequence listings in a
standard international format that is
consistent with World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) Standard
ST.25 (1998). Applicants may submit
sequence listings for both U.S. and
international patent applications.
The USPTO uses the sequence listings
during the examination process to
determine the patentability of the
associated patent application. Sequence
listings are also disclosed as part of the
published patent application or issued
patent. Sequence listings that are
extremely long (files larger than 600K or
approximately 300 printed pages) are
published only in electronic form and
are available to the public on the
USPTO sequence data Web page.
The sequence listing required by 37
CFR 1.821(c) for U.S. patent
applications may be submitted on
paper, compact disc (CD), or through
EFS–Web, the USPTO’s online filing
system. Sequence listings for
international applications may be
submitted on paper or through EFS–
Web only, though sequence listings that
are too large to be filed electronically
through EFS–Web may be submitted on
a separate CD. Applicants may use EFS–
Web to file a sequence listing online
with a patent application or subsequent
to a previously filed application.
Under 37 CFR 1.821(e)–(f), applicants
must also submit a copy of the sequence
listing in a computer-readable form@
(CRF) with a statement indicating that
the CRF copy of the sequence listing is
identical to the paper or CD copy
required by 1.821(c). Applicants may
submit the CRF copy of the sequence
listing to the USPTO on CD or other
acceptable media as provided in 37 CFR
1.824. Sequence listings that are
submitted online through EFS–Web in
the proper text format do not require a
separate CRF copy or the associated
statement.
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Sfmt 4703
40163
If the CRF sequence listing in a new
application is identical to the CRF
sequence listing of another application
that the applicant already has on file at
the USPTO, 37 CFR 1.821(e) permits the
applicant to refer to the CRF listing in
the other application rather than having
to submit a duplicate copy of the CRF
listing for the new application. In such
a case, the applicant may submit a letter
identifying the application and CRF
sequence listing that is already on file
and stating that the sequence listing
submitted in the new application is
identical to the CRF copy already filed
with the previous application. The
USPTO is proposing to add a new form
to this collection, Request for Transfer
of a Computer Readable Form Under 37
CFR 1.821(e) (PTO/SB/93), in order to
assist customers in submitting this
statement.
This information collection contains
the sequence listings that are submitted
with biotechnology patent applications.
Information pertaining to the filing of
the initial patent application itself is
collected under OMB Control Number
0651–0032, and international
applications submitted under the Patent
Cooperation Treaty (PCT) are covered
under OMB Control Number 0651–0021.
II. Method of Collection
By mail, hand delivery, or
electronically to the USPTO.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651–0024.
Form Number(s): PTO/SB/93.
Type of Review: Revision of a
currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households; businesses or other forprofits; and not-for-profit institutions.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
19,750 responses per year.
Estimated Time Per Response: The
USPTO estimates that it will take the
public approximately six minutes (0.10
hours) to one hour and 20 minutes (1.33
hours) to gather the necessary
information, prepare the form or
sequence listing, and submit it to the
USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent
Burden Hours: 7,254 hours per year.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent
Cost Burden: $725,400 per year. The
USPTO expects that the information in
this collection will be prepared by
paraprofessionals at an estimated rate of
$100 per hour. Therefore, the USPTO
estimates that the respondent cost
burden for this collection will be
approximately $725,400 per year.
E:\FR\FM\11AUN1.SGM
11AUN1
40164
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 153 / Tuesday, August 11, 2009 / Notices
Estimated
annual
responses
Estimated
annual
burden hours
Estimated time for response
Sequence Listing in Application (paper) ......................
Sequence Listing in Application (CD) ..........................
Electronic Sequence Listing in Application (EFS–
Web).
Request for Transfer of a Computer Readable Form
under 37 CFR 1.821(e) (PTO/SB/93).
1 hour and 20 minutes .................................................
15 minutes ....................................................................
10 minutes ....................................................................
3,450
865
12,935
4,589
216
2,199
6 minutes ......................................................................
2,500
250
Totals .....................................................................
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
Item
..................................................................................
19,750
7,254
Estimated Total Annual Non-hour
Respondent Cost Burden: $920,959 per
year. There are no maintenance costs
associated with this collection. The
USPTO provides free software for
creating and validating the format of
sequence listings prior to submission.
However, this collection does have
annual (non-hour) costs in the form of
fees, capital start-up costs,
recordkeeping costs, and postage costs.
There is no separate filing fee for
submitting a sequence listing as part of
a U.S. patent application. While there is
also no filing fee for a sequence listing
filed in an international application, the
basic international filing fee only covers
the first 30 pages of the application. As
a result, there is a $13 fee per page that
is added to the international filing fee
for each page over 30 pages. The average
length of a paper sequence listing in an
international application is 150 pages,
which would carry an additional fee of
$1,950 if the international application
were already at least 30 pages long
without the listing. The USPTO
estimates that approximately 380 of the
3,450 paper sequence listings submitted
per year will be for international
applications, for a total of $741,000 per
year in page fees. There are no page fees
for sequence listings that are submitted
via EFS–Web in the proper text format.
Under 37 CFR 1.16(s) and 1.492(j),
both U.S. and international patent
applications that include lengthy paper
sequence listings may be subject to an
application size fee. For applications
with paper sequences listings that
exceed 100 pages, the application size
fee is $270 (or $135 for small entities)
for each additional 50 pages or fraction
thereof. The USPTO estimates that
approximately 120 applications with
long paper sequence listings from large
entities will incur an average
application size fee of $810, and
approximately 95 applications with long
paper sequence listings from small
entities will incur an average
application size fee of $405, for a total
of $135,675 per year. Therefore, this
collection has a total of $876,675 in fees
per year.
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20:51 Aug 10, 2009
Jkt 217001
There are capital start-up costs
associated with submitting sequence
listings and CRF copies to the USPTO
on CD. Applicants who submit sequence
listings on CD must submit two copies
of the CD (or three copies for
international applications) along with a
transmittal letter stating that the copies
are identical. This process requires
additional supplies, including blank
recordable CD media and padded
envelopes for shipping. The USPTO
estimates that the cost of these supplies
will be approximately $3 per CD
submission and that it will receive
approximately 865 CD submissions per
year, for a total of $2,595. In addition,
customers who submit sequence listings
on paper or CD must also submit a
separate CRF copy of the listing, which
may be submitted on CD. The USPTO
estimates that it will receive
approximately 4,315 CRF copies for
paper and CD sequence listings at an
estimated cost of $2 per copy, for a total
of $8,630. Therefore, this collection has
total capital start-up costs of $11,225 per
year.
Applicants who submit sequence
listings on CD may also incur
recordkeeping costs. The USPTO
advises applicants to retain a back-up
copy of CD submissions and associated
documentation for their records. The
USPTO estimates that it will take
applicants five minutes to produce a
back-up CD copy and two minutes to
print copies of documentation, for a
total of seven minutes (0.12 hours) to
make a back-up copy of the CD
submission. The USPTO estimates that
approximately 865 CD submissions will
be received per year, for a total of 104
hours for making back-up CD copies.
The USPTO expects that these back-up
copies will be prepared by
paraprofessionals at an estimated rate of
$100 per hour, for a recordkeeping cost
of $10,400 per year.
There are also recordkeeping costs
associated with submitting sequence
listings online using EFS-Web. The
USPTO recommends that customers
print and retain a copy of the
acknowledgment receipt after a
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
successful online submission. The
USPTO estimates that it will take five
seconds (0.001 hours) to print a copy of
the acknowledgment receipt and that
approximately 12,935 sequence listings
per year will be submitted via EFS-Web,
for a total of approximately 13 hours per
year for printing this receipt. The
USPTO expects that these receipts will
be printed by paraprofessionals at an
estimated rate of $100 per hour, for a
recordkeeping cost of $1,300 per year.
Therefore, this collection has total
recordkeeping costs of $11,700 per year
associated with retaining copies of CDs
and acknowledgment receipts.
Customers may incur postage costs
when submitting a sequence listing to
the USPTO by mail. Mailed submissions
may include the sequence listing on
either paper or CD, the CRF copy of the
listing on CD, and a transmittal letter
containing the required identifying
information. The USPTO estimates that
the average postage cost for a paper or
CD sequence listing submission will be
$4.95 and that 4,315 sequence listings
will be mailed to the USPTO per year,
for a total postage cost of $21,359 per
year.
The total non-hour respondent cost
burden for this collection in the form of
fees, capital start-up costs,
recordkeeping costs, and postage costs
is estimated to be $920,959 per year.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (a) 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) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden
(including hours and cost) of the
proposed collection of information; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, e.g., the use of
automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Comments submitted in response to
this notice will be summarized or
included in the request for OMB
E:\FR\FM\11AUN1.SGM
11AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 153 / Tuesday, August 11, 2009 / Notices
approval of this information collection;
they also will become a matter of public
record.
Dated: August 4, 2009.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief
Information Officer, Administrative
Management Group.
[FR Doc. E9–19179 Filed 8–10–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–16–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO) 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 (USPTO).
Title: Customer Panel Quality Survey.
Form Number(s): None.
Agency Approval Number: 0651–
0057.
Type of Request: Revision of a
currently approved collection.
Burden: 406 hours.
Number of Respondents: 2,386
responses.
Avg. Hours per Response: The USPTO
estimates that it takes the public
approximately 10 minutes (0.17 hours)
to complete either the paper or the
online survey. This includes the time to
gather the necessary information,
respond to the survey, and submit it to
the USPTO.
Needs and Uses: Individuals who
work at firms that file more than six
patent applications a year use the
Customer Panel Quality Survey to
provide the USPTO with their
perceptions of examination quality. The
USPTO uses the feedback gathered from
the survey to assist them in targeting
key areas for examination quality
improvement and to identify important
areas for examiner training.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households; business or other for profit;
and not-for-profit institutions.
Frequency: Semi-annually.
Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.
OMB Desk Officer: Nicholas A. Fraser,
e-mail:
Nicholas_A._Fraser@omb.eop.gov.
Once submitted, the request will be
publically available in electronic format
through the Information Collection
Review page at https://www.reginfo.gov.
Paper copies can be obtained by:
VerDate Nov<24>2008
20:51 Aug 10, 2009
Jkt 217001
* E-mail: Susan.Fawcett@uspto.gov.
Include ‘‘0651–0057 Customer Panel
Quality Survey copy request’’ in the
subject line of the message.
* Fax: 571–273–0112, marked to the
attention of Susan K. Fawcett.
* Mail: Susan K. Fawcett, Records
Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Administrative Management
Group, U.S. 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 10, 2009 to
Nicholas A. Fraser, OMB Desk Officer,
via e-mail at Nicholas_A._
Fraser@omb.eop.gov or by fax to 202–
395–5167, marked to the attention of
Nicholas A. Fraser.
Dated: August 4, 2009.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief
Information Officer, Administrative
Management Group.
[FR Doc. E9–19177 Filed 8–10–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–16–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A–570–865]
Certain Hot–Rolled Carbon Steel Flat
Products from the People’s Republic
of China: Final Rescission of
Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review
AGENCY: Import Administration,
International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
EFFECTIVE DATE: August 11, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Toni
Dach or Paul Walker, AD/CVD
Operations, Office 9, Import
Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230;
telephone: (202) 482–1655 and (202)
482–0413, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On November 3, 2008, the Department
of Commerce (‘‘Department’’) published
a notice of opportunity to request an
administrative review of the
antidumping duty order on certain hot–
rolled carbon steel flat products from
the People’s Republic of China (‘‘PRC’’)
for the period of review (‘‘POR’’)
November 1, 2007, through October 31,
2008. See Antidumping or
Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
40165
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity
to Request Administrative Review, 73
FR 65288 (November 3, 2008). On
December 1, 2008, Nucor Corporation
(‘‘Nucor’’), a domestic producer of
certain hot–rolled carbon steel flat
products, requested that the Department
conduct an administrative review of
Baosteel Group Corporation, Shanghai
Baosteel International Economic &
Trading Co., Ltd., and Baoshan Iron and
Steel Co., Ltd. (collectively ‘‘Baosteel’’).1
On December 1, 2008, ArcelorMittal
USA, Inc. (‘‘ArcelorMittal’’), a domestic
producer of certain hot–rolled steel flat
products, requested that the Department
conduct an administrative review of
Angang Steel Company, Ltd., Angang
Group International Trade Corporation,
New Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., Angang
Group Hong Kong Co., Ltd., Anshan
Iron & Steel Group, and all affiliated
entities (collectively ‘‘Angang’’); and
Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation,
Baosteel Group International Trade
Corp., and Baoshan Iron and Steel Co.,
Ltd. (also collectively ‘‘Baosteel’’).2 On
December 24, 2008, the Department
published a notice of initiation of an
antidumping duty administrative review
on certain hot–rolled carbon steel flat
products from the PRC. See Initiation of
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Administrative Reviews and Request for
Revocation in Part, 73 FR 79055
(December 24, 2008). On March 18,
2009, ArcelorMittal submitted a timely
withdrawal of its request for review of
Baosteel and Angang.
On June 26, 2009, we rescinded this
review with respect to Angang based on
ArcelorMittal’s withdrawal of their
request for review, and preliminarily
rescinded this review with respect to
Baosteel based on evidence on the
record indicating that Baosteel made no
entries of subject merchandise into the
United States during the POR. See
Rescission and Preliminary Rescission
of Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review: Certain Hot Rolled Carbon Steel
Flat Products from The People’s
Republic of China, 74 FR 30525 (June
26, 2009) (‘‘Preliminary Rescission’’).
We invited interested parties to submit
comments on our Preliminary
Rescission. We did not receive any
comments on our Preliminary
Rescission.
1 Baosteel consists of the following five entities:
Baosteel Group Corporation, Shanghai Baosteel
International Economic & Trading Co., Ltd.,
Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation, Baosteel
Group International Trade Corp., and Baoshan Iron
and Steel Co., Ltd.
2 As noted above, Baosteel consists of the five
entities listed in footnote 1.
E:\FR\FM\11AUN1.SGM
11AUN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 153 (Tuesday, August 11, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40163-40165]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-19179]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Requirements for Patent Applications Containing Nucleotide
Sequence and/or Amino Acid Sequence Disclosures
ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as part
of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden,
invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this
opportunity to comment on the revision of a continuing information
collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public
Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before October 13,
2009.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
E-mail: Susan.Fawcett@uspto.gov. Include A0651-0024
comment@ in the subject line of the message.
Fax: 571-273-0112, marked to the attention of Susan K.
Fawcett.
Mail: Susan K. Fawcett, Records Officer, Office of the
Chief Information Officer, Administrative Management Group, United
States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA
22313-1450.
Federal Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Robert A. Clarke, Director, Office of Patent
Legal Administration, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O.
Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-7735; or
by e-mail to Robert.Clarke@uspto.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
Patent applications that contain nucleotide and/or amino acid
sequence disclosures must include a copy of the sequence listing in
accordance with the requirements in 37 CFR 1.821-1.825. The rules of
practice require applicants to submit these sequence listings in a
standard international format that is consistent with World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standard ST.25 (1998).
Applicants may submit sequence listings for both U.S. and international
patent applications.
The USPTO uses the sequence listings during the examination process
to determine the patentability of the associated patent application.
Sequence listings are also disclosed as part of the published patent
application or issued patent. Sequence listings that are extremely long
(files larger than 600K or approximately 300 printed pages) are
published only in electronic form and are available to the public on
the USPTO sequence data Web page.
The sequence listing required by 37 CFR 1.821(c) for U.S. patent
applications may be submitted on paper, compact disc (CD), or through
EFS-Web, the USPTO's online filing system. Sequence listings for
international applications may be submitted on paper or through EFS-Web
only, though sequence listings that are too large to be filed
electronically through EFS-Web may be submitted on a separate CD.
Applicants may use EFS-Web to file a sequence listing online with a
patent application or subsequent to a previously filed application.
Under 37 CFR 1.821(e)-(f), applicants must also submit a copy of
the sequence listing in a computer-readable form@ (CRF) with a
statement indicating that the CRF copy of the sequence listing is
identical to the paper or CD copy required by 1.821(c). Applicants may
submit the CRF copy of the sequence listing to the USPTO on CD or other
acceptable media as provided in 37 CFR 1.824. Sequence listings that
are submitted online through EFS-Web in the proper text format do not
require a separate CRF copy or the associated statement.
If the CRF sequence listing in a new application is identical to
the CRF sequence listing of another application that the applicant
already has on file at the USPTO, 37 CFR 1.821(e) permits the applicant
to refer to the CRF listing in the other application rather than having
to submit a duplicate copy of the CRF listing for the new application.
In such a case, the applicant may submit a letter identifying the
application and CRF sequence listing that is already on file and
stating that the sequence listing submitted in the new application is
identical to the CRF copy already filed with the previous application.
The USPTO is proposing to add a new form to this collection, Request
for Transfer of a Computer Readable Form Under 37 CFR 1.821(e) (PTO/SB/
93), in order to assist customers in submitting this statement.
This information collection contains the sequence listings that are
submitted with biotechnology patent applications. Information
pertaining to the filing of the initial patent application itself is
collected under OMB Control Number 0651-0032, and international
applications submitted under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) are
covered under OMB Control Number 0651-0021.
II. Method of Collection
By mail, hand delivery, or electronically to the USPTO.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0024.
Form Number(s): PTO/SB/93.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other
for-profits; and not-for-profit institutions.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 19,750 responses per year.
Estimated Time Per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
the public approximately six minutes (0.10 hours) to one hour and 20
minutes (1.33 hours) to gather the necessary information, prepare the
form or sequence listing, and submit it to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 7,254 hours per
year.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $725,400 per year.
The USPTO expects that the information in this collection will be
prepared by paraprofessionals at an estimated rate of $100 per hour.
Therefore, the USPTO estimates that the respondent cost burden for this
collection will be approximately $725,400 per year.
[[Page 40164]]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Estimated
Item Estimated time for response annual annual burden
responses hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sequence Listing in Application (paper)....... 1 hour and 20 minutes........... 3,450 4,589
Sequence Listing in Application (CD).......... 15 minutes...................... 865 216
Electronic Sequence Listing in Application 10 minutes...................... 12,935 2,199
(EFS-Web).
Request for Transfer of a Computer Readable 6 minutes....................... 2,500 250
Form under 37 CFR 1.821(e) (PTO/SB/93).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.................................... ................................ 19,750 7,254
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $920,959
per year. There are no maintenance costs associated with this
collection. The USPTO provides free software for creating and
validating the format of sequence listings prior to submission.
However, this collection does have annual (non-hour) costs in the form
of fees, capital start-up costs, recordkeeping costs, and postage
costs.
There is no separate filing fee for submitting a sequence listing
as part of a U.S. patent application. While there is also no filing fee
for a sequence listing filed in an international application, the basic
international filing fee only covers the first 30 pages of the
application. As a result, there is a $13 fee per page that is added to
the international filing fee for each page over 30 pages. The average
length of a paper sequence listing in an international application is
150 pages, which would carry an additional fee of $1,950 if the
international application were already at least 30 pages long without
the listing. The USPTO estimates that approximately 380 of the 3,450
paper sequence listings submitted per year will be for international
applications, for a total of $741,000 per year in page fees. There are
no page fees for sequence listings that are submitted via EFS-Web in
the proper text format.
Under 37 CFR 1.16(s) and 1.492(j), both U.S. and international
patent applications that include lengthy paper sequence listings may be
subject to an application size fee. For applications with paper
sequences listings that exceed 100 pages, the application size fee is
$270 (or $135 for small entities) for each additional 50 pages or
fraction thereof. The USPTO estimates that approximately 120
applications with long paper sequence listings from large entities will
incur an average application size fee of $810, and approximately 95
applications with long paper sequence listings from small entities will
incur an average application size fee of $405, for a total of $135,675
per year. Therefore, this collection has a total of $876,675 in fees
per year.
There are capital start-up costs associated with submitting
sequence listings and CRF copies to the USPTO on CD. Applicants who
submit sequence listings on CD must submit two copies of the CD (or
three copies for international applications) along with a transmittal
letter stating that the copies are identical. This process requires
additional supplies, including blank recordable CD media and padded
envelopes for shipping. The USPTO estimates that the cost of these
supplies will be approximately $3 per CD submission and that it will
receive approximately 865 CD submissions per year, for a total of
$2,595. In addition, customers who submit sequence listings on paper or
CD must also submit a separate CRF copy of the listing, which may be
submitted on CD. The USPTO estimates that it will receive approximately
4,315 CRF copies for paper and CD sequence listings at an estimated
cost of $2 per copy, for a total of $8,630. Therefore, this collection
has total capital start-up costs of $11,225 per year.
Applicants who submit sequence listings on CD may also incur
recordkeeping costs. The USPTO advises applicants to retain a back-up
copy of CD submissions and associated documentation for their records.
The USPTO estimates that it will take applicants five minutes to
produce a back-up CD copy and two minutes to print copies of
documentation, for a total of seven minutes (0.12 hours) to make a
back-up copy of the CD submission. The USPTO estimates that
approximately 865 CD submissions will be received per year, for a total
of 104 hours for making back-up CD copies. The USPTO expects that these
back-up copies will be prepared by paraprofessionals at an estimated
rate of $100 per hour, for a recordkeeping cost of $10,400 per year.
There are also recordkeeping costs associated with submitting
sequence listings online using EFS-Web. The USPTO recommends that
customers print and retain a copy of the acknowledgment receipt after a
successful online submission. The USPTO estimates that it will take
five seconds (0.001 hours) to print a copy of the acknowledgment
receipt and that approximately 12,935 sequence listings per year will
be submitted via EFS-Web, for a total of approximately 13 hours per
year for printing this receipt. The USPTO expects that these receipts
will be printed by paraprofessionals at an estimated rate of $100 per
hour, for a recordkeeping cost of $1,300 per year. Therefore, this
collection has total recordkeeping costs of $11,700 per year associated
with retaining copies of CDs and acknowledgment receipts.
Customers may incur postage costs when submitting a sequence
listing to the USPTO by mail. Mailed submissions may include the
sequence listing on either paper or CD, the CRF copy of the listing on
CD, and a transmittal letter containing the required identifying
information. The USPTO estimates that the average postage cost for a
paper or CD sequence listing submission will be $4.95 and that 4,315
sequence listings will be mailed to the USPTO per year, for a total
postage cost of $21,359 per year.
The total non-hour respondent cost burden for this collection in
the form of fees, capital start-up costs, recordkeeping costs, and
postage costs is estimated to be $920,959 per year.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (a) 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) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information;
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on respondents, e.g., the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized or
included in the request for OMB
[[Page 40165]]
approval of this information collection; they also will become a matter
of public record.
Dated: August 4, 2009.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer,
Administrative Management Group.
[FR Doc. E9-19179 Filed 8-10-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P
