Matters Related to Patent Appeals, 269-271 [2011-33726]
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 2 / Wednesday, January 4, 2012 / Notices
part 216), the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.), and the regulations governing
the taking, importing, and exporting of
endangered and threatened species (50
CFR parts 222–226).
The permit authorizes up to 700
humpback whales to be harassed each
year during vessel-based photoidentification, behavioral observation,
and passive acoustic recording. The
applicant requested that we remove the
original request for divers to conduct
underwater photography from the
application. Whales will be harassed
year-round, with efforts focused from
October through July. The permit is
valid for five years from the date of
issuance.
An environmental assessment (EA)
was prepared analyzing the effects of
the permitted activities on the human
environment in compliance with the
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). Based on
the analyses in the EA, NMFS
determined that issuance of the permit
would not significantly impact the
quality of the human environment and
that preparation of an environmental
impact statement was not required. That
determination is documented in a
Finding of No Significant Impact
(FONSI), signed on December 16, 2011.
As required by the ESA, issuance of
this permit was based on a finding that
such permit: (1) Was applied for in good
faith; (2) will not operate to the
disadvantage of such endangered
species; and (3) is consistent with the
purposes and policies set forth in
section 2 of the ESA.
Dated: December 29, 2011.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division,
Office of Protected Resources, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011–33761 Filed 1–3–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark
Office
Matters Related to Patent Appeals
ACTION:
Proposed collection; comment
wreier-aviles on DSK3TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
request.
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 this new information
collection, as required by the Paperwork
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
14:53 Jan 03, 2012
Jkt 226001
269
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 March 5, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by any of the following methods:
• Email: InformationCollection@
uspto.gov. Include ‘‘0651–00xx Matters
Related to Patent Appeals comment’’ in
the subject line of the message.
• Mail: Susan K. Fawcett, Records
Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, 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 Raul Tamayo,
Legal Advisor, Office of Patent Legal
Administration, United States Patent
and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450,
Alexandria, VA 22313–1450; by
telephone at (571) 272–7728; or by
email to Raul.Tamayo@uspto.gov.
Additional information about this
collection is also available at https://
www.reginfo.gov under ‘‘Information
Collection Review.’’
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Currently, Notices of Appeal,
Requests for Oral Hearing, and Preappeal Brief Requests for Review are
covered under 0651–0031 Patent
Processing (Updating). The USPTO has
determined that it would be beneficial
to transfer these items out of 0651–0031
and into their own collection. Therefore,
the USPTO is requesting the creation of
a new collection which will transfer the
three existing notices and requests out
of the 0651–0031 inventory into a new
collection of information titled ‘‘Matters
Related to Patent Appeals.’’ For a
complete listing of the items covered by
this collection, please see the table in
Section III of this notice.
The information in this collection can
be submitted electronically through
EFS–Web, the USPTO’s Web-based
electronic filing system, as well as on
paper. The USPTO is taking this
opportunity to account for the electronic
submissions in this collection.
There are forms associated with the
Notices of Appeal (PTO/SB/31), the
Requests for Oral Hearing Before the
Board of Patent Appeals and
Interferences (PTO/SB/32), and the Preappeal Brief Requests for Review (PTO/
SB/33). Therefore, after approval, this
collection will have three forms.
I. Abstract
II. Method of Collection
By mail, facsimile, or hand delivery to
the USPTO when an applicant files the
various notices or requests. The
remaining papers can also be filed as
attachments through EFS–Web.
During its examination of an
application for patent or for reissue of
a patent, or during its reexamination of
a patent, the United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO) makes many
decisions of a substantive nature which
the applicant or patent owner may feel
deny him or her the patent protection to
which he or she is entitled. Where the
differences of opinion on such matters
concern the denial of patent claims
because of prior art or other
patentability issues, the questions
thereby raised are said to relate to the
merits, and a procedure for appealing to
the Board of Patent Appeals and
Interferences has long been provided by
statute (35 U.S.C. 134).
Applicants and patent owners initiate
the appeal procedure by filing a Notice
of Appeal. At the time of filing a Notice
of Appeal, applicants and patent owners
may request that a panel of examiners
formally review the legal and factual
basis of the rejections in their
application prior to the filing of an
Appeal Brief, by filing a Pre-Appeal
Brief Request for Review. In addition,
applicants and patent owners who
desire an oral hearing before the Board
may request the hearing by filing a
Request for Oral Hearing Before the
Board of Patent Appeals and
Interferences.
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651–00xx.
Form Number(s): PTO/SB/31/32/33.
Type of Review: New information
collection.
Affected Public: Businesses or other
for-profits; and not-for-profit
institutions.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
54,500 responses per year, with an
estimated 10,940 submitted by small
entities. Of the total responses, the
USPTO expects that 50,700 will be
submitted through EFS–Web.
Estimated Time per Response: The
USPTO estimates that it will take the
public approximately 12 minutes (0.20
hours) to complete the information in
this collection, with the exception of the
Pre-appeal Brief Requests for Review,
which the USPTO estimates will take
approximately 5 hours to complete.
These estimated times include gathering
the necessary information, creating the
documents, and submitting the
completed request to the USPTO. The
USPTO calculates that, on balance, it
takes the same amount of time to gather
the necessary information, create the
E:\FR\FM\04JAN1.SGM
04JAN1
270
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 2 / Wednesday, January 4, 2012 / Notices
document, and submit it to the USPTO,
whether the applicant submits the
information in paper form or
electronically.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent
Burden Hours: 86,740 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent
Cost Burden: $29,491,600. The USPTO
estimates that attorneys will complete
the items in this collection. Using the
professional hourly rate of $340 for
attorneys in private firms, the USPTO
estimates $29,491,600 per year for the
respondent cost burden for this
collection.
Estimated
annual
responses
Estimated
annual
burden hours
Item
Estimated time
for response
Notice of Appeal .......................................................................................................................
Electronic Notice of Appeal ......................................................................................................
Request for Oral Hearing Before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences .................
Electronic Request for Oral Hearing Before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences
Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review ......................................................................................
Electronic Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review .....................................................................
12 minutes ........
12 minutes ........
12 minutes ........
12 minutes ........
5 hours .............
5 hours .............
2,600
34,900
100
1,100
1,100
14,700
520
6,980
20
220
5,500
73,500
Totals .................................................................................................................................
...........................
54,500
86,740
Estimated Total Annual Non-hour
Respondent Cost Burden: $22,266,670.
This collection has annual (non-hour)
costs in the form of filing fees and
postage costs.
Item
The USPTO estimates that this
collection will have a total annual cost
of $22,264,200 in filing fees.
Responses
Filing fees
Total cost
(a)
(b)
(a) × (b)
(c)
Notice of Appeal ........................................................................................................
Notice of Appeal (small entity) ..................................................................................
Electronic Notice of Appeal .......................................................................................
Electronic Notice of Appeal (small entity) .................................................................
Request for an Oral Hearing .....................................................................................
Request for an Oral Hearing (small entity) ...............................................................
Electronic Request for an Oral Hearing ....................................................................
Electronic Request for an Oral Hearing (small entity) ..............................................
Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review .......................................................................
Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review (small entity) ..................................................
Electronic Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review ......................................................
Electronic Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review (small entity) .................................
2,100
500
27,900
7,000
60
40
900
200
900
200
11,700
3,000
$620.00
310.00
620.00
310.00
1,240.00
620.00
1,240.00
620.00
None
None
None
None
$1,302,000.00
155,000.00
17,298,000.00
2,170,000.00
74,400.00
24,800.00
1,116,000.00
124,000.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Totals ..................................................................................................................
54,500
..............................
22,264,200.00
The public may submit the notices
and requests in this collection to the
USPTO by mail through the United
States Postal Service. All
correspondence may include a
certificate of mailing for each piece of
correspondence enclosed, stating the
date of deposit or transmission to the
USPTO in order to receive credit for
timely filing. The USPTO has estimated
that the vast majority of these
submissions will weigh no more than
two ounces. Therefore, the USPTO is
conservatively estimating that these
submissions will be mailed by first-class
postage at 65 cents. Postage for the
certificates of mailing themselves are
not calculated into this estimate as they
Item
are included with the individual pieces
of correspondence that are being
deposited with the United States Postal
Service.
The USPTO estimates that 3,800
responses will be mailed by first-class
postage, for a total annual cost of $2,470
in postage costs.
Responses
Postage costs
Total cost
(a)
(b)
(a) × (b)
(c)
wreier-aviles on DSK3TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Notice of Appeal ........................................................................................................
Request for Oral Hearing Before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences ..
Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review .......................................................................
2,600
100
1,100
0.65
0.65
0.65
$1,690.00
65.00
715.00
Totals ..................................................................................................................
3,800
..............................
2,470.00
The total annual (non-hour)
respondent cost burden for this
collection in the form of filing fees and
VerDate Mar<15>2010
14:53 Jan 03, 2012
Jkt 226001
postage costs is estimated to be
$22,266,670 per year.
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether
the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance
E:\FR\FM\04JAN1.SGM
04JAN1
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 2 / Wednesday, January 4, 2012 / Notices
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
approval of this information collection;
they also will become a matter of public
record.
Dated: December 29, 2011.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011–33726 Filed 1–3–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–16–P
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary
[Docket ID DOD–2011–OS–0149]
Privacy Act of 1974; System of
Records
Defense Threat Reduction
Agency, DoD.
ACTION: Notice to Alter a System of
Records.
wreier-aviles on DSK3TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SYSTEM NAME:
14:53 Jan 03, 2012
Jkt 226001
Security Services (December 4, 2009,
74 FR 63734).
CHANGES:
*
*
3211, Room 104, Kaiserslautern,
Germany.
Security and Counterintelligence
Field Office Eglin, Defense Threat
Reduction Agency, Eglin Air Force Base,
101 West Eglin Blvd., Building 13A,
Suite 39, Eglin AFB, FL 32542–5650.’’
*
*
*
*
*
CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
Delete entry and replace with ‘‘Name;
Social Security Number (SSN); home
address, date and place of birth; height;
weight; hair and eye color; citizenship;
grade/rank; services; organization;
security clearance; date of clearance;
date of investigation; type of
investigation; agency that conducted
investigation; basis special accesses;
courier authorization; continuous access
roster expiration date; badge number;
vehicle ID and decal number; special
intelligence access; expiration date,
agency, billet number; list of badges/
passes issued; safes and open storage
locations/custodians; conference title/
duties/location; special access/briefings;
visit requests; conference rosters;
clearance and special access rosters;
picture identification; correspondence
concerning adjudication/passing of
clearances/accesses; information from
DD 254 (contract security classification
specification form) which identifies the
type or level of classified material the
specific contractor has access to; and
security inquiries and insider threats.’’
AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
HDTRA 007
The Defense Threat Reduction
Agency proposes to alter a system of
records in its inventory of record
systems subject to the Privacy Act of
1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.
DATES: This proposed action would be
effective without further notice on
February 3, 2012 unless comments are
received which result in a contrary
determination.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by docket number and title,
by any of the following methods:
* Federal Rulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
* Mail: Federal Docket Management
System Office, 4800 Mark Center Drive,
East Tower, 2nd Floor, Suite 02G09,
Alexandria, VA 22350–3100.
Instructions: All submissions received
must include the agency name and
docket number for this Federal Register
document. The general policy for
comments and other submissions from
members of the public is to make these
submissions available for public
viewing on the Internet at https://
VerDate Mar<15>2010
Ms.
Juanita Gaines, Freedom of Information
and Privacy Office, Defense Threat
Reduction Agency, 8725 John J.
Kingman Road, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060–
6201, or by phone at (703) 767–1771.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Defense Threat Reduction Agency
notices for systems of records subject to
the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a),
as amended, have been published in the
Federal Register and are available from
the address in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
The proposed system report, as
required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) of the
Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, was
submitted on December 21, 2011, to the
House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform, the Senate
Committee on Governmental Affairs,
and the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) pursuant to paragraph 4c
of Appendix I to OMB Circular No. A–
130, ‘‘Federal Agency Responsibilities
for Maintaining Records About
Individuals,’’ dated February 8, 1996
(February 20, 1996, 61 FR 6427).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dated: December 29, 2011.
Aaron Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison
Officer, Department of Defense.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY:
www.regulations.gov as they are
received without change, including any
personal identifiers or contact
information.
271
*
*
*
Delete entry and replace with ‘‘5
U.S.C. 301, Departmental Regulations;
E.O. 10450, Security Requirements for
Government Employment; E.O. 12065,
National Security Information; The
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, Section 145;
and E.O. 9397 (SSN), as amended.’’
SYSTEM LOCATION(S):
PURPOSE(S):
Delete entry and replace with
‘‘Primary location: Security and
Counterintelligence Office, Defense
Threat Reduction Agency, 8725 John J.
Kingman Road, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060–
6201.
Delete entry and replace with ‘‘For
use by officials and employees of the
Defense Threat Reduction Agency in the
performance of their official duties
related to continuous review, insider
threat and determining the eligibility of
individuals for access to classified
information and occupancy of a
sensitive position, access to buildings
and facilities, or to conferences over
which DTRA has security
responsibility.’’
*
*
*
*
*
SECONDARY LOCATIONS:
Security and Counterintelligence
Office Albuquerque, Defense Threat
Reduction Agency, 1680 Texas Street
SE., Kirtland Air Force Base,
Albuquerque, NM 87117–5669.
Security and Counterintelligence
Field Office Travis, Defense Threat
Reduction Agency, 510 Hickman
Avenue, Travis Air Force Base, CA
94535–1801.
Security and Counterintelligence
European Operations Division, Defense
Threat Reduction Agency, Kleber
Kaserne, Mannheimer Strasse, Building
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
RETRIEVABILITY:
Delete entry and replace with ‘‘By
individual’s last name and SSN.’’
*
*
*
*
*
RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
Delete entry and replace with
‘‘Computer records on individuals are
E:\FR\FM\04JAN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 269-271]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33726]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Matters Related to Patent Appeals
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 this new 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 March 5, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Email: InformationCollection@uspto.gov. Include ``0651-
00xx Matters Related to Patent Appeals comment'' in the subject line of
the message.
Mail: Susan K. Fawcett, Records Officer, Office of the
Chief Information Officer, 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 Raul Tamayo, Legal Advisor, Office of Patent
Legal Administration, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O.
Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at (571) 272-7728; or
by email to Raul.Tamayo@uspto.gov.
Additional information about this collection is also available at
https://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
During its examination of an application for patent or for reissue
of a patent, or during its reexamination of a patent, the United States
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) makes many decisions of a
substantive nature which the applicant or patent owner may feel deny
him or her the patent protection to which he or she is entitled. Where
the differences of opinion on such matters concern the denial of patent
claims because of prior art or other patentability issues, the
questions thereby raised are said to relate to the merits, and a
procedure for appealing to the Board of Patent Appeals and
Interferences has long been provided by statute (35 U.S.C. 134).
Applicants and patent owners initiate the appeal procedure by
filing a Notice of Appeal. At the time of filing a Notice of Appeal,
applicants and patent owners may request that a panel of examiners
formally review the legal and factual basis of the rejections in their
application prior to the filing of an Appeal Brief, by filing a Pre-
Appeal Brief Request for Review. In addition, applicants and patent
owners who desire an oral hearing before the Board may request the
hearing by filing a Request for Oral Hearing Before the Board of Patent
Appeals and Interferences.
Currently, Notices of Appeal, Requests for Oral Hearing, and Pre-
appeal Brief Requests for Review are covered under 0651-0031 Patent
Processing (Updating). The USPTO has determined that it would be
beneficial to transfer these items out of 0651-0031 and into their own
collection. Therefore, the USPTO is requesting the creation of a new
collection which will transfer the three existing notices and requests
out of the 0651-0031 inventory into a new collection of information
titled ``Matters Related to Patent Appeals.'' For a complete listing of
the items covered by this collection, please see the table in Section
III of this notice.
The information in this collection can be submitted electronically
through EFS-Web, the USPTO's Web-based electronic filing system, as
well as on paper. The USPTO is taking this opportunity to account for
the electronic submissions in this collection.
There are forms associated with the Notices of Appeal (PTO/SB/31),
the Requests for Oral Hearing Before the Board of Patent Appeals and
Interferences (PTO/SB/32), and the Pre-appeal Brief Requests for Review
(PTO/SB/33). Therefore, after approval, this collection will have three
forms.
II. Method of Collection
By mail, facsimile, or hand delivery to the USPTO when an applicant
files the various notices or requests. The remaining papers can also be
filed as attachments through EFS-Web.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-00xx.
Form Number(s): PTO/SB/31/32/33.
Type of Review: New information collection.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; and not-for-
profit institutions.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 54,500 responses per year, with an
estimated 10,940 submitted by small entities. Of the total responses,
the USPTO expects that 50,700 will be submitted through EFS-Web.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
the public approximately 12 minutes (0.20 hours) to complete the
information in this collection, with the exception of the Pre-appeal
Brief Requests for Review, which the USPTO estimates will take
approximately 5 hours to complete. These estimated times include
gathering the necessary information, creating the documents, and
submitting the completed request to the USPTO. The USPTO calculates
that, on balance, it takes the same amount of time to gather the
necessary information, create the
[[Page 270]]
document, and submit it to the USPTO, whether the applicant submits the
information in paper form or electronically.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 86,740 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $29,491,600. The
USPTO estimates that attorneys will complete the items in this
collection. Using the professional hourly rate of $340 for attorneys in
private firms, the USPTO estimates $29,491,600 per year for the
respondent cost burden for this collection.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Estimated
Item Estimated time for response annual annual burden
responses hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notice of Appeal........................... 12 minutes......................... 2,600 520
Electronic Notice of Appeal................ 12 minutes......................... 34,900 6,980
Request for Oral Hearing Before the Board 12 minutes......................... 100 20
of Patent Appeals and Interferences.
Electronic Request for Oral Hearing Before 12 minutes......................... 1,100 220
the Board of Patent Appeals and
Interferences.
Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review........ 5 hours............................ 1,100 5,500
Electronic Pre-Appeal Brief Request for 5 hours............................ 14,700 73,500
Review.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals................................. ................................... 54,500 86,740
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden:
$22,266,670. This collection has annual (non-hour) costs in the form of
filing fees and postage costs.
The USPTO estimates that this collection will have a total annual
cost of $22,264,200 in filing fees.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item Responses Filing fees Total cost
(a) (b) (a) x (b)
(c)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notice of Appeal....................................... 2,100 $620.00 $1,302,000.00
Notice of Appeal (small entity)........................ 500 310.00 155,000.00
Electronic Notice of Appeal............................ 27,900 620.00 17,298,000.00
Electronic Notice of Appeal (small entity)............. 7,000 310.00 2,170,000.00
Request for an Oral Hearing............................ 60 1,240.00 74,400.00
Request for an Oral Hearing (small entity)............. 40 620.00 24,800.00
Electronic Request for an Oral Hearing................. 900 1,240.00 1,116,000.00
Electronic Request for an Oral Hearing (small entity).. 200 620.00 124,000.00
Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review.................... 900 None 0.00
Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review (small entity)..... 200 None 0.00
Electronic Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review......... 11,700 None 0.00
Electronic Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review (small 3,000 None 0.00
entity)...............................................
--------------------------------------------------------
Totals............................................. 54,500 ................. 22,264,200.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The public may submit the notices and requests in this collection
to the USPTO by mail through the United States Postal Service. All
correspondence may include a certificate of mailing for each piece of
correspondence enclosed, stating the date of deposit or transmission to
the USPTO in order to receive credit for timely filing. The USPTO has
estimated that the vast majority of these submissions will weigh no
more than two ounces. Therefore, the USPTO is conservatively estimating
that these submissions will be mailed by first-class postage at 65
cents. Postage for the certificates of mailing themselves are not
calculated into this estimate as they are included with the individual
pieces of correspondence that are being deposited with the United
States Postal Service.
The USPTO estimates that 3,800 responses will be mailed by first-
class postage, for a total annual cost of $2,470 in postage costs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item Responses Postage costs Total cost
(a) (b) (a) x (b)
(c)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notice of Appeal....................................... 2,600 0.65 $1,690.00
Request for Oral Hearing Before the Board of Patent 100 0.65 65.00
Appeals and Interferences.............................
Pre-Appeal Brief Request for Review.................... 1,100 0.65 715.00
--------------------------------------------------------
Totals............................................. 3,800 ................. 2,470.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The total annual (non-hour) respondent cost burden for this
collection in the form of filing fees and postage costs is estimated to
be $22,266,670 per year.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance
[[Page 271]]
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 approval of this information
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.
Dated: December 29, 2011.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-33726 Filed 1-3-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P
