Initial Patent Applications, 60256-60260 [2013-23790]
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60256
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 1, 2013 / Notices
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: September 26, 2013.
Kelly Denit,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013–23966 Filed 9–30–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XC886
Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee
Meeting
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of open public meeting.
AGENCY:
Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries 3
conference and next steps, recreational
fisheries issues, and the NMFS budget.
The meeting will include discussion of
various MAFAC administrative and
organizational matters and may include
meetings of the standing subcommittees.
Special Accommodations
These meetings are physically
accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for sign language
interpretation or other auxiliary aids
should be directed to Mark Holliday,
MAFAC Executive Director; 301–427–
8004 by October 11, 2013.
Dated: September 25, 2013.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, performing the
functions and duties of the Assistant
Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013–23968 Filed 9–30–13; 8:45 am]
This notice sets forth the
proposed schedule and agenda of a
forthcoming meeting of the Marine
Fisheries Advisory Committee
(MAFAC). The members will discuss
and provide advice on issues outlined
under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
below.
SUMMARY:
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Initial Patent Applications
ACTION:
The meeting will be held
October 22–24, 2013 from 8 a.m. to 5
p.m.
DATES:
The meeting will be held at
the NOAA Science Center, 1301 East
West Highway, Silver Spring, MD
20910.
ADDRESSES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mark Holliday, MAFAC Executive
Director; (301) 427–8004; email:
Mark.Holliday@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As
required by section 10(a)(2) of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5
U.S.C. App. 2, notice is hereby given of
a meeting of MAFAC. The MAFAC was
established by the Secretary of
Commerce (Secretary), and, since 1971,
advises the Secretary on all living
marine resource matters that are the
responsibility of the Department of
Commerce. The complete charter and
summaries of prior meetings are located
online at https://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/
ocs/mafac/.
emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Matters To Be Considered
This meeting time and agenda are
subject to change.
The meeting is convened to hear
presentations and discuss policies and
guidance on the following topics:
seafood certification and sustainability,
Endangered Species Act and section 7
consultations, outcomes of the
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Proposed collection; comment
request.
The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO), as part of its
continuing efforts to reduce paperwork
and respondent burden, invites the
general public and other Federal
agencies to take this opportunity to
comment on this revision of a
continuing information collection.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted on or before December 2,
2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by any of the following methods:
• Email: InformationCollection@
uspto.gov. Include ‘‘0651–0032
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 the attention of
Raul Tamayo, Senior 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
SUMMARY:
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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
The USPTO is required by Title 35 of
the United States Code, including 35
U.S.C. 131, to examine applications for
patents. The USPTO administers the
patent statutes through various rules in
Chapter 37 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, including 37 CFR 1.16
through 1.84. The patent statutes and
regulations require applicants to
provide sufficient information to allow
the USPTO to properly examine the
application to determine whether it
meets the criteria set forth in the patent
statutes and regulations to be issued as
a patent.
Most applications for patent,
including new utility, design, and
provisional applications, can be
submitted to the USPTO through EFSWeb. EFS-Web is the USPTO’s system
for electronic filing of patent
correspondence. EFS-Web is accessible
via the Internet on the USPTO Web site.
The Legal Framework for EFS-Web,
available at https://www.uspto.gov/
patents/process/fiie/efs/guidance/New
legal framework.jsp, provides a listing of
patent applications and documents
permitted to be filed via EFS-Web and
patent applications and documents not
permitted to be filed via EFS-Web.
There are 69 forms in this collection.
This total includes versions of the
inventor’s oath and declaration forms
that were created to comply with the
changes resulting from the Leahy-Smith
America Invents Act, e.g., forms AIA/01,
AIA/02, etc., as well as pre-America
Invents Act versions of the oath and
declaration forms, e.g., forms SB/01, SB/
02, etc., and foreign language
translations of the oath and declaration
forms, e.g., forms AIA/01CN, SB/02CN,
etc. On the other hand, the petitions and
the papers filed to supply the name or
names of the inventor or inventors after
the filing date without a cover sheet in
a provisional application, to correct
inventorship in a provisional
application, and to convert a
nonprovisional application to a
provisional application do not have
forms associated with them.
The Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) approved this collection on
January 8, 2011, but the Notice of
Action included terms of clearance
stating that the USPTO should conduct
outreach to stakeholders regarding the
burden of 0651–0032 Initial Patent
Applications and ways to potentially
reduce it before the next renewal of the
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 1, 2013 / Notices
collection. The terms of clearance also
instructed the USPTO to include the
results of this outreach in the next
Information Collection Request
submission. To fulfill this requirement,
the USPTO will be conducting a special
roundtable session later this year to
collect feedback regarding the burden of
the collection and ways to potentially
reduce it. The results will be included
in the Information Collection Request
for the renewal of the collection. A
subsequent notice will be published in
the Federal Register detailing the date
and format of the roundtable.
The petitions and the papers filed
under 37 CFR 1.41, 1.48, and 1.53(c)(2)
can be filed electronically as well as in
paper. The electronic options for these
items are being added into the
collection.
This collection currently has capital
start-up costs associated with the
compact disc copies of patent
applications containing large computer
program listings or mega tables, postage
costs for these oversized submissions,
and recordkeeping costs approved as
part of the annual (non-hour) cost
burden. As part of this renewal, the
capital start-up costs are being deleted
because these costs are usual and
customary costs that are part of
everyday business activities. The
postage costs for the CD submissions for
the oversized program listing or mega
table applications are being deleted
from this collection because the USPTO
is projecting that a negligible number of
them will be submitted. The
recordkeeping costs associated with
keeping a copy of the electronicallysubmitted patent application files and
acknowledgment receipts are being
deleted because the USPTO only
suggests, but does not require, that
applicants keep copies of their
electronically-filed applications. In
addition, the recordkeeping costs for
retaining a copy of the application
transmittal form and a back-up copy of
the CD submissions of applications with
oversized computer program listings
and mega tables are also being deleted
at this time.
The USPTO is removing the fees
associated with the majority of the
information requirements in this
collection because these fees have been
moved into information collection
0651–0072 America Invents Act Section
10 Patent Fee Adjustments, which was
approved by OMB in January 2013 in
conjunction with the USPTO
rulemaking ‘‘Setting and Adjusting
Patent Fees’’ (RIN 0651–AC54). The
corresponding fees are now being
deleted from 0651–0032 to avoid
double-counting these annual (nonhour) costs in the USPTO’s inventory.
II. Method of Collection
As set forth in the Legal Framework
for EFS-Web, available at https://www.
uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/
guidance/New legal framework.jsp,
most of the items in this collection can
be submitted electronically through
EFS-Web. The USPTO will also accept
submissions by mail, facsimile (limited
to petitions to accept unintentionally
delayed priority/benefit claims,
petitions to accept a filing by other than
all the inventors or a person not the
inventor, petitions to accord the
application under 37 CFR 1.495(b) a
receipt date, and papers filed under 37
CFR 1.41, 1.48, and 1.53(c)(2)), or hand
delivery to the USPTO.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651–0032.
Form Number(s): PTO/SB/01, 01A,
02, 02A, 02B, 02CN, 02DE, 02ES, 02FR,
02IT, 02JP, 02KR, 02LR, 02NL, 02RU,
02SE, 03, 03A, 04, 06, 07, 14 EFS-Web,
16, 16 EFS-Web, 17, 29, 29A, and 101–
110. This collection also includes the
following AIA forms: PTO/AIA01
through AIA04, AIA08 through AIA11,
AIA14 and 15, AIA18 and 19, and
AIA01CN and 01DE, 01ES, 01FR, 01IT,
01JP, 01KR, 01NL, 01RU, 01SE, 02CN,
02DE, 02ES, 02FR, 02IT, 02JP, 02KR,
02NL, 02RU, and 02SE.
Type of Review: Revision of a
currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households; businesses or other for
profits; not-for-profit institutions; and
the Federal Government.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
597,047 responses per year. The USPTO
estimates that approximately 157,950 of
these responses will be from small
entities (this estimate reflects a 25%
small entity response rate for all items
in the collection, except for designrelated items in the collection, for
which a 50% small entity response rate
is estimated). The USPTO estimates that
577,624 of the responses will be filed
electronically.
Estimated Time per Response: The
USPTO estimates that it takes the public
approximately 24 minutes to 33 hours
and 12 minutes (0.40 to 33.2 hours) to
complete this information, depending
on the complexity of the request. This
includes the time to gather the
necessary information, prepare the
application, petition, or paper
submission, and submit the completed
request to the USPTO. The USPTO
calculates that, on balance, it takes the
same amount of time to gather the
necessary information, prepare the
applications, petitions, and other papers
and submit them to the USPTO,
whether the applicant submits it in
paper form or electronically.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent
Burden Hours: 12,522,680 hours per
year.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent
Cost Burden: $4,871,322,520 per year.
The USPTO expects that all of the
information in this collection will be
prepared by an attorney. Using the
professional hourly rate of $389 for
attorneys in private firms, the USPTO
estimates that the total respondent cost
burden for this collection is
$4,871,322,520 per year.
Estimated
annual
responses
Estimated
annual
burden hours
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Item
Estimated time for response
Original New Utility Applications—No Application Data Sheet ......
Electronic Original New Utility Applications—No Application Data
Sheet.
Original New Plant Applications—No Application Data Sheet .......
Original New Design Applications—No Application Data Sheet ....
Electronic Original Design Applications—No Application Data
Sheet.
Original New Utility Applications—Application Data Sheet ............
Electronic Original New Utility Applications—Application Data
Sheet.
Original New Plant Applications—Application Data Sheet ............
Original New Design Applications—Application Data Sheet .........
Electronic New Design Applications—Application Data Sheet ......
Continuation/Divisional of an International Application ..................
33 hours and 12 minutes ...........................
33 hours and 12 minutes ...........................
800
26,500
26,560
879,800
7 hours and 36 minutes .............................
5 hours and 48 minutes .............................
5 hours and 48 minutes .............................
100
100
2,900
760
580
16,820
33 hours and 12 minutes ...........................
33 hours and 12 minutes ...........................
7,500
238,200
249,000
7,908,240
1,200
800
26,500
300
9,120
4,640
153,700
990
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7
5
5
3
hours
hours
hours
hours
Fmt 4703
and
and
and
and
36
48
48
18
Sfmt 4703
minutes
minutes
minutes
minutes
.............................
.............................
.............................
.............................
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Estimated
annual
responses
Estimated
annual
burden hours
Estimated time for response
Electronic Continuation/Divisional of an International Application
Utility Continuation/Divisional Applications .....................................
Electronic Utility Continuation/Divisional Applications ....................
Plant Continuation/Divisional Applications .....................................
Design Continuation/Divisional Applications ..................................
Electronic Design Continuation/Divisional Applications .................
Continued Prosecution Applications—Design (Request Transmittal and Receipt).
Electronic Continued Prosecution Applications—Design (Request
Transmittal and Receipt).
Utility Continuation-in-Part Applications .........................................
Electronic Utility Continuation-in-Part-Applications ........................
Plant Continuation-in-Part Applications ..........................................
Design Continuation-in-Part Applications .......................................
Electronic Design Continuation-in-Part Applications ......................
Provisional Application for Patent Cover Sheet .............................
Electronic Provisional Application for Patent Cover Sheet ............
Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Priority/Benefit Claim
Electronic Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Priority/
Benefit Claim.
Petition to Accept a Filing by Other Than all the Inventors or a
Person not the Inventor.
Electronic Petition to Accept a Filing by Other Than all the Inventors or a Person not the Inventor.
Petition under 37 CFR 1.6(g) to Accord the Application under 37
CFR 1.495(b) a Receipt Date.
Papers filed under the following: ....................................................
1.41—to supply the name or names of the inventor or inventors after the filing date without a cover sheet as prescribed by 37 CFR 1.51 (c)(1) in a provisional application.
1.48—for correction of inventorship in a provisional application.
1.53(c)(2)—to convert a nonprovisional application filed
under 1.53(b) to a provisional application filed under
1.53(c).
Electronic Papers filed under the following: ...................................
1.41—to supply the name or names of the inventor or inventors after the filing date without a cover sheet as prescribed by 37 CFR 1.51(c)(1) in a provisional application.
1.48—for correction of inventorship in a provisional application.
1.53(c)(2)—to convert a nonprovisional application filed
under 1.53(b) to a provisional application filed under
1.53(c).
3 hours and 18 minutes .............................
3 hours and 18 minutes .............................
3 hours and 18 minutes .............................
2 hours and 12 minutes .............................
1 hour and 6 minutes .................................
1 hour and 6 minutes .................................
24 minutes ..................................................
10,200
2,200
71,600
200
100
2,700
25
33,660
7,260
236,280
440
110
2,970
10
24 minutes ..................................................
800
320
16 hours and 30 minutes ...........................
16 hours and 30 minutes ...........................
3 hours and 48 minutes .............................
2 hours and 42 minutes .............................
2 hours and 42 minutes .............................
15 hours ......................................................
15 hours ......................................................
1 hour .........................................................
1 hour .........................................................
400
13,100
1
20
800
5,500
178,600
30
970
6,600
216,150
4
54
2,160
82,500
2,679,000
30
970
1 hour .........................................................
33
33
1 hour .........................................................
1,067
1,067
30 minutes ..................................................
1
1
45 minutes ..................................................
114
86
45 minutes ..................................................
3,686
2,765
Total .........................................................................................
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Item
.....................................................................
597,047
12,522,680
Estimated Total Annual Non-hour
Respondent Cost Burden: $431,933,422
per year. There are no maintenance,
operation, capital start-up, or
recordkeeping costs associated with this
information collection. However, this
collection does have annual (non-hour)
costs in the form of postage and drawing
costs, as well as a petition fee.
The applications, the petitions, and
the papers filed under 37 CFR 1.41,
1.48, and 1.53(c)(2) may be submitted by
mail through the United States Postal
Service. The USPTO recommends that
applicants file initial patent
applications (which also include the
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continued prosecution, continuation
and divisional, continuation-in-part,
and provisional applications) by
Express Mail to establish the filing date
(otherwise the filing date of the
application will be the date that it is
received at the USPTO). The USPTO
estimates that an application package
will weigh at least one pound. Using the
Express Mail flat rate cost for mailing
envelopes, the USPTO estimates that the
average cost for sending an initial
application by Express Mail will be
$19.95 and that up to 19,246 may be
mailed to the USPTO.
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The petitions to accept
unintentionally delayed priority/benefit
claim, to accept a filing by other than all
the inventors or a person not the
inventor, and the papers filed under 37
CFR 1.41, 1.48, and 1.53(c)(2) can be
sent by first-class mail. The USPTO
estimates that these submissions will
average two ounces, for a first-class
postage rate of $0.66 cents. The USPTO
estimates that up to 177 submissions
may be mailed per year.
The USPTO estimates that the total
postage cost for this collection will be
$384,075 per year.
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Item
Postage cost
($)
Responses
Total postage cost
($)
Express Mailing Costs
Original New Utility Applications—No Application Data Sheet .................................
Original New Plant Applications—No Application Data Sheet ..................................
Original New Design Applications—No Application Data Sheet ...............................
Original New Utility Applications—Application Data Sheet .......................................
Original New Plant Applications—Application Data Sheet ........................................
Original New Design Applications—Application Data Sheet .....................................
Continuation/Divisional of an International Application .............................................
Utility Continuation/Divisional Applications ................................................................
Plant Continuation/Divisional Applications ................................................................
Design Continuation/Divisional Applications .............................................................
Continued Prosecution Applications—Design (Request Transmittal and Receipt) ..
Utility Continuation-in-Part Applications ....................................................................
Plant Continuation-in-Part Applications .....................................................................
Design Continuation-in-Part Applications ..................................................................
Provisional Application for Patent Cover Sheet ........................................................
800
100
100
7,500
1,200
800
300
2,200
200
100
25
400
1
20
5,500
19.95
19.95
19.95
19.95
19.95
19.95
19.95
19.95
19.95
19.95
19.95
19.95
19.95
19.95
19.95
15,960.00
1,995.00
1,995.00
149,625.00
23,940.00
15,960.00
5,985.00
43,890.00
3,990.00
1,995.00
499.00
7,980.00
20.00
399.00
109,725.00
Total Express Mailing Costs ...............................................................................
..............................
..............................
383,958.00
30
0.66
20.00
33
114
0.66
0.66
22.00
75.00
..............................
..............................
..............................
..............................
117.00
384,075.00
First–Class Mailing Costs
Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Priority/Benefit Claim ............................
Petition to Accept a Filing by Other Than all the Inventors or a Person not the Inventor .....................................................................................................................
Papers Filed Under the Following: ............................................................................
1.41—to supply the name or names of the inventor or inventors after the filing date without a cover sheet as prescribed by 37 CFR 1.51 (c)(1) in a
provisional application.
1.48—for correction of inventorship in a provisional application.
1.53(c)(2)—to convert a nonprovisional application filed under 1.53(b) to a
provisional application filed under 1.53(c).
emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Total First–Class Mailing Costs ..........................................................................
Total Postage Costs ...........................................................................................
Patent applicants can submit
drawings with the utility, design, plant,
and provisional applications.
Applicants can prepare these drawings
on their own or they can hire patent
illustration services firms to create
them. As a basis for estimating the
drawing costs, the USPTO expects that
all applicants will have their drawings
prepared by patent illustration firms.
Estimates for the drawings can vary
greatly, depending on the number of
figures that need to be produced, the
total number of pages for the drawings,
and the complexity of the drawings.
Because there are many variables
involved, the USPTO is using the
average of the cost ranges found for the
application drawings to derive the
estimated cost per sheet that is then
used to calculate the total drawing costs.
The utility, plant, and design
continuation and divisional
applications use the same drawings as
the initial filings, so they are not
included in these totals. The
continuation-in-part applications may
use some of the same drawings as the
initial applications and some new
drawings may be submitted, so those
numbers are included in these
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estimates. The drawings for the
continued prosecution applications are
also included in the drawing cost totals.
There are no continuation, divisional, or
continuation-in-part provisional
applications.
Costs to produce utility drawings can
range from $30 to $200 per sheet. The
USPTO estimates that it can cost $115
per sheet to produce the utility
drawings and that on average, 9 sheets
of drawings are submitted, for an
average cost of $1,035 to produce the
utility drawings. Out of 286,500 utility
applications submitted per year, the
USPTO estimates that 77% or 220,605
applications will be submitted with
drawings.
Costs to produce design drawings can
range from $35 to $350 per sheet. The
USPTO estimates that it can cost $193
per sheet to produce design drawings
and that on average 9 sheets of drawings
are submitted, for an average cost of
$1,737 to produce design drawings. The
USPTO estimates that all of the design
applications filed per year (31,945) will
be submitted with drawings.
Photographs are generally submitted
for the plant applications, although
drawings can also be submitted. The
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USPTO therefore estimates that the
costs to produce the photographs or
drawings could range from $35 to $100.
The USPTO estimates that it can cost
$68 per sheet to produce plant drawings
and that on average 9 sheets of drawings
are submitted, for an average cost of
$612 to produce plant drawings. The
USPTO estimates that all of the plant
applications filed per year (1,301) will
be submitted with drawings.
Costs to produce the provisional
drawings can range from $30 to $200
per sheet. The USPTO estimates that it
can cost $115 per sheet to produce
provisional drawings and that on
average 9 sheets of drawings are
submitted, for an average cost of $1,035
to produce provisional drawings. Out of
184,100 provisional applications
submitted per year, the USPTO
estimates that 77% or 141,757
applications will be submitted with
drawings.
The USPTO estimates the total nonhour cost burden as a result of patent
applicants using patent illustration
firms to produce the drawings for their
utility, design, plant, and provisional
applications is $431,329,347.
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Item
Average drawing
cost
($)
Responses
Average total
drawing cost
($)
Utility Application Drawings .......................................................................................
Design Application Drawings .....................................................................................
Plant Application Drawings (Photographs) ................................................................
Provisional Application Drawings ..............................................................................
220,605
31,945
1,301
141,757
$1,035
1,737
612
1,035
$228,326,175.00
55,488,465.00
796,212.00
146,718,495.00
Total ....................................................................................................................
..............................
..............................
431,329,347.00
There is also annual (non-hour) cost
burden in the way of filing fees for the
petitions to accept a filing by other than
all the inventors or a person not the
inventor. The filing fees for the
applications, the petitions to accept
unintentionally delayed priority/benefit
claims, the processing fees for the
papers filed under 37 CFR 1.41, 1.48,
and 1.53(c)(2), the additional fees
incurred when an application is filed
with additional sheets or excess claims,
and the surcharges and fees incurred
when an application, the search or
examination fee, or the oath or
declaration is filed late, when the
application is filed with multiple
dependent claims, or when the
application is filed with a non-English
specification are covered under 0651–
0072 America Invents Act Section 10
Patent Fee Adjustments.
The total estimated filing costs of
$220,000 for this collection are
calculated in the following table.
Resps (yr)
(a)
Item
Filing fee
($)
Total non-hour
cost burden
(yr)
(a) × (b)
Petition to Accept a Filing by Other Than all the Inventors or a Person not the Inventor .........
Electronic Petition to Accept a Filing by Other Than all the Inventors or a Person not the Inventor .......................................................................................................................................
Petition under 37 CFR 1.6(g) to accord the Application under 37 CFR 1.495(b) a Receipt
Date ..........................................................................................................................................
33
$200.00
$6,600.00
1,067
200.00
213,400.00
1
N/A
0.00
Totals ....................................................................................................................................
1,101
........................
220,000.00
e.g., permitting electronic submission of
responses.
The USPTO estimates that the total
annual (non-hour) respondent cost
burden for this collection, in the form of
postage and drawing costs, in addition
to petition fees, is estimated to be
approximately $431,933,422 per year.
Dated: September 25, 2013.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief
Information Officer.
IV. Request for Comments
[FR Doc. 2013–23790 Filed 9–30–13; 8:45 am]
emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
BILLING CODE 3510–16–P
Comments submitted in response to
this notice will be summarized and/or
included in the USPTO’s request for
OMB approval. All comments will
become a matter of public record.
The USPTO is soliciting public
comments to: (a) Evaluate whether the
proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility; (b) Evaluate the
accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of
information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(c) Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) Minimize the burden
of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including through
the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology,
VerDate Mar<15>2010
14:45 Sep 30, 2013
Jkt 232001
COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING
COMMISSION
Order of the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission Relating to the
Continuation, Shutdown, and
Resumption of Certain Commission
Operations in the Event of a Lapse in
Appropriations
Commodity Futures Trading
Commission
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Notice of order; final order.
This order is being issued to
provide for the continuation, shutdown,
and resumption of certain operations of
the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’) in the
event of a lapse in appropriations, and
to alert all persons regulated by or
engaged in proceedings at the
Commission of these provisions.
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00018
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
This notice and order is effective
on September 27, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
market oversight matters contact David
Van Wagner, Chief Counsel, Division of
Market Oversight (DMO), at 202–418–
5481 or dvanwagner@cftc.gov, Matthew
Hunter, Deputy Director, DMO at 202–
418–5861 or mhunter@cftc.gov. For
clearing matters, contact Ananda
Radhakrishnan, Director, Division of
Clearing and Risk (DCR), at 202–418–
5188 or aradhakrishnan@cftc.gov;
Robert B. Wasserman, Chief Counsel,
DCR, at 202–418–5092 or rwasserman@
cftc.gov; or John C. Lawton, Deputy
Director, DCR, at 202–418–5480, or
jlawton@cftc.gov. For matters involving
intermediaries, contact Gary Barnett,
Director, Division of Swap Dealer and
Intermediary Oversight (DSIO), 202–
418–5977 or gbarnett@cftc.gov; Thomas
Smith, Deputy Director, DSIO, at 202–
418–5495 or tsmith@cftc.gov; Erik
Remmler, Deputy Director, DSIO, at
202–418–7630 or eremmler@cftc.gov; or
Kevin Piccoli, Deputy Director, DSIO, at
646–746–9834 or kpiccoli@cftc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DATES:
I. Background
As of 12:01 a.m. on October 1, 2013,
the funding of many federal government
activities is set to expire. Unless
E:\FR\FM\01OCN1.SGM
01OCN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60256-60260]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23790]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Initial Patent Applications
ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as part
of its continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden,
invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this
opportunity to comment on this revision of a continuing information
collection.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before December 2,
2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Email: InformationCollection@uspto.gov. Include ``0651-
0032 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 the attention of Raul Tamayo, Senior 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
The USPTO is required by Title 35 of the United States Code,
including 35 U.S.C. 131, to examine applications for patents. The USPTO
administers the patent statutes through various rules in Chapter 37 of
the Code of Federal Regulations, including 37 CFR 1.16 through 1.84.
The patent statutes and regulations require applicants to provide
sufficient information to allow the USPTO to properly examine the
application to determine whether it meets the criteria set forth in the
patent statutes and regulations to be issued as a patent.
Most applications for patent, including new utility, design, and
provisional applications, can be submitted to the USPTO through EFS-
Web. EFS-Web is the USPTO's system for electronic filing of patent
correspondence. EFS-Web is accessible via the Internet on the USPTO Web
site. The Legal Framework for EFS-Web, available at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/fiie/efs/guidance/New legal
framework.jsp, provides a listing of patent applications and documents
permitted to be filed via EFS-Web and patent applications and documents
not permitted to be filed via EFS-Web.
There are 69 forms in this collection. This total includes versions
of the inventor's oath and declaration forms that were created to
comply with the changes resulting from the Leahy-Smith America Invents
Act, e.g., forms AIA/01, AIA/02, etc., as well as pre-America Invents
Act versions of the oath and declaration forms, e.g., forms SB/01, SB/
02, etc., and foreign language translations of the oath and declaration
forms, e.g., forms AIA/01CN, SB/02CN, etc. On the other hand, the
petitions and the papers filed to supply the name or names of the
inventor or inventors after the filing date without a cover sheet in a
provisional application, to correct inventorship in a provisional
application, and to convert a nonprovisional application to a
provisional application do not have forms associated with them.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved this collection
on January 8, 2011, but the Notice of Action included terms of
clearance stating that the USPTO should conduct outreach to
stakeholders regarding the burden of 0651-0032 Initial Patent
Applications and ways to potentially reduce it before the next renewal
of the
[[Page 60257]]
collection. The terms of clearance also instructed the USPTO to include
the results of this outreach in the next Information Collection Request
submission. To fulfill this requirement, the USPTO will be conducting a
special roundtable session later this year to collect feedback
regarding the burden of the collection and ways to potentially reduce
it. The results will be included in the Information Collection Request
for the renewal of the collection. A subsequent notice will be
published in the Federal Register detailing the date and format of the
roundtable.
The petitions and the papers filed under 37 CFR 1.41, 1.48, and
1.53(c)(2) can be filed electronically as well as in paper. The
electronic options for these items are being added into the collection.
This collection currently has capital start-up costs associated
with the compact disc copies of patent applications containing large
computer program listings or mega tables, postage costs for these
oversized submissions, and recordkeeping costs approved as part of the
annual (non-hour) cost burden. As part of this renewal, the capital
start-up costs are being deleted because these costs are usual and
customary costs that are part of everyday business activities. The
postage costs for the CD submissions for the oversized program listing
or mega table applications are being deleted from this collection
because the USPTO is projecting that a negligible number of them will
be submitted. The recordkeeping costs associated with keeping a copy of
the electronically-submitted patent application files and
acknowledgment receipts are being deleted because the USPTO only
suggests, but does not require, that applicants keep copies of their
electronically-filed applications. In addition, the recordkeeping costs
for retaining a copy of the application transmittal form and a back-up
copy of the CD submissions of applications with oversized computer
program listings and mega tables are also being deleted at this time.
The USPTO is removing the fees associated with the majority of the
information requirements in this collection because these fees have
been moved into information collection 0651-0072 America Invents Act
Section 10 Patent Fee Adjustments, which was approved by OMB in January
2013 in conjunction with the USPTO rulemaking ``Setting and Adjusting
Patent Fees'' (RIN 0651-AC54). The corresponding fees are now being
deleted from 0651-0032 to avoid double-counting these annual (non-hour)
costs in the USPTO's inventory.
II. Method of Collection
As set forth in the Legal Framework for EFS-Web, available at
https://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/New legal
framework.jsp, most of the items in this collection can be submitted
electronically through EFS-Web. The USPTO will also accept submissions
by mail, facsimile (limited to petitions to accept unintentionally
delayed priority/benefit claims, petitions to accept a filing by other
than all the inventors or a person not the inventor, petitions to
accord the application under 37 CFR 1.495(b) a receipt date, and papers
filed under 37 CFR 1.41, 1.48, and 1.53(c)(2)), or hand delivery to the
USPTO.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0032.
Form Number(s): PTO/SB/01, 01A, 02, 02A, 02B, 02CN, 02DE, 02ES,
02FR, 02IT, 02JP, 02KR, 02LR, 02NL, 02RU, 02SE, 03, 03A, 04, 06, 07, 14
EFS-Web, 16, 16 EFS-Web, 17, 29, 29A, and 101-110. This collection also
includes the following AIA forms: PTO/AIA01 through AIA04, AIA08
through AIA11, AIA14 and 15, AIA18 and 19, and AIA01CN and 01DE, 01ES,
01FR, 01IT, 01JP, 01KR, 01NL, 01RU, 01SE, 02CN, 02DE, 02ES, 02FR, 02IT,
02JP, 02KR, 02NL, 02RU, and 02SE.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other for
profits; not-for-profit institutions; and the Federal Government.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 597,047 responses per year. The
USPTO estimates that approximately 157,950 of these responses will be
from small entities (this estimate reflects a 25% small entity response
rate for all items in the collection, except for design-related items
in the collection, for which a 50% small entity response rate is
estimated). The USPTO estimates that 577,624 of the responses will be
filed electronically.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it takes the
public approximately 24 minutes to 33 hours and 12 minutes (0.40 to
33.2 hours) to complete this information, depending on the complexity
of the request. This includes the time to gather the necessary
information, prepare the application, petition, or paper submission,
and submit the completed request to the USPTO. The USPTO calculates
that, on balance, it takes the same amount of time to gather the
necessary information, prepare the applications, petitions, and other
papers and submit them to the USPTO, whether the applicant submits it
in paper form or electronically.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 12,522,680 hours
per year.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $4,871,322,520 per
year. The USPTO expects that all of the information in this collection
will be prepared by an attorney. Using the professional hourly rate of
$389 for attorneys in private firms, the USPTO estimates that the total
respondent cost burden for this collection is $4,871,322,520 per year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Estimated
Item Estimated time for response annual annual burden
responses hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original New Utility Applications--No 33 hours and 12 minutes........... 800 26,560
Application Data Sheet.
Electronic Original New Utility 33 hours and 12 minutes........... 26,500 879,800
Applications--No Application Data Sheet.
Original New Plant Applications--No 7 hours and 36 minutes............ 100 760
Application Data Sheet.
Original New Design Applications--No 5 hours and 48 minutes............ 100 580
Application Data Sheet.
Electronic Original Design Applications--No 5 hours and 48 minutes............ 2,900 16,820
Application Data Sheet.
Original New Utility Applications-- 33 hours and 12 minutes........... 7,500 249,000
Application Data Sheet.
Electronic Original New Utility 33 hours and 12 minutes........... 238,200 7,908,240
Applications--Application Data Sheet.
Original New Plant Applications--Application 7 hours and 36 minutes............ 1,200 9,120
Data Sheet.
Original New Design Applications-- 5 hours and 48 minutes............ 800 4,640
Application Data Sheet.
Electronic New Design Applications-- 5 hours and 48 minutes............ 26,500 153,700
Application Data Sheet.
Continuation/Divisional of an International 3 hours and 18 minutes............ 300 990
Application.
[[Page 60258]]
Electronic Continuation/Divisional of an 3 hours and 18 minutes............ 10,200 33,660
International Application.
Utility Continuation/Divisional Applications 3 hours and 18 minutes............ 2,200 7,260
Electronic Utility Continuation/Divisional 3 hours and 18 minutes............ 71,600 236,280
Applications.
Plant Continuation/Divisional Applications.. 2 hours and 12 minutes............ 200 440
Design Continuation/Divisional Applications. 1 hour and 6 minutes.............. 100 110
Electronic Design Continuation/Divisional 1 hour and 6 minutes.............. 2,700 2,970
Applications.
Continued Prosecution Applications--Design 24 minutes........................ 25 10
(Request Transmittal and Receipt).
Electronic Continued Prosecution 24 minutes........................ 800 320
Applications--Design (Request Transmittal
and Receipt).
Utility Continuation-in-Part Applications... 16 hours and 30 minutes........... 400 6,600
Electronic Utility Continuation-in-Part- 16 hours and 30 minutes........... 13,100 216,150
Applications.
Plant Continuation-in-Part Applications..... 3 hours and 48 minutes............ 1 4
Design Continuation-in-Part Applications.... 2 hours and 42 minutes............ 20 54
Electronic Design Continuation-in-Part 2 hours and 42 minutes............ 800 2,160
Applications.
Provisional Application for Patent Cover 15 hours.......................... 5,500 82,500
Sheet.
Electronic Provisional Application for 15 hours.......................... 178,600 2,679,000
Patent Cover Sheet.
Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed 1 hour............................ 30 30
Priority/Benefit Claim.
Electronic Petition to Accept 1 hour............................ 970 970
Unintentionally Delayed Priority/Benefit
Claim.
Petition to Accept a Filing by Other Than 1 hour............................ 33 33
all the Inventors or a Person not the
Inventor.
Electronic Petition to Accept a Filing by 1 hour............................ 1,067 1,067
Other Than all the Inventors or a Person
not the Inventor.
Petition under 37 CFR 1.6(g) to Accord the 30 minutes........................ 1 1
Application under 37 CFR 1.495(b) a Receipt
Date.
Papers filed under the following:........... 45 minutes........................ 114 86
1.41--to supply the name or names of the
inventor or inventors after the filing
date without a cover sheet as
prescribed by 37 CFR 1.51 (c)(1) in a
provisional application.
1.48--for correction of inventorship in
a provisional application.
1.53(c)(2)--to convert a nonprovisional
application filed under 1.53(b) to a
provisional application filed under
1.53(c).
Electronic Papers filed under the following: 45 minutes........................ 3,686 2,765
1.41--to supply the name or names of the
inventor or inventors after the filing
date without a cover sheet as
prescribed by 37 CFR 1.51(c)(1) in a
provisional application.
1.48--for correction of inventorship in
a provisional application.
1.53(c)(2)--to convert a nonprovisional
application filed under 1.53(b) to a
provisional application filed under
1.53(c).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total................................... .................................. 597,047 12,522,680
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden:
$431,933,422 per year. There are no maintenance, operation, capital
start-up, or recordkeeping costs associated with this information
collection. However, this collection does have annual (non-hour) costs
in the form of postage and drawing costs, as well as a petition fee.
The applications, the petitions, and the papers filed under 37 CFR
1.41, 1.48, and 1.53(c)(2) may be submitted by mail through the United
States Postal Service. The USPTO recommends that applicants file
initial patent applications (which also include the continued
prosecution, continuation and divisional, continuation-in-part, and
provisional applications) by Express Mail to establish the filing date
(otherwise the filing date of the application will be the date that it
is received at the USPTO). The USPTO estimates that an application
package will weigh at least one pound. Using the Express Mail flat rate
cost for mailing envelopes, the USPTO estimates that the average cost
for sending an initial application by Express Mail will be $19.95 and
that up to 19,246 may be mailed to the USPTO.
The petitions to accept unintentionally delayed priority/benefit
claim, to accept a filing by other than all the inventors or a person
not the inventor, and the papers filed under 37 CFR 1.41, 1.48, and
1.53(c)(2) can be sent by first-class mail. The USPTO estimates that
these submissions will average two ounces, for a first-class postage
rate of $0.66 cents. The USPTO estimates that up to 177 submissions may
be mailed per year.
The USPTO estimates that the total postage cost for this collection
will be $384,075 per year.
[[Page 60259]]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total postage
Item Responses Postage cost ($) cost ($)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Express Mailing Costs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original New Utility Applications--No Application Data 800 19.95 15,960.00
Sheet.................................................
Original New Plant Applications--No Application Data 100 19.95 1,995.00
Sheet.................................................
Original New Design Applications--No Application Data 100 19.95 1,995.00
Sheet.................................................
Original New Utility Applications--Application Data 7,500 19.95 149,625.00
Sheet.................................................
Original New Plant Applications--Application Data Sheet 1,200 19.95 23,940.00
Original New Design Applications--Application Data 800 19.95 15,960.00
Sheet.................................................
Continuation/Divisional of an International Application 300 19.95 5,985.00
Utility Continuation/Divisional Applications........... 2,200 19.95 43,890.00
Plant Continuation/Divisional Applications............. 200 19.95 3,990.00
Design Continuation/Divisional Applications............ 100 19.95 1,995.00
Continued Prosecution Applications--Design (Request 25 19.95 499.00
Transmittal and Receipt)..............................
Utility Continuation-in-Part Applications.............. 400 19.95 7,980.00
Plant Continuation-in-Part Applications................ 1 19.95 20.00
Design Continuation-in-Part Applications............... 20 19.95 399.00
Provisional Application for Patent Cover Sheet......... 5,500 19.95 109,725.00
--------------------------------------------------------
Total Express Mailing Costs........................ ................. ................. 383,958.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First-Class Mailing Costs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Priority/ 30 0.66 20.00
Benefit Claim.........................................
Petition to Accept a Filing by Other Than all the 33 0.66 22.00
Inventors or a Person not the Inventor................
Papers Filed Under the Following:...................... 114 0.66 75.00
1.41--to supply the name or names of the inventor
or inventors after the filing date without a cover
sheet as prescribed by 37 CFR 1.51 (c)(1) in a
provisional application...........................
1.48--for correction of inventorship in a
provisional application...........................
1.53(c)(2)--to convert a nonprovisional application
filed under 1.53(b) to a provisional application
filed under 1.53(c)...............................
--------------------------------------------------------
Total First-Class Mailing Costs.................... ................. ................. 117.00
Total Postage Costs................................ ................. ................. 384,075.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patent applicants can submit drawings with the utility, design,
plant, and provisional applications. Applicants can prepare these
drawings on their own or they can hire patent illustration services
firms to create them. As a basis for estimating the drawing costs, the
USPTO expects that all applicants will have their drawings prepared by
patent illustration firms. Estimates for the drawings can vary greatly,
depending on the number of figures that need to be produced, the total
number of pages for the drawings, and the complexity of the drawings.
Because there are many variables involved, the USPTO is using the
average of the cost ranges found for the application drawings to derive
the estimated cost per sheet that is then used to calculate the total
drawing costs.
The utility, plant, and design continuation and divisional
applications use the same drawings as the initial filings, so they are
not included in these totals. The continuation-in-part applications may
use some of the same drawings as the initial applications and some new
drawings may be submitted, so those numbers are included in these
estimates. The drawings for the continued prosecution applications are
also included in the drawing cost totals. There are no continuation,
divisional, or continuation-in-part provisional applications.
Costs to produce utility drawings can range from $30 to $200 per
sheet. The USPTO estimates that it can cost $115 per sheet to produce
the utility drawings and that on average, 9 sheets of drawings are
submitted, for an average cost of $1,035 to produce the utility
drawings. Out of 286,500 utility applications submitted per year, the
USPTO estimates that 77% or 220,605 applications will be submitted with
drawings.
Costs to produce design drawings can range from $35 to $350 per
sheet. The USPTO estimates that it can cost $193 per sheet to produce
design drawings and that on average 9 sheets of drawings are submitted,
for an average cost of $1,737 to produce design drawings. The USPTO
estimates that all of the design applications filed per year (31,945)
will be submitted with drawings.
Photographs are generally submitted for the plant applications,
although drawings can also be submitted. The USPTO therefore estimates
that the costs to produce the photographs or drawings could range from
$35 to $100. The USPTO estimates that it can cost $68 per sheet to
produce plant drawings and that on average 9 sheets of drawings are
submitted, for an average cost of $612 to produce plant drawings. The
USPTO estimates that all of the plant applications filed per year
(1,301) will be submitted with drawings.
Costs to produce the provisional drawings can range from $30 to
$200 per sheet. The USPTO estimates that it can cost $115 per sheet to
produce provisional drawings and that on average 9 sheets of drawings
are submitted, for an average cost of $1,035 to produce provisional
drawings. Out of 184,100 provisional applications submitted per year,
the USPTO estimates that 77% or 141,757 applications will be submitted
with drawings.
The USPTO estimates the total non-hour cost burden as a result of
patent applicants using patent illustration firms to produce the
drawings for their utility, design, plant, and provisional applications
is $431,329,347.
[[Page 60260]]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average drawing Average total
Item Responses cost ($) drawing cost ($)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Utility Application Drawings........................... 220,605 $1,035 $228,326,175.00
Design Application Drawings............................ 31,945 1,737 55,488,465.00
Plant Application Drawings (Photographs)............... 1,301 612 796,212.00
Provisional Application Drawings....................... 141,757 1,035 146,718,495.00
--------------------------------------------------------
Total.............................................. ................. ................. 431,329,347.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is also annual (non-hour) cost burden in the way of filing
fees for the petitions to accept a filing by other than all the
inventors or a person not the inventor. The filing fees for the
applications, the petitions to accept unintentionally delayed priority/
benefit claims, the processing fees for the papers filed under 37 CFR
1.41, 1.48, and 1.53(c)(2), the additional fees incurred when an
application is filed with additional sheets or excess claims, and the
surcharges and fees incurred when an application, the search or
examination fee, or the oath or declaration is filed late, when the
application is filed with multiple dependent claims, or when the
application is filed with a non-English specification are covered under
0651-0072 America Invents Act Section 10 Patent Fee Adjustments.
The total estimated filing costs of $220,000 for this collection
are calculated in the following table.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total non-hour
Item Resps (yr) (a) Filing fee cost burden
($) (yr) (a) x (b)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Petition to Accept a Filing by Other Than all the Inventors or a 33 $200.00 $6,600.00
Person not the Inventor........................................
Electronic Petition to Accept a Filing by Other Than all the 1,067 200.00 213,400.00
Inventors or a Person not the Inventor.........................
Petition under 37 CFR 1.6(g) to accord the Application under 37 1 N/A 0.00
CFR 1.495(b) a Receipt Date....................................
-----------------------------------------------
Totals...................................................... 1,101 .............. 220,000.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) respondent
cost burden for this collection, in the form of postage and drawing
costs, in addition to petition fees, is estimated to be approximately
$431,933,422 per year.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the USPTO's request for OMB approval. All comments
will become a matter of public record.
The USPTO is soliciting public comments to: (a) Evaluate whether
the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy of
the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions
used; (c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information
to be collected; and (d) Minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g.,
permitting electronic submission of responses.
Dated: September 25, 2013.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-23790 Filed 9-30-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P
