Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Patents for Humanity Program and Trademarks for Humanity Program, 85171-85172 [2024-24920]
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 207 / Friday, October 25, 2024 / Notices
Dated: October 21, 2024.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024–24838 Filed 10–24–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Patents for Humanity
Program and Trademarks for Humanity
Program
United States Patent and
Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:
The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO), as required
by the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, invites comments on the
extension and revision of an existing
information collection: 0651–0066
(Patents for Humanity Program and
Trademarks for Humanity Program). The
purpose of this notice is to allow 60
days for public comment preceding
submission of the information collection
to OMB.
DATES: To ensure consideration,
comments regarding this information
collection must be received on or before
December 24, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments by
any of the following methods. Do not
submit Confidential Business
Information or otherwise sensitive or
protected information.
• Email: InformationCollection@
uspto.gov. Include ‘‘0651–0066
comment’’ in the subject line of the
message.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov.
• Mail: Justin Isaac, Office of the
Chief Administrative Officer, United
States Patent and Trademark Office,
P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313–
1450.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Request for additional information
should be directed to Soma Saha, Patent
Attorney, Office of Policy and
International Affairs, United States
Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box
1450, Alexandria, VA 22313–1450; by
telephone at 571–272–9300; or by email
at patentsforhumanity@uspto.gov or
trademarksforhumanity@uspto.gov with
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:40 Oct 24, 2024
Jkt 265001
‘‘0651–0066 comment’’ in the subject
line. Additional information about this
information collection is also available
at https://www.reginfo.gov under
‘‘Information Collection Review.’’
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
Since 2012, the United States Patent
and Trademark Office (USPTO) has
conducted the Patents for Humanity
Program, a biannual award program to
incentivize the distribution of patented
technologies or products for the purpose
of addressing humanitarian needs. The
program is open to any patent owners or
patent licensees, including inventors
who have not assigned their ownership
rights to others, assignees, and exclusive
or non-exclusive licenses. The USPTO
collects information from applicants
that describe what actions they have
taken with their patented technology to
address the welfare of impoverished
populations, or how they furthered
research by others on technologies for
humanitarian purposes. There are
numerous categories of awards
including: Medicine, Nutrition,
Sanitation, Household Energy, and
Living Standards. Sometimes the
program includes additional categories
specific for that year, for example, green
energy.
The Patents for Humanity program
provides winners with recognition and
an acceleration certificate for one future
patent matter. The applications that are
chosen for an award will receive a
certificate redeemable to accelerate
select matters before the USPTO. The
certificates can be redeemed to
accelerate one of the following matters:
an ex parte reexamination proceeding,
including one appeal to the Patent Trial
and Appeal Board (PTAB) from that
proceeding; a patent application,
including one appeal to the PTAB from
that application; or an appeal to the
PTAB of a claim twice rejected in a
patent application or reissue application
or finally rejected in an ex parte
reexamination, without accelerating the
underlying matter which generated the
appeal. Finally, due to the January 2021
passage of the Patents for Humanity
Program Improvement Act, winners of
the Patents for Humanity program are
now able to transfer their certificates to
third parties, including by sale.1
In 2023, the USPTO added the
Trademarks for Humanity Program to
promote and incentivize brand owners
who offer products and services that
help address humanitarian issues
utilizing a federally registered
1 https://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ316/
PLAW-116publ316.pdf.
PO 00000
Frm 00036
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
85171
trademark. Applicants are required to
describe how their mark and their goods
or services satisfy the program criteria to
address humanitarian issues. Like the
Patents for Humanity Program, this
trademark-focused program operates
biannually and can have a variety of
topics depending upon the year.
Trademarks for Humanity awards are
focused on recognition and do not
confer transfer of awards certificates like
the Patents for Humanity Program.
Applications for both programs must
provide non-public contact information
in order for the USPTO to notify them
about their award status. Applicants
may opt to provide contact information
for the public to reach them with any
inquiries. Applications must be
submitted via email and will be posted
on the USPTO website. A panel of
independent judges evaluate the
applications and send the top-scoring
ones to reviewers from participating
federal agencies to recommend award
recipients. Awards are public, and
recipients receive recognition for their
humanitarian efforts from the USPTO
and executive branch leadership.
Winners of both the Patents for
Humanity Program and the Trademarks
for Humanity Program are invited to
participate in an awards ceremony.
This information collection covers the
two application forms for the Patents for
Humanity Program and the single
application form for the Trademarks for
Humanity Program. This information
collection also covers the information
gathered in Patents for Humanity
petitions to extend an acceleration
certificate redemption beyond 12
months, as well as the transfer of awards
certificates. To account for the recent
addition of the Trademarks for
Humanity Program, the name of this
information collection has been changed
from ‘‘Patents for Humanity Program’’ to
‘‘Patents for Humanity Program and
Trademarks for Humanity Program.’’
II. Method of Collection
Items in this information collection
must be submitted electronically.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0651–0066.
Forms: (PFH—Patents for Humanity,
TFH—Trademarks for Humanity)
• PTO/PFH/001 (Humanitarian Use
Application)
• PTO/PFH/002 (Humanitarian
Research Use Application)
• PTO/PFH/003 (Petition to Extend the
Redemption Period of a Patents for
Humanity Program Acceleration
Certificate)
• PTO/TFH/001 (Trademarks for
Humanity Application)
E:\FR\FM\25OCN1.SGM
25OCN1
85172
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 207 / Friday, October 25, 2024 / Notices
Type of Review: Extension and
revision of a currently approved
information collection.
Affected Public: Private sector.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
obtain or retain benefits.
Frequency: Biannually.
Estimated Number of Annual
Respondents: 82 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual
Responses: 82 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The
USPTO estimates that the responses in
this information collection will take the
public approximately between 30
minutes (0.50 hours) and 4 hours to
complete. This includes the time to
gather the necessary information, create
the document, and submit the
completed item to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent
Burden Hours: 322 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent
Hourly Cost Burden: $143,934.
TABLE 1—TOTAL BURDEN HOURS AND HOURLY COSTS TO PRIVATE SECTOR RESPONDENTS
Estimated
annual
respondents
Responses
per
respondent
Estimated
annual
responses
Estimated time
for response
(hours)
Estimated
burden
(hour/year)
Rate 2
($/hour)
Estimated
annual
respondent
cost burden
(a)
(b)
(a) × (b) = (c)
(d)
(c) × (d) = (e)
(f)
(e) × (f) = (g)
Item No.
Item
1 .................
Humanitarian Program Application
(Humanitarian Use).
Humanitarian Program Application
(Humanitarian Research).
Petition to Extend the Redemption
Period of the Humanitarian Award
Certificate.
Transfer of Awards Certificate ..........
25
1
25
4
100
$447
$44,700
25
1
25
4
100
447
44,700
1
1
1
1
1
447
447
1
1
1
1
447
447
Trademarks for Humanity Application.
30
1
30
0.50
(30 minutes)
4
120
447
53,640
82
....................
82
........................
322
....................
143,934
2 .................
3 .................
4 .................
5 .................
Totals ..
Estimated Total Annual Respondent
Non-hourly Cost Burden: $0. There are
no capital start-up costs, maintenance
costs, recordkeeping costs, filing fees, or
postage costs associated with this
information collection.
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
IV. Request for Comments
The USPTO is soliciting public
comments to:
(a) Evaluate whether the 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
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.
All comments submitted in response
to this notice are a matter of public
record. The USPTO will include or
summarize each comment in the request
2 2023 Report of the Economic Survey, published
by the Committee on Economics of Legal Practice
of the American Intellectual Property Law
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:40 Oct 24, 2024
Jkt 265001
to OMB to approve this information
collection. Before including an address,
phone number, email address, or other
personally identifiable information (PII)
in a comment, be aware that the entire
comment—including PII—may be made
publicly available at any time. While
you may ask in your comment to
withhold PII from public view, the
USPTO cannot guarantee that it will be
able to do so.
Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the
Chief Administrative Officer, United States
Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2024–24920 Filed 10–24–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–16–P
COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM
PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR
SEVERELY DISABLED
Procurement List; Deletions
Committee for Purchase From
People Who Are Blind or Severely
Disabled.
ACTION: Deletions from the Procurement
List.
AGENCY:
Date deleted from the
Procurement List: November 24, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase
From People Who Are Blind or Severely
Disabled, 355 E Street SW, Suite 325,
Washington, DC 20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael R. Jurkowski, Telephone: (703)
785–6404, or email CMTEFedReg@
AbilityOne.gov.
DATES:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Deletions
On 9/13/2024 (89 FR 74928) and 9/
20/2024 (89 FR 77109), the Committee
for Purchase From People Who Are
Blind or Severely Disabled published
notice of proposed deletions from the
Procurement List. This notice is
published pursuant to 41 U.S.C. 8503
(a)(2) and 41 CFR 51–2.3.
After consideration of the relevant
matter presented, the Committee has
determined that the product(s) and
service(s) listed below are no longer
suitable for procurement by the Federal
Government under 41 U.S.C. 8501–8506
and 41 CFR 51–2.4.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
SUMMARY:
This action deletes product(s)
and service(s) from the Procurement List
that were furnished by nonprofit
agencies employing persons who are
blind or have other severe disabilities.
I certify that the following action will
not have a significant impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
The major factors considered for this
certification were:
Association (AIPLA); pg. F–41. The USPTO uses the
average billing rate for intellectual property work in
all firms which is $447 per hour (https://
www.aipla.org/home/news-publications/economicsurvey).
PO 00000
Frm 00037
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 207 (Friday, October 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85171-85172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24920]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Patents for Humanity Program and Trademarks for Humanity
Program
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on
the extension and revision of an existing information collection: 0651-
0066 (Patents for Humanity Program and Trademarks for Humanity
Program). The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public
comment preceding submission of the information collection to OMB.
DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this information
collection must be received on or before December 24, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
any of the following methods. Do not submit Confidential Business
Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0066 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Mail: Justin Isaac, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450,
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Request for additional information
should be directed to Soma Saha, Patent Attorney, Office of Policy and
International Affairs, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O.
Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-9300; or
by email at [email protected] or
[email protected] with ``0651-0066 comment'' in the
subject line. Additional information about this information collection
is also available at https://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information
Collection Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
Since 2012, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
has conducted the Patents for Humanity Program, a biannual award
program to incentivize the distribution of patented technologies or
products for the purpose of addressing humanitarian needs. The program
is open to any patent owners or patent licensees, including inventors
who have not assigned their ownership rights to others, assignees, and
exclusive or non-exclusive licenses. The USPTO collects information
from applicants that describe what actions they have taken with their
patented technology to address the welfare of impoverished populations,
or how they furthered research by others on technologies for
humanitarian purposes. There are numerous categories of awards
including: Medicine, Nutrition, Sanitation, Household Energy, and
Living Standards. Sometimes the program includes additional categories
specific for that year, for example, green energy.
The Patents for Humanity program provides winners with recognition
and an acceleration certificate for one future patent matter. The
applications that are chosen for an award will receive a certificate
redeemable to accelerate select matters before the USPTO. The
certificates can be redeemed to accelerate one of the following
matters: an ex parte reexamination proceeding, including one appeal to
the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) from that proceeding; a patent
application, including one appeal to the PTAB from that application; or
an appeal to the PTAB of a claim twice rejected in a patent application
or reissue application or finally rejected in an ex parte
reexamination, without accelerating the underlying matter which
generated the appeal. Finally, due to the January 2021 passage of the
Patents for Humanity Program Improvement Act, winners of the Patents
for Humanity program are now able to transfer their certificates to
third parties, including by sale.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ316/PLAW-116publ316.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 2023, the USPTO added the Trademarks for Humanity Program to
promote and incentivize brand owners who offer products and services
that help address humanitarian issues utilizing a federally registered
trademark. Applicants are required to describe how their mark and their
goods or services satisfy the program criteria to address humanitarian
issues. Like the Patents for Humanity Program, this trademark-focused
program operates biannually and can have a variety of topics depending
upon the year. Trademarks for Humanity awards are focused on
recognition and do not confer transfer of awards certificates like the
Patents for Humanity Program.
Applications for both programs must provide non-public contact
information in order for the USPTO to notify them about their award
status. Applicants may opt to provide contact information for the
public to reach them with any inquiries. Applications must be submitted
via email and will be posted on the USPTO website. A panel of
independent judges evaluate the applications and send the top-scoring
ones to reviewers from participating federal agencies to recommend
award recipients. Awards are public, and recipients receive recognition
for their humanitarian efforts from the USPTO and executive branch
leadership. Winners of both the Patents for Humanity Program and the
Trademarks for Humanity Program are invited to participate in an awards
ceremony.
This information collection covers the two application forms for
the Patents for Humanity Program and the single application form for
the Trademarks for Humanity Program. This information collection also
covers the information gathered in Patents for Humanity petitions to
extend an acceleration certificate redemption beyond 12 months, as well
as the transfer of awards certificates. To account for the recent
addition of the Trademarks for Humanity Program, the name of this
information collection has been changed from ``Patents for Humanity
Program'' to ``Patents for Humanity Program and Trademarks for Humanity
Program.''
II. Method of Collection
Items in this information collection must be submitted
electronically.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0651-0066.
Forms: (PFH--Patents for Humanity, TFH--Trademarks for Humanity)
PTO/PFH/001 (Humanitarian Use Application)
PTO/PFH/002 (Humanitarian Research Use Application)
PTO/PFH/003 (Petition to Extend the Redemption Period of a
Patents for Humanity Program Acceleration Certificate)
PTO/TFH/001 (Trademarks for Humanity Application)
[[Page 85172]]
Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved
information collection.
Affected Public: Private sector.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
Frequency: Biannually.
Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 82 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 82 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection will take the public approximately
between 30 minutes (0.50 hours) and 4 hours to complete. This includes
the time to gather the necessary information, create the document, and
submit the completed item to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 322 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $143,934.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ 2023 Report of the Economic Survey, published by the
Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American
Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA); pg. F-41. The USPTO
uses the average billing rate for intellectual property work in all
firms which is $447 per hour (https://www.aipla.org/home/news-publications/economic-survey).
Table 1--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Private Sector Respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated
Estimated Responses Estimated Estimated time Estimated Rate 2 ($/ annual
Item No. Item annual per annual for response burden (hour/ hour) respondent
respondents respondent responses (hours) year) cost burden
................. (a) (b) (a) x (b) = (d) (c) x (d) = (f) (e) x (f) =
(c) (e) (g)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1............................. Humanitarian 25 1 25 4 100 $447 $44,700
Program
Application
(Humanitarian
Use).
2............................. Humanitarian 25 1 25 4 100 447 44,700
Program
Application
(Humanitarian
Research).
3............................. Petition to 1 1 1 1 1 447 447
Extend the
Redemption
Period of the
Humanitarian
Award
Certificate.
4............................. Transfer of 1 1 1 0.50 1 447 447
Awards (30 minutes)
Certificate.
5............................. Trademarks for 30 1 30 4 120 447 53,640
Humanity
Application.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.................... 82 ........... 82 .............. 322 ........... 143,934
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden: $0. There
are no capital start-up costs, maintenance costs, recordkeeping costs,
filing fees, or postage costs associated with this information
collection.
IV. Request for Comments
The USPTO is soliciting public comments to:
(a) Evaluate whether the 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 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.
All comments submitted in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. The USPTO will include or summarize each comment in the
request to OMB to approve this information collection. Before including
an address, phone number, email address, or other personally
identifiable information (PII) in a comment, be aware that the entire
comment--including PII--may be made publicly available at any time.
While you may ask in your comment to withhold PII from public view, the
USPTO cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.
Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-24920 Filed 10-24-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P
