[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 68 (Tuesday, April 10, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17875-17876]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6731]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Patent and Trademark Financial Transactions
ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.
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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as part
of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden,
invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this
opportunity to comment on the continuing information collection, as
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44
U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before June 11, 2007.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-0043
comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Fax: 571-273-0112, marked to the attention of Susan
Fawcett.
Mail: Susan K. Fawcett, Records Officer, Office of the
Chief Information Officer, Customer Information Services Group, Public
Information Services Division, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, P.O.
Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Tamara McClure, Office of Finance, U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by
telephone at 571-272-6345; or by e-mail to [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
Under 35 U.S.C. 41 and 15 U.S.C. 1113, the USPTO charges fees for
processing and other services related to patents, trademarks, and
information products. Customers may submit payments to the USPTO by
several methods, including by credit card,
[[Page 17876]]
deposit account, and electronic funds transfer (EFT). The provisions of
35 U.S.C. 41 and 15 U.S.C. 1113 are implemented in 37 CFR 1.16-1.28,
2.6-2.7, and 2.206-2.209.
The USPTO is developing a pilot program that will allow customers
to access and manage their financial activity records online. Customers
will be able to create a Financial Profile through the USPTO Web site
by registering a username and password, providing contact information,
and specifying the types of notifications and alerts they would like to
receive. After establishing a Financial Profile, customers may then add
the relevant account information to the profile in order to track their
credit card, deposit account, and EFT transactions with the USPTO.
In the future, customers will also be able to use their Financial
Profiles to perform transactions with the USPTO by using their
previously stored account information. The Financial Profiles are being
added to this information collection.
II. Method of Collection
By mail, facsimile, hand delivery, or electronically to the USPTO.
Information for Financial Profiles will be collected electronically
through the USPTO Web site.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0043.
Form Number(s): PTO-2038, PTO-2231, PTO-2232, PTO-2233, PTO-2234,
PTO-2236.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other
for-profits; and not-for-profit institutions.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,929,205 responses per year,
including 500 responses per year for Financial Profiles.
Estimated Time Per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
the public approximately two to four minutes (0.03 to 0.07 hours) to
prepare and submit the existing items in this collection. The USPTO
estimates that it will take the public approximately six minutes (0.10
hours) to complete and submit a Financial Profile.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 58,166 hours per
year, including 50 hours per year for Financial Profiles.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $2,617,470 per year.
The USPTO expects that 75% of the submissions for this information
collection will be prepared by fee administrators/coordinators and that
25% of the submissions will be prepared by paraprofessionals. Using
those proportions and the estimated rates of $30 per hour for fee
administrators/coordinators and $90 per hour for paraprofessionals, the
USPTO estimates that the average rate for all respondents will be
approximately $45 per hour. Using this estimated rate of $45 per hour,
the USPTO estimates that the respondent cost burden for submitting the
information in this collection will be approximately $2,617,470 per
year, including $2,250 in respondent cost burden for the Financial
Profiles.
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Estimated time Estimated Estimated
Item for response annual annual burden
(minutes) responses hours
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Financial Profiles.............................................. 6 500 50
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Total....................................................... .............. 500 50
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Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $237,168.
This collection is currently approved with a total of $237,168 in
annual (non-hour) cost burden in the form of service fees for deposit
accounts and returned payments, postage costs for mailing submissions
to the USPTO, and recordkeeping costs related to electronic credit card
payments and electronic deposit account replenishments. There are no
additional annual costs associated with the Financial Profiles.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information;
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on respondents, e.g., the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized or
included in the request for OMB approval of this information
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.
Dated: April 3, 2007.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer,
Customer Information Services Group, Public Information Services
Division.
[FR Doc. E7-6731 Filed 4-9-07; 8:45 am]
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