[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 163 (Thursday, August 21, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49444-49446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-19375]
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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 October 20,
2008.
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, United States Patent and Trademark
Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Tamara McClure, Office of Finance, United States
Patent
[[Page 49445]]
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 United States Patent and
Trademark Office (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 credit card,
deposit account, electronic funds transfer (EFT), and paper check
transactions. 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.
This information collection includes the Credit Card Payment Form
(PTO-2038), which provides the public with a convenient way to submit a
credit card payment for fees related to a patent, trademark, or
information product. Customers may also submit credit card payments via
the Electronic Credit Card Payment Form (PTO-2231) when using online
systems through the USPTO Web site for paying fees related to patents,
trademarks, or information products.
The USPTO will not include credit card information submitted using
the credit card payment forms among the patent or trademark records
open to public inspection.
Customers may establish a deposit account for making fee payments
by completing a Deposit Account Application Form (PTO-2232) and sending
the required information, initial deposit, and service fee to the
USPTO. Deposit accounts eliminate the need to submit a check, credit
card information, or other form of payment for each transaction with
the USPTO. Additionally, in the event that a fee amount due is
miscalculated, customers may authorize the USPTO to charge any
remaining balance to the deposit account and therefore avoid the
potential consequences of underpayment. As customers use their deposit
accounts to make payments, they may deposit funds to replenish their
accounts by mailing a check to the USPTO or making a deposit online via
EFT using the Electronic Deposit Account Replenishment Form (PTO-2233)
available at the USPTO Web site. Replenishments may not be made by
credit card. Customers may also close their deposit accounts by
submitting a written request or by using the Deposit Account Closure
Request Form (PTO-2234).
In addition to credit cards and deposit accounts, customers may
also use EFT to make online fee payments to the USPTO. Customers must
first establish a user profile with their banking information by
submitting the EFT User Profile Form (PTO-2236) through the USPTO Web
site. Once their profile is created, customers may use their User ID
and password to perform EFT transactions.
Under 37 CFR 1.26 and 2.209, the USPTO may refund fees paid by
mistake or in excess of the required amount. For refund amounts of $25
or less, customers must submit a written request to the Refund Branch
of the USPTO Office of Finance.
In order to access and manage their financial activity records
online, customers may create a Financial Profile through the USPTO web
site. Customers create a profile 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.
II. Method of Collection
By mail, facsimile, hand delivery, or electronically to the USPTO.
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.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
the public approximately two to six minutes (0.03 to 0.10 hours) to
gather the necessary information, prepare, and submit the items in this
collection.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 58,166 hours per
year.
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 hourly 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.
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Estimated time Estimated Estimated
Item for response annual annual burden
(minutes) responses hours
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Credit Card Payment Form (PTO-2038)............................. 2 863,389 25,902
Electronic Credit Card Payment Form (PTO-2231).................. 2 1,017,322 30,520
Deposit Account Application Form (PTO-2232)..................... 2 298 9
Deposit Account Replenishment................................... 2 20,837 625
Electronic Deposit Account Replenishment Form (PTO-2233)........ 2 17,664 530
Deposit Account Closure Request Form (PTO-2234)................. 4 132 9
EFT User Profile Form (PTO-2236)................................ 2 2,850 86
Refund Request.................................................. 4 6,213 435
Financial Profiles.............................................. 6 500 50
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Total....................................................... .............. 1,929,205 58,166
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Estimated Total Annual Non-Hour Respondent Cost Burden: $248,603.
There are no capital start-up costs or maintenance costs associated
with this information collection. However, this collection does have
associated service fees for deposit accounts and returned payments,
postage costs for mailing submissions to the USPTO, and
[[Page 49446]]
recordkeeping costs related to electronic credit card payments and
electronic deposit account replenishments.
There are service fees for setting up a deposit account at the
USPTO, for not maintaining the minimum balance required for the deposit
account, and for returned payments. The service charge to establish a
deposit account is $10, and the USPTO estimates that it processes 298
Deposit Account Application Forms annually, for a total of $2,980 per
year. There is also a $25 service charge for deposit accounts that are
below the minimum balance ($1,000 minimum balance for an unrestricted
deposit account or $300 minimum balance for a restricted deposit
account) at the end of the month. The USPTO estimates that it assesses
4,000 of these low balance charges annually, for a total of $100,000
per year. There is a $50 service charge for processing a payment
refused (including a check returned ``unpaid'') or charged back by a
financial institution. The USPTO estimates that it assesses 456 of
these returned payment charges annually, for a total of $22,800 per
year. The total estimated service fees for this collection are $125,780
per year.
Customers may incur postage costs when submitting the Credit Card
Payment Form and other paper forms or requests to the USPTO by mail.
Customers generally send the Credit Card Payment Form to the USPTO
along with other documents related to the fee or service being paid for
by credit card, but some customers may submit just the Credit Card
Payment Form without additional supporting documents. The USPTO
estimates that roughly 5 percent of the 863,389 paper Credit Card
Payment Forms submitted annually may be mailed in by themselves,
approximately 43,169 per year. The USPTO estimates that it will receive
an additional 27,480 submissions per year that may be mailed, including
Deposit Account Application Forms, Deposit Account Replenishments,
Deposit Account Closure Requests, and Refund Requests, for a total of
70,649 mailed submissions per year. The USPTO estimates that the first-
class postage cost for a mailed submission will be 42 cents, for a
total postage cost of approximately $29,673 per year.
Customers using the Electronic Credit Card Payment Form or the
Electronic Deposit Account Replenishment Form may incur recordkeeping
costs from printing a copy of the electronic receipt confirming their
successful online transaction. The USPTO estimates that it will take 5
seconds (0.001 hours) to print a copy of the confirmation receipt and
that approximately 1,034,986 submissions per year will use the
Electronic Credit Card Payment Form or the Electronic Deposit Account
Replenishment Form, for a total recordkeeping burden of 1,035 hours per
year. Using the paraprofessional rate of $90 per hour, the USPTO
estimates that the recordkeeping cost associated with this collection
will be approximately $93,150 per year.
The total non-hour respondent cost burden for this collection in
the form of service fees, postage costs, and recordkeeping costs is
estimated to be $248,603 per year.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information;
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on respondents, e.g., the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized or
included in the request for OMB approval of this information
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.
Dated: August 14, 2008.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer,
Customer Information Services Group, Public Information Services
Division.
[FR Doc. E8-19375 Filed 8-20-08; 8:45 am]
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