[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 24 (Friday, February 6, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6269-6271]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-2539]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Madrid Protocol
ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as part
of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden,
invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this
opportunity to comment on the revision of a 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 April 7, 2009.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-0051
comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Fax: 571-273-0112, marked to the attention of Susan K.
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 Jennifer Chicoski, Attorney Advisor, Office of
the Commissioner for Trademarks, United States Patent and Trademark
Office, P.O. Box 1451, Alexandria, VA 22313-1451; by telephone at 571-
272-8943; or by e-mail to [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
This collection of information is required by the Trademark Act of
1946, 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq., which provides for the Federal
registration of trademarks, service marks, collective trademarks and
service marks, collective membership marks, and certification marks.
Individuals and businesses that use or intend to use such marks in
commerce may file an application to register the marks with the United
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
The Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the
International Registration of Marks (``Madrid Protocol'') is an
international treaty that allows a trademark owner to seek registration
in any of the participating countries by filing a single international
application. The International Bureau (``IB'') of the World
Intellectual Property Organization (``WIPO'') in Geneva, Switzerland,
administers the international registration system. The Madrid Protocol
Implementation Act of 2002 amended the Trademark Act to provide that:
(1) The owner of a U.S. application or registration may seek protection
of its mark in any of the participating countries by submitting a
single international application to the IB through the USPTO, and (2)
the holder of an international registration may request an extension of
protection of the international registration to the United States. The
Madrid Protocol became effective in the United States on November 2,
2003, and is implemented under 15 U.S.C. 1141 et seq. and 37 CFR Part 2
and Part 7.
An international application submitted through the USPTO must be
based on an active U.S. application or registration and must be filed
by the owner of the application or registration. The USPTO reviews the
international application to certify that it corresponds to the data
contained in the existing U.S. application or registration before
forwarding the international application to the IB. The IB then reviews
the international application to determine whether the Madrid filing
requirements have been met and the required fees have been paid. If the
international application is unacceptable, the IB will send a notice of
irregularity to the USPTO and the applicant. The applicant must respond
to the irregularities to avoid abandonment, unless a response from the
USPTO is required. After any irregularities are corrected and the
application is accepted, the IB registers the mark, publishes the
registration in the WIPO Gazette of International Marks, and sends a
certificate to the holder.
When the mark is registered, the IB notifies each country
designated in the application of the request for extension of
protection. Once an international registration has been issued, the
holder may also file subsequent designations to request an extension of
protection to additional countries.
Under Section 71 of the Trademark Act, a registered extension of
protection to the United States will be cancelled unless the holder of
the international registration periodically files affidavits of
continued use in commerce or excusable nonuse. These affidavits cannot
be filed until five years after the USPTO registers an extension of
protection. Since the USPTO will not be
[[Page 6270]]
accepting these affidavits until February 1, 2010, the estimated burden
for these affidavits will not be included in this collection at this
time.
This collection includes the information necessary for the USPTO to
process applications for international registration and related
requests under the Madrid Protocol. The USPTO provides electronic forms
for filing the Application for International Registration, Subsequent
Designation, and Response to a Notice of Irregularity online through
the USPTO Web site. An electronic form for the Request for
Transformation is under development. Applicants may also submit the
items in this collection on paper or by using the forms provided by the
IB, which are available on the WIPO Web site. The IB requires
Applications for International Registration and Subsequent Designations
that are filed on paper to be submitted on the official IB forms.
II. Method of Collection
By mail, hand delivery, or electronically to the USPTO.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0051.
Form Number(s): PTO-2131, PTO-2132, PTO-2133.
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: 5,330 responses per year.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
the public approximately 15 minutes (0.25 hours) to one hour to
complete the information in this collection, including the time to
gather the necessary information, prepare the documents, and submit the
completed request to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 1,347 hours per
year.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $417,570 per year.
The USPTO expects that the information in this collection will be
prepared by attorneys. Using the professional rate of $310 per hour for
attorneys in private firms, the USPTO estimates that the respondent
cost burden for submitting the information in this collection will be
approximately $417,570 per year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Estimated
Item Estimated time for response annual annual burden
responses hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application for International Registration 15 minutes....................... 3,900 975
(PTO-2131).
Subsequent Designation (PTO-2132)............ 15 minutes....................... 400 100
Response to Notice of Irregularity (PTO-2133) 15 minutes....................... 1,000 250
Request that the USPTO Replace a U.S. 30 minutes....................... 4 2
Registration with a Subsequently Registered
Extension of Protection to the United States.
Request to Record an Assignment or 30 minutes....................... 5 3
Restriction of a Holder's Right to Dispose
of an International Registration.
Request that the USPTO Transform a Cancelled 15 minutes....................... 6 2
Extension of Protection into an Application
for Registration under Section 1 or 44 of
the Act.
Petition to Review Refusal to Certify an 1 hour........................... 15 15
International Application.
Affidavit of Continued Use or Excusable 15 minutes....................... (\1\) 0
Nonuse under Section 71 of the Act.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Total.................................... ................................. 5,330 1,347
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Not until Feb. 2010.
Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $529,701
per year. There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or recordkeeping
costs associated with this information collection. However, this
collection does have annual (non-hour) costs in the form of filing fees
and postage costs.
The USPTO charges fees for processing international applications
and related requests under the Madrid Protocol as set forth in 37 CFR
7.6. In addition to these USPTO fees, applicants must also pay
international filing fees to the IB as indicated in 37 CFR 7.7. The
USPTO estimates that the total filing fees in the form of USPTO
processing fees associated with this collection will be approximately
$529,650 per year as calculated in the accompanying table.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Estimated
Item annual Fee amount annual filing
responses costs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application for International Registration, for certifying an 2,000 $100.00 $200,000.00
international application based on a single basic application
or registration (per international class)......................
Application for International Registration, for certifying an 1,900 150.00 285,000.00
international application based on more than one basic
application or registration (per international class)..........
Subsequent Designation.......................................... 400 100.00 40,000.00
Response to Notice of Irregularity.............................. 1,000 0.00 0.00
Request that the USPTO Replace a U.S. Registration with a 4 100.00 400.00
Subsequently Registered Extension of Protection to the United
States (per international class)...............................
Request to Record an Assignment or Restriction of a Holder's 5 100.00 500.00
Right to Dispose of an International Registration..............
Request that the USPTO Transform a Cancelled Extension of 6 375.00 2,250.00
Protection into an Application for Registration under Section 1
or 44 of the Act...............................................
Petition to Review Refusal to Certify an International 15 100.00 1,500.00
Application....................................................
Affidavit of Continued Use or Excusable Nonuse under Section 71 \1\ 100.00 0.00
of the Act (per international class)...........................
-----------------------------------------------
[[Page 6271]]
Total....................................................... 5,330 .............. 529,650.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Not until Feb. 2010.
The public may submit the items in this collection to the USPTO by
mail through the United States Postal Service. The USPTO estimates that
approximately 1% (53 out of 5,300) of the international applications,
subsequent designations, and responses to notices of irregularities may
be filed on paper, and that 15 of the 30 responses for the other items
in this collection will also be filed on paper, for a total of
approximately 68 of the 5,330 total responses per year being submitted
by mail. The average first-class postage cost for a mailed submission
will be 75 cents, for a total postage cost of approximately $51 per
year.
The total non-hour respondent cost burden for this collection in
the form of filing fees and postage costs is estimated to be $529,701
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: January 30, 2009.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer,
Customer Information Services Group, Public Information Services
Division.
[FR Doc. E9-2539 Filed 2-5-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P