[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 90 (Tuesday, May 10, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27020-27022]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-11378]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Representative and Address Provisions
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 July 11, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0035 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: http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Raul Tamayo, 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 e-mail to [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
Under 35 U.S.C. 2 and 37 CFR 1.31-1.36, a patent applicant or
assignee of record may grant power of attorney to a person who is
registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) to act for them in a patent or application. A power of
attorney may also be revoked, and a registered practitioner may also
withdraw as attorney or agent of record under 37 CFR 1.36. The rules of
practice (37 CFR 1.33) also provide for the applicant, assignee, or
practitioner of record to supply a correspondence address and daytime
telephone number for receiving notices, official letters, and other
communications from the USPTO. Maintaining a correct and updated
correspondence address is necessary so that official correspondence
from the USPTO related to a patent or application will be properly
received by the applicant, assignee, or practitioner.
The USPTO's Customer Number practice permits applicants, assignees,
and practitioners of record to change the correspondence address or
representatives of record for a number of patents or applications with
one change request instead of filing separate requests for each patent
or application.
[[Page 27021]]
Customers may request a Customer Number from the USPTO and associate
this Customer Number with a correspondence address or a list of
registered practitioners. Any changes to the address or practitioner
information associated with a Customer Number will be applied to all
patents and applications associated with that Customer Number.
The Customer Number practice is optional, in that changes of
correspondence address or power of attorney may be filed separately for
each patent or application without using a Customer Number. However, a
Customer Number associated with the correspondence address for a patent
application is required in order to access private information about
the application using the Patent Application Information Retrieval
(PAIR) system, which is available through the USPTO Web site. The PAIR
system gives authorized individuals secure online access to application
status information, but only for patent applications that are linked to
a Customer Number. Customer Numbers may be associated with U.S. patent
applications as well as international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
applications. The use of a Customer Number is also required in order to
grant power of attorney to more than ten practitioners or to establish
a separate ``fee address'' for maintenance fee purposes that is
different from the correspondence address for a patent or application.
In addition to the forms offered by the USPTO to assist customers
with providing the information in this collection, customers may also
format requests using a Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet to designate
or change the correspondence address or fee address for a list of
patents or applications by associating them with a Customer Number. The
Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet must be submitted to the USPTO on a
computer-readable diskette or compact disc (CD), accompanied by a
signed cover letter requesting entry of the address changes for the
listed patents and applications. The spreadsheet and cover letter must
be mailed to the USPTO and cannot be filed electronically. Customers
may download a Microsoft Excel template with instructions from the
USPTO Web site to assist them in preparing the spreadsheet in the
proper format. The Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet may not be used
to change the power of attorney for patents or applications.
This information collection includes the information necessary to
submit a request to grant or revoke power of attorney for an
application, patent, or reexamination proceeding, and for a registered
practitioner to withdraw as attorney or agent of record. This
collection also includes the information necessary to change the
correspondence address for an application, patent, or reexamination
proceeding, to request a Customer Number and manage the correspondence
address and list of practitioners associated with a Customer Number,
and to designate or change the correspondence address or fee address
for one or more patents or applications by using a Customer Number.
II. Method of Collection
By mail, facsimile, hand delivery, or electronically to the USPTO.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0035.
Form Number(s): PTO/SB/80/81/81A/81B/81C/83/84, PTO/SB/122/123/
123A/123B/124/125, and PTO-2248.
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: 592,315 responses per year.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
the public approximately 3 minutes (0.05 hours) to 1.5 hours to submit
the information in this collection, including the time to gather the
necessary information, prepare the appropriate form or document, and
submit the completed request to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 33,867 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $4,167,705. The
USPTO expects that Requests for Withdrawal as Attorney or Agent and the
two petitions in this collection will be prepared by attorneys, while
the other items in this collection will be prepared by
paraprofessionals. Using the professional rate of $325 per hour for
attorneys in private firms, the USPTO estimates that the respondent
cost burden for submitting the withdrawal requests and the petitions
will be $57,525 per year. Using the paraprofessional rate of $122 per
hour, the USPTO estimates that the respondent cost burden for
submitting the other items in this collection will be $4,110,180 per
year. The estimated total respondent cost burden for this collection is
$4,167,705 per year.
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Estimated Estimated
Item Estimated time for response annual annual burden
responses hours
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Power of Attorney to Prosecute Applications 3 minutes....................... 3,600 180
Before the USPTO (PTO/SB/80).
Power of Attorney or Revocation of Power of 3 minutes....................... 433,000 21,650
Attorney with a New Power of Attorney and
Change of Correspondence Address (PTO/SB/81).
Patent--Power of Attorney or Revocation of 3 minutes....................... 500 25
Power of Attorney with a New Power of
Attorney and Change of Correspondence Address
(PTO/SB/81A).
Reexamination--Patent Owner Power of Attorney 3 minutes....................... 400 20
or Revocation of Power of Attorney with a New
Power of Attorney and Change of
Correspondence Address (PTO/SB/81B).
Reexamination--Third Party Requester Power of 3 minutes....................... 100 5
Attorney or Revocation of Power of Attorney
with a New Power of Attorney and Change of
Correspondence Address (PTO/SB/81C).
Request for Withdrawal as Attorney or Agent 12 minutes...................... 760 152
and Change of Correspondence Address (PTO/SB/
83).
Authorization to Act in a Representative 3 minutes....................... 1,400 70
Capacity (PTO/SB/84).
Petition Under 37 CFR 1.36(a) to Revoke Power 1 hour.......................... 15 15
of Attorney by Fewer than All the Applicants.
Petition to Waive 37 CFR 1.32(b)(4) and Grant 1 hour.......................... 10 10
Power of Attorney by Fewer than All the
Applicants.
Change of Correspondence Address for 3 minutes....................... 140,000 7,000
Application or Patent (PTO/SB/122/123).
Patent Owner Change of Correspondence Address-- 3 minutes....................... 130 7
Reexamination Proceeding (PTO/SB/123A).
[[Page 27022]]
Third Party Requester Change of Correspondence 3 minutes....................... 90 5
Address--Reexamination Proceeding (PTO/SB/
123B).
Request for Customer Number Data Change (PTO/ 12 minutes...................... 2,400 480
SB/124).
Request for Customer Number (PTO/SB/125)...... 12 minutes...................... 7,100 1,420
Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet............ 1 hour and 30 minutes........... 1,700 2,550
Request to Update a PCT Application with a 15 minutes...................... 1,110 278
Customer Number (PTO-2248).
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Totals.................................... ................................ 592,315 33,867
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Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $64,916.
There are no capital start-up, maintenance, or recordkeeping costs
associated with this information collection. However, this collection
does have annual (non-hour) cost burden in the form of filing fees and
postage costs.
The two petitions in this collection have associated filing fees.
The filing fee for both the Petition Under 37 CFR 1.36(a) to Revoke
Power of Attorney by Fewer than All the Applicants and the Petition to
Waive 37 CFR 1.32(b)(4) and Grant Power of Attorney by Fewer than All
the Applicants is currently $400 (37 CFR 1.17(f)). Using the $400 fee
for the 25 responses for these petitions, the USPTO estimates that the
total filing fees for this collection will be $10,000 per year.
The public may incur postage costs when submitting the information
in this collection to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO estimates that the
average first-class postage cost for a mailed submission will be 88
cents for all items except for the Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet
and that approximately 59,062 of the non-spreadsheet items will be
submitted to the USPTO by mail. Due to the additional materials
required for Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet submissions, including
the diskette or CD and cover letter, the USPTO estimates that the
average first-class postage cost for the 1,700 spreadsheet submissions
will be $1.73. Therefore, the total estimated postage cost for this
collection is approximately $54,916 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 $64,916
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: May 5, 2011.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-11378 Filed 5-9-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P