[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 218 (Friday, November 13, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58599-58600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-27331]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Electronic Response to Office Action and Preliminary Amendment
Forms
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 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 January 12,
2010.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
* E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``0651-0050 Electronic
Response to Office Action and Preliminary Amendment Forms collection
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, 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 the attention of Janis Long, Attorney Advisor,
Office of the Commissioner for Trademarks, United States Patent and
Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450, by
telephone at 571-272-9573, or by e-mail to [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), pursuant to
the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq. and Chapter 37 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, issues Office Actions in which it requests that
applicants for trademark registration furnish information that is
required for the issuance of a registration but that was not provided
with the initial submission of the application for registration. The
Response to Office Action form may be used to reply to an Office Action
that was issued in connection with an application for registration or
after the submission of a Statement of Use.
Additionally, applicants may supplement their applications by
providing additional information voluntarily. When such information is
provided before the USPTO has reviewed the application, the submission
is in the nature of a Preliminary Amendment.
The Request for Reconsideration after Final Action is filed after
issuance of a final Office Action but before the deadline for filing an
appeal. Filing the Request for Reconsideration early in the six-month
response period can eliminate the need for some appeals or petitions
and reduce the need for remands and transfers of applications on
appeal.
Applicants may also file a Post Publication Amendment in order to
submit a proposed amendment to an application that has already been
approved for publication by the examining attorney. If an applicant
receives a Suspension Inquiry or Letter of Suspension from the USPTO,
the applicant may use the response form to file a reply.
II. Method of Collection
The forms in this collection are available in electronic format
through the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), which may
be accessed on the USPTO Web site. Applicants may also submit the
information in paper form by mail, fax or hand delivery.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0050.
Form Number(s): PTO Forms 1771, 1822, 1957, 1960 and 1966.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Primarily business or other for-profit
organizations.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 208,360 per year.
Estimated Time Per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
approximately 10 minutes (0.17 hours) to 23 minutes (0.38 hours) to
gather the necessary information, create the document, and submit the
completed request, depending on whether the information is submitted
electronically or on paper.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 57,416 hours per
year.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $17,798,960. The
USPTO believes that attorneys will complete the information in this
collection. The professional hourly rate for attorneys in private firms
is $310. This is a fully-loaded hourly rate. Therefore, the USPTO
estimates that the respondent cost burden for this collection will be
approximately $17,798,960 per year.
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Estimated Estimated
Item Estimated time for response annual annual burden
responses hours
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Response to Office Action (TEAS).............. 17 minutes...................... 165,000 46,200
Preliminary Amendment (TEAS).................. 17 minutes...................... 11,000 3,080
Request for Reconsideration after Final Action 17 minutes...................... 16,500 4,620
(TEAS).
Post Publication Amendment (TEAS)............. 20 minutes...................... 3,600 1,188
Post Publication Amendment (paper)............ 23 minutes...................... 720 274
Response to Suspension Inquiry or Letter of 10 minutes...................... 9,700 1,649
Suspension (TEAS).
Response to Suspension Inquiry or Letter of 13 minutes...................... 1,840 405
Suspension (paper).
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TOTAL..................................... ................................ 208,360 57,416
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Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) Respondent Cost Burden: $1,126.
There are no capital start-up, operation, maintenance or record keeping
costs, nor are there filing fees associated with this information
collection.
Customers incur postage costs when submitting non-electronic
information to the USPTO by mail through the United States Postal
Service. The USPTO estimates that the majority of submissions for these
paper forms are
[[Page 58600]]
made via first class mail at a cost of 44 cents per submission.
Therefore, the total estimated postage cost for this collection is
$1,126 (2560 responses x $0.44).
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, including through 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 will also become a matter of public record.
Dated: November 5, 2009.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. E9-27331 Filed 11-12-09; 8:45 am]
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