[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 55 (Tuesday, March 23, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13728-13729]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-6312]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Practitioner Records Maintenance, Disclosure, and Discipline
Before the United States Patent and Trademark Office
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 May 21, 2010.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
E-mail: [email protected]. Include A0651-0017
Practitioner Records Maintenance, Disclosure and Discipline Before the
United States Patent and Trademark Office 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 Christine Nucker, Enrollment and
Discipline Administrator, United States Patent and Trademark Office,
Mail Stop OED, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone
at 571-272-6071; or by e-mail to [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO) has the authority to establish regulations governing the
conduct and discipline of agents, attorneys, or other persons
representing applicants and other parties before the USPTO (35 U.S.C.
2, 32 and 33). The USPTO Code of Professional Responsibility (37 CFR
10.20 to 10.112) describes how attorneys or practitioners should
conduct themselves professionally and outlines their responsibilities
for recordkeeping and reporting violations or complaints of misconduct
to the USPTO, while the Investigations and Disciplinary Proceedings
rules (37 CFR 11.19 to 11.61) dictate how the USPTO can discipline
attorneys and practitioners.
The USPTO Code of Professional Responsibility requires an attorney
or agent to maintain complete records of all funds, securities, and
other properties of clients coming into his or
[[Page 13729]]
her possession, and to render appropriate accounts to the client
regarding the funds, securities, and other properties. These
recordkeeping requirements are necessary to maintain the integrity of
client property. Each State Bar requires its attorneys to perform
similar record keeping.
The Code also requires an attorney or agent to report knowledge of
certain violations of the Code to the USPTO. If the complaint is found
to have merit, the USPTO will investigate and possibly prosecute
violations of the Code. The Director of the Office of Enrollment and
Discipline (OED) may, after notice and opportunity for a hearing,
suspend, exclude, or disqualify any practitioner from further practice
before the USPTO based on noncompliance with the regulations.
Practitioners who have been excluded or suspended from practice
before the USPTO must keep and maintain records of their steps to
comply with the suspension or exclusion order. These records serve as
the practitioner's proof of compliance with the order.
II. Method of Collection
By mail, facsimile, or hand delivery to the USPTO when an
individual is required to participate in the information collection.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0017.
Form Number(s): There are no forms associated with this collection.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other for
profits; not-for-profit institutions.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 635 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
the public approximately 2 to 40 hours, depending upon the complexity
of the situation, to gather the necessary information, maintain the
required records, prepare the complaint, and submit the various
documents in this information collection to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 12,330 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $1,275,120. At $100
per hour for a para-professional/clerical worker, the USPTO estimates
$1,197,000 per year for salary costs associated with respondents for
the recordkeeping requirements in this collection. For complaint/
violation reporting, the USPTO predicts that half of the complaints
will be filed by practitioners and that the remaining complaints will
be split evenly between non-legal professionals and semi-professionals
or skilled trades persons. The USPTO estimates that it will cost
practitioners $325 per hour, non-legal professionals $156 per hour, and
semi-professionals or skilled trades persons $60 per hour to submit a
complaint, for a weighted average rate of $217 per hour. Considering
these factors, the USPTO estimates $78,120 per year for salary costs
associated with filing a complaint, for a total annual respondent cost
burden of $1,275,120 per year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated time Estimated Estimated
Item for response annual annual burden
(in hours) responses hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recordkeeping Maintenance (including financial books and records 26 445 11,570
such as trust accounts, fiduciary accounts, operating accounts,
and advertisements)............................................
Recordkeeping Maintenance Under Suspension or Exclusion from the 40 10 400
USPTO..........................................................
Complaint/Violation Reporting................................... 2 180 360
-----------------------------------------------
Total........................................................... .............. 635 12,330
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) Respondent Cost Burden: $487.
There are no capital start-up costs, maintenance costs or filing fees
associated with this information collection. There are, however,
postage costs.
The public may submit the complaints in this collection to the
USPTO by mail through the United States Postal Service. If these
documents are sent by first-class mail, a certificate of mailing for
each piece of correspondence, stating the date of deposit or
transmission to the USPTO, may also be included. The USPTO expects that
180 complaints will be mailed to the USPTO with first-class postage,
with 50% or 90 complaints weighing 2 ounces at an average cost of 61
cents for a total of $55; and 50% or 90 complaints weighing 1 pound at
an average cost of $4.80 for a total of $432. Therefore, this
information collection has a total of $487 in annual (non-hour)
respondent cost burden.
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: March 16, 2010.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2010-6312 Filed 3-22-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P