[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 164 (Friday, August 23, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 52510]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20537]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will submit 
to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance the 
following proposal for collection of information under the provisions 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).
    Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
    Title: Post Allowance and Refiling.
    Form Number(s): PTO/SB/44/50/51/51S/52/53/56/141, PTO/AIA/05/06/07/
50/53, and PTOL-85B.
    Agency Approval Number: 0651-0033.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Burden: 191,690 hours annually.
    Number of Respondents: 352,150 responses per year.
    Avg. Hours Per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take the 
public from 12 minutes (0.20 hours) to 5 hours to gather the necessary 
information, prepare the appropriate form or document, and submit the 
information to the USPTO.
    Needs and Uses: The United States Patent and Trademark Office 
(USPTO) is required by 35 U.S.C. 131 and 151 to examine applications 
and, when appropriate, allow applications and issue them as patents. 
When an application for a patent is allowed by the USPTO, the USPTO 
issues a notice of allowance and the applicant must pay the specified 
issue fee (including the publication fee, if applicable) within three 
months to avoid abandonment of the application.
    This collection of information also encompasses several actions 
that may be taken after issuance of a patent, pursuant to Chapter 25 of 
Title 35 U.S.C. A certificate of correction may be requested to correct 
an error or errors in the patent. For an original patent that is 
believed to be wholly or partly inoperative or invalid, the assignee(s) 
or inventor(s) may apply for reissue of the patent, which entails 
several formal requirements, including provision of an oath or 
declaration specifically identifying at least one error being relied 
upon as the basis for reissue and stating the reason for the belief 
that the original patent is wholly or partly inoperative or invalid 
(e.g., a defective specification or drawing, or claiming more or less 
than the patentee had the right to claim in the patent).
    The public uses this information collection to request corrections 
of errors in issued patents, to submit applications for reissue 
patents, and to submit issue fee payments.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other 
for-profits; and not-for-profit institutions.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    OMB Desk Officer: Nicholas A. Fraser, email: Nicholas_A._Fraser@omb.eop.gov.
    Once submitted, the request will be publicly available in 
electronic format through the Information Collection Review page at 
www.reginfo.gov.
    Paper copies can be obtained by:
     Email: InformationCollection@uspto.gov. Include ``0651-
0033 copy request'' 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.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent on or before September 23, 2013 to Nicholas 
A. Fraser, OMB Desk Officer, via email to Nicholas_A._Fraser@omb.eop.gov, or by fax to 202-395-5167, marked to the attention 
of Nicholas A. Fraser.

    Dated: August 19, 2013.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-20537 Filed 8-22-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P