[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 210 (Thursday, October 30, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64574-64576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-25866]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Program
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 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 December 29,
2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
E-Mail: InformationCollection@uspto.gov. Include ``0651-
0058 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
Mail: Marcie Lovett, Records Management Division Director,
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, Senior 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 email to Raul.Tamayo@uspto.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a framework in which an
application whose claims have been determined to be patentable by an
Office of Earlier Examination (OEE) is eligible to go through an
accelerated examination in an Office of Later Examination with a simple
procedure upon an applicant's request. By leveraging the search and
examination work product of the OEE, PPH programs (1) deliver lower
prosecution costs, (2) support applicants in their efforts to obtain
stable patent rights efficiently around the world, and (3) reduce the
search and examination burden, while improving the examination quality,
of participating patent offices.
Originally, the PPH programs were limited to the utilization of
search and examination results of national applications between cross
filings under the Paris Convention. Later, the potential of the PPH was
greatly expanded by PCT-PPH programs, which permit participating patent
offices to draw upon the positive results of the
[[Page 64575]]
PCT work product from another participating office. PCT-PPH programs
use international written opinions and international preliminary
examination reports developed within the framework of the PCT, thereby
making the PPH available to a larger number of applicants. Information
collected for the PCT is approved under OMB control number 0651-0021.
More recently, the USPTO and several other offices acted to
consolidate and replace existing PPH programs, with the goal of
streamlining the PPH process for both offices and applicants. To that
end, the USPTO and other offices established the Global PPH pilot
program and the IP5 PPH pilot program. The Global PPH and IP5 PPH pilot
programs are running concurrently and are substantially identical,
differing only with regard to their respective participating offices.
The USPTO is participating in both the Global PPH pilot program and the
IP5 PPH pilot program. For USPTO applications, the Global PPH and IP5
PPH pilot programs supersede any prior PPH program between the USPTO
and each Global PPH and IP5 PPH participating office. Any existing PPH
programs between the USPTO and offices that are not participating in
either the Global PPH pilot program or the IP5 PPH pilot program remain
in effect.
For more complete information on the PPH, including (1) a complete
identification of participating countries and offices and the programs
under which each country/office is participating, (2) the forms needed
to request entry into the PPH, both at the USPTO and other
participating offices, and (3) information as to which of the PPH
programs remain pilots and which have been made permanent, please visit
http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/pph/index.jsp.
The forms in this collection allow participants to file in a U.S.
application a request to make the U.S. application special under a PPH
or PCT-PPH program.
II. Method of Collection
Requests to participate in the PPH programs must be submitted
online using EFS-Web, the USPTO's web-based electronic filing system.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0058.
Form Number(s): PTO/SB/20GLBL/AT/AU/BR/CA/CN/CO/CZ/DE/DK/EP/ES/FI/
HU/IL/IS/JP/KR/MX/NI/NO/PH/PL/PT/RU/SG/TW/UK, and PTO/SB/20PCT-AT/PCT-
AU/PCT-CA/PCT-CN/PCT-EP/PCT-ES/PCT-FI/PCT-IL/PCT-JP/PCT-KR/PCT-NPI/PCT-
RU/PCT-SE/PCT-US.
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: 8,210 responses per year. The
USPTO estimates that approximately 10% of these responses will be from
small entities.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
the public approximately two hours to gather the necessary information,
prepare the appropriate form, and submit a completed request to the
USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 16,420 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: $6,387,380. The
USPTO expects that the information in this collection will be prepared
by attorneys. Using the professional rate of $389 per hour for
attorneys in private firms, the USPTO estimates that the total annual
respondent cost burden for this collection will be approximately
$6,387,380 per year.
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Estimated Estimated
Item Estimated time for response annual annual burden
responses hours
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Request for Participation in the Global/IP5 2 hours......................... 5000 10,000
PPH Pilot Program in the USPTO (PTO/SB/
20GLBL).
Intellectual Property Office of Australia 2 hours......................... 30 60
(IPAU), Form PTO/SB/20AU.
Austrian Patent Office (APO), Form PTO/SB/20AT 2 hours......................... 10 20
Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial 2 hours......................... 10 20
(Brazil)(INPI), Form PTO/SB/20BR.
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), 2 hours......................... 30 60
Form PTO/SB/20CA.
State Intellectual Property Office of the 2 hours......................... 80 160
P.R.C. (SIPO), Form PTO/SB/20CN.
Colombian Superintendence of Industry and 2 hours......................... 10 20
Commerce (SIC), Form PTO/SB/20CO.
Industrial Property Office of the Czech 2 hours......................... 10 20
Republic (IPOCZ), Form PTO/SB/20CZ.
Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO), 2 hours......................... 20 40
Form PTO/SB/20DK.
European Patent Office (EPO), Form PTO/SB/20EP 2 hours......................... 150 300
National Board of Patents and Registration of 2 hours......................... 10 20
Finland (NBPR), Form PTO/SB/20FI.
German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA), 2 hours......................... 40 80
Form PTO/SB/20DE.
Hungarian Patent Office (HPO), Form PTO/SB/ 2 hours......................... 10 20
20HU.
Icelandic Patent Office (IPO), Form PTO/SB/ 2 hours......................... 10 20
20IS.
Israeli Patent Office (ILPO), Form PTO/SB/20IL 2 hours......................... 10 20
Japan Patent Office (JPO), Form PTO/SB/20JP... 2 hours......................... 850 1700
Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), 2 hours......................... 150 300
Form PTO/SB/20KR.
Mexican Institute of Industrial Property 2 hours......................... 10 20
(IMPI), Form PTO/SB/20MX.
Nicaraguan Registry of Intellectual Property 2 hours......................... 10 20
(NRIP), Form PTO/SB/20NI.
Norwegian Industrial Property Office (NIPO), 2 hours......................... 10 20
Form PTO/SB/20NO.
Intellectual Property Office of the 2 hours......................... 10 20
Philippines (IPOPH), Form PTO/SB/PH.
Intellectual Property Office of the Republic 2 hours......................... 10 20
of Poland (UPRP) Form PTO/SB/20PL.
Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property 2 hours......................... 10 20
(INPI-PT), Form PTO/SB/PT.
[[Page 64576]]
Russian Federal Service for Intellectual 2 hours......................... 10 20
Property (ROSPATENT), Form PTO/SB/20RU.
Intellectual Property Office of Singapore 2 hours......................... 10 20
(IPOS), Form PTO/SB/20SG.
Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO), 2 hours......................... 10 20
Form PTO/SB/20ES.
Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO), 2 hours......................... 10 20
Form PTO/SB/20TW.
United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office 2 hours......................... 40 80
(UKIPO), Form PTO/SB/20UK.
U.S. Applications Where the USPTO was the ISA 2 hours......................... 200 400
or IPEA, Form PTO/SB/20PCT-US.
Intellectual Property Office of Australia 2 hours......................... 30 60
(IPAU), Form PTO/SB/20PCT-AU.
Austrian Patent Office (APO), Form PTO/SB/ 2 hours......................... 10 20
20PCT-AT.
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), 2 hours......................... 10 20
Form PTO/SB/20PCT-CA.
State Intellectual Property Office of the 2 hours......................... 80 160
P.R.C. (SIPO), Form PTO/SB/20PCT-CN.
European Patent Office (EPO), Form PTO/SB/ 2 hours......................... 550 1100
20PCT-EP.
National Board of Patents and Registration of 2 hours......................... 10 20
Finland (NBPR), Form PTO/SB/20PCT-FI.
Israeli Patent Office (ILPO), Form PTO/SB/ 2 hours......................... 10 20
20PCT-IL.
Japan Patent Office (JPO), Form PTO/SB/20PCT- 2 hours......................... 150 300
JP.
Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), 2 hours......................... 550 1100
Form PTO/SB/20PCT-KR.
Nordic Patent Institute (NPI), Form PTO/SB/ 2 hours......................... 10 20
20PCT-NPI.
Russian Federal Service for Intellectual 2 hours......................... 10 20
Property (ROSPATENT), Form PTO/SB/20PCT-RU.
Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO), 2 hours......................... 10 20
Form PTO/SB/20PCT-ES.
Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV), 2 hours......................... 10 20
Form PTO/SB/20PCT-SE.
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Totals.................................... ................................ 8,210 16,420
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Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $0. There
are no capital start-up, maintenance, or postage costs associated with
this collection. This collection also has no filing fees or
recordkeeping costs.
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: October 23, 2014.
Marcie Lovett,
Records Management Division Director, USPTO, Office of the Chief
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-25866 Filed 10-29-14; 8:45 am]
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