[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 231 (Tuesday, December 2, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71397-71399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28428]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Recording Assignments
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 February 2,
2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Email: [email protected]. Include ``0651-
0027 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
Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Joyce R. Johnson, Manager, Assignment Division,
Mail Stop 1450, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box
1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 703-756-1265; or by
email to [email protected]. Additional information about this
collection is also available at http://www.reginfo.gov under
``Information Collection Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
This collection of information is required by 35 U.S.C. 261 and 262
for patents and 15 U.S.C. 1057 and 1060 for trademarks. These statutes
authorize the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to
record patent and trademark assignment documents, including transfers
of properties (i.e. patents and trademarks), liens, licenses,
assignments of interest, security interests, mergers, and explanations
of transactions or other documents that record the transfer of
ownership of a particular patent or trademark property from one party
to another. Assignments are recorded for applications, patents, and
trademark registrations.
The USPTO administers these statutes through 37 CFR 2.146, 2.171,
and 37 CFR part 3. These rules permit the
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public, corporations, other federal agencies, and Government-owned or
Government-controlled corporations to submit patent and trademark
assignment documents and other documents related to title transfers to
the USPTO to be recorded. In accordance with 37 CFR 3.54, the recording
of an assignment document by the USPTO is an administrative action and
not a determination of the validity of the document or of the effect
that the document has on the title to an application, patent, or
trademark.
Once the assignment documents are recorded, they are available for
public inspection. The only exceptions are those documents that are
sealed under secrecy orders according to 37 CFR 3.58 or related to
unpublished patent applications maintained in confidence under 35
U.S.C. 122 and 37 CFR 1.14. The public uses these records to conduct
ownership and chain-of-title searches. The public may view these
records either at the USPTO Public Search Facilities or at the National
Archives and Records Administration, depending on the date they were
recorded. The public may also search patent and trademark assignment
information online through the USPTO Web site.
In order to file a request to record an assignment, the respondent
must submit an appropriate cover sheet along with copies of the
assignment documents to be recorded. The USPTO provides two paper forms
for this purpose, the Patent Recordation Form Cover Sheet (PTO-1595)
and the Trademark Recordation Form Cover Sheet (PTO-1594), which
capture all of the necessary data for accurately recording various
assignment documents. These forms may be downloaded in PDF format from
the USPTO Web site.
Customers may also submit assignments online by using the
Electronic Patent Assignment System (EPAS) and the Electronic Trademark
Assignment System (ETAS), which are available through the USPTO Web
site. These systems allow customers to fill out the required cover
sheet information online using web-based forms and then attach the
electronic assignment documents to be submitted for recordation.
II. Method of Collection
By mail, facsimile, hand delivery, or electronically to the USPTO.
III. Data
OMB Number: 0651-0027.
Form Number(s): PTO-1594 and PTO-1595.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other
for-profits; not-for-profit institutions; the Federal Government; and
state, local or tribal governments.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 524,298 responses per year.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take
the public approximately 30 minutes (0.5 hours) to prepare and submit a
patent or trademark assignment recordation request.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 262,150 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost Burden: 67,372,550 per year.
The USPTO expects that the information in this collection will be
prepared by both attorneys and paralegals. Using the estimated rates of
$389 per hour for attorneys in private firms and $125 per hour for
paraprofessionals, the USPTO estimates that the average rate for
respondents will be approximately $257 per hour. Therefore, the
estimated total respondent cost burden for this collection will be
approximately $67,372,550 per year.
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Estimated time
Item for response Estimated annual Estimated annual
(minutes) responses burden hours
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Patent Recordation Form Cover Sheet (PTO-1595)......... 30 8,219 4,110
Trademark Recordation Form Cover Sheet (PTO-1594)...... 30 1,430 715
Electronic Patent Assignment System (EPAS) (PTO-1595).. 30 480,804 240,402
Electronic Trademark Assignment System (ETAS) (PTO- 30 33,845 16,923
1594).................................................
====================
Totals............................................. ................. 524,298 262,150
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Estimated Total Annual Non-hour Respondent Cost Burden: $2,954,726.
This information collection has annual (non-hour) costs in the form of
filing fees and postage costs.
This collection has filing fees associated with submitting patent
and trademark assignment documents to be recorded. The filing fees for
recording patent and trademark assignments are the same for both paper
and electronic submissions. However, the filing cost for recording
patent or trademark assignments varies according to the number of
properties involved in each submission.
The filing fee for submitting a patent assignment as indicated by
37 CFR 1.21(h) is $40 per property for recording each document, while
the filing fee for submitting a trademark assignment as indicated by 37
CFR 2.6(b)(6) is $40 for recording the first property in a document and
$25 for each additional property in the same document. The USPTO
estimates that the average fee for a patent assignment recordation
request is approximately $80 and that the average fee for a trademark
assignment recordation request is approximately $65. As of January 1,
2014, the filing fee for electronically filled patent assignments was
changed to no cost. Therefore, this collection has an estimated total
of $2,950,395 in filing fees per year.
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Estimated annual Average fee Estimated annual
Item responses amount filing costs
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Patent Recordation Form Cover Sheet (PTO-1595)......... 8,219 $80.00 $657,520.00
Trademark Recordation Form Cover Sheet (PTO-1594)...... 1,430 65.00 92,950.00
Electronic Patent Assignment System (EPAS) (PTO-1595).. 480,804 0.00 0.00
Electronic Trademark Assignment System (ETAS) (PTO- 33,845 65.00 2,199,925.00
1594).................................................
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Totals............................................. 524,298 ................. 2,950,395.00
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[[Page 71399]]
Customers may incur postage costs when submitting a patent or
trademark assignment request to the USPTO by mail. The USPTO expects
that some assignment requests will be submitted by fax but that
approximately 4,921 (51%) of the 9,649 paper assignment requests per
year will be submitted by mail. The USPTO estimates that the average
first-class postage cost for a mailed Patent or Trademark Recordation
Form Cover Sheet submission is 88 cents, resulting in a total postage
cost of $4,331 per year for this collection.
The total (non-hour) respondent cost burden for this collection in
the form of filing fees and postage costs is estimated to be $2,954,726
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: November 20, 2014.
Marcie Lovett,
Records Management Division Director, USPTO, Office of the Chief
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-28428 Filed 12-1-14; 8:45 am]
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