[Federal Register: October 8, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 196)]
[Notices]               
[Page 58943-58944]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08oc08-43]                         

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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: Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) Actions.
    Form Number(s): No forms.
    Agency Approval Number: 0651-00xx.
    Type of Request: New information collection.
    Burden: 773,895 hours annually. In the future, once this proposed 
collection and 0651-0031 are approved by the OMB, the USPTO expects to 
move the notices of appeal and requests for oral hearing before the 
BPAI into this collection. The USPTO estimates that this will add a 
minimum of 5,719 hours per year to this collection.
    Number of Respondents: 31,828 responses per year. The USPTO 
estimates that once the notices of appeal and requests for oral hearing 
before the BPAI are moved into this collection, a minimum of 28,595 
responses will be added to this collection.
    Avg. Hours Per Response: The USPTO estimates that it takes the 
public approximately 5 to 30 hours to complete this information, 
depending on the brief, petition, or request. This includes the time to 
gather the necessary information, prepare the briefs, petitions, and 
requests, and submit them to the USPTO. The USPTO estimates that it 
takes the public approximately 12 minutes (0.20 hours) to complete the 
notices of appeal and requests for oral hearing before the BPAI. Needs 
and Uses: This collection of information is required by 35 U.S.C. 134, 
135, 306, and 315 and is implemented through the appeal rules found in 
Part 41. The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences was established 
under 35 U.S.C. 6(b). This collection permits applicants and 
registrants to prepare appeal and reply briefs which set forth the 
claims, issues, and arguments on appeal to the BPAI and permits the 
filing of petitions requesting extensions of time to respond to the 
agency, petitions requesting an increase in the page limit of a brief, 
and requests for rehearing before the BPAI. The BPAI uses the 
information to aid in rendering a decision on the claims, issues, and 
arguments outlined in the appeal and reply briefs and to determine 
whether the petitions for extensions of time, the petitions to increase 
the page limit of a brief, and requests for rehearings before the BPAI 
should be granted. There are no forms associated with the items in this 
collection, but they are governed by the rules in Part 41. The Board 
publishes its opinions and decisions for publicly available files on 
the USPTO Web site.
    Affected Public: Primarily businesses or other for-profit 
organizations.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    OMB Desk Officer: Nicholas A. Fraser, e-mail: Nicholas_A._
Fraser@omb.eop.gov.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by any of the following:
     E-mail: Susan.Fawcett@uspto.gov. Include ``0651-00xx Board 
of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) Actions copy request'' 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, Customer Information Services Group, Public 
Information Services Division, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. 
Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be submitted on or before November 7, 2008 to 
Nicholas A. Fraser, OMB Desk Officer, via e-mail at Nicholas_A._
Fraser@omb.eop.gov or by fax (202) 395-5167, marked to the attention of 
Nicholas A. Fraser.


[[Page 58944]]


    Dated: October 2, 2008.
Susan K. Fawcett,
Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Customer Information Services Group,
 [FR Doc. E8-23810 Filed 10-7-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-16-P