0055-JustStmt-propadd-final

SUPPORTING STATEMENT
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Proposed Addition to
Post Registration (Trademark Processing)
OMB CONTROL NUMBER 0651-0055

A.

JUSTIFICATION

1.

Necessity of Information Collection

This collection of information is required by the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1051 et
seq., which provides for the Federal registration of trademarks, service marks, collective
trademarks and service marks, collective membership marks, and certification marks.
Individuals and businesses that use or intend to use such marks in commerce may file
an application to register their marks with the United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO).
Such individuals and businesses may also submit various communications to the
USPTO, including requests to correct or amend their registrations. Registered marks
remain on the register for ten years and can be renewed, but will be canceled unless
the owner files with the USPTO a declaration attesting to the continued use (or
excusable non-use) of the mark in commerce within specific deadlines. Applicants may
also surrender a registration and in limited situations petition the Director to reinstate a
registration that has been cancelled or expired.
The rules implementing the Trademark Act are set forth in 37 CFR Part 2. These rules
require that each certificate of registration include a reproduction of the mark, the
particular goods and/or services for which it is registered, ownership information, dates
of use, the number and date of the registration, and certain other information. The
USPTO provides similar information concerning pending applications. The information
set forth in the register, and information provided in pending applications, can be
accessed through the USPTO web site by individuals and businesses to determine the
availability of a mark. By searching the USPTO’s database, parties may lessen the
likelihood of initiating use of a mark that was previously adopted by another party.
Additionally, the trademark registration process may lessen litigation between parties.
The forms in this information collection are available in electronic format through the
Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), which may be accessed on the
USPTO web site. The USPTO is proposing to add one form to this collection for
Section 7 Requests (PTO-1597). Registrants may use a Section 7 Request to request
a correction or amendment to the information appearing on the certificate of registration.
Requests for changes that would result in a material alteration of the registration are not
permitted under Section 7. Registrants may submit the proposed new form to the
USPTO electronically through TEAS or submit the required information for the Section 7
Request to the USPTO on paper. The USPTO does not provide official forms for paper
submissions.

Table 1 identifies the statutory and regulatory provisions that require the USPTO to
collect the information discussed above:
Table 1: Information Requirements for Section 7 Requests
Requirement

Statute

Section 7 Request

2.

15 U.S.C. § 1057

Rule
37 CFR Part 2

Needs and Uses

The USPTO uses the information described in this collection to process post registration
submissions. The information in this collection is a matter of public record and is used
by the public for a variety of private business purposes related to establishing and
enforcing trademark rights. The information is available at USPTO facilities, and also
can be accessed at the USPTO web site. Additionally, the USPTO provides the
information to other entities, including Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries
(PTDLs). The PTDLs maintain the information for use by the public.
The Information Quality Guidelines set forth in Section 515 of Public Law 106-554,
Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001, apply to
this information collection and comply with all applicable information quality guidelines,
i.e., OMB and specific operating unit guidelines.
This proposed collection of information will result in information that will be collected,
maintained, and used in a way consistent with all applicable OMB and USPTO
Information Quality Guidelines.
Table 2 lists the information identified in this collection and explains how this information
is used by the public and by the USPTO:
Table 2: Needs and Uses of Section 7 Requests
Form and Function
Section 7 Request

Form #
PTO-1597

Needs and Uses
•
•

3.

Used by the public to request a correction or amendment to the
information on a certificate of registration.
Used by the USPTO to review requests for corrections or
amendments and determine whether the change is acceptable
or would result in a material alteration of the registration.

Use of Information Technology

The USPTO currently offers four IT systems in support of this collection that are
accessible through the online Trademark Electronic Business Center (TEBC). The
TEBC provides descriptions of the systems, and the systems feature online “help”
programs. Thus, the USPTO offers the public a single source for a variety of IT
systems useful both for making submissions to the USPTO and for tracking the status of
these submissions.

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The USPTO provides online electronic forms, including that for filing a Section 7
Request, through the web-accessible Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).
Once completed, TEAS forms are transmitted to the USPTO via the Internet. The
TEAS forms include “help” instructions, as well as a “Form Wizard” that tailors the form
to the particular characteristics of the application or registration in question, based on
responses provided by the user to questions posed by the “Wizard.” The forms filed are
received within seconds after transmission, and a confirmation of filing is immediately emailed to the user.
Users do not affix digital signatures to the TEAS forms. Instead, these forms are signed
using a combination of alphanumeric characters that the user selects and types
between two forward slashes. TEAS forms can be signed in this manner, or the text
form of the application can be e-mailed to a second party who can then electronically
sign the application. The forms can also be signed by printing the signature page of the
form, signing it in ink, scanning the signed page, and then transmitting the entire form
and scanned signature page to the USPTO.
Please note that electronic forms can only be submitted via TEAS; filers may not e-mail
their own forms to the USPTO. Additionally, filers who submit drawings of marks that
are not “standard character” drawings must attach digitized images of these drawings to
their submissions.
The USPTO maintains an online image database of the electronic trademark application
or registration file wrapper entitled the Trademark Document Retrieval (TDR) system.
The USPTO also maintains an online system called the Trademark Application and
Registration Retrieval (TARR) system, which provides users with information regarding
the status of trademark applications and registrations. The data in the TARR system is
updated daily.
The USPTO provides a web-based record of registered marks, and marks for which
applications for registration have been submitted, called the Trademark Electronic
Search System (TESS). TESS can be used by potential applicants for trademark
registration to assist in the determination of whether or not a particular mark may be
available. The data in TESS is identical to the data reviewed by examining attorneys at
the USPTO in their determination of whether marks for which registration is sought are
confusingly similar to marks in existing registrations or to marks in pending applications
for registration. TESS allows for the user to choose from four different search tools, is
updated daily, and is easy to use.
4.

Efforts to Identify Duplication

This information is collected only when an applicant submits a Section 7 Request. This
collection does not solicit any data already available at the USPTO and does not create
a duplication of effort.

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5.

Minimizing the Burden to Small Entities

The USPTO believes that the submission of the information provided places no undue
burden on small businesses or other small entities. The same information is required
from every customer and is not available from any other source.
6.

Consequences of Less Frequent Collection

This information collection could not be conducted less frequently, since the information
is collected only when voluntarily submitted by the public. If the information were not
collected, the public would not be able to submit Section 7 Requests for a correction or
amendment to the information appearing on the certificate of registration.
7.

Special Circumstances in the Conduct of Information Collection

There are no special circumstances associated with this collection of information.
8.

Consultation Outside the Agency

The 60-Day Notice was published in the Federal Register on November 1, 2007 (72
Fed. Reg. 61868). The public comment period ended on December 31, 2007. No
public comments were received.
Large and well-organized bar associations frequently communicate their views to the
USPTO. Also, the Trademark Public Advisory Committee (T-PAC) was created by the
American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 to advise the Director of the USPTO on the
agency’s operations, including its goals, performance, budget, and user fees. T-PAC
includes nine voting members who are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the
Secretary of Commerce. The statute also provides non-voting membership on the
Committee for the agency’s three recognized unions. Members include inventors,
lawyers, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and academicians with significant
experience in management, finance, science, technology, labor relations, and
intellectual property issues. The members of T-PAC reflect the broad array of USPTO’s
stakeholders and embrace the USPTO’s e-government initiative. This diversity of
interests is an effective tool in helping the USPTO nurture and protect the intellectual
property that is the underpinning of America’s strong economy.
9.

Payment or Gifts to Respondents

This information collection does not involve a payment or gift to any respondent.
10.

Assurance of Confidentiality

Trademark applications and registrations are open to public inspection. Confidentiality
is not required in the processing of trademark applications.

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Apart from the substantive components and burden statements, the TEAS forms also
include a link to the USPTO’s Web Privacy Policy. The “Privacy Policy Statement” link
is located above the PRA Burden Statement found at the end of the “Wizard” and at the
end of the forms themselves. The Web Privacy Policy Statement explains how the
USPTO handles any personal information collected from the public through the web
site, and how it handles e-mails. Additionally, the statement also explains what
information is collected through the USPTO’s Kids Pages, and whether and why the
USPTO uses cookies to collect information.
11.

Justification for Sensitive Questions

None of the required information in this collection is considered to be of a sensitive
nature.
12.

Estimate of Hour and Cost Burden to Respondents

Table 3 calculates the anticipated burden hours and costs of this information collection
to the public, based on the following factors:
•

Respondent Calculation Factors
The USPTO estimates that it will receive approximately 133,587 responses per year for
this collection, including 3,800 responses per year for Section 7 Requests.

•

Burden Hour Calculation Factors
The USPTO estimates that the public will require approximately 20 to 23 minutes (0.33
to 0.38 hours) to supply the information required for a Section 7 Request, depending
upon the amount and type of information requested in a particular case.

•

Cost Burden Calculation Factors
The professional rate of $304 per hour used in this submission to calculate respondent
cost burden is the median rate for associate attorneys in private forms as published in
the 2005 report of the Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American
Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). This report summarized the results of a
survey with data on hourly billing rates. This is a full-loaded hourly rate.
The USPTO expects that the information in this collection will primarily be prepared by
attorneys, though some submissions may be prepared by pro se registrants.

Table 3: Burden Hour/Burden Cost to Respondents for Section 7 Requests
Item

Hours
(a)

Responses
(yr)
(b)

Burden
(hrs/yr)
(c)
(a) x (b)

Rate
($/hr)
(d)

Total Cost
($/hr)
(e)
(c) x (d)

Section 7 Request (TEAS)

0.33

1,900

627

$304.00

$190,608.00

Section 7 Request (paper)

0.38

1,900

722

$304.00

$219,488.00

Total

- - - -

3,800

1,349

- - - -

$410,096.00

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The proposed addition to this information collection, plus the approved burden in the
current inventory, will result in the total burden estimates shown below:
Current inventory responses = 129,787
Current inventory burden hours = 19,748
Current inventory burden hour costs (at current $304 hourly rate) = $6,003,392
Impact on responses due to the proposed addition = increase of 3,800
Impact on burden hours due to the proposed addition = increase of 1,349
Impact on burden hour costs due to the proposed addition = increase of $410,096
Total estimated responses after the proposed addition = 133,587
Total estimated burden hours after the proposed addition = 21,097
Total estimated burden hour costs after the proposed addition = $6,413,488
13.

Total Annualized Cost Burden

There are no capital start-up or maintenance costs associated with this information
collection. However, there are additional filing fees and postage costs associated with
the Section 7 Requests being added to this collection.
There is a $100 filing fee for Section 7 Requests unless the correction is due to a
USPTO error, in which case there is no fee. The USPTO estimates that approximately
2,533 of the 3,800 expected Section 7 Requests would require the fee, for a total of
$253,300 in filing fees being added to this collection due to these requests.
Customers may incur postage costs when submitting a Section 7 Request to the
USPTO by mail. The USPTO estimates that it may receive up to 1,900 mailed
submissions per year with an estimated postage cost of 41 cents per response, for a
total of $779 in postage costs being added to this collection due to these requests.
The Section 7 Requests being added to this collection have an annual (non-hour) cost
of $254,079 in the form of filing fees and postage costs. When added to the previously
approved burden for this collection, the total annual (non-hour) costs for this collection
would be $38,432,104.
Currently approved annual (non-hour) costs = $38,178,025
Impact due to the proposed addition = increase of $254,079
Total estimated annual (non-hour) costs after the proposed addition = $38,432,104
14.

Annual Cost to the Federal Government

The USPTO estimates that it takes the combined efforts of a GS-9, step 5 and a GS-11,
step 5 employee approximately 30 minutes (0.50 hours) to process a Section 7 Request
submitted online via TEAS and 40 minutes (0.67 hours) to process a paper submission.
The hourly rate for a GS-9, step 5 is currently $26.13 and for a GS-11, step 5 is
currently $31.61, for an average hourly rate of $28.87. When 30% is added to account
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for a fully-loaded hourly rate (benefits and overhead), the estimated hourly rate for
processing these items is $37.53 ($28.87 + $8.66).
Table 4 calculates the processing hours and costs of this information collection to the
Federal Government:
Table 4: Burden Hour/Burden Cost to the Federal Government for Section 7 Requests
Item

Hours
(a)

Responses
(yr)
(b)

Burden
(hrs/yr)
(c)
(a) x (b)

Rate
($/hr)
(d)

Total Cost
($/hr)
(e)
(c) x (d)

Section 7 Request (TEAS)

0.50

1,900

950

$37.53

$35,654.00

Section 7 Request (paper)

0.67

1,900

1,273

$37.53

$47,776.00

- - - - -

3,800

2,223

- - - - -

$83,430.00

Total

Current government cost burden = $237,984
Impact due to the proposed addition = increase of $83,430
Total estimated government cost burden after the proposed addition = $321,414
15.

Reason for Change in Burden

This information collection is currently approved by OMB with a total of 129,787
responses and 19,748 burden hours per year. Due to the proposed addition of the
Section 7 Request (PTO-1597), the USPTO estimates that the annual responses will be
133,587 and the annual burden hours will be 21,097, which is an increase of 3,800
responses and 1,349 burden hours from the currently approved burden for this
collection. This burden increase is due to a program change resulting from the addition
of these new forms. There is no change for the remaining items in this collection.
Therefore, this information collection would have a total burden increase of 1,349
hours due to program changes.
This collection is currently approved with an estimated 19,748 burden hours, which
results in a respondent cost burden of $6,003,392 when calculated at the revised hourly
rate for attorneys of $304. The proposed additions to this collection would increase the
respondent cost burden by $410,096, up to $6,413,488, due to the increase of 1,349
burden hours from the new forms and the increase in the estimated hourly rate for
attorneys from $286 to $304.
For this proposed addition, the USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) costs
will increase by $254,079, from $38,178,025 to $38,432,104 per year. This increase is
due to the addition of filing fees and postage costs for Section 7 Requests. Therefore,
this collection has an increase in annual (non-hour) cost burden of $254,079 as a
program change.
[Note: The previously approved estimate of $38,178,025 in annual costs for this
collection is listed as $38,178,000 in the current inventory. The $25 difference is due to
rounding the estimate to the nearest thousand dollars in order to accommodate the
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legacy inventory system. This rounded figure was carried over when the legacy data
was migrated to the current inventory system. Consequently, the estimated increase of
$254,079 in annual cost burden for this submission results in a new total annual cost
burden of $38,432,079, as explained above.]
16.

Project Schedule

The USPTO does not intend to publish this information for statistical use.
17.

Display of Expiration Date of OMB Approval

The forms in this information collection will display the OMB Control Number and the
expiration date of OMB’s approval.
18.

Exception to the Certificate Statement

This collection of information does not include any exceptions to the certificate
statement.

B.

COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

This collection of information does not employ statistical methods.

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REFERENCES

A.
B.
C.
D.

The USPTO Information Quality Guidelines
Section 7 Request (Form PTO-1597)
60-Day Notice published in the Federal Register on November 1, 2007 (72 Fed.
Reg. 61868)
The USPTO Web Privacy Policy

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