The general purpose of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is to standardize the format and filing procedures so that applicants may file one international application in one location, in one language, and pay one initial set of fees to seek protection for an invention in more than 100 designated countries. This collection of information is necessary so that respondents can apply for an international patent and so that the USPTO can fulfill its duties to process, search, and examine international patent applications under the provisions of the PCT.
The USPTO is updating this information collection to reflect the current practice and fee structure for PCT applications entering the national stage at the USPTO. The net decrease of 6,051 burden hours is due to both program changes from requirements being added and deleted from this collection to match the current PCT practice and administrative adjustments due to revised estimates of the number of expected filings for this collection. This collection also has a net increase in annual (non-hour) cost burden of $110,158,233 due to several factors, including changes in the estimated number of filings, updates to the fee structure for PCT-related requests, and the availability of electronic filing for PCT submissions.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.