The USPTO is required by 35 U.S.C. 131 and 151 to examine applications and issue them as patents when appropriate. The applicant must then pay the required issue fee to receive the patent and avoid abandonment of the application. The USPTO can also correct errors in patents and reissue patents as appropriate. The public uses this information collection to pay fees for issuing patents, to request corrections of errors in issued patents, to apply for reissue patents, and to ensure that the necessary fees and documentation are submitted to the USPTO. This collection previously included information requirements related to patent reexaminations. These items are being removed from this collection and were approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in February 2010 as a separate new collection, 0651-0064 Patent Reexaminations.
The changes in annual responses, burden hours, and annual costs for this ICR are due to both program changes and administrative adjustments. There are decreases in annual responses and burden hours due to deleting items related to patent reexaminations from this collection. There are additional decreases in annual responses due to adjustments to the estimated filings expected for the items in this collection, but an overall increase in the estimated burden hours due to adjustments to the estimated time for the public to submit some of the information in this collection. The increase in annual cost burden for this ICR is primarily due to increased fees for issued patents and reissue applications as well as adjustments to estimated postage and record keeping costs. These increases are partially offset by decreases from deleting items related to patent reexaminations from this collection as well as decreases in estimated annual responses (and their associated costs) for some items in this collection.
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.
Certificate of Correction