The Board of Patent and Appeals (BPAI)
has the authority under 35 U.S.C. Sections 134 and 306 to review ex
parte appeals. This information collection was approved by OMB on
December 22, 2009 and was limited to the current rule. Since then,
the USPTO proposed rulemaking changes that impacted the collection
through a NPRM entitled, "Rules of Practice Before the Board of
Patent Appeals and Interferences in Ex Parte Appeals" (RIN
0651-AC37). The USPTO submitted an Information Collection Request
(ICR) associated with this proposed rule, which was pre-approved on
January 4, 2011. The Notice of Final Rulemaking for RIN 0651-AC37
was published on November 22, 2011 and the pre-approval was
activated. There are three non-substantive changes to the
collection made between the proposed rule stage and the final rule
stage. The USPTO is requesting this interim change to update the
inventory with those changes, which includes an updated burden
estimate for the appeal briefs, an updated hourly attorney rate,
and updated filing fees to account for the new 15% surcharge
imposed by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act.
The increases in the burden
hours and the annual (non-hour) costs for this collection are due
to program changes. The increases in the burden hours are due to a
Notice of Final Rulemaking, "Rules of Practice Before the Board of
Patent Appeals and Interferences in Ex Parte Appeals." The
increases in the annual (non-hour) costs are due to the Leahy-Smith
America Invents Act, which imposes a 15% surcharge on the filing
fees.
$682,899
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Linda Horner 571
272-9797
No
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.