Justification for Nonmaterial/Nonsubstantive Change

JUSTIFICATION FOR NONMATERIAL/NONSUBSTANTIVE CHANGE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Post Allowance and Refiling
OMB CONTROL NUMBER 0651-0033
(December 2011)

Background
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is requesting an update to
information collection 0651-0033, “Post Allowance and Refiling.” The USPTO is
proposing to add a form associated with an information requirement that is currently
approved: Certificate of Correction.
The new form, Petition to Correct Assignee After Payment of Issue Fee
(37 CFR 3.81(b)) (PTO/SB/141), will be prepared and submitted electronically.
Automation of this item will allow the public to complete the form on a computer and
then use an interactive button on the form itself to submit the information to the USPTO
over the Internet. The electronic form will be convenient for customers while also
allowing the USPTO to process the petition more efficiently.
Chapter 25 of Title 35 U.S.C. provides for several actions that a patent owner may take
after issuance of a patent, including requesting a certificate of correction to correct an
error or errors in the patent. A patent owner typically requests a certificate of correction
(currently approved in this information collection) by submitting both: (i) an explanation
of why the indicated correction(s) should be approved, e.g., the mistake is clearly
disclosed in the records of the USPTO; and (ii) a Certificate of Correction form
(PTO/SB/44) identifying the number of the patent to be corrected and the correction(s)
to be made. If the USPTO determines that the request should be approved, the USPTO
issues a certificate of correction.
The public will be able to use the Petition to Correct Assignee After Payment of Issue
Fee (37 CFR 3.81(b)) as the explanation of why the indicated correction should be
approved, for those instances in which: (a) (i) patent issuance in the name of the
assignee is requested after the date of payment of the issue fee, or (ii) it is requested for
a patent to be corrected to state the name of the assignee; and (b) the assignment was
submitted for recordation before issuance of the patent. The petition requires the
submission of a request for certificate of correction, for which form PTO/SB/44 may be
used. The petition also requires a $130 fee under 37 CFR 1.17(i).

JUSTIFICATION FOR NONMATERIAL/NONSUBSTANTIVE CHANGE TO 0651-0033
(continued)

Summary of Changes
The USPTO is proposing to add one form to this collection, Petition to Correct Assignee
After Payment of Issue Fee (37 CFR 3.81(b)) (PTO/SB/141). This form is associated
with an existing information requirement, Certificate of Correction, that is currently
approved under 0651-0033. Customers may use the proposed form PTO/SB/141 as a
convenient way to provide the explanation required by the existing Certificate of
Correction (PTO/SB/44) in certain instances, as described above. No new information
is being collected.

Changes in Burden
The addition of the proposed form PTO/SB/141 will result in the following burden
changes for this information collection:
Burden Type
Responses
Hours
Annual (non-hour) costs

Currently approved Proposed change New estimates
217,184
500
217,684
124,359
250
124,609
$284,915,686
$65,000
$284,980,686

The USPTO estimates that it will receive 500 responses per year using form
PTO/SB/141, and that it will take the public approximately 30 minutes (0.50 hours) to
prepare and submit the information for each request. Therefore, this collection takes
an increase of 500 responses and 250 burden hours as a program change.
There is also a $130 fee associated with submitting form PTO/SB/141. Therefore, this
collection takes an increase of $65,000 in annual (non-hour) costs as a program
change.
The USPTO estimates that the proposed changes for this collection will result in the
following total burden changes:
•
•
•

Increase of 500 responses as a program change
Increase of 250 burden hours as a program change
Increase of $65,000 in annual (non-hour) costs as a program change

Therefore, this collection would have the following revised total burden:
•
•
•

217,684 responses
124,609 hours
$284,980,686 in annual (non-hour) costs

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