0651-0055 AC49 CWS May 2012

JUSTIFICATION FOR NONMATERIAL/NONSUBSTANTIVE CHANGE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Post Registration (Trademark Processing)
OMB Control Number 0651-0055
May 24, 2012

Background
Information collection 0651-0055 was approved by OMB on June 9, 2009. Since then, the
USPTO proposed rulemaking changes impacting that collection through RIN 0651-AC49,
“Changes in Requirements for Specimens and for Affidavits or Declarations of Continued Use or
Excusable Nonuse in Trademark Cases.” The USPTO submitted an Information Collection
Request (ICR) associated with this proposed rule and on September 1, 2011 it was preapproved by OMB. The Notice of Final Rulemaking for RIN 0651-AC49 was published in the
Federal Register on May 22, 2012 (77 Fed. Reg. 30197), and OMB updated the pre-approval in
their ROCIS system so the changes since the NPRM could be entered.
Three non-substantive changes to the collection were made between the proposed rule stage
and the final rule stage. This request for an interim change is made to update the inventory with
those changes:
One change associated with the rulemaking:
 Adjust the burden estimates for Response to Office Action for Post-Registration
Pilot
Two changes associated with administrative adjustments:
 Update the hourly rate for attorneys from $325 to $340
 Adjust the postage cost to reflect the new postage rates in effect January 22,
2012

Summary of Changes
Burden estimates for Response to Office Action for Post Registration Matters
Two changes were made to address comments received in response to the Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (NPRM). Regarding a comment that the amount of time required to comply under
the pilot may be greater than for a typical post registration response, the USPTO has increased
the estimated burden time for submissions under the pilot to one hour. As an additional means
of alleviating the potential burden to trademark owners, only approximately 500 registrations will
be selected for the pilot to assess the accuracy and integrity of the register instead of the
original 3,165 registrations proposed in the NPRM. With the reduction in the number of
responses and the increase in estimated burden time for submissions, the Office estimates that
the Final Rule will reduce the paperwork burden from 1,120 hours to 485 hours due to a
program change.
Update of Hourly Rate for Attorneys
The USPTO is updating the professional hourly rate (which was previously calculated at $325)
to $340 per hour for respondent cost burden calculations. This is the median rate for attorneys
in private firms as shown in the 2011 Report of the Economic Survey, published by the

Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American Intellectual Property Law
Association (AIPLA).
The respondent cost burden based on the $325 professional hourly rate was previously
calculated at $364,000 during the proposed rulemaking, but is now being adjusted to reflect the
current estimate from the AIPLA Report. The respondent cost burden is now $164,900,
reflecting a decrease of $199,100 from the previous $364,000.
Item

Hours
(a)

Responses
(yr)
(b)

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

Rate
($/hr)
(d)

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

Response to Office Action for Post-Registration
Pilot (TEAS Global)

0.95

300

285

$340.00

$96,900.00

Response to Office Action for Post-Registration
Pilot (Paper)

1 hour

200

200

$340.00

$68,000.00

Total

- - - -

500

485

- - - -

$164,900.00

Update of Postage Costs
Postage was previously calculated at $557 in the NPRM, but is now being adjusted to reflect the
reduction in submissions in addition to an increase in the United States Postal Service rates as
of January 22, 2012, from 44 cents for first-class mail to 45 cents, for a total estimated (nonhour) cost burden of $90, as noted in the Final Rulemaking.
Change in Annual Cost to the Federal Government
Since only approximately 500 registrations will be selected for the pilot to assess the accuracy
and integrity of the register instead of the original 3,165 registrations proposed in the NPRM, the
responses have been reduced accordingly by 2,665 in the Annual Cost to the Federal
Government Section, for a total cost to the Federal Government of $3,278 instead of $20,771.
Summary of Changes in Burden
The changes in responses, hourly rate for attorneys, and postage costs will result in the
following burden changes for this information collection since the NPRM.
Burden Type

Responses
Hours
Annual (non-hour) Costs

Currently
Approved

Impact of
NPRM

Proposed
Change

Impact of
Final Rule

New Estimates

130,301

3,165

(2,665)

500

127,636

18,586

1,120

(635)

485

17,951

41,794,314

557

(467)

90

41,793,847

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

127,636 responses
17,951 burden hours
$41,793,847 in annual (non-hour) costs
2