Pre-approval
contingent upon no substantive changes to this collection after
adoption of the final rule. Otherwise this collection should be
re-submitted to OMB for review.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
07/31/2015
04/30/2014
03/31/2014
1,095
0
1,225
10,950
0
9,350
133,018
0
35,590
The United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) is required by 35 U.S.C. 131 et seq. to examine an
application for patent and, when appropriate, issue a patent. The
provisions of 35 U.S.C. 122(c) and 37 CFR 1.99 and 1.291 govern the
ability of a third party to have information entered and considered
in, or to protest, a patent application pending before the USPTO.
On September 16, 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA)
was enacted into law, which provides a new mechanism for third
parties to submit to the USPTO, for consideration and inclusion in
the record of a patent application, patents, published patent
applications, or other printed publication of potential relevance
to the examination of the application. Specifically, Section 8 of
the Leahy-Smith AIA amends 35 U.S.C. 122 by adding 35 U.S.C.
122(e), which enumerates certain conditions that apply to a
third-party preissuance submission to the USPTO. The USPTO proposes
to implement 35 U.S.C. 122(e) in a new rule 37 CFR 1.290 and to
eliminate 37 CFR 1.99. Section 8 of the AIA takes effect of
September 16, 2012, and applies to any patent application filed
before, on, or after the effective date.
The net decrease in responses
is due to two factors: 1) the decrease in third-party submissions
under the peer review pilot program and, 2) the estimated increase
in the number of submissions under the new 37 CFR 1.290 due to the
statutory changes of the AIA. The burden hour increase is due to
the number of responses and the increase in the number of hours.
The increase in cost burden is a result of the number of
third-party submissions subject to the average fee of $180 and the
elimination of $5,172 in postage costs as now 93% of the third
party submissions will be submitted through EFS-Web.
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.
EFS-WEB Third-Party Submissions in Nonissued Applications