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.
table that charts list comparision
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