0651-0057 SuptStmnt Part A-Dec 20 2012

SUPPORTING STATEMENT
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Patents External Quality Survey (formerly Customer Panel Quality Survey)
OMB Control Number 0651-0057
(December 20, 2012)

A.

JUSTIFICATION

1.

Necessity of Information Collection

For over the past 10 years, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
has used surveys to obtain customer feedback regarding the products, services, and
related service standards of the USPTO. The USPTO used the data to measure how
well the agency is meeting established customer service standards, to identify any
disjoints between customer expectations and USPTO performance, and to develop
improvement strategies. Typically, these surveys asked customers to express their
satisfaction with the USPTO’s products and services based upon their interactions with
the agency as a whole over a 12-month period.
In order to obtain further data concerning customer ratings of the USPTO’s services,
service standards, and performance, the USPTO developed the Patents External
Quality Survey. This survey narrows the focus of customer satisfaction to examination
quality. The USPTO partners with Westat, an independent research firm, to administer
the Patents External Quality Survey.
This survey uses a longitudinal, rotating panel design to assess changes in customer
perceptions and to identify key areas for examiner training and opportunities for
improvement. All patent agents and attorneys who have been registered to practice
before the USPTO for longer than one year and who belong to a firm that has filed more
than six patents in the past year will be eligible for the study. The study will also include
independent inventors who have filed six or more patents in the past year. The USPTO
will draw a random sample of these customers from their database. Due to the rotating
panel design, some sample members will be surveyed twice in order to measure
change over a period of time. Each year of the survey will include two waves of data
collection.
The USPTO plans to survey patent agents, attorneys, and other individuals from large
domestic corporations (including those with 500+ employees), small and medium-size
businesses, universities and other non-profit research organizations, and independent
inventors. The USPTO does not plan to survey foreign entities.
This is a voluntary survey. The collected data will not be linked to the respondent and
contact information that is used for sampling purposes will be maintained in a separate
file from the quantitative data. Respondents are not required to provide any identifying
information such as their name, address, or Social Security Number.

There are no statutes or regulations requiring the USPTO to conduct these customer
surveys. The USPTO uses surveys to implement Executive Order 12862 of September
11, 1993, Setting Customer Service Standards, published in the Federal Register on
September 14, 1993 (Volume 58, Number 176).
2.

Needs and Uses

The Patents External Quality Survey is primarily a mail survey, although respondents
also have the option to complete the survey electronically on the web. The content of
the two versions of the survey will be identical. Respondents can choose whether to
mail the completed survey back to the USPTO’s survey contractor (Westat) or respond
to the survey online through Westat’s secure website.
A pre-notification letter describing the study and asking for participation will be sent to
all sample members. This letter will be followed in 2-3 business days by a survey
packet containing the questionnaire, a separate cover letter prepared by the
Commissioner of Patents that explains the purpose of the survey, and a postage-paid,
pre-addressed return envelope. Instructions for completing the survey electronically will
also be included in the packet. These instructions will include details for accessing the
survey online through Westat’s website and provide a username, password and 5-digit
survey ID number that respondents will need to access the electronic survey. One
week after the survey mailing, a reminder/thank you postcard will also be mailed to all
sample members.
One week after the reminder/thank you postcard is sent, all sample members who have
not completed the survey will receive a follow-up non-response prompting telephone
call. The primary purpose of these phone calls is to remind non-respondents of the
survey date and to answer any questions that they may have concerning the survey.
Because these calls are intended as prompting calls, messages will be left if
respondents are not available. Westat will not make repeated phone calls if a message
was left on an answering machine or with a receptionist/secretary, etc. The Westat
telephone staff will encourage survey non-respondents to complete the survey using the
web option in order to expedite completion of the survey. The survey non-respondents
will not be asked to complete the survey over the telephone with the Westat telephone
staff since this survey is not intended to be administered over the telephone. A
suggested script has been developed to ensure that all of the staff conducting the
follow-up phone calls ask the same questions, in the same manner.
The Information Quality Guidelines from Section 515 of Public Law 106-554, Treasury
and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001, apply to this
information collection, and this information collection and its supporting statement
comply with all applicable information quality guidelines, i.e., OMB and specific
operating unit guidelines.

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Table 1 outlines how this collection of information is used by the public and the USPTO.
The mail and online versions of the survey are exactly the same, so a separate copy of
the online version has not been included in this submission.
Table 1: Needs and Uses of Information Collected from the Patents External Quality Survey
Form and Function
Patents External Quality Survey
(paper and electronic survey)

3.

Form #
No Form
Associated

Needs and Uses


Used by individuals who work at firms that file more than 6 patent
applications a year to provide the USPTO with their perceptions of
examination quality.



Used by the USPTO to gather feedback to assist them in targeting
key areas for examination quality improvement and identify
important areas for examiner training.

Use of Information Technology

Currently, the USPTO does not generally use mechanical or other technological
collection techniques to collect responses to surveys. However, those respondents who
choose to respond to the Patents External Quality Survey can do so electronically.
Although the Patents External Quality Survey is primarily a mail survey, the USPTO has
expanded it to be a combined paper and Internet format. Respondents can choose to
mail their survey to Westat, or they can provide their responses electronically over the
Internet. The cover letter that accompanies the survey provides the web survey URL,
instructions for completing the survey online through the survey contractor’s (Westat’s)
secure website, and the username and password for the survey.
At this time, the USPTO does not plan to disseminate any of the information collected
from the surveys electronically. As more of these surveys are conducted, the USPTO
will reevaluate whether this would be beneficial. The USPTO may choose to share
particular findings with customers through normal communication vehicles such as
lectures and general office publications, but there are no plans for a survey-specific
formal report to be distributed to respondents or the public at large.
4.

Efforts to Identify Duplication

This information is collected only when sampled respondents at organizations who file
more than six patents a year respond to the Patents External Quality Survey. Currently,
there are no available methods to gather the type of information proposed by this survey
directly from USPTO customers. The survey questions relate directly to customers’
perceptions of examination quality, as well as information about the customers’
frequency of contact with the USPTO. This information is not generally available from
other sources and is not collected elsewhere. Therefore, this collection does not create
a duplication of effort.
5.

Minimizing the Burden to Small Entities

In an effort to minimize burden, the number of questions are limited to the minimum
required to obtain useful information. All sizes of businesses and individual customers

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will participate in these various surveys to accurately portray customer requirements
and service quality.
It is important to include small businesses in these surveys because the USPTO wants
to encourage their use of the patent systems. However, as the sample selection is
designed to include individuals located at top-filing firms, small businesses will only be
included in the sample if they submit more than six patent applications a year.
Furthermore, the sampling rate for individuals working at businesses submitting a higher
number of patent applications per year (i.e., more than 40) is greater than for individuals
working at businesses who submit a lower number of patent applications a year. Under
this sampling design, the Patents External Quality Survey sample will primarily
concentrate upon individuals at large, top-filing organizations.
6.

Consequences of Less Frequent Collection

The information collected from the Patents External Quality Survey is needed on a
semi-annual basis so that the USPTO can identify problems with examination quality
and work to resolve these issues in a timely manner. Timely, valid information on
customer assessment of the USPTO’s performance is needed in order for the USPTO
to accomplish these measures. While the survey was initially conducted on a quarterly
basis, in order to reduce costs to the Federal Government and based on the current use
of the survey data and ability of the USPTO to implement changes, the USPTO decided
to conduct this survey on a semi-annual basis. If this information was collected less
frequently, the USPTO would not be able to generate a reliable measure of examination
quality on a continuing basis.
7.

Special Circumstances in the Conduct of Information Collection

There are no special circumstances associated with this collection of information.
8.

Consultation Outside the Agency

The 60-Day Federal Register Notice was published on April 9, 2012 (77 Fed Reg.
21086). The public comment period ended on June 8, 2012. No comments from the
public were received.
In addition, there have been no comments from the corporations/businesses, law firms,
educational institutions, and independent inventors frequently interviewed through these
types of surveys concerning the time required to provide the information requested in
the Patents External Quality Survey.
Finally, no specific feedback was solicited from the Patent Public Advisory Committee,
but they were briefed on the USPTO’s intentions with the Patents External Quality
Survey. No objections were raised by the Committee. Experts contracted to assist the
agency in strategic planning efforts commented on the survey plan as it relates to

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addressing the USPTO’s quality initiatives, and the agency made some minor
adjustments to the survey plan to reflect those comments.
9.

Payment or Gifts to Respondents

This information collection does not involve a payment or gift to any respondent. This
survey is voluntary, so the respondent is not required to answer the questions.
10.

Assurance of Confidentiality

Data collected from the surveys will not be linked to the respondents in any way. All
contact information collected from the questionnaire will be maintained in a separate
electronic file from the quantitative and qualitative data. At the end of the data
collection, three files will be maintained by the survey contractor (Westat). One file will
contain respondent contact information and will establish a current and continuous
sample file for use in future survey administrations. The second file will contain the
aggregate quantitative data and will be delivered to the USPTO. The third file will
contain the qualitative data generated from the one open-ended survey item: this data
will consist of verbatim text written by the survey respondent. Once the three files are
created, respondent information will not be realigned with the data collected.
Applicants can also choose to complete their survey online through Westat’s website. A
generic username and password is needed to access the survey. Additionally, each
respondent is assigned a unique 5-digit identification number. The username,
password, and survey ID numbers are generated by Westat and provided to the
respondent in the prenotification letter and the cover letter that is sent with the mail
survey.
The web survey will operate on a Windows server 2003 running Internet Information
Servicer version 6.0 with an underlying SQL server 2000 database. The survey will be
protected with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL0, which allows respondents to submit survey
responses privately and securely.
Respondents will have the option of providing Westat with their e-mail address upon
completion of both the mail and online versions of the survey. Respondents may be
selected no more than twice to participate in the survey during the field period. Due to
the panel design of the Patents External Quality Survey, respondents may be selected
to complete this survey more than once. If respondents choose to provide Westat with
their e-mail address, they will receive future survey mailings by e-mail, should they be
selected in a subsequent wave of data collection. This e-mail address will be appended
to the file of respondent contact information.
Information collected will be kept private, to the extent of the law. Reponses will be
reported in aggregate summary format only and any data collected will not be linked to
the actual respondent.

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11.

Justification for Sensitive Questions

None of the required information in this collection is considered to be of a sensitive
nature.
12.

Estimate of Hour and Cost Burden to Respondents

Table 2 displays the burden hours and costs of this information collection to the public
for each year of the study, based on the following calculation factors:


Respondent Calculation Factors
Out of a sample size of 3,100 for each wave of data collection, the USPTO estimates
that 1,550 completed surveys will be received, for a response rate of 50%. This
estimate was based on the response rates of the previous survey waves that the
USPTO has conducted. Each year of the survey will include two waves of data
collection with an estimated 3,100 completed surveys received annually (1,550
completed surveys x 2 waves of the survey). Of this total, the USPTO estimates that
15% (465) of the surveys will be returned by mail and that 85% (2,635) of the surveys
will be completed using the online option. The USPTO estimates that 75 of the surveys
will be submitted by small entities.
These estimates are based on the Agency’s long-standing institutional knowledge of and
experience with the type of information collected by these items.



Burden Hour Calculation Factors
The USPTO estimates that it takes the public approximately ten minutes (0.17 hours) to
complete either the paper or online version of this survey. This estimated time includes
gathering the necessary information, completing the survey, and submitting it to the
USPTO.
These estimates are based on the Agency’s long-standing institutional knowledge of and
experience with the type of information collected and the length of time necessary to
complete responses containing similar or like information.



Cost Burden Calculation Factors
The USPTO expects that patent attorneys will be completing these surveys. The
USPTO uses a professional rate of $371 per hour for the attorney respondent cost
burden calculations, which is the mean 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).
Based on the Agency’s long-standing institutional knowledge of and experience with the
type of information collected, the Agency believes $371 is an accurate estimate of the
cost per hour to collect this information.

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Table 2: Burden Hour/Burden Cost to Respondents (Year One)
Item

Hours
(a)

Responses
(yr)
(b)

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

Rate
($/hr)
(d)

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

Patents External Quality Survey

0.17

465

79

$371.00

$29,309.00

Electronic Patents External Quality Survey

0.17

2,635

448

$371.00

$166,208.00

Total

- - - -

3,100

527

- - - -

$195,517.00

13.

Total Annualized Cost Burden

There are no annual (non-hour) costs associated with this information collection.
Respondents do not need to submit filing fees with these surveys. The USPTO covers
the costs of all survey materials and provides postage-paid, pre-addressed return
envelopes for the completed mail surveys so there are no postage costs associated with
this information collection. Therefore, this information collection does not impose any
additional annual (non-hour) costs on the respondent.
14.

Annual Cost to the Federal Government

The USPTO has hired a contractor to conduct the Patents External Quality Survey, so
this survey is not conducted or processed by USPTO personnel. The USPTO estimates
that the contractor (Westat) will spend about $131,277 per wave of data collection, or
$262,554 per year. These costs include developing, conducting, and processing the
survey. This estimate includes various tasks such as processing the related survey
correspondence, performing data entry tasks, sampling, analyzing the data gathered,
and preparing reports on the findings. This estimate also includes all labor costs and
other direct costs. This is a significant cost reduction from the initial two years of data
collection. In addition to cutting the survey down from 4 waves per year to 2, per wave
costs have been reduced by 40% since many of the start-up tasks, such as web site
and analysis programming, are already developed and functional.
15.

Reason for Change in Burden

Summary of Changes Since the Previous Submission
OMB previously approved the renewal of this information collection on October 26, 2009
with 2,386 responses and 406 burden hours. There are no annual (non-hour) costs for
this collection. There have been no interim approvals.
For this renewal, the USPTO estimates that the total annual responses will be 3,100
and the total annual burden hours will be 527. This increase of 121 burden hours is due
to administrative adjustments.
The USPTO still estimates that this collection will have no annual (non-hour) costs.

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Changes in Burden Estimates Since the 60-Day Federal Register Notice
In the 60-Day Federal Register Notice published on April 9, 2012 (77 Fed. Reg. 21086),
the USPTO estimated that this collection would have 2,500 responses and 425 burden
hours. These estimates were based on a predicted sample size of 2,750 surveys for
each wave of data collection, with an estimated response rate of 45% (1,250 completed
surveys x two waves of survey collection). Out of this total, the USPTO estimated that
20% (500) of the surveys would be mailed and that 80% (2,000) of the surveys would
be completed electronically.
In addition, the USPTO estimated that the total annual respondent cost burden for this
collection would be $144,500. This cost burden was calculated using the median hourly
rate of $340 for attorneys.
Since publication of the 60-Day Notice, the USPTO has reestimated the sample size
and response rates for this survey based on previous survey waves that the USPTO
has conducted. The USPTO now estimates that the sample size for each wave of the
survey will be 3,100 and that 1,550 completed surveys will be received, for an estimated
response rate of 50%. Therefore, the USPTO estimates that 3,100 completed surveys
will be completed annually (1,550 completed surveys x 2 waves of the survey). The
USPTO now estimates that 15% (465) of the surveys will be mailed and that 85%
(2,635) of the surveys will be completed electronically. The USPTO now estimates that
this collection will have 3,100 responses and 527 burden hours. This is an increase of
600 responses and 102 burden hours over those estimated in the 60-Day Notice.
Since publication of the 60-Day Notice, the USPTO has determined that using the mean
hourly rate for the attorneys would provide a more accurate picture of the respondent
cost burden. The mean hourly rate for attorneys is $371. Using this rate, the USPTO
estimates that the total respondent cost burden for this collection will be $195,517. This
is an increase of $51,017 over the total annual respondent cost burden estimated in the
60-Day Notice.
Changes in Respondent Cost Burden
The total respondent cost burden for this collection has increased by $69,657, from
$125,860 to $195,517, from the previous renewal of this collection in October 2009 due
to:


Increase in estimated hourly rate. The 2009 renewal used an estimated rate
of $310 per hour for attorneys to complete these surveys. For the current
renewal, the USPTO is using the update rate of $371 per hour for respondents to
this collection.



Increase in estimated burden hours. The total estimated burden hours have
increased from 406 in the 2009 renewal to 527 for the current renewal due to an
increase in the estimated number of annual filings for this collection.

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Changes in Responses and Burden Hours
For this renewal, the USPTO estimates that the total annual responses will increase by
714 (from 2,386 to 3,100) and the total burden hours will increase by 121 (from 406 to
527) from the currently approved burden for this collection. These changes are due to
the following administrative adjustments:

16.



Decrease of 251 estimated annual responses for the paper format of the
Patents External Quality Survey from 716 to 465; a burden decrease of 43
hours.



Increase of 965 estimated annual responses for the electronic format of the
Patents External Quality Survey from 1,670 to 2,635; a burden increase of 164
hours.
Project Schedule

The USPTO does not plan to publish this information for statistical use.
After each wave of data collection is completed, a report summarizing the results of the
survey will be prepared by the USPTO’s contractor. At the end of each year of data
collection, a more in-depth summary report will be prepared by Westat to discuss
changes in examination quality across the waves of data collection. The primary
audience of this report is the USPTO.
The primary goal is to measure change in examination quality over a fixed period of
time. Respondents will be asked to evaluate their perceptions of examination quality
and their recent interactions with the USPTO. Results will be incorporated into
USPTO’s Patent Quality Composite, which is used to measure USPTO’s progress in
meeting Strategic Plan goals.
The USPTO estimates a start date of January 7, 2013 for the various activities related
to the renewed Patents External Quality Survey. A projected schedule for the initial
survey under this clearance is provided below:
Wave 12 (January 2013)
Task

Due Date

Assemble pre-notification letters and survey booklet
packages

Week of January 7th

Launch PEQS web survey

Monday, January 14th

Mail pre-notification letters

Monday, January 14th

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Mail survey booklet packages

Monday, January 21st

Mail reminder postcards

Monday, February 4th

Send e-mail reminder

Monday, February 4th

Begin telephone non-response prompting

Monday, February 11th

Close data collection

Monday, March 4th

Deliver Quarterly report to USPTO

Monday, March 25th

17.

Display of Expiration Date of OMB Approval

The Patents External Quality Survey includes the OMB Control Number and the
expiration date.
18.

Exception to the Certificate Statement

This collection of information does not include any exceptions to the certificate
statement.

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