Rules for Patent Maintenance Fees

Forms and Documents

Forms and supporting documents for this ICR

Document	Type	Status	Availability
Form PTO/SB/45 Maintenance Fee Transmittal Transactions	Form	Unchanged	Available
Form PTO/SB/47 Fee Address Indication Form	Form and Instruction	Unchanged	Available
Form PTO/SB/66e Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(c)) (electronic)	Form	Unchanged	Repair queued
Form PTO/SB/66 Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(c))	Form	Unchanged	Available
0016 CWS 2016.docx	Justification for No Material/Nonsubstantive Change	Uploaded 2016-01-29	Available
0016 Supporting Statement May 2015.pdf	Supporting Statement A	Uploaded 2015-05-13	Available
0651-USPTO-InfoQuality-Guidelines-01_07_2013.pdf	Supplementary Document	Uploaded 2013-09-20	Available

IC Document Collections

Information collection document groups

IC ID	Collection	Type	Status	Form
4678	Maintenance Fee Transmittal Transactions	Form	Unchanged
219777	Surcharge after expiration - Late payment is unintentional		New
219776	Surcharge after expiration - Late payment is unavoidable		New
219775	Surcharge - 11.5 years - Late payment within 6 months		New
219773	Surcharge - 7.5 years - Late payment within 6 months		New
219769	Surcharge - 3.5 years - Late payment within 6 months		New
219768	Maintenance fee due at 11.5 years		New
219765	Maintenance fee due at 7.5 years		New
219764	Maintenance fee due at 3.5 years		New
187818	Fee Address Indication Form	Form and Instruction	Unchanged
187817	Petition for Reconsideration of Decision on Petition Refusing to Accept Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(e))		Unchanged
187816	Petition to Review Refusal to Accept Payment of Maintenance Fee Prior to Expiration of Patent (37 CFR 1.377)		Unchanged
187815	Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(c)) (electronic)	Form	Unchanged
187814	Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(c))	Form	Unchanged
187812	Electronic Maintenance Fee Transactions	Other-Sample web form	Unchanged

ICR Details

OMB Control No: 0651-0016	ICR Reference No: 201601-0651-021
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 201505-0651-002
Agency/Subagency: DOC/PTO	Agency Tracking No:
Title: Rules for Patent Maintenance Fees
Type of Information Collection: No material or nonsubstantive change to a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR:  No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 02/22/2016
	Date Received in OIRA: 01/29/2016
Terms of Clearance:

table that charts list comparision

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	07/31/2018	07/31/2018	07/31/2018
Responses	896,919	0	525,309
Time Burden (Hours)	49,547	0	18,123
Cost Burden (Dollars)	1,120,361,211	0	3,801

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Abstract: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is submitting this request to update the information collection 0651-0016 Rules for Patent Maintenance Fees. The USPTO is proposing to remove a form associated with an existing information requirement that is currently approved: Petition to Accept Unavoidably Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (1.378(b)). Under 35 U.S.C. § 41 and 37 CFR 1.20(e)-(i) and 1.362-1.378, the USPTO charges fees for maintaining in force all utility patents based on applications filed on or after December 12, 1980. Payment of these maintenance fees is due at 3-1/2, 7-1/2, and 11-1/2 years after the date the patent was granted. If the USPTO does not receive payment of the appropriate maintenance fee and any applicable surcharge within a grace period of six months following each of the above intervals, the patent will expire and no longer be enforceable. The public uses this collection to submit patent maintenance fee payments, to file petitions regarding delayed or refused payments, and to designate an address to be used for fee-related correspondence.

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Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 35 USC 41 Name of Law: null
  

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

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Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

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Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	80 FR 11178	03/02/2015
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	80 FR 27151	05/12/2015
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

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Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 15

table that charts list of burden

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
Electronic Maintenance Fee Transactions
Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(c))	PTO/SB/66	Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(c))
Fee Address Indication Form	PTO/SB/47	Fee Address Indication Form
Surcharge - 3.5 years - Late payment within 6 months
Petition to Review Refusal to Accept Payment of Maintenance Fee Prior to Expiration of Patent (37 CFR 1.377)
Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(c)) (electronic)	PTO/SB/66e, ePetition	Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(c)) EFS-Web ,   Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(c))
Maintenance Fee Transmittal Transactions	PTO/SB/45	Maintenance Fee Transmittal Form
Petition for Reconsideration of Decision on Petition Refusing to Accept Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(e))
Surcharge after expiration - Late payment is unintentional
Surcharge - 11.5 years - Late payment within 6 months
Surcharge after expiration - Late payment is unavoidable
Maintenance fee due at 3.5 years
Maintenance fee due at 7.5 years
Maintenance fee due at 11.5 years
Surcharge - 7.5 years - Late payment within 6 months

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ICR Summary of Burden

table that charts list of burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to New Statute	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA
Annual Number of Responses	896,919	525,309	0	371,610	0	0
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	49,547	18,123	0	31,424	0	0
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	1,120,361,211	3,801	0	1,120,357,410	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Increase Due to: Miscellaneous Actions

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: Filing fees have been returned to collection 0651-0016 from collection 0651-0072, following the discontinuation of 0651-0072, resulting in an increase of responses, time burden, and cost burden.

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Annual Cost to Federal Government: $344,449

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Is the Supporting Statement intended to be a Privacy Impact Assessment required by the E-Government Act of 2002? No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Uncollected

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Common Form ICR:  No

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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:

(a) It is necessary for the proper performance of agency functions;

(b) It avoids unnecessary duplication;

(c) It reduces burden on small entities;

(d) It uses plain, coherent, and unambiguous language that is understandable to respondents;

(e) Its implementation will be consistent and compatible with current reporting and recordkeeping practices;

(f) It indicates the retention periods for recordkeeping requirements;

(g) It informs respondents of the information called for under 5 CFR 1320.8 (b)(3) about:

(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;

(h) It was developed by an office that has planned and allocated resources for the efficient and effective management and use of the information to be collected.

(i) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology (if applicable); and

(j) It makes appropriate use of information technology.

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.

Certification Date: 01/29/2016

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