The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) administers the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq., which provides for the Federal registration of trademarks, service marks, collective trademarks and service marks, collective membership marks, and certification marks. Individuals and businesses that use or intend to use such marks in commerce may file an application to register their marks with the USPTO.
Such individuals and businesses may also submit various communications to the USPTO, including requests to amend their registrations to delete goods or services that are no longer being used by the registrant. Registered marks remain on the register for ten years and can be renewed, but will be cancelled unless the owner files with the USPTO a declaration attesting to the continued use (or excusable non-use) of the mark in commerce, and a renewal application, within specific deadlines.
Applicants may also request to amend or divide a registration, respond to a post-registration Office action, and surrender a registration. The rules implementing the Act are set forth in 37 CFR part 2. These rules mandate that each register entry include the mark, the goods and/or services in
connection with which the mark is used, ownership information, dates of use, and certain other information. The USPTO also provides similar information concerning pending applications. The register and pending application information may be accessed by an individual or by businesses to determine the availability of a mark. By accessing the USPTO's information, parties may reduce the possibility of initiating use of a mark previously adopted by another. Thus, the Federal trademark registration process may reduce unnecessary litigation and its accompanying costs and burdens.
The request is to update the fees attached to this collection that are affected by the rulemaking NPRM 0651-AD08, and also to incorporate fees were not counted in previous approvals. Respondent numbers are also changing due to agency discretion in conjunction with the rule. There are 26 fees being added to this collection that were not previously counted.
The incorporation of these fees will affect the number of respondents for certain items, resulting in an increase in hourly burden and cost. These changes reflect the general shift and agency incentives towards electronic filing, and away from paper filing.
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.
Declaration of Use of Mark in Commerce Under Section 8