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.