January 2016 0651-0016 Change Worksheet

JUSTIFICATION FOR NONMATERIAL/NONSUBSTANTIVE CHANGE

Rules for Patent Maintenance Fees

OMB Control Number 0651-0016

Background

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is submitting this request to update the current inventory of information collection 0651-0016: Rules for Patent Maintenance Fees. The fees in 0651-0016 had been moved into collection 0651-0072: America Invents Act Section 10 Patent Fee Adjustment (approved by OMB in January, 2013). This request is to return these fees to 0651-0016 from 0651-0072 to provide appropriate accounting of the fees with the discontinuation of 0651-0072.

This request is only to return the affected fees to the annual (non-hour) cost burden. The table below details the fees that have been moved to 0651-0016 and are to be removed from 0651-0072, pending its discontinuation:

Fees for Respondents – Annual (Non-hour) Cost Burdens

Item	Responses	Cost
0016 Maintenance fee due at 3.5 years	174,072	$251,580,800.00
0016 Maintenance fee due at 7.5 years	105,048	$343,942,200.00
0016 Maintenance fee due at 11.6 years	76,619	$520,467,900.00
0016 Surcharge – 3.5 years – Late payment within 6 months	6,724	$793,000.00
0016 Surcharge – 7.5 years – Late payment within 6 months	4,444	$543,520.00
0016 Surcharge – 11.5 years – Late payment within 6 months	2,953	$361,040.00
0016 Surcharge after expiration – Late payment is unavoidable	12	$8,050.00
0016 Surcharge after expiration – Late payment is unintentional	1,738	$2,660,900.00
Total	371,610	$1,120,357,410.00

Summary of Changes

The addition of $1,120,357,410 in fees to collection 0651-0016 is to account for these fees following the discontinuation of collection 0651-0072.

Changes in Burden

Burden Type	Currently Approved	Proposed Change	New Estimate
Responses	0	371,610	371,610
Fee	$0.00	$1,120,357,410.00	$1,120,357,410.00

Adding these fees to 0651-0016 (that are currently accounted for in the discontinuing 0651-0072) will increase the annual (non-hour) cost estimates originally reported for the renewal.

Consequently, this collection takes a net burden increase of $1,120,357,410 in annual (non-hour) costs as a program change.

The 0651-0016 revised total burden is as follows:

• 371,610 responses

• $1,120,357,410.00 in annual (non-hour) fees