0058 CWS Argentina Form Jan 2017

JUSTIFICATION FOR NONMATERIAL/NONSUBSTANTIVE CHANGE

United States Patent and Trademark Office

Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Program

OMB CONTROL NUMBER 0651-0058

(January 2017)

Background

PPH agreements streamline the patent system by allowing patent examiners to avail themselves of the work product from other participating patent offices. Originally, the PPH program was limited to the utilization of search and examination results of national applications between cross filings under the Paris Convention. The newer PCT-PPH agreements have greatly expanded the potential of the PPH program by permitting participating patent offices to draw upon the positive results of the PCT work product from another participating office. The PCT-PPH pilot program uses international search reports, written opinions, and international preliminary examination reports developed within the framework of the PCT, thereby making the PPH program available to a larger number of applicants.

The forms in this collection allow participants to file a request in a corresponding U.S. application and petition to make the U.S. application special under the PPH or PCT-PPH program. The PPH forms collect similar data; however, there is a unique form for each participant.

The USPTO is proposing to add a form to this collection for a new participant, the Argentinian National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) to the PPH Program. The pilot program will commence March 3, 2017 and concluding March 2, 2020. INPI is partnering on a bilateral basis only and is not participating in the Global/IP5 PPH Program.

Summary of Changes

The USPTO is proposing to add one form to this collection for a new participant in the PPH program: Request for Participation in the PPH Pilot Program between the INPI and the USPTO (PTO/SB/20AR).

The form will be available on the PPH area of the USPTO Web site, http://www.uspto.gov/patents-getting-started/international-protection/patent-prosecution-highway-pph-fast-track

The addition of 10 responses and 20 burden hours is to count for the addition of one form (PTO/SB/20AR) to this collection.

Changes in Burden

The addition of the form will result in the following burden changes for this information collection:

Burden Type	Currently approved	Proposed change	New estimates
Responses	8,220	10	8,230
Hours	16,440	20	16,460
Annual (non-hour) costs	$0	$0	$0

This collection does not include any annual (non-hour) costs, and there are no annual (non-hour) costs associated with the proposed changes to this collection.

The revised 0651-0058 total burden is as follows:

• 8,230 respondents

• 16,460 burden hours