In the interest of national security,
patent laws and rules place certain limitations on the disclosure
of information contained in patents and patent applications and on
the filing of applications in foreign countries. In particular,
whenever the publication or disclosure of an invention by the
publication of an application or by the granting of a patent is, in
the opinion of the head of an interested Government agency,
determined to be detrimental to national security, the Commissioner
for Patents of the USPTO must issue a secrecy order and withhold
the publication of a patent application and the grant of a patent
for such period as the national interest requires. The USPTO
collects information to determine whether the patent laws and rules
have been compiled with and to grant or revoke licenses to file
abroad when appropriate. This collection is required by 35 U.S.C.
181-188 and administered through 37 CFR 5.1-5.33. Affected public
includes private sector and individuals and households.
Adjustments in the information
collection are due to: • Increases in estimated responses. The
increases in this information collection are due to estimated
annual responses being increased by 1,875 due to increased activity
with these types of submissions, which in turn increased the
estimated burden hours by 1,190. • Increases in estimated hourly
cost burdens. The 2017 renewal of this information collection used
an estimated rate of $410 per hour for the cost burdens. For this
information collection submission, the USPTO is using updated
hourly rates of $438.
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.
0651-0034 Supporting Statement 2020.docx
Information Quality Guidelines _ USPTO 2020.html
Petition for Recission of Secrecy Order