JUSTIFICATION FOR NONMATERIAL/NONSUBSTANTIVE CHANGE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
International Work Sharing Program
OMB CONTROL NUMBER 0651-0079
April 2020
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is submitting this request to update information collection 0651-0079, International Work Sharing Program. The USPTO is proposing to replace the existing Collaborative Search Pilot (CSP) survey with an updated survey that includes a revised set of questions. There is no changes to the burdens associated with the information collection.
Background
The USPTO established a Work Sharing Program in conjunction with the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) to study how the exchange of search results between offices for corresponding counterpart applications improves patent quality and facilitates the examination of patent applications in both offices. The USPTO established a Work Sharing Program called the Collaborative Search Pilot (CSP) (https://www.uspto.gov/patents-getting-started/international-protection/collaborative-search-pilot-program-csp). Due to the success of the first iteration, the USPTO implemented a follow-on called Expanded CSP. Like in the first iteration, the USPTO is collaborating with the JPO and the KIPO to study how the exchange of search results between offices for corresponding counterpart applications improves patent quality and facilitates the examination of patent applications in both offices. Through the CSP, each office concurrently conducts searches on corresponding counterpart applications. Each office’s search results are exchanged; providing examiners with a comprehensive set of art before commencement of examination. The current CSP is ending in October of 2020.
The proposed changes to the questions in the CSP survey will provide information needed to understand how the CSP has benefitted patent applicants and help determine the future of any collaborative search program. In updating the survey, USPTO dropped the questions regarding respondents, as that information was covered under previous versions of the survey. Also, two questions about the possible expansion of the CSP were rewritten. Other questions were modified to clarify the information being requested. Additionally, the respondent type was modified to indicate that private sector entities are submitting all submissions under this information collection.
Summary of Changes
There is no change in the estimated number of survey respondents; still estimated at 150 annually. USPTO continues to estimate that the survey will take 8 minutes to complete.
Changes in Burden
The 0651-0079 total burden remains as follows:
300 responses
470 burden hours
$0.00 in non-hourly cost burden
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | Change Worksheet draft- Romanian Form Addition |
| Author | sbrown4 |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-14 |