National Patent Application Competition

JUSTIFICATION FOR NONMATERIAL/NONSUBSTANTIVE CHANGE

Initial Patent Application

OMB Control Number 0651-0032

National Patent Application and Drafting Competition

Background:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is hosting a competition (National Patent Application and Drafting Competition) to allow law students to become familiar with issues arising in US patent law and to develop their patent application drafting skills. Participants will be challenged to engage in the patent process and gain an understanding of how patents are examined and prosecuted. The USPTO plans to host a single nationwide competition each year.

The USPTO is required by Title 35 of the United States Code, including 35 U.S.C. § 131, to examine applications for patents. Each patent application must provide sufficient information to allow the USPTO to properly examine the application to determine whether it meets the criteria set forth in the patent statutes and regulations for issuance as a patent.

In this competition, student teams will be given a hypothetical invention statement for which they will then search the prior art, prepare a specification, draft claims, and present their reasoning for patentability before a panel of judges comprised of patent examiners, practitioners, and high profile guest judges.

This proposed addition to this information collection includes the registration materials for the contest and the materials used by participants in creating their contest entry. This entry includes the use of forms available on USPTO’s website and additional materials defined in the contest rules. There are no fees or other non-hourly cost burdens associated with this competition. The information collected will be handled according to the contest rules. These contest materials, unlike the rest of this information collection, will not be maintained in the patent application systems and therefore there is no guarantee of confidentiality or privacy.

Overall the addition of this program to this information collection (0651-0032) adds 150 respondents and 3,025 burden hours.

IC #	Item	Time for Response (Hours)	Respondents	Responses	Time burden
20	Contest Utility Applications and Drafting materials – National Patent Application and Drafting Competition	40 hours	75	75	3,000
21	Contest Registration materials - National Patent Application and Drafting Competition	0.33 (20 Minutes)	Same as line 20	75	25 hours
Total			75	150	3,025 hours

Summary of Changes:

This competition adds into the information collection 150 respondents and 3,025 burden hours. There are no fees, postage, or other costs associated with this program.

Changes in Burden: