This collection of information is required by 35 U.S.C. §§ 261 and 262 for patents and 15 U.S.C. §§ 1057 and 1060 for trademarks. These statutes authorize the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to record patent and trademark assignment documents, including transfers of properties (i.e., patents and trademarks), liens, licenses, assignments of interest, security interests, mergers, and explanations of transactions or other documents that record the transfer of ownership of a particular patent or trademark property from one party to another. Assignments are recorded for applications, patents, and trademark registrations. In accordance with 37 CFR 3.54, the recording of an assignment document by the USPTO is an administrative action and not a determination of the validity of the document or of the effect that the document has on the title to an application, patent, or trademark.
In order to record an assignment document, the respondent must submit an appropriate form along with copies of the assignment document to be recorded. Once the assignment documents are recorded, they are available for public inspection. The public uses these records to conduct ownership and chain-of-title searches. The only exceptions are those documents that are sealed under secrecy orders according to 37 CFR 3.58 or related to unpublished patent applications maintained in confidence under 35 U.S.C. § 122 and 37 CFR 1.14.
Changes in Responses and Burden Hours
For this renewal, the USPTO estimates that the annual responses will increase by 53,353 and the total burden hours will increase by 26,677 from the currently approved burden for this information collection. These changes are due to increases in Agency estimates.
Changes in Annual (Non-hour) Costs
For this renewal, the USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) costs will increase by $775,701. These increases are due to overall increase usage of the assignment system, especially by those paying fees for trademark assignments.
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.
Patent Assignment System (EPAS) (Private Sector)