Under 35 U.S.C. § 41 and 37 CFR
1.20(e)-(h), 1.362, 1.366, 1.377, and 1.378, the United States
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) charges fees for maintaining in
force all utility patents based on applications filed on or after
December 12, 1980. Payment of these maintenance fees is due at
3-1/2, 7-1/2, and 11-1/2 years after the date the patent was
granted. If the USPTO does not receive payment of the appropriate
maintenance fee and any applicable surcharge within a grace period
of 6 months following each of the above due dates (at 4, 8, or 12
years after the date of grant), the patent will expire at that
time. After a patent expires, it is no longer enforceable.
Maintenance fees are not required for design or plant patents or
for reissue patents if the patent being reissued did not require
maintenance fees. The USPTO must maintain accurate payment records
in order to provide the public with information as to which patents
have expired and which patents remain in force.
Changes due to Agency
Discretion The maintenance fees and transmittal forms that were
previously a part of this information collection, and mentioned in
the 60-Day Federal Register Notice, have now been removed. These
items are considered exempt from the PRA under 5 CFR 1320.3(h)(10).
This action results in the following changes to the information
collection: • 436,600 responses removed • 2,426 burden hours
removed • $1,332,344,500 cost burden removed Change in Respondents
and Hourly Burden due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate The total
number of respondents has decreased by 52,868 due to estimated
fluctuations in the number of responses/submissions in this
information collection. This decrease in the number of respondents
and responses results in a decrease of 3,734 hours in the annual
time burden estimates. Changes in Annual (Non-hour) Costs due to
Adjustment in Agency Estimate For this renewal, the USPTO estimates
that the total annual (non-hour) costs will increase by $735,107
from the previous approval. This increase is due to estimated
fluctuations in submissions for items that require a fee. Even
though the overall number of respondents is declining, those filing
the Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment of
Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(b)) is expected
to increase; resulting in this increased cost burden estimate.
$142,444
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Parikha Mehta 571
272-3248
No
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.