The Director of the USPTO has the
authority to establish regulations governing the conduct and
discipline of agents, attorneys, or other persons representing
applicants and other parties before the USPTO (35 U.S.C. 2 and
32–33). The USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct, set forth in
subpart D, part 11 of title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations,
prescribe the manner in which agents, attorneys, and other persons
(collectively "practitioners") representing applicants and other
parties before the USPTO should conduct themselves professionally.
Part 11 outlines practitioners’ responsibilities for recordkeeping
and reporting violations or complaints of misconduct to the USPTO.
Subpart C of part 11 sets forth the manner by which the USPTO
investigates misconduct and imposes discipline. The USPTO Rules of
Professional Conduct require a practitioner to maintain complete
records of all funds, securities, and other properties of clients
coming into his or her possession, and to render appropriate
accounts to the client regarding the funds, securities, and other
properties of clients coming into the practitioner’s possession,
collectively known as ‘‘client property.’’ These recordkeeping
requirements are necessary to maintain the integrity of client
property. State bars require attorneys to perform similar
recordkeeping. Part 11 also requires a practitioner to report
knowledge of certain violations of the USPTO Rules of Professional
Conduct to the USPTO. The Director of the Office of Enrollment and
Discipline (OED) may, after notice and opportunity for a hearing,
suspend, exclude, or disqualify any practitioner from further
practice before the USPTO based on non-compliance with the USPTO
Rules of Professional Conduct. Practitioners who have been excluded
or suspended from practice before the USPTO, practitioners
transferred to disability inactive status, and practitioners who
have resigned must keep and maintain records of their steps to
comply with the suspension or exclusion order, transfer to
disability inactive status, or resignation. These records are
necessary to demonstrate eligibility for reinstatement. Reports of
alleged violations of the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct are
used by the Director of OED to conduct investigations and
disciplinary hearings, as appropriate. This information collection
covers the various reporting and recordkeeping requirements set
forth in Part 11 for practitioners representing applicants and
other parties before the USPTO. Also covered are petitions for
reinstatement for suspended or excluded practitioners and the means
for reporting violations or complaints of misconduct to the
USPTO.
US Code:
35 USC 2; 32-33 Name of Law: Leahy Smith America Invents
Act
Program Change Due to Agency
Discretion in Annual Number of Responses, Annual Time Burden, and
Annual Costs Burden With this renewal, USPTO is adding a new item
(Petition for Reinstatement under the provisions section 11.60(c)).
This item adds additional responses (+5) and burden hours (+5) to
the information collection. This item also has a related fee which
adds annual cost burden (+$8,400). Change Due to Adjustment in
Agency Estimate in Annual Number of Responses, Annual Time Burden,
and Annual Cost Burden For this renewal, the USPTO estimates that
the items in this information collection will naturally fluctuate
based on respondent need (+2,040 responses and + 1,722 hours).
Overall, USPTO is estimating that these adjustments result in fewer
annual (non-hour) costs due to respondents filling less items that
have associated fees and postage costs (-$1,612).
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.
Information Quality Guidelines _ USPTO.html
Leahy Smith America Invents Act-pub-l112-29.pdf
0017 Supporting Statement 20220425.docx
Petition for Reinstatement under the provisions section 11.60(c)