G416: SOaR Registration and Survey Submission Request

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0651-0080)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: G416: SOaR Interest Form and Survey 2024

PURPOSE: The Stakeholder Offerings and Resource (SOaR) course delivers training to the public on a variety of examination practice and procedure topics. The trainings are derived from the same guidance we provide our experienced patent examiners, and the online format allows participants to remotely attend without the need to travel to USPTO locations. The information collection items included in this Fast Track request—an initial interest request and end of course survey—allow the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to gauge the interest from potential course attendees in a given course and to determine the successes and shortcomings of an offered course following a stakeholder’s completion of the class.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The SOaR courses are open to all members of the public. Approximately 70% of registrants are registered practitioners and the remainder are inventors or individuals interested in intellectual property.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one or multiple)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [X] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [X] Other: Interest Form

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Business Unit: Office of Patent Stakeholder Experience (OPSE)

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [X ] Yes (Interest Form only) [] No

1a. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to

the Privacy Act of 1974? [X] Yes [ ] No

2. If applicable, has a System of Records Notice been published? [X] Yes [ ] No [ ] N/A

PAT-TM-19: Dissemination Events and Registrations

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X] No

BURDEN HOURS

Instrument Private Sector	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden (hours)
Interest Form	6,400	5 minutes	512
End of Course Survey	3,200	10 minutes	533
Totals	9,600	---	1,045 hours

The USPTO estimates that 100% of the forms and surveys will be conducted online.

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the federal government uses the hourly rate of $37.45 per hour for a GS-9 step 10 ($42.61) + $12.78 (30% for benefits and overhead) which totals an hourly rate of $55.39.

The Interest Form will be summarized for each of the 16 sessions, and take about 1 hour to complete and send formal course invitations. This equals 16 total hours. 16 hours * $55.39 = $886. The Survey will be summarized for each of the 16 sessions, and take about 2 hours to graphically summarize and distribute. 16 sessions * 2 hours = 32 hours. 32 hours * $55.39 = $1,772.

Total federal cost for both items = $2,658.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [] Yes [X] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

Potential respondents for Interest Form will be based on the users who visit the SOaR website.¹ The courses and this site are marketed through Patents Alerts, social media, and direct emails to those who have requested to be notified of events. The universe of SOaR course participants is defined by all parties who complete the SOaR Interest Form.

Once people are registered via the Interest Form, they can attend the SOaR Courses online. There will be four individual SOaR sessions within each course. Each attendee will be emailed a survey invitation via a web link.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain: live poll software

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [X] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

1 https://www.uspto.gov/patents/training/soar.

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