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 in Responses and Hourly Burden due to Adjustment in Agency Discretion
The number of responses has decreased by 41,956 due to the removal of the fee address indication form (PTO/SB/47), which accounted for most of the responses and roughly half of the hourly burden in the information collection. This form was declared exempt by OMB. The decrease in the number of responses results in a decrease of 3,356 hours in the annual time burden estimates.
Changes in Responses and Hourly Burden due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate
The number of responses has increased by 30 due to the estimated fluctuations in submissions for the items in this collection, particularly Item 1 (Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(b))). Despite the slight increase in the number of responses, there will be a decrease of 84 hours in the annual time burden estimates. This decrease is due to the fewer number of estimated submissions for Item 3 (Petition for Reconsideration of Decision on Petition Refusing to Accept Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(d))), which has a higher estimated time per response than the other two items.
Changes in Annual Non-hour Costs due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate
For this renewal, the USPTO estimates that the annual non-hour costs will decrease by $174,748 from the previous approval. This decrease is due to estimated fluctuations in submissions for items that require a fee.
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.
Fee Address Indication Form (Individuals or Households)