The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is required by 35 U.S.C. § 131 et seq. to examine an application for patent and, when appropriate, issue a patent. Many actions taken by the USPTO during its examination of an application for patent or for reissue of a patent, or during its reexamination of a patent, are subject to review by an appeal to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. For other USPTO actions, however, review is in the form of administrative review obtained via submission of a petition to the USPTO. The USPTO petitions practice also provides an opportunity for a patent applicant or owner to supply additional information that may be required in order for the USPTO to further process an application or reexamination proceeding.
The USPTO is proposing to add a form to this collection for an item that is currently approved: Petition to Withdraw an Application from Issue. The form, Petition to Withdraw an Application from Issue After Payment of the Issue Fee Under 37 CFR 1.313(c) (PTO/SB/140), will be prepared and submitted electronically. Automation of this item will allow the public to complete the form on a computer and then use an interactive button on the form itself to submit the information to the USPTO over the Internet. The electronic form will allow the USPTO to process the petition more efficiently and will not impose any additional burden on the public. The agency will continue to accept Petitions to Withdraw an Application from Issue that do not make use of the new form.
The increase in burden hours is due to changes to Form PTOL-413A Applicant Initiated Interview Request Form. Among language changes to the form, the USPTO is also adding an instruction sheet to the form. The USPTO estimates that the time to complete the form will increase from 21 minutes (0.35 hours) to 24 minutes (0.40) to account for the new instruction sheet. This will increase the estimated burden for the collection by 80 hours, from 2,893,322 to 2,893,402 burden hours per year.
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 Disclosure Statements with no additional disclosure requirements