The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is authorized by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act P.L. 112-29 and 35 U.S.C. § 131 et seq., to examine an application for patent and, when appropriate, issue a patent. The provisions of 35 U.S.C. §§ 122(c), 122(e), 131, and 151, as well as 37 CFR 1.290 and 1.291, limit the ability of a third-party to have information entered and considered in a patent application or to protest a patent application pending before the Office.
37 CFR 1.290 provides a mechanism for third-parties to submit to the USPTO, for consideration and inclusion in the record of a patent application, any patents, published patent applications, or other patent publications of potential relevance to the examination of the application. A preissuance submission under 37 CFR 1.290 may be made in any nonprovisional utility, design, and plant application, as well as in any continuing application. A preissuance submission under 37 CFR 1.290 must include a concise description of the asserted relevance of each document submitted and must be submitted within a certain statutory specific time period.
37 CFR 1.291 permits a member of the public to file a protest against a pending application. Protests pursuant to 37 CFR 1.921 are supported by a separate statutory provision from third-party submissions under 37 CFR 1.290 (35 U.S.C. 122(c) v. 35 U.S.C. 122(e)).
The information collected via third-party submissions under 37 CFR 1.290 and via protests under 37 CFR 1.291 is necessary so that the public may contribute to the quality of issued patents. The USPTO will use this information, as appropriate, during the patent examination process to assist in evaluating the patent application.
The requested burden, as outlined in the table above, seeks to modify the existing information collection burden. The requested information collection contains an estimated:
⢠880 annual responses
⢠8,800 annual burden hours
⢠$80,613 annual (non-hour) costs
Changes in Responses and Burden Hours
For this renewal, the USPTO estimates that the annual responses will decrease by 570 (from 1,450 to 880) and the total burden hours will decrease by 5,700 (from 14,500 to 8,800) from the currently approved burden for this information collection. These adjustments are due to updated Agency estimates that forecast declines in public submissions/responses of these items which in turn decreases the annual burden hours.
Changes in Annual (Non-hour) Cost
For this renewal, the USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) costs will decrease by $8,885 (from $89,498 to $80,613). The decrease in the annual cost burden is a result of the decrease in the annual responses. Additionally, fewer mailing to USPTO result in a reduction in postage costs. However, a slight increase in the fees associated with these submissions/responses and increasing postage rates are more than offset by the overall decline in the number of responses/submissions.
$13,793
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.
Form PTO/SB/429 Third-Party Submissions in Nonissued Applications (Individuals or Households)
Information Quality Guidelines _ USPTO.html
0651-0062 2021 Supporting Statement.docx
Leahy Smith America Invents Act-pub-l112-29.pdf
Protests by the Public Against Pending Applications Under 37 CFR 1.291 (Individuals or Households)