2024-29959. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Matters Related to First Inventor To File

Document Headings

Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following:

1. the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document
2. the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to
3. the agency docket number / agency internal file number
4. the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions

See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details.

Department of Commerce

Patent and Trademark Office

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will submit the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. The USPTO invites comments on this information collection renewal, which helps the USPTO assess the impact of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on Wednesday, October 9, 2024 during a 60-day comment period (89 FR 81894). This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comment.

Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce.

Title: Matters Related to First Inventor to File.

OMB Control Number: 0651-0071.

Needs and Uses: Section 3 of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), inter alia, amended 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 consistent with the objectives of the AIA, including the conversion of the United States patent system from a “first to invent” system to a “first inventor to file” system. The changes to 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 in section 3 of the AIA went into effect on March 16, 2013, but apply only to certain applications filed on or after March 16, 2013.

This information collection covers information required by 37 CFR 1.55(k), 1.78(a)(6), and 1.78(d)(6) to assist the USPTO in determining whether an application is subject to 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 as amended by Section 3 of the AIA, or 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 as in effect on March 15, 2013. The information is only required in nonprovisional applications filed on or after March 16, 2013, that claim foreign priority to, or domestic benefit of, an application filed before March 16, 2013. Moreover, the information is not required if the nonprovisional application filed on or after March 16, 2013, claims the benefit of an earlier application in which a statement under 37 CFR 1.55(k), 1.78(a)(6), or 1.78(d)(6) has already been filed. Given the passage of time, it is increasingly rare for a newly filed nonprovisional application to claim foreign priority to, or domestic benefit of, an application filed before March 16, 2013, without also claiming benefit of an earlier application in which the statement has already been filed. Accordingly, the estimated responses for this collection continue to decrease.

For this 30-day notice, the non-hourly cost burdens have been adjusted, for an overall increase of $1, due to an increase in the postage rate since the 60-day notice was published.

Forms: None.

Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved information collection.

Affected Public: Private sector.

Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.

Frequency: On occasion.

Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 50 respondents.

Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 50 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses in this information collection will take the public approximately 2 hours to complete. This includes the time to gather the necessary information, create the document, and submit the completed item to the USPTO.

Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 100 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden: $11.

This information collection request may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce, USPTO information collections currently under review by OMB.

Written comments and recommendations for this information collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of this notice on the following website, www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function and entering either the title of the information collection or the OMB Control Number, 0651-0071.

Further information can be obtained by:

• Email: [e-mail]. Include “0651-0071 information request” in the subject line of the message.
• Mail: Justin Isaac, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.

Justin Isaac,

Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.