2010-12215. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Title: Legal Processes.

Form Number(s): None.

Agency Approval Number: 0651-0046.

Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Burden: 52 hours annually.

Number of Respondents: 291 responses per year.

Avg. Hours per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take the public approximately 5 minutes (0.08 hours) to 1 hour to gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate documents, and submit the information in this collection to the USPTO.

Needs and Uses: This collection covers information requirements related to civil actions and claims involving current or former employees of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The rules for these legal processes may be found under 37 CFR part 104, which outlines procedures for service of process, demands for employee testimony and production of documents, reports of unauthorized testimony, employee indemnification, and filing claims against the USPTO under the Federal Tort Claims Act (28 U.S.C. 2672). The public uses this collection to serve a summons or complaint on the USPTO, demand employee testimony or documents related to a legal proceeding, or file a claim against the USPTO under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Respondents may petition the USPTO to waive or suspend the rules for legal processes in extraordinary situations. This collection is also necessary so that current and former USPTO employees may properly forward service and demands to the Office of General Counsel, report unauthorized testimony, and request indemnification. No forms are provided by the USPTO for submitting the information in this collection.

Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other for-profits; not-for-profit institutions; and the Federal Government.

Frequency: On occasion.

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

OMB Desk Officer: Nicholas A. Fraser, e-mail: [e-mail].

Once submitted, the request will be publicly available in electronic format through the Information Collection Review page at http://www.reginfo.gov.

Paper copies can be obtained by:

• E-mail: [e-mail]. Include “0651-0046 copy request” in the subject line of the message.
• Fax: [phone], marked to the attention of Susan K. Fawcett.
• Mail: Susan K. Fawcett, Records Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent on or before June 21, 2010 to Nicholas A. Fraser, OMB Desk Officer, via e-mail to [e-mail], or by fax to 202-395-5167, marked to the attention of Nicholas A. Fraser.

Dated: May 17, 2010.

Susan K. Fawcett,

Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief Information Officer.