2010-16975. 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: Patent Term Extension.

Form Number(s): PTO/SB/131.

Agency Approval Number: 0651-0020.

Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Burden: 7,808 hours annually.

Number of Respondents: 13,586 responses per year.

Avg. Hours per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take the public approximately 10 minutes (0.17 hours) to 25 hours, depending on the complexity and type of filing, to gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate documents, and submit the information in this collection to the USPTO.

Needs and Uses: The patent term restoration portion of the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-417), which is codified at 35 U.S.C. 156, permits the USPTO to extend the term of protection under a patent to compensate for delay during regulatory review and approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or Department of Agriculture. Only patents for drug products, medical devices, food additives, or color additives are potentially eligible for extension. The maximum length that a patent may be extended under 35 U.S.C. 156 is five years. The USPTO administers 35 U.S.C. 156 through 37 CFR 1.710-1.791.

Separate from the extension provisions of 35 U.S.C. 156, the USPTO may in some cases extend the term of an original patent due to certain delays in the prosecution of the patent application, including delays caused by interference proceedings, secrecy orders, or appellate review by the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences or a Federal court in which the patent is issued pursuant to a decision reversing an adverse determination of patentability. The patent term provisions of 35 U.S.C. 154(b), as amended by Title IV, Subtitle D of the Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999, require the USPTO to notify the applicant of the patent term adjustment in the notice of allowance and give the applicant an opportunity to request reconsideration of the USPTO's patent term adjustment determination. The USPTO administers 35 U.S.C. 154 through 37 CFR 1.701-1.705.

The public uses this information collection to file requests related to patent term extensions and reconsideration or reinstatement of patent term adjustments. The information in this collection is used by the USPTO to consider whether an applicant is eligible for a patent term extension or reconsideration of a patent term adjustment and, if so, to determine the length of the patent term extension or adjustment.

Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits; and not-for-profit institutions.

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 “0651-0020 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 August 12, 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: July 8, 2010.

Susan K. Fawcett,

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