2010-17000. 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), Commerce.

Title: Deposit of Biological Materials.

Form Number(s): None.

Agency Approval Number: 0651-0022.

Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Burden: 3,505 hours annually.

Number of Respondents: 3,501 responses per year. The USPTO expects that 3,500 patent applications on inventions dealing with deposits of biological materials will be filed each year, and that 1 depository will seek recognition every three years.

Avg. Hours per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take 1 hour for the average patent applicant respondent to collect and submit the necessary deposit information and an average of 5 hours for the average depository seeking approval to store biological material to gather and submit the necessary approval information.

Needs and Uses: Information on the deposit of biological materials in depositories is required for (a) the USPTO determination of compliance with 35 U.S.C. 2(b)(2) and 112, and 37 CFR 1.801-1.809 and 1.14, where inventions sought to be patented rely on biological material subject to the deposit requirement, including notification to the interested public about where to obtain samples of deposits; and (b) in compliance with 37 CFR 1.803 to demonstrate that the depositories are qualified to store and test the biological material submitted to them. This collection is used by the USPTO to determine whether or not the applicant has met the requirements of the patent regulations. In addition, the USPTO uses this information to determine the suitability of a respondent depository based upon administrative and technical competence and the depository's agreement to comply with the requirements set forth by the USPTO.

Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other for-profits; 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 “0651-0022 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 at [e-mail] or by fax to 202-395-5167, marked to the attention of Nicholas A. Fraser.

Susan K. Fawcett,

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