2024-14919. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Fastener Quality Act Insignia Recordal Process

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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 April 23, 2024 during a 60-day comment period (89 FR 30324). This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comment.

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

Title: Fastener Quality Act Insignia Recordal Process.

OMB Control Number: 0651-0028.

Needs and Uses: Under Section 5 of the Fastener Quality Act (FQA) of 1999,^[1] 15 U.S.C. 5401 et seq., certain industrial fasteners must bear an insignia identifying the manufacturer. It is also mandatory for manufacturers of fasteners covered by the FQA to submit an application to the USPTO for recordal of the insignia on the Fastener Insignia Register.

The procedures for the recordal of fastener insignia under the FQA are set forth in 15 CFR 280.300 et seq. The purpose of requiring both the insignia and the recordation is to ensure that certain fasteners can be traced to their manufacturers and to protect against the sale of mismarked, misrepresented, or counterfeit fasteners.

The insignia may be a unique alphanumeric designation that the USPTO will issue upon request or a trademark that is registered at the USPTO or is the subject of an application to obtain a registration. After a manufacturer submits a complete application for recordal, the USPTO issues a Certificate of Recordal. These certificates remain active for five years. Applications to renew the certificates must be filed within six months of the expiration date or, upon payment of an additional surcharge, within six months following the expiration date.

If a recorded alphanumeric designation is assigned by the manufacturer to a new owner, the designation becomes “inactive” and the new owner must submit an application to reactivate the designation within six months of the date of assignment. If the recordal is based on a trademark application or registration and the registration is assigned to a new owner, the recordal becomes “inactive” and cannot be reassigned. Instead, the new owner of the trademark application or registration must apply for a new recordal. Manufacturers who record insignia must notify the USPTO of any changes of address.

This information collection includes one form, the Application for Recordal of Insignia or Renewal/Reactivation of Recordal Under the Fastener Quality Act (PTO-1611), which provides manufacturers with a convenient way to submit a request for the recordal of a fastener insignia or to renew or reactivate an existing Certificate of Renewal.

The public uses this information collection to comply with the insignia recordal provisions of the FQA. The USPTO uses the information in this collection to record or renew insignias under the FQA and to maintain the Fastener Insignia Register, which is open for public inspection and is updated quarterly. The public may download the Fastener Insignia Register from the USPTO website.^[2]

Forms

• PTO-1611 (Application for Recordal of Insignia or Renewal/Reactivation of Recordal Under the Fastener Quality Act)

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: 90 respondents.

Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 90 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses in this information collection will take the public approximately 30 minutes (0.50 hours) to complete. This includes the time to gather the necessary information, complete the form, and submit the completed request to the USPTO.

Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 45 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $2,413.

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, 0651-0028.

Further information can be obtained by:

• Email:[e-mail]. Include “0651-0028 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.

Footnotes

1.   https://www.govinfo.gov/​content/​pkg/​PLAW-106publ34/​pdf/​PLAW-106publ34.pdf.

2.   https://www.uspto.gov/​trademarks/​laws/​fastener-quality-act-fqa/​fastener-quality-act-fqa.