2011-24996. 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 and Trademark Financial Transactions.

Form Number(s): PTO-2038, PTO-2231, PTO-2232, PTO-2233, PTO-2234, PTO-2236.

Agency Approval Number: 0651-0043.

Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Burden: 55,901 hours annually.

Number of Respondents: 1,849,771 responses per year.

Avg. Hours per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take the public approximately two to six minutes (0.03 to 0.10 hours) to gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate form or document, and submit the items in this collection to the USPTO.

Needs and Uses: Under 35 U.S.C. 41 and 15 U.S.C. 1113, as implemented in 37 CFR 1.16-1.28, 2.6-2.7, and 2.206-2.209, the USPTO charges fees for processing and other services related to patents, trademarks, and information products. Customers may submit payments to the USPTO by several methods, including credit card, deposit account, electronic funds transfer (EFT), and paper check transactions. The public uses this collection to pay patent and trademark fees by credit card, establish and manage USPTO deposit accounts, request refunds, and set up user profiles. The USPTO uses this collection to process credit card payments, handle deposit account requests, issue refunds, and provide user accounts for EFT and other financial transactions.

Affected Public: Individuals or households; 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 “0651-0043 copy request” in the subject line of the message.
• 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 October 31, 2011 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: September 23, 2011.

Susan K. Fawcett,

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