2013-23294. 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: Secrecy and License to Export.

Form Number(s): None.

Agency Approval Numbe r: 0651-0034.

Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Burden: 1,431 hours annually.

Number of Respondents: 2,294 responses per year.

Avg. Hours per Response: The USPTO estimates that it will take the public between 30 minutes (0.5 hours) to 4 hours to gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate petition, and submit the petition to the USPTO, depending on the complexity of the situation.

Needs and Uses: This information is required by 35 U.S.C. 181-188 and administered by the USPTO through 37 CFR 5.1-5.22 and 1.17. This collection includes the information needed by the USPTO to review the various types of petitions regarding secrecy orders and to issue or revoke foreign filing licenses. Responses to this information collection is necessary to obtain a permit to disclose, modify or rescind a secrecy order; to obtain general or group permits; to obtain foreign filing licenses, including retroactive foreign filing licenses; or to change the scope of a license.

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

Frequency: On occasion.

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

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

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

Paper copies can be obtained by:

• Email: [e-mail]. Include “0651-0022 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 25, 2013 to Nicholas A. Fraser, OMB Desk Officer, via email to [e-mail] or by fax to 202-395-5167, marked to the attention of Nicholas A. Fraser.

Dated: September 20, 2013.

Susan K. Fawcett,

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