2022-06333. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; COVID-19 Vaccine Supplemental Medical Provider Statement

AGENCY:

United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce.

ACTION:

Notice of information collection; request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on the extension and revision of an existing information collection: 0651-0087 (COVID-19 Vaccine Supplemental Medical Provider Statement). The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comment preceding submission of the information collection to OMB.

DATES:

To ensure consideration, comments regarding this information collection must be received on or before May 23, 2022.

ADDRESSES:

Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by any of the following methods. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.

• Email: [e-mail]. Include “0651-0087 comment” in the subject line of the message.

• Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.

• Mail: Kimberly Hardy, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Request for additional information should be directed to Naveen Paul, Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-270-5395; or by email at [e-mail] with “0651-0087 comment” in the subject line. Additional information about this information collection is also available at http://www.reginfo.gov under “Information Collection Review.”

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

Consistent with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), guidance from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force established pursuant to E.O. 13991 of January 20, 2021, Protecting the Federal Workforce and Requiring Mask-Wearing, and E.O. 14043 of September 9, 2021, Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees, the request for this collection of information is essential to implement the USPTO health and safety measures regarding the Federal employee medical exemptions to the COVID-19 mandatory vaccinations. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, requires Federal agencies to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities unless that reasonable accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employee's agency. See 29 U.S.C. 791; 29 CFR part 1614; see also 20 CFR part 1630 and E.O.13164 of July 26, 2000, Requiring Federal Agencies to Establish Procedures to Facilitate the Provision of Reasonable Accommodation. Section 2 of E.O. 14043 mandates that each agency “implement, to the extent consistent with applicable law, a program to require COVID-19 vaccination for all of its Federal employees, with exceptions only as required by law.” This COVID-19 Vaccine Supplemental Medical Provider Statement is necessary for USPTO to determine legal exemptions to the vaccine requirement under the Rehabilitation Act.

The vaccination requirement issued pursuant to E.O. 14043, is currently the subject of a nationwide injunction. While that injunction remains in place, USPTO will not process requests for a medical exception from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043. USPTO will also not request the submission of any medical information related to a request for an exception from the vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 while the injunction remains in place. But USPTO may nevertheless receive information regarding a medical exception. That is because, if USPTO were to receive a request for an exception from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 during the pendency of the injunction, USPTO will accept the request, hold it in abeyance, and notify the employee who submitted the request that implementation and enforcement of the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 is currently enjoined and that an exception therefore is not necessary so long as the injunction is in place. In other words, during the pendency of the injunction, any information collection related to requests for medical exception from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 is not undertaken to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement.

II. Method of Collection

USPTO utilizes its USPTO Accommodation Point for employees to request accommodations. The individual responder/medical service provider will fill out the required fields of the form and submit the completed form to the appropriate USPTO personnel/employee requesting the accommodation. A link to this form or a PDF version may be emailed to respondents who will then print it out to complete it manually or complete it electronically. USPTO will continue to explore options to use technology to reduce the burden on respondents.

III. Data

OMB Control Number: 0651-0087.

Forms:

• USPTO-OEEOD Form 303 (COVID-19 Vaccine Supplemental Medical Provider Statement)

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.

Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 150 respondents.

Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 150 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses in this information collection will take the public approximately 10 minutes (0.167 hours) to complete. This includes the time to gather the necessary information, create the document, and submit the completed request to the USPTO.

Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 25 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $2,557.

Table 1—Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Respondents

Item No.	Item	Estimated annual respondents	Estimated responses per respondent	Estimated annual responses	Estimated time for response (hour)	Estimated burden (hour/year)	Rate ($/hour)	Estimated Annual respondent cost burden
		(a)	(b)	(a) × (b) = (c)	(d)	(c) × (d) = (e)	(f)	(e) × (f) = (g)
1	COVID-19 Vaccine Supplemental Medical Provider Statement	150	1	150	0.167 (10 minutes)	25	$103.06	$2,577
	Totals	150		150		25		2,577

Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $0. There are no capital start-up, maintenance costs, recordkeeping costs, filing fees, or postage costs associated with this information collection.

IV. Request for Comments

The USPTO is soliciting public comments to:

(a) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;

(b) Evaluate the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

(c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(d) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

All comments submitted in response to this notice are a matter of public record. USPTO will include or summarize each comment in the request to OMB to approve this information collection. Before including an address, phone number, email address, or other personally identifiable information (PII) in a comment, be aware that the entire comment— including PII—may be made publicly available at any time. While you may ask in your comment to withhold PII from public view, USPTO cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.

Kimberly Hardy,

Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.