63940 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 179 / Monday, September 18, 2023 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

Review and Approval; Comment 

Request; Patent Trial and Appeal 

Board (PTAB) Appeals 

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 comment 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 July 3, 2023 during a 60-day 

comment period. This notice allows for 

an additional 30 days for public 

comments. 

Agency: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Department of 

Commerce. 

Title: Patent Trial and Appeal Board 

Appeals. 

OMB Control Number: 0651–0063. 

Needs and Uses: The Patent Trial and 

Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) is 

established by statute under 35 U.S.C. 6. 

This statute directs, in relevant part, 

that PTAB shall ‘‘on written appeal of 

an applicant, review adverse decisions 

of examiners upon applications for 

patents pursuant to section 134(a).’’ 

PTAB has the authority, under 35 U.S.C. 

134 and 306 to decide appeals in 

applications and ex parte reexamination 

proceedings, and under pre-AIA 

sections of the Patent Act, i.e., 35 U.S.C. 

134, 135, and 315, to decide appeals in 

inter partes reexamination proceedings 

and interferences. In addition, 35 U.S.C. 

6 establishes the membership of PTAB 

as the Director, the Deputy Director, the 

Commissioner for Patents, the 

Commissioner for Trademarks, and the 

Administrative Patent Judges. Each 

appeal and interference is decided by a 

merits panel of at least three members 

of the Board. 

The Board’s responsibilities under the 

statute include the review of ex parte 

appeals from adverse decisions of 

examiners in those situations where a 

written appeal is taken by a dissatisfied 

applicant or patent owner. In inter 

partes reexamination appeals, PTAB 

reviews examiner’s decisions adverse to 

a patent owner or a third-party 

requester. PTAB’s opinions and 

decisions for publicly available files are 

published on the USPTO website. The 

Board also conducts interference 

proceedings. 

The items associated with this 

information collection include appeals 

in applications and ex parte 

reexamination proceedings, and appeals 

in inter partes reexamination 

proceedings and interference 

proceedings that are governed by the 

regulations in 37 CFR 41. Failure to 

comply with the appropriate regulations 

may result in dismissal of the appeal or 

denial of entry of the submission. 

This revision and extension of the 

information collection includes a line 

item to expressly specify certain filings 

made to the Board related to 

interference proceedings, including 

statements, motions, oppositions, and 

replies in preliminary and priority 

phases of an interference. 

Form Numbers: (AIA= America 

Invents Act; SB = Specimen Book). 

• PTO/AIA/31: (Notice of Appeal 

from the Examiner to the Patent Trial 

and Appeal Board). 

• PTO/SB/31: (Notice of Appeal). 

• PTO/AIA/32: (Request for Oral 

Hearing before the Patent Trial and 

Appeal Board). 

• PTO/SB/32: (Request for Oral 

Hearing before the Patent Trial and 

Appeal Board). 

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: 12,529 respondents. 

Estimated Number of Annual 

Responses: 22,149 responses. 

Estimated Time per Response: The 

USPTO estimates that the responses in 

this information collection will take 

respondents approximately 0.5 to 120 

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: 238,999 hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Respondent 

Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $17,185,623. 

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 0651–0063. 

Further information can be obtained 

by: 

• Email: InformationCollection@

uspto.gov. Include ‘‘0651–0063 

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. 

[FR Doc. 2023–20140 Filed 9–15–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 

COMMISSION 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities Under OMB Review 

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(‘‘PRA’’), this notice announces that the 

Information Collection Request (‘‘ICR’’) 

abstracted below has been forwarded to 

the Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs (‘‘OIRA’’), of the Office of 

Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’), for 

review and comment. The ICR describes 

the nature of the information collection 

and its expected costs and burden. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before October 18, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted within 30 days of this 

notice’s publication to OIRA, at https:// 

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 

Please find this particular information 

collection by selecting ‘‘Currently under 

30-day Review—Open for Public 

Comments’’ or by using the website’s 

search function. Comments can be 

entered electronically by clicking on the 

‘‘comment’’ button next to the 

information collection on the ‘‘OIRA 

Information Collections Under Review’’ 

page, or the ‘‘View ICR—Agency 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 179 / Monday, September 18, 2023 / Notices 63941 

1 17 CFR 145.9. 

2 Dodd-Frank Act, Public Law 111–203, 124 Stat. 

1376 (2010). 3 7 U.S.C. 6s(h) and 6s(j)(5). 

4Such entities are generally defined to include 

Federal agencies, States and political subdivisions, 

employee benefit plans as defined under the 

Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 

(‘‘ERISA’’), governmental plans as defined under 

ERISA, and endowments. 

5See section 4s(h)(3)(D) of the CEA, 7 U.S.C. 

6s(h)(3)(D) (Business conduct requirements adopted 

by the Commission shall establish such other 

standards and requirements as the Commission may 

determine are appropriate in the public interest, for 

the protection of investors, or otherwise in 

furtherance of the purposes of the CEA); see also 

sections 4s(h)(1)(D), 4s(h)(5)(B), and 4s(h)(6) of the 

CEA; 7 U.S.C. 6s(h)(1)(D), 6s(h)(5)(B), and 6s(h)(6). 

6 17 CFR part 23, subpart H. Subpart H of part 23 

(titled Business Conduct Standards for Swap 

Dealers and Major Swap Participants Dealing with 

Counterparties, Including Special Entities) includes 

the following provisions: § 23.400 (Scope); § 23.401 

(Definitions); § 23.402 (General Provisions); 

§ 23.410 (Prohibition on fraud, manipulation and 

other abusive practices); § 23.430 (Verification of 

counterparty eligibility); § 23.431 (Disclosures of 

material information); § 23.432 (Clearing 

disclosures); § 23.433 (Communications—fair 

dealing); § 23.434 (Recommendations to 

counterparties—institutional suitability; § 23.440 

(Requirements for swap dealers acting as advisors 

to Special Entities); § 23.450 (Requirements for 

swap dealers and major swap participants acting 

counterparties to Special Entities); and § 23.451 

(Political contributions by certain swap dealers). 

7 17 CFR 23.605. Commission regulation 23.605 is 

titled Conflicts of interest policies and procedures. 

8Reporting under § 23.451 (Political 

contributions by certain swap dealers) is optional 

and it is unknown how many registrants, if any, 

will engage in such reporting and how much 

burden, if any, will be incurred. Nevertheless, the 

Commission is providing an estimate of the 

regulation’s burden for purposes of the PRA below. 

9 44 U.S.C. 3512; 5 CFR 1320.5(b)(2)(i) and 

1320.8(b)(3)(vi). 

10The Commission, at the 60-Day Notice stage, 

estimated that 106 respondents were subject to the 

information collection requirements at issue, 88 FR 

43085 (Jul. 6, 2023), but has subsequently revised 

its estimate to 105 respondents, based on the 

current number of registered SDs. 

11The estimated total annual burden hours, at 

247,059 hours, is revised from 249,412 hours 

reported in the 60-Day Notice, based on the current 

number of registered SDs (105 instead of 106). 

Submission’’ page. A copy of the 

supporting statement for the collection 

of information discussed herein may be 

obtained by visiting https:// 

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 

In addition to the submission of 

comments to https://Reginfo.gov as 

indicated above, you may also submit a 

copy of all comments submitted to 

OIRA to the Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission (the 

‘‘Commission’’ or ‘‘CFTC’’) through any 

of the following methods: 

• Online: The CFTC Comments 

Portal, on the agency’s website, is 

available at https://comments.cftc.gov. 

Select the ‘‘Submit Comments’’ link for 

this rulemaking and follow the 

instructions on the Public Comment 

Form. 

• Mail: Christopher Kirkpatrick, 

Secretary of the Commission, 

Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 

1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 

20581. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Follow the 

same instructions as for Mail above. 

Please submit your comments using 

only one of these methods. To avoid 

possible delays with mail or in-person 

deliveries, submissions through the 

CFTC Comments Portal are encouraged. 

All comments must be submitted in 

English, or if not, accompanied by an 

English translation. Comments will be 

posted as received to https://

www.cftc.gov. You should submit only 

information that you wish to make 

available publicly. If you wish the 

Commission to consider information 

that you believe is exempt from 

disclosure under the Freedom of 

Information Act (‘‘FOIA’’), a petition for 

confidential treatment of the exempt 

information may be submitted according 

to the procedures established in § 145.9 

of the Commission’s regulations.1 The 

Commission reserves the right, but shall 

have no obligation, to review, prescreen, filter, redact, refuse or remove 

any or all of your submission from 

https://comments.cftc.gov that it may 

deem to be inappropriate for 

publication, such as obscene language. 

All submissions that have been redacted 

or removed that contain comments on 

the merits of the ICR will be retained in 

the public comment file and will be 

considered as required under the 

Administrative Procedure Act and other 

applicable laws, and may be accessible 

under FOIA. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dina 

Moussa, Special Counsel, 202–418– 

5696, dmoussa@cftc.gov, Market 

Participants Division, Commodity 

Futures Trading Commission, Three 

Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW, 

Washington, DC 20581. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Swap Dealer and Major Swap 

Participant Conflicts of Interest and 

Business Conduct Standards with 

Counterparties (OMB Control No. 3038– 

0079). This is a request for an extension 

of a currently approved information 

collection. 

Abstract: Section 731 of Title VII of 

the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 

Consumer Protection Act 2 amended the 

Commodity Exchange Act (‘‘CEA’’) to 

add sections 4s(h) and 4s(j)(5),3 which 

provide the Commission with both 

mandatory and discretionary 

rulemaking authority to impose 

business conduct requirements on swap 

dealers (‘‘SDs’’) and major swap 

participants (‘‘MSPs’’) in their dealings 

with counterparties, including ‘‘Special 

Entities,’’ 4 and require that each SD and 

MSP implement conflicts of interest 

systems and procedures. Congress 

granted the Commission broad 

discretionary authority to promulgate 

business conduct requirements, as 

appropriate in the public interest, for 

the protection of investors, or otherwise 

in furtherance of the purposes of the 

CEA.5

Accordingly, the Commission has 

adopted subpart H of part 23 of its 

regulations (‘‘EBCS Rules’’) 6 and 

§ 23.605,7 requiring SDs and MSPs to 

follow specified procedures and to 

provide specified disclosures in their 

dealings with counterparties, to adopt 

and implement conflicts of interest 

procedures and disclosures, and to 

maintain specified records related to 

those requirements. 

The recordkeeping and third-party 

disclosure obligations imposed by the 

regulations are essential to ensuring that 

SDs and MSPs develop and maintain 

procedures and disclosures required by 

the CEA and Commission regulations.8

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

unless it displays a currently valid OMB 

control number.9 On July 6, 2023, the 

Commission published in the Federal 

Register notice of the proposed 

extension of this information collection 

and provided 60 days for public 

comment on the proposed extension, 88 

FR 43085 (‘‘60-Day Notice’’). The 

Commission received no relevant 

comments on the 60-Day Notice. 

Burden Statement: The current 

respondent burden for this collection is 

estimated to be as follows: 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

105.10

Estimated Average Burden Hours per 

Respondent: 2,352.9. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 247,059.11

Frequency of Collection: Ongoing. 

There are no capital costs or operating 

and maintenance costs associated with 

this collection. 

(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) 

Dated: September 13, 2023. 

Robert Sidman, 

Deputy Secretary of the Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2023–20132 Filed 9–15–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6351–01–P 


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