Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 14 / Tuesday, January 23, 2007 / Notices 2869 

Dated: January 17, 2007. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–944 Filed 1–23–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

Post Allowance and Refiling 

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment 

request. 

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO), as part of its 

continuing effort to reduce paperwork 

and respondent burden, invites the 

general public and other Federal 

agencies to take this opportunity to 

comment on the continuing information 

collection, as required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104–

13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted on or before March 26, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• E-mail: Susan.Brown@uspto.gov. 

Include ‘‘0651–0033 comment’’ in the 

subject line of the message. 

• Fax: 571–273–0112, marked to the 

attention of Susan Brown. 

• Mail: Susan K. Brown, Records 

Officer, Office of the Chief Information 

Officer, Architecture, Engineering and 

Technical Services, Data Architecture 

and Services Division, U.S. Patent and 

Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 

Alexandria, VA 22313–1450. 

• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information 

should be directed to Robert A. Clarke, 

Deputy Director, Office of Patent Legal 

Administration, U.S. Patent and 

Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 

Alexandria, VA 22313–1450; by 

telephone at 571–272–7735; or by e-mail 

at Robert.Clarke@uspto.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

I. Abstract 

The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO) is required 

by 35 U.S.C. 131 and 151 to examine 

applications and, when appropriate, 

allow applications and issue them as 

patents. When an application for a 

patent is allowed by the USPTO, the 

USPTO issues a notice of allowance and 

the applicant must pay the specified 

issue fee (including the publication fee, 

if applicable) within three months to 

avoid abandonment of the application. 

If the appropriate fees are paid within 

the proper time period, the USPTO can 

then issue the patent. If the fees are not 

paid within the designated time period, 

the application is abandoned and the 

applicant may petition the Director to 

accept a delayed payment with a 

satisfactory showing that the delay was 

unavoidable. This Petition for Revival of 

an Application for Patent Abandoned 

Unavoidably (Form PTO/SB/61) is 

approved under information collection 

0651–0031. The rules outlining the 

procedures for payment of the issue fee 

and issuance of a patent are found at 37 

CFR 1.18 and 1.311–1.317. 

Chapter 25 of Title 35 U.S.C. provides 

that there are several actions that the 

applicant may take after issuance of a 

patent, including requesting the 

correction of errors in a patent. For 

original patents that are deemed wholly 

or partly inoperative, applicants may 

file a reissue application, which entails 

several formal requirements including 

an oath or declaration stating that the 

errors in the patent were not the result 

of any deceptive intention on the part of 

the applicant. The rules outlining these 

procedures are found at 37 CFR 1.171–

1.178 and 1.322–1.325. 

Chapter 30 of Title 35 U.S.C. provides 

that any person at any time may file a 

request for reexamination by the USPTO 

of any claim of a patent on the basis of 

prior art patents or printed publications. 

Once initiated, the reexamination 

proceedings are substantially ex parte 

and do not permit input from third 

parties under Chapter 30, but Chapter 

31 also provides for inter partes 

reexamination allowing third parties to 

participate. If a request for ex parte or 

inter partes reexamination is denied, the 

requester may petition the Director to 

review the examiner’s refusal of 

reexamination. The rules outlining ex 

parte and inter partes reexaminations 

are found at 37 CFR 1.510–1.570 and 

1.902–1.997. 

The USPTO is adding two items to 

this information collection, an 

electronic version of the Issue Fee 

Transmittal (Form PTOL–85B) and a 

petition to request an extension of time 

in ex parte or inter partes reexamination 

proceedings. The USPTO is developing 

a new version of the existing Issue Fee 

Transmittal that customers will be able 

to submit electronically through EFSWeb, the USPTO’s latest electronic 

filing initiative. EFS-Web is a web-based 

patent application and document 

submission system that allows 

customers to file applications and 

associated documents through their 

standard web browser. EFS-Web offers 

many benefits to filers, including 

immediate notification that a 

submission has been received by the 

USPTO, automated processing of 

requests, and avoidance of postage and 

other paper delivery costs. The petition 

for an extension of time in an ex parte 

or inter partes reexamination allows 

patent owners to request additional time 

to take action in a reexamination 

proceeding for sufficient cause and for 

a reasonable time specified. This 

petition is an existing requirement that 

was not previously covered under this 

information collection. No form is 

provided for this petition. 

The public uses this information 

collection to request corrections of 

errors in issued patents, to request 

reissue patents, to request 

reexamination proceedings, and to 

ensure that the associated fees and 

documentation are submitted to the 

USPTO. 

II. Method of Collection 

By mail, facsimile, hand delivery, or 

electronically to the USPTO. 

III. Data 

OMB Number: 0651–0033. 

Form Number(s): PTO/SB/44/50/51/ 

51S/52/53/56/57/58 and PTOL–85B. 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Affected Public: Businesses or other 

for-profits; not-for-profit institutions. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

224,926 responses per year. 

Estimated Time Per Response: The 

USPTO estimates that it will take the 

public from 1.8 minutes (0.03 hours) to 

2 hours to gather the necessary 

information, prepare the appropriate 

form or other document, and submit the 

information to the USPTO. 

Estimated Total Annual Respondent 

Burden Hours: 68,245 hours per year. 

Estimated Total Annual Respondent 

Cost Burden: $12,486,080 per year. The 

USPTO expects that the information in 

this collection will be prepared by 

attorneys, except for the Issue Fee 

Transmittal, which will be prepared by 

paraprofessionals. Using the 

professional rate of $304 per hour for 

associate attorneys in private firms, the 

USPTO estimates that the respondent 

cost burden for attorneys submitting the 

information in this collection will be 

$9,012,080 per year. Using the 

paraprofessional rate of $90 per hour, 

the USPTO expects that the respondent 

cost burden for submitting the Issue Fee 

Transmittal will be $3,474,000 per year. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES

2870 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 14 / Tuesday, January 23, 2007 / Notices 

Item Form No. Estimated time for 

response 

Estimated 

annual 

responses 

Estimated 

annual 

burden hours 

Certificate of Correction ........................................... PTO/SB/44 ........................ 1 hour ................................ 25,000 25,000 

Reissue Documentation ........................................... None .................................. 2 hours .............................. 1,100 2,200 

Reissue Patent Application Transmittal ................... PTO/SB/50 ........................ 12 minutes ......................... 1,100 220 

Reissue Application Declaration by the Inventor or 

the Assignee.

PTO/SB/51/52 ................... 30 minutes ......................... 1,100 550 

Supplemental Declaration for Reissue Patent Application to Correct ‘‘Errors’’ Statement (37 CFR 

1.175).

PTO/SB/51S ...................... 1.8 minutes ........................ 700 21 

Reissue Application: Consent of Assignee; Statement of Non-assignment.PTO/SB/53 ........................ 6 minutes ........................... 1,075 108 

Reissue Application Fee Transmittal Form .............. PTO/SB/56 ........................ 12 minutes ......................... 1,100 220 

Request for Ex Parte Reexamination Transmittal 

Form.

PTO/SB/57 ........................ 2 hours .............................. 500 1,000 

Request for Inter Partes Reexamination Transmittal 

Form.

PTO/SB/58 ........................ 2 hours .............................. 100 200 

Petition to Review Refusal to Grant Ex Parte Reexamination.None .................................. 1 hour ................................ 100 100 

Petition to Review Refusal to Grant Inter Partes 

Reexamination.

None .................................. 1 hour ................................ 1 1 

Petition to Request Extension of Time in Ex Parte 

or Inter Partes Reexamination.

None .................................. 30 minutes ......................... 50 25 

Issue Fee Transmittal .............................................. PTOL–85B ......................... 12 minutes ......................... 154,400 30,880 

Issue Fee Transmittal (EFS-Web) ........................... PTOL–85B ......................... 12 minutes ......................... 38,600 7,720 

Totals ................................................................ ............................................ ............................................ 224,926 68,245 

Estimated Total Annual Non-hour 

Respondent Cost Burden: $273,113,430 

per year. There are no capital start-up or 

maintenance costs associated with this 

information collection. However, this 

collection does have annual (non-hour) 

costs in the form of filing fees, postage 

costs, and recordkeeping costs. 

The total estimated annual filing fees 

for this collection are calculated in the 

accompanying table. The Reissue 

Application Fee Transmittal Form 

includes the fees for the reissue 

application under 37 CFR 1.16, 

including the basic filing fee, search fee, 

and examination fee. These fees cover 

all parts of the application, including 

reissue documentation, reissue 

application transmittal, reissue 

application declarations, and consent of 

assignee or statement of nonassignment. There is no fee for the 

supplemental declaration for a reissue 

patent application to correct an ‘‘errors’’

statement. 

Additionally, there are several 

different issue fees under 37 CFR 1.18 

depending on the type of patent being 

issued, whether a publication fee is 

required, and whether the inventor is 

entitled to the discounted small entity 

fee. The additional publication fee may 

not be owed at the time of patent issue 

for any of the following reasons: (1) The 

application requested non-publication 

under 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(i); (2) the 

application will not be published due to 

national security concerns as provided 

in 35 U.S.C. 122(d); (3) the applicant has 

paid the publication fee prior to issue 

due to a request for early or amended 

publication under 37 CFR 1.219; or (4) 

the application was filed prior to 

November 29, 2000 and therefore not 

subject to eighteen-month publication 

under 35 U.S.C. 122(b). The USPTO 

estimates that the total filing costs 

associated with this collection will be 

$273,013,030 per year. 

Item Form No. 

Estimated 

annual 

responses 

Fee 

amount 

Estimated 

annual 

filing costs 

Certificate of Correction ..................................................................... PTO/SB/44 ............. 25,000 $100.00 $2,500,000.00 

Reissue Documentation .................................................................... None ...................... 1,100 0.00 0.00 

Reissue Patent Application Transmittal ............................................ PTO/SB/50 ............. 1,100 0.00 0.00 

Reissue Application Declaration by the Inventor or the Assignee .... PTO/SB/51/52 ........ 1,100 0.00 0.00 

Supplemental Declaration for Reissue Patent Application to Correct ‘‘Errors’’ Statement (37 CFR 1.175).PTO/SB/51S .......... 700 0.00 0.00 

Reissue Application: Consent of Assignee; Statement of Non-assignment.PTO/SB/53 ............. 1,075 0.00 0.00 

Reissue Application Fee Transmittal Form ....................................... PTO/SB/56 ............. 657 1,400.00 919,800.00 

Reissue Application Fee Transmittal Form (small entity) ................. PTO/SB/56 ............. 443 700.00 310,100.00 

Request for Ex Parte Reexamination Transmittal Form ................... PTO/SB/57 ............. 500 2,520.00 1,260,000.00 

Request for Inter Partes Reexamination Transmittal Form .............. PTO/SB/58 ............. 100 8,800.00 880,000.00 

Petition to Review Refusal to Grant Ex Parte Reexamination ......... None ...................... 100 130.00 13,000.00 

Petition to Review Refusal to Grant Inter Partes Reexamination ..... None ...................... 1 130.00 130.00 

Petition to Request Extension of Time in Ex Parte or Inter Partes 

Reexamination.

None ...................... 50 200.00 10,000.00 

Issue Fee (utility patent, no publication fee) ..................................... PTOL–85B ............. 25,000 1,400.00 35,000,000.00 

Issue Fee (utility patent, no publication fee, small entity) ................. PTOL–85B ............. 9,000 700.00 6,300,000.00 

Issue Fee (utility patent, with publication fee) ................................... PTOL–85B ............. 105,000 1,700.00 178,500,000.00 

Issue Fee (utility patent, with publication fee, small entity) .............. PTOL–85B ............. 36,000 1,000.00 36,000,000.00 

Issue Fee (design patent, no publication fee) ................................... PTOL–85B ............. 8,500 800.00 6,800,000.00 

mstockstill on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 14 / Tuesday, January 23, 2007 / Notices 2871 

Item Form No. 

Estimated 

annual 

responses 

Fee 

amount 

Estimated 

annual 

filing costs 

Issue Fee (design patent, no publication fee, small entity) .............. PTOL–85B ............. 8,500 400.00 3,400,000.00 

Issue Fee (plant patent, no publication fee) ..................................... PTOL–85B ............. 120 1,100.00 132,000.00 

Issue Fee (plant patent, no publication fee, small entity) ................. PTOL–85B ............. 80 550.00 44,000.00 

Issue Fee (plant patent, with publication fee) ................................... PTOL–85B ............. 480 1,400.00 672,000.00 

Issue Fee (plant patent, with publication fee, small entity) ............... PTOL–85B ............. 320 850.00 272,000.00 

Totals .......................................................................................... ................................ 224,926 ........................ 273,013,030.00 

Customers may incur postage costs 

when submitting the information in this 

collection to the USPTO by mail. The 

USPTO estimates that the average firstclass postage cost for a mailed 

submission will be 52 cents and that up 

to 186,326 submissions will be mailed 

to the USPTO per year. The total 

estimated postage cost for this collection 

is $96,890 per year. 

When submitting the electronic 

version of the Issue Fee Transmittal, the 

applicant is strongly urged to retain a 

copy of the acknowledgment receipt as 

evidence that the form was received by 

the USPTO on the date noted. The 

USPTO estimates that it will take 5 

seconds (0.001 hours) to print and retain 

a copy of the acknowledgment receipt 

and that 38,600 submissions per year 

will submit the issue fee electronically, 

for a total of approximately 39 hours per 

year for printing this receipt. Using the 

paraprofessional rate of $90 per hour, 

the USPTO estimates that the 

recordkeeping cost associated with this 

requirement will be $3,510 per year. 

The total non-hour respondent cost 

burden for this collection in the form of 

filing fees, postage costs, and 

recordkeeping costs is $273,113,430 per 

year. 

IV. Request for Comments 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden 

(including hours and cost) of the 

proposed collection of information; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, e.g., the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized or 

included in the request for OMB 

approval of this information collection; 

they also will become a matter of public 

record. 

Dated: January 16, 2007. 

Susan K. Brown, 

Records Officer, USPTO Office of the Chief 

Information Officer, Architecture, 

Engineering and Technical Services, Data 

Architecture and Services Division. 

[FR Doc. E7–908 Filed 1–22–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Air Force 

Establishment and Operation of an 

Intelligence, Surveillance, 

Reconnaissance, and Strike Capability, 

Andersen Air Force Base, Guam 

AGENCY: Department of the Air Force. 

ACTION: Record of Decision (ROD). 

SUMMARY: On January 12, 2007, the 

United States Air Force signed the ROD 

for the Establishment and Operation of 

an Intelligence, Surveillance, 

Reconnaissance, and Strike Capability, 

Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. The 

decision was based on matters 

discussed in the Final Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS), inputs from the 

public and regulatory agencies, and 

other relevant factors. The Final EIS was 

made available on November 24, 2006 

in the Federal Register (Volume 71, 

Number 226, Page 67864) with a wait 

period ending December 26, 2006. The 

Air Force was the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) lead 

agency with the Department of the Navy 

acting as a Cooperating Agency under 

NEPA. The ROD documents only the 

decision of the Air Force with respect to 

the proposed Air Force actions analyzed 

in the Final EIS. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Jonathan 

Wald, 36 Civil Engineer Squadron, 671–

366–2549. 

Bao-Anh Trinh, 

DAF, Air Force Federal Register Liaison 

Officer. 

[FR Doc. E7–893 Filed 1–22–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Notice of Proposed Information 

Collection Requests 

AGENCY: Department of Education. 

SUMMARY: The IC Clearance Official, 

Regulatory Information Management 

Services, Office of Management, invites 

comments on the proposed information 

collection requests as required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before 

March 26, 2007. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) provide interested 

Federal agencies and the public an early 

opportunity to comment on information 

collection requests. OMB may amend or 

waive the requirement for public 

consultation to the extent that public 

participation in the approval process 

would defeat the purpose of the 

information collection, violate State or 

Federal law, or substantially interfere 

with any agency’s ability to perform its 

statutory obligations. The IC Clearance 

Official, Regulatory Information 

Management Services, Office of 

Management, publishes that notice 

containing proposed information 

collection requests prior to submission 

of these requests to OMB. Each 

proposed information collection, 

grouped by office, contains the 

following: (1) Type of review requested, 

e.g. new, revision, extension, existing or 

reinstatement; (2) Title; (3) Summary of 

the collection; (4) Description of the 

need for, and proposed use of, the 

information; (5) Respondents and 

frequency of collection; and (6) 

Reporting and/or Recordkeeping 

burden. OMB invites public comment. 

The Department of Education is 

especially interested in public comment 

addressing the following issues: (1) Is 

this collection necessary to the proper 

functions of the Department; (2) will 

this information be processed and used 

in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate 

of burden accurate; (4) how might the 

mstockstill on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES