10482 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 35 / Wednesday, February 22, 2012 / Notices 

Company Structure Dates Marine mammals sighted 

(individuals) 

Biological 

impacts observed to 

marine 

mammals 

ERT ........ South Marsh Island Area, Block 107, 

Platform B.

July 23 and August 4 to 8, 2011 ....... None ................................................... None. 

Pursuant to these regulations, NMFS 

has issued an LOA to ERT and Demex. 

Issuance of the LOAs is based on a 

finding made in the preamble to the 

final rule that the total taking by these 

activities (with monitoring, mitigation, 

and reporting measures) will result in 

no more than a negligible impact on the 

affected species or stock(s) of marine 

mammals and will not have an 

unmitigable adverse impact on 

subsistence uses. NMFS will review 

reports to ensure that the applicants are 

in compliance with meeting the 

requirements contained in the 

implementing regulations and LOA, 

including monitoring, mitigation, and 

reporting requirements. 

Dated: February 16, 2012. 

James H. Lecky, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4117 Filed 2–21–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

Trademark Petitions 

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 April 23, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• Email: 

InformationCollection@uspto.gov. 

Include ‘‘0651–0061 comment’’ 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. 

• Federal Rulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information 

should be directed to the attention of 

Catherine Cain, Attorney Advisor, 

Office of the Commissioner for 

Trademarks, United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1451, 

Alexandria, VA 22313–1451, by 

telephone at 571–272–8946, or by email 

to catherine.cain@uspto.gov, with 

‘‘Paperwork’’ in the subject line. 

Additional information about this 

collection is also available at http:// 

www.reginfo.gov under ‘‘Information 

Collection Review.’’ 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO) administers 

the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. 1051 et 

seq., which provides for the Federal 

registration of trademarks, service 

marks, collective trademarks and service 

marks, collective membership marks, 

and certification marks. Individuals and 

businesses that use or intend to use 

such marks in commerce may file an 

application to register their marks with 

the USPTO. Individuals and businesses 

may also submit various 

communications to the USPTO, 

including letters of protest, requests to 

make special, responses to petition 

inquiry letters, petitions to make 

special, requests to restore a filing date, 

and requests for reinstatement. 

A letter of protest is an informal 

procedure whereby third parties who 

object to the registration of a mark in a 

pending application may bring to the 

attention of the USPTO evidence 

bearing on the registrability of a mark. 

A letter of protest must identify the 

application being protested and the 

proposed grounds for refusing 

registration and include relevant 

evidence to support the protest. 

A request to make special may be 

submitted where an applicant’s prior 

registration was cancelled due to the 

inadvertent failure to file a post 

registration maintenance document and 

should include an explanation of why 

special action is appropriate. 

A response to a petition inquiry letter 

is submitted by a petitioner who is 

responding to a notice of deficiency that 

the USPTO issued after receiving an 

incomplete Petition to the Director. A 

petition may be considered incomplete 

if, for example, it does not include the 

fee required by 37 CFR 2.6 or if it 

includes an unverified assertion that is 

not supported by evidence. 

The USPTO generally examines 

applications in the order in which they 

are received. A petition to make special 

is a request by the applicant to advance 

the initial examination of an application 

out of its regular order. 

A request to restore a filing date is 

submitted by an applicant who 

previously filed an application that was 

denied a filing date. The request must 

include evidence showing that the 

applicant is entitled to the earlier filing 

date. 

If an applicant has proof that an 

application was inadvertently 

abandoned due to a USPTO error, an 

applicant may file a request to reinstate 

the application instead of a formal 

petition to revive. To support such a 

request, the applicant must include 

clear evidence of the USPTO error. 

The information in this collection can 

be submitted in paper format or 

electronically through the Trademark 

Electronic Application System (TEAS). 

The USPTO has developed a TEAS 

Global Form format that permits the 

agency to collect information 

electronically for which a TEAS form 

with dedicated data fields is not yet 

available. With the introduction of the 

TEAS Global Forms, the information in 

this collection can be collected in paper 

format or electronically using the TEAS 

Global Forms. 

As part of this renewal the USPTO 

proposes to add four TEAS Global 

Forms—for responses to petition inquiry 

letter, petitions to make special, 

requests to restore filing date, and 

requests for reinstatement—into the 

collection. The paper equivalents for the 

response to petition inquiry letter, 

petition to make special, request to 

restore filing date, and request for 

reinstatement will be added as well. 

Although this collection does have 

electronic forms, there are no official 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 35 / Wednesday, February 22, 2012 / Notices 10483 

paper forms for these filings. 

Individuals and businesses can submit 

their own paper forms following the 

USPTO’s rules and guidelines to ensure 

that all of the necessary information is 

provided. 

II. Method of Collection 

Electronically, if applicants submit 

the information using the new TEAS 

Global Forms. By mail, facsimile, or 

hand delivery if applicants choose to 

submit the information in paper form. 

III. Data 

OMB Number: 0651–0061. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Affected Public: Primarily businesses 

or other for-profit organizations. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

2,135 responses per year. 

Estimated Time per Response: The 

USPTO estimates that it will take the 

public approximately 30 minutes (0.50 

hours) to one hour to gather the 

necessary information, create the 

document, and submit the completed 

request, depending upon whether the 

information is submitted electronically 

or on paper. 

Estimated Total Annual Respondent 

Burden Hours: 1,689 hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Respondent 

Cost Burden: $574,260. The USPTO 

expects that the information in this 

collection will be prepared by attorneys 

at an estimated rate of $340 per hour. 

Therefore, the USPTO estimates that the 

respondent cost burden for this 

collection will be approximately 

$574,260 per year. 

Item 

Estimated 

time for 

response 

Estimated annual 

responses 

Estimated 

annual burden 

hours 

Letter of Protest (TEAS Global) .................................................................................................... 50 minutes ... 187 155 

Letter of Protest (Paper) ............................................................................................................... 1 hour ........... 1,063 1,063 

Request to Make Special (TEAS Global) ..................................................................................... 30 minutes ... 90 45 

Request to Make Special (Paper) ................................................................................................. 40 minutes ... 10 7 

Response to Petition to Director Inquiry Letter (TEAS Global) .................................................... 30 minutes ... 19 10 

Response to Petition to Director Inquiry Letter (Paper) ............................................................... 40 minutes ... 5 3 

Petition to Make Special (TEAS Global) ....................................................................................... 30 minutes ... 135 68 

Petition to Make Special (Paper) .................................................................................................. 40 minutes ... 15 10 

Request to Restore Filing Date (TEAS Global) ............................................................................ 30 minutes ... 1 1 

Request to Restore Filing Date (Paper) ....................................................................................... 40 minutes ... 10 7 

Request for Reinstatement (TEAS Global) ................................................................................... 30 minutes ... 480 240 

Request for Reinstatement (Paper) .............................................................................................. 40 minutes ... 120 80 

Totals ...................................................................................................................................... ...................... 2,135 1,689 

Estimated Total Annual (Non-hour) 

Respondent Cost Burden: $15,550. This 

collection has annual (non-hour) costs 

in the form of postage costs and filing 

fees. 

The public may submit the nonelectronic information in this collection 

to the USPTO by mail through the 

United States Postal Service. The 

USPTO estimates that the majority of 

submissions for these paper forms are 

made via first-class mail at a cost of 45 

cents per submission. The total 

estimated postage cost for this collection 

is $550 (1,223 paper submissions × 

$0.45). 

The only item in this information 

collection with a filing fee is the 

Petition to Make Special, with a filing 

fee of $100. The total estimated filing 

fee cost for this collection is $15,000. 

Item Responses Filing fee 

($) 

Total non-hour 

cost burden 

(a) × (b) 

(a) (b) (c) 

Petition to Make Special (TEAS Global) ..................................................................................... 135 $100.00 $13,500.00 

Petition to Make Special (Paper) ................................................................................................. 15 100.00 1,500.00 

Total ...................................................................................................................................... 150 ........................ 15,000.00 

Therefore, the total estimated (nonhour) respondent cost burden in postage 

costs and filing fees for this information 

collection is $15,550. 

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: February 16, 2012. 

Susan K. Fawcett, 

Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4085 Filed 2–21–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES