[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 207 (Friday, October 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85171-85172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24920]


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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; Patents for Humanity Program and Trademarks for Humanity 
Program

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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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-
0066 (Patents for Humanity Program and Trademarks for Humanity 
Program). 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 December 24, 2024.

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.
    <bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#71381f171e031c1005181e1f321e1d1d141205181e1f31040201051e5f161e07"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6c25020a031e010d180503022f030000090f180503022c191f1c1803420b031a">[email protected]</span></a>. Include ``0651-
0066 comment'' in the subject line of the message.
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
    <bullet> Mail: Justin Isaac, 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 Soma Saha, Patent Attorney, Office of Policy and 
International Affairs, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. 
Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; by telephone at 571-272-9300; or 
by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8cfcedf8e9e2f8ffeae3fee4f9e1ede2e5f8f5ccf9fffcf8e3a2ebe3fa"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d4a4b5a0b1baa0a7b2bba6bca1b9b5babda0ad94a1a7a4a0bbfab3bba2">[email protected]</span></a> or 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a5d1d7c4c1c0c8c4d7ced6c3cad7cdd0c8c4cbccd1dce5d0d6d5d1ca8bc2cad3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1064627174757d71627b63767f6278657d717e79646950656360647f3e777f66">[email protected]</span></a> with ``0651-0066 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

    Since 2012, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) 
has conducted the Patents for Humanity Program, a biannual award 
program to incentivize the distribution of patented technologies or 
products for the purpose of addressing humanitarian needs. The program 
is open to any patent owners or patent licensees, including inventors 
who have not assigned their ownership rights to others, assignees, and 
exclusive or non-exclusive licenses. The USPTO collects information 
from applicants that describe what actions they have taken with their 
patented technology to address the welfare of impoverished populations, 
or how they furthered research by others on technologies for 
humanitarian purposes. There are numerous categories of awards 
including: Medicine, Nutrition, Sanitation, Household Energy, and 
Living Standards. Sometimes the program includes additional categories 
specific for that year, for example, green energy.
    The Patents for Humanity program provides winners with recognition 
and an acceleration certificate for one future patent matter. The 
applications that are chosen for an award will receive a certificate 
redeemable to accelerate select matters before the USPTO. The 
certificates can be redeemed to accelerate one of the following 
matters: an ex parte reexamination proceeding, including one appeal to 
the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) from that proceeding; a patent 
application, including one appeal to the PTAB from that application; or 
an appeal to the PTAB of a claim twice rejected in a patent application 
or reissue application or finally rejected in an ex parte 
reexamination, without accelerating the underlying matter which 
generated the appeal. Finally, due to the January 2021 passage of the 
Patents for Humanity Program Improvement Act, winners of the Patents 
for Humanity program are now able to transfer their certificates to 
third parties, including by sale.\1\
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    \1\ https://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ316/PLAW-116publ316.pdf.
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    In 2023, the USPTO added the Trademarks for Humanity Program to 
promote and incentivize brand owners who offer products and services 
that help address humanitarian issues utilizing a federally registered 
trademark. Applicants are required to describe how their mark and their 
goods or services satisfy the program criteria to address humanitarian 
issues. Like the Patents for Humanity Program, this trademark-focused 
program operates biannually and can have a variety of topics depending 
upon the year. Trademarks for Humanity awards are focused on 
recognition and do not confer transfer of awards certificates like the 
Patents for Humanity Program.
    Applications for both programs must provide non-public contact 
information in order for the USPTO to notify them about their award 
status. Applicants may opt to provide contact information for the 
public to reach them with any inquiries. Applications must be submitted 
via email and will be posted on the USPTO website. A panel of 
independent judges evaluate the applications and send the top-scoring 
ones to reviewers from participating federal agencies to recommend 
award recipients. Awards are public, and recipients receive recognition 
for their humanitarian efforts from the USPTO and executive branch 
leadership. Winners of both the Patents for Humanity Program and the 
Trademarks for Humanity Program are invited to participate in an awards 
ceremony.
    This information collection covers the two application forms for 
the Patents for Humanity Program and the single application form for 
the Trademarks for Humanity Program. This information collection also 
covers the information gathered in Patents for Humanity petitions to 
extend an acceleration certificate redemption beyond 12 months, as well 
as the transfer of awards certificates. To account for the recent 
addition of the Trademarks for Humanity Program, the name of this 
information collection has been changed from ``Patents for Humanity 
Program'' to ``Patents for Humanity Program and Trademarks for Humanity 
Program.''

II. Method of Collection

    Items in this information collection must be submitted 
electronically.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0651-0066.
    Forms: (PFH--Patents for Humanity, TFH--Trademarks for Humanity)
<bullet> PTO/PFH/001 (Humanitarian Use Application)
<bullet> PTO/PFH/002 (Humanitarian Research Use Application)
<bullet> PTO/PFH/003 (Petition to Extend the Redemption Period of a 
Patents for Humanity Program Acceleration Certificate)
<bullet> PTO/TFH/001 (Trademarks for Humanity Application)


[[Page 85172]]


    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: Biannually.
    Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 82 respondents.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 82 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses 
in this information collection will take the public approximately 
between 30 minutes (0.50 hours) and 4 hours to complete. This includes 
the time to gather the necessary information, create the document, and 
submit the completed item to the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 322 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $143,934.
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    \2\ 2023 Report of the Economic Survey, published by the 
Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American 
Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA); pg. F-41. The USPTO 
uses the average billing rate for intellectual property work in all 
firms which is $447 per hour (https://www.aipla.org/home/news-publications/economic-survey).

                                       Table 1--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Private Sector Respondents
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                                                                                                                                             Estimated
                                                    Estimated    Responses      Estimated    Estimated time     Estimated     Rate 2 ($/      annual
           Item No.                    Item           annual        per          annual       for response    burden (hour/     hour)       respondent
                                                   respondents   respondent     responses        (hours)          year)                     cost burden
                                .................          (a)          (b)     (a) x (b) =             (d)     (c) x (d) =          (f)     (e) x (f) =
                                                                                        (c)                             (e)                          (g)
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1.............................  Humanitarian                25            1              25               4             100         $447         $44,700
                                 Program
                                 Application
                                 (Humanitarian
                                 Use).
2.............................  Humanitarian                25            1              25               4             100          447          44,700
                                 Program
                                 Application
                                 (Humanitarian
                                 Research).
3.............................  Petition to                  1            1               1               1               1          447             447
                                 Extend the
                                 Redemption
                                 Period of the
                                 Humanitarian
                                 Award
                                 Certificate.
4.............................  Transfer of                  1            1               1            0.50               1          447             447
                                 Awards                                                        (30 minutes)
                                 Certificate.
5.............................  Trademarks for              30            1              30               4             120          447          53,640
                                 Humanity
                                 Application.
                                                  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals....................                              82  ...........              82  ..............             322  ...........         143,934
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    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden: $0. There 
are no capital start-up costs, 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. The 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, the 
USPTO cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.

Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-24920 Filed 10-24-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P


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