Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 50 / Tuesday, March 15, 2022 / Notices 14517 

II. Method of Collection 

NIST will collect this information by 

electronic means when possible, as well 

as by mail, fax, telephone, technical 

discussions, and in-person interviews. 

NIST may also utilize observational 

techniques to collect this information. 

III. Data 

OMB Control Number: 0693–0078. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Review: Regular submission. 

Revision. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households; first responders; weather 

forecasters; members of the media; 

water, power, transportation, and 

communications infrastructure 

operators; businesses or other for-profit 

organizations; not-for-profit institutions; 

State, local or tribal government; 

Federal government; Standards-making 

bodies; Universities. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

25,000. 

Estimated Time per Response: Varied, 

dependent upon the data collection 

method used. The possible response 

time to complete a questionnaire may be 

15 minutes or 2 hours to participate in 

an interview. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 18,000. 

Estimated Total Annual Cost to 

Public: $0. 

IV. Request for Comments 

NIST invites comments on: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information will 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, including through the use 

of automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Comments that you submit in 

response to this notice are a matter of 

public record. We will include or 

summarize each comment in our request 

to OMB to approve this ICR. Before 

including your address, phone number, 

email address, or other personal 

identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you may ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Chief Information Officer, Commerce 

Department. 

[FR Doc. 2022–05417 Filed 3–14–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

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 External Quality 

Survey 

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: 0651–0057 

(Patents External Quality Survey). The 

purpose of this notice is to allow 60 

days for public comment preceding 

submission of the information collection 

to OMB. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted on or before May 16, 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: InformationCollection@

uspto.gov. Include ‘0651–0057 

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: 

Requests for additional information 

should be directed to David Fitzpatrick, 

Management Analyst, Office of Patent 

Quality Assurance, United States Patent 

and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 

Alexandria, VA 22313–1450; by 

telephone at 571–272–0525; or by email 

at David.Fitzpatrick@uspto.gov, with 

‘‘0651–0057 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 

This United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO) Quality 

Survey is an instrument designed to 

measure opinions about the services 

that USPTO provides its patent 

application customers. The results from 

this voluntary survey will assist USPTO 

in guiding improvements and 

enhancements in the future. The USPTO 

conducts the Patents External Quality 

Survey as part of its quality 

improvement efforts under E.O. 14058, 

Transforming Federal Customer 

Experience and Service Delivery to 

Rebuild Trust in Government (Dec. 13, 

2021). This survey narrows the focus of 

customer satisfaction to examination 

quality and uses a longitudinal, rotating 

panel design to assess changes in 

customer perceptions and to identify 

key areas for examiner training and 

opportunities for improvement. The 

USPTO surveys patent agents, attorneys, 

and other individuals from large 

domestic corporations (including those 

with 500+ employees), small and 

medium-size businesses, independent 

inventors, and universities and other 

non-profit research organizations. This 

survey does not include foreign entities. 

The USPTO random sample used in 

this survey is drawn from the Patent 

Application and Location Management 

(PALM) database. The sample 

population is drawn from the top filing 

firms and entities that have filed more 

than 5 patent applications in a 12- 

month period. This ongoing survey is 

generally conducted twice a year. 

USPTO uses a rotating panel design 

where participants will take the survey 

twice in back-to-back survey periods. 

Half the participants in each survey 

period are new, completing the survey 

for the first time, and half are returning 

to complete the survey for a second 

time. This design allows a precise 

measurement of changes in customer 

experience over time. 

The Patents External Quality Survey 

is primarily a web-based survey, 

although respondents can also complete 

the survey via paper and mail if they 

prefer. The content of both versions is 

identical. Potential respondents are sent 

either an email or mailed pre-survey 

letter, depending on noted preferences 

for contact. At the beginning of each 

survey period, respondents are provided 

instructions for accessing and 

completing the survey electronically. 

After a specified response period, a 

survey packet containing the 


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14518 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 50 / Tuesday, March 15, 2022 / Notices 

questionnaire, a separate cover letter 

prepared by the Deputy Commissioner 

for Patents, and a postage-paid, preaddressed return envelope are mailed to 

all sample members that have not yet 

submitted a response. Sampled 

members receiving a paper survey can 

still complete the survey electronically 

if they prefer. Reminder/thank you 

postcards and telephone calls are used 

to encourage response from sample 

members. 

Method of Collection 

The survey may be submitted 

electronically or in paper form via 

postal mail. 

II. Data 

OMB Control Number: 0651–0057. 

Form(s): 

• PTO/2325 (Patents External Quality 

Survey). 

Type of Review: Extension and 

revision of a currently approved 

information collection. 

Affected Public: Private sector. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

Estimated Number of Annual 

Respondents: 1,875 respondents. 

Estimated Number of Annual 

Responses: 3,100 responses. 

Estimated Time per Response: The 

USPTO estimates that it will take the 

public between 2 minutes (0.03 hours) 

and 10 minutes (.17 hours) to complete 

a response in this information 

collection. This includes the time to 

gather the necessary information, 

answer the survey prompts, and submit 

the completed request to the USPTO. 

Estimated Total Annual Respondent 

Burden Hours: 444 hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Respondent 

Hourly Cost Burden: $193,140. 

TABLE 1—TOTAL BURDEN HOURS AND HOURLY COSTS TO PRIVATE SECTOR RESPONDENTS

Item 

No. Item Estimated annual respondents 

Responses 

per 

respondent 

Estimated 

annual 

responses 

Estimated 

time for 

response 

(hours) 

Estimated 

burden 

(hour/year) 

Rate 1

Estimated 

annual 

respondent 

cost burden 

(a) (b) (a) × (b) = (c) (d) (c) × (d) = (e) (f) (e) × (f) = (g) 

1 ....... Patents External Quality Survey 

(One survey within a single 

year).

1,250 .................... 1 1,250 0.17 (10 minutes) 213 $435 $92,655 

2 ....... Patents External Quality Survey 

(Two surveys within same year).

625 ....................... 2 1,250 0.17 (10 minutes) 213 435 92,655 

3 ....... Non-Response Follow-up Survey 

Card.

Same respondents 

as item 1 and 2.

1 600 0.03 (2 minutes) ... 18 435 7,830 

Total ....................................... 1,875 .................... ........................ 3,100 ............................... 444 ............ 193,140 

1 2021 Report of the Economic Survey, published by the Committee on Economics of Legal Practice of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA); 

pg F–27. The USPTO uses the average billing rate for intellectual property attorneys in private firms which is $435 per hour. (https://www.aipla.org/home/news-publications/economic-survey). 

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. The USPTO 

covers the costs of all survey materials 

and provides postage-paid, preaddressed return envelopes for the 

surveys that are returned by mail. 

III. 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. 

[FR Doc. 2022–05472 Filed 3–14–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army 

[Docket ID: USA–2021–HQ–0015] 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, 

Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: 30-Day information collection 

notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Defense 

has submitted to OMB for clearance the 

following proposal for collection of 

information under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act. 

DATES: Consideration will be given to all 

comments received by April 14, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

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