17996 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 60 / Tuesday, March 29, 2022 / Notices 

PTO/437–KR) for each pilot the 

applicant wishes to utilize. 

Combined petition form PTO/437–JP 

must either be directly filed in the U.S. 

application or directly with the JPO for 

the USPTO/JPO pilot program, and 

combined petition form PTO/437–KR 

must either be directly filed in the U.S. 

application or directly with the KIPO for 

the USPTO/KIPO pilot program. If the 

combined petition form is directly filed 

in the U.S. application, the applicant 

must file it using either EFS-Web or 

Patent Center. If the applicant directly 

files the combined petition form with 

the partner IP office, the combined 

petition form must be accompanied by 

supporting documents (e.g., an English 

translation of the claims from the 

counterpart application; a machine 

translation of the claims is acceptable). 

The corresponding partner IP office will 

then transmit the combined petition 

form and supporting documents to the 

USPTO. The applicant should not file 

the combined petition form directly 

with both the USPTO and the 

corresponding partner IP office. 

Based on the agreements between the 

USPTO and the partner IP offices, if the 

applicant directly files the combined 

petition form with the USPTO, then the 

USPTO must transmit the completed 

form and any accompanying supporting 

documents, along with the date of 

receipt, to the corresponding partner IP 

office. Additionally, if the applicant 

files the combined petition form directly 

with the JPO or the KIPO, then the office 

that received the filing must transmit 

the form and the accompanying 

supporting documents, along with its 

date of receipt, to the USPTO. The 

USPTO will place the combined 

petition form and the accompanying 

supporting documents in the file of the 

U.S. application. Incomplete combined 

petition forms will not be forwarded to 

the corresponding partner IP office and 

will be dismissed in accordance with 

the respective Memorandums of 

Cooperation between partner IP offices. 

Under the combined petition option, 

the IP partner offices have agreed to 

transmit the combined petition form to 

the corresponding partner IP office 

within 15 days of receipt from the 

applicant. This reduces the risk of the 

counterpart application being acted 

upon by an examiner in the partner IP 

office before that application enters the 

pilot program, which would result in 

both applications being denied entry 

into the Expanded CSP program. The 

request for participation in the 

Expanded CSP program must be granted 

by both the IP office in which the 

request is directly filed and the partner 

IP office for both applications prior to 

any examination in either office. 

To the extent that the combined 

petition form forwarded to the USPTO 

from the partner IP office does not 

comply with the requirements of 37 CFR 

1.4(d)(2) and (d)(3), and 1.6(a), these 

requirements are waived for certain 

elements. Specifically, with respect to 

37 CFR 1.4(d)(2), a forwarded combined 

petition form containing an S-signature 

will not be required to be filed by 

facsimile transmission, via the USPTO’s 

electronic filing system (i.e., EFS-Web 

or Patent Center), or on paper. With 

respect to 37 CFR 1.4(d)(3), a forwarded 

combined petition form containing a 

graphic representation of a handwritten 

signature or an S-signature will not be 

required to be filed via the USPTO’s 

electronic filing system. With respect to 

37 CFR 1.6(a), a forwarded combined 

petition form will be accorded a receipt 

date even though it was not received at 

the USPTO by mail, filed via the 

USPTO’s electronic filing system, or 

hand-delivered to the USPTO. The U.S. 

receipt date of the combined petition 

form will either be the actual date that 

the combined petition form is received 

at the USPTO via the USPTO’s 

electronic filing system or the date the 

combined petition form is transmitted to 

the USPTO from the partner IP office, 

which may not be the same as the 

receipt date in the partner IP office. 

IV. Requirements for Participation in 

the Expanded CSP 

To be accepted into the Expanded 

CSP program, applicants who use the 

combined petition option must meet all 

the requirements of the program that are 

set forth in section III of the Expanded 

CSP extension notice, except with the 

following modifications. 

Under the combined petition option, 

the combined petition form PTO/437–JP 

or PTO/437–KR must be used instead of 

form PTO/SB/437, and the combined 

petition form, as discussed above, must 

be submitted to either the USPTO or the 

partner IP office (the JPO or the KIPO). 

Separate petitions are not required to be 

filed in both the USPTO and the partner 

IP office. The combined petition form 

PTO/437–JP or PTO/437–KR also 

includes an express written consent 

under 35 U.S.C. 122(c) for the USPTO 

to receive the combined petition form (if 

filed directly with the corresponding 

partner IP office) and to accept and 

consider prior art references and 

comments from the designated partner 

IP office during the examination of the 

U.S. application. The combined petition 

form also includes written authorization 

for the USPTO to forward the form (if 

filed directly with the USPTO) to the 

corresponding partner IP office and to 

provide to the designated IP partner 

office, before a first office action on the 

merits, access to the participating U.S. 

application’s bibliographic data and 

search results, in accordance with 35 

U.S.C. 122(a) and 37 CFR 1.14(c). No 

other consents are required. 

V. Treatment of a Combined Petition 

Form 

The combined petition form filed 

directly or indirectly in the U.S. 

application will be treated in the 

manner set forth in section IV of the 

Expanded CSP extension notice. 

VI. Requirement for Restriction 

The requirement for restriction set 

forth in section V of the Expanded CSP 

extension notice remains the same for 

the combined petition option. 

VII. First Action on the Merits 

Under the Expanded CSP program, 

the USPTO examiner will consider all 

exchanged search results. However, 

search results that are not received by 

the USPTO within four months from the 

date the USPTO granted the petition 

may not be included in the first action 

on the merits (FAOM). The examiner 

will prepare and issue an Office action 

and notify the applicant if any 

designated partner IP office did not 

provide search results prior to the 

issuance of the Office action. Once an 

FAOM issues, the application will no 

longer be treated as special under the 

Expanded CSP program. 

The USPTO will continue to 

cooperate with applicants, IP 

stakeholders, and partner IP offices to 

improve the CSP process. More 

information on the CSP is available at 

www.uspto.gov/CollaborativeSearch. 

Andrew Hirshfeld, 

Commissioner for Patents, Performing the 

Functions and Duties of the Under Secretary 

of Commerce for Intellectual Property and 

Director of the United States Patent and 

Trademark Office. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06602 Filed 3–28–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL 

PROTECTION 

[Docket No. CFPB–2022–0003] 

Notice and Request for Comment 

Regarding Fees Imposed by Providers 

of Consumer Financial Products or 

Services 

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 60 / Tuesday, March 29, 2022 / Notices 17997 

1 See 87 FR 5801 (Feb. 2, 2022). 

ACTION: Notice; request for public 

comment; extension of comment period. 

SUMMARY: On January 26, 2022, the 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

(Bureau or CFPB) requested comment 

from the public related to fees that are 

not subject to competitive processes that 

ensure fair pricing. The request for 

comment was published in the Federal 

Register on February 2, 2022, in a 

document titled, ‘‘Request for 

Information Regarding Fees Imposed by 

Providers of Consumer Financial 

Products or Services.’’ The Bureau has 

determined that extension of the 

comment period until April 11, 2022, is 

appropriate. 

DATES: The end of the comment period 

for the document titled, ‘‘Request for 

Information Regarding Fees Imposed by 

Providers of Consumer Financial 

Products or Services,’’ published on 

February 2, 2022 (87 FR 5801), is 

extended from March 31, 2022, until 

April 11, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. CFPB–2022– 

0003, by any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Email: CFPB_

FederalRegisterComments@cfpb.gov. 

Include Docket No. CFPB–2022–0003 in 

the subject line of the message. 

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: 

Comment Intake—Fee Assessment, 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 

1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 

20552. Please note that due to 

circumstances associated with the 

COVID–19 pandemic, the CFPB 

discourages the submission of 

comments by hand delivery, mail, or 

courier. 

Instructions: The CFPB encourages 

the early submission of comments. All 

submissions should include document 

title and docket number. Because paper 

mail in the Washington, DC area and at 

the CFPB is subject to delay, 

commenters are encouraged to submit 

comments electronically. In general, all 

comments received will be posted 

without change to https://

www.regulations.gov. In addition, once 

the CFPB’s headquarters reopens, 

comments will be available for public 

inspection and copying at 1700 G Street 

NW, Washington, DC 20552, on official 

business days between the hours of 10 

a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time. At that 

time, you can make an appointment to 

inspect the documents by telephoning 

202–435–7275. All comments, including 

attachments and other supporting 

materials, will become part of the public 

record and subject to public disclosure. 

Proprietary information or sensitive 

personal information, such as account 

numbers or Social Security numbers, or 

names of other individuals, should not 

be included. Comments will not be 

edited to remove any identifying or 

contact information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Brian Shearer, Senior Advisor; Grace 

Bouwer, Advisor, Public Engagement, 

Director’s Front Office, Office of the 

Director at 202–435–7700. If you require 

this document in an alternative 

electronic format, please contact CFPB_

Accessibility@cfpb.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 26, 2022, the Bureau issued a 

Request for Information regarding fees 

that are not subject to competitive 

processes that ensure fair pricing.1 The 

information will help the CFPB and 

policymakers in exercising their 

enforcement, supervision, regulatory 

and other authorities to create a fairer, 

more transparent, and competitive 

consumer financial marketplace. As of 

mid-March, the CFPB has received more 

than 1,400 comments to the RFI, 

indicating a high level of public interest 

in this topic. Allowing an additional 

comment period will provide additional 

opportunity for the public to prepare 

comments related to this inquiry. 

Therefore, the Bureau is extending the 

comment period for this request until 

April 11, 2022. 

Dani Zylberberg, 

Counsel and Federal Register Liaison, 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06581 Filed 3–28–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P 

COUNCIL OF THE INSPECTORS 

GENERAL ON INTEGRITY AND 

EFFICIENCY 

Privacy Act of 1974; System of 

Records 

AGENCY: Council of the Inspectors 

General on Integrity and Efficiency 

(CIGIE). 

ACTION: Notice of a new system of 

records. 

SUMMARY: CIGIE proposes to establish a 

system of records that is subject to the 

Privacy Act of 1974. CIGIE proposes this 

system of records to more efficiently 

track records in furtherance of its 

statutory mandate to maintain one or 

more academies for the professional 

training of auditors, inspectors, 

evaluators, and other personnel of the 

various offices of Inspector General per 

the Inspector General Act of 1978, as 

amended. 

DATES: This proposal will be effective 

without further notice on April 28, 2022 

unless comments are received that 

would result in a contrary 

determination. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments 

identified by ‘‘CIGIE–7’’ by any of the 

following methods: 

1. Mail: Council of the Inspectors 

General on Integrity and Efficiency, 

1717 H Street NW, Suite 825, 

Washington, DC 20006. ATTN: Atticus 

Reaser/CIGIE–7, Notice of New System 

of Records. 

2. Email: comments@cigie.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Atticus Reaser, General Counsel, 

Council of the Inspectors General on 

Integrity and Efficiency, (202) 292–2600 

or comments@cigie.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2008, 

Congress established CIGIE as an 

independent entity within the executive 

branch in order to address integrity, 

economy, and effectiveness issues that 

transcend individual Government 

agencies; and increase the 

professionalism and effectiveness of 

personnel by developing policies, 

standards, and approaches to aid in the 

establishment of a well-trained and 

highly skilled workforce in the offices of 

the Inspector General. CIGIE’s 

membership is comprised of all 

Inspectors General whose offices are 

established under the Inspector General 

Act of 1978, as amended, 5 U.S.C. app 

(IG Act), as well as the Controller of the 

Office of Federal Financial 

Management, a designated official of the 

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 

the Director of the Office of Government 

Ethics, the Special Counsel of the Office 

of Special Counsel, the Deputy Director 

of the Office of Personnel Management, 

the Deputy Director for Management of 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB), and the Inspectors General of 

the Office of the Director of National 

Intelligence, Central Intelligence 

Agency, Library of Congress, Capitol 

Police, Government Publishing Office, 

Government Accountability Office, and 

the Architect of the Capitol. The Deputy 

Director for Management of OMB serves 

as the Executive Chairperson of CIGIE. 

The new system of records described 

in this notice, the Training Institute and 

Education Records System (CIGIE–7), 

will enable CIGIE to more efficiently 

track training records associated with 

those who seek, receive, or provide 

training through CIGIE. In accordance 

with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), CIGIE has 

provided a report of this new system of 


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