Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 79 / Monday, April 25, 2022 / Notices 24283 

We also anticipate inviting other 

NMFS offices and the United States 

Coast Guard to provide updates, if 

available, on their activities relevant to 

HMS fisheries. Additional information 

on the meetings and a copy of the draft 

agenda will be posted prior to the 

meeting at: https://www.fisheries.

noaa.gov/event/may-2022-hmsadvisory-panel-meeting. 

Dated: April 20, 2022. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–08760 Filed 4–22–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–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; Practitioner Conduct and 

Discipline 

The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO) will submit 

the following information collection 

request to the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) for review and clearance 

in accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, on or after the 

date of publication of this notice. The 

USPTO invites comment on this 

information collection renewal, which 

helps the USPTO assess the impact of 

its information collection requirements 

and minimize the public’s burden. 

Public comments were previously 

requested via the Federal Register on 

February 8, 2022 during a 60-day 

comment period. This notice allows an 

additional 30 days for public comments. 

Agency: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Department of 

Commerce. 

Title: Practitioner Conduct and 

Discipline. 

OMB Control Number: 0651–0017. 

Needs and Uses: The Director of the 

USPTO has the authority to establish 

regulations governing the conduct and 

discipline of agents, attorneys, or other 

persons representing applicants and 

other parties before the USPTO (35 

U.S.C. 2 and 32–33). The USPTO Rules 

of Professional Conduct, set forth in 

subpart D, part 11 of title 37 of the Code 

of Federal Regulations, prescribe the 

manner in which agents, attorneys, and 

other persons (collectively, 

‘‘practitioners’’) representing applicants 

and other parties before the USPTO 

should conduct themselves 

professionally. Part 11 outlines 

practitioners’ responsibilities for 

recordkeeping and reporting violations 

or complaints of misconduct to the 

USPTO. Subpart C of part 11 sets forth 

the manner by which the USPTO 

investigates misconduct and imposes 

discipline. The USPTO Rules of 

Professional Conduct require all 

practitioners to maintain complete 

records of all funds, securities, and 

other properties of clients coming into 

his or her possession, and to render 

appropriate accounts to the client 

regarding the funds, securities, and 

other properties of clients coming into 

the practitioner’s possession, 

collectively known as ‘‘client property.’’ 

These recordkeeping requirements are 

necessary to maintain the integrity of 

client property. State bars require 

attorneys to perform similar 

recordkeeping. Part 11 also requires a 

practitioner to report knowledge of 

certain violations of the USPTO Rules of 

Professional Conduct to the USPTO. 

The USPTO Director may, after notice 

and opportunity for a hearing, suspend, 

exclude, or disqualify any practitioner 

from further practice before the USPTO 

based on non-compliance with the 

USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct. 

Practitioners who have been excluded 

or suspended from practice before the 

USPTO, practitioners transferred to 

disability inactive status, and 

practitioners who have resigned must 

maintain records of their compliance 

with the suspension or exclusion order, 

transfer to disability inactive status, or 

resignation. These records are necessary 

to demonstrate eligibility for 

reinstatement. Reports of alleged 

violations of the USPTO Rules of 

Professional Conduct are used by the 

Director of OED to conduct 

investigations and disciplinary hearings, 

as appropriate. 

This information collection covers the 

various reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements set forth in Part 11 for 

practitioners representing applicants 

and other parties before the USPTO. 

Also covered are petitions for 

reinstatement for suspended or 

excluded practitioners and the means 

for reporting violations or complaints of 

misconduct to the USPTO. 

Forms: No Forms. 

Type of Review: Extension and 

revision of a currently approved 

information collection. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Required to 

obtain or retain benefits. 

Frequency: On occasion. 

Estimated Number of Annual 

Respondents: 13,190 respondents. 

Estimated Number of Annual 

Responses: 13,190 responses. 

Estimated Time per Response: The 

USPTO estimates that the responses in 

this information collection will take the 

public approximately between 1 (60 

minutes) to 3 hours (240 minutes) to 

complete. This includes the time to 

gather the necessary information, create 

the document, and submit the 

completed request to the USPTO. The 

USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct 

require practitioner agents to maintain 

various records to maintain the integrity 

of client property and meet other 

requirements. Additional recordkeeping 

requirements are also given for 

practitioners who are under suspension 

or exclusion. The USPTO estimates that 

it will take a practitioner between 1 (60 

minutes) and 20 hours (1,200 minutes) 

to perform these recordkeeping actions. 

Estimated Total Annual Respondent 

Burden Hours: 14,192 hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Respondent 

Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $8,419. 

This information collection request 

may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov. 

Follow the instructions to view 

Department of Commerce, USPTO 

information collections currently under 

review by OMB. 

Written comments and 

recommendations for this information 

collection should be submitted within 

30 days of the publication of this notice 

on the following website 

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 and entering either the title of 

the information collection or the OMB 

Control Number 0651–0017. 

Further information can be obtained 

by: 

• Email: InformationCollection@

uspto.gov. Include ‘‘0651–0017 

information request’’ in the subject line 

of the message. 

• Mail: Kimberly Hardy, Office of the 

Chief Administrative Officer, United 

States Patent and Trademark Office, 

P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313– 

1450. 

Kimberly Hardy, 

Information Collections Officer, Office of the 

Chief Administrative Officer, United States 

Patent and Trademark Office. 

[FR Doc. 2022–08730 Filed 4–22–22; 8:45 am] 

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