[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 104 (Tuesday, May 31, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32382-32383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11667]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; COVID-19 Vaccine Supplemental Medical Provider Statement

    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 
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on March 24, 2022 (87 16719) during a 60-day comment 
period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public 
comments.
    Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of 
Commerce.
    Title: COVID-19 Vaccine Supplemental Medical Provider Statement.
    OMB Control Number: 0651-0087.
    Needs and Uses: Consistent with guidance from the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), guidance from the Safer Federal 
Workforce Task Force established pursuant to E.O. 13991 of January 20, 
2021, Protecting

[[Page 32383]]

the Federal Workforce and Requiring Mask-Wearing, and E.O. 14043 of 
September 9, 2021, Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for 
Federal Employees, the request for this collection of information is 
essential to implement the USPTO health and safety measures regarding 
the Federal employee medical exemptions to the COVID-19 mandatory 
vaccinations. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, requires 
Federal agencies to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified 
employees with disabilities unless that reasonable accommodation would 
impose an undue hardship on the employee's agency. See 29 U.S.C. 791; 
29 CFR part 1614; see also 20 CFR part 1630 and E.O. 13164 of July 26, 
2000, Requiring Federal Agencies to Establish Procedures to Facilitate 
the Provision of Reasonable Accommodation. Section 2 of E.O. 14043 
mandates that each agency ``implement, to the extent consistent with 
applicable law, a program to require COVID-19 vaccination for all of 
its Federal employees, with exceptions only as required by law.'' This 
COVID-19 Vaccine Supplemental Medical Provider Statement is necessary 
for USPTO to determine legal exemptions to the vaccine requirement 
under the Rehabilitation Act.
    The vaccination requirement issued pursuant to E.O. 14043, is 
currently the subject of a nationwide injunction. While that injunction 
remains in place, USPTO will not process requests for a medical 
exception from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 
14043. USPTO will also not request the submission of any medical 
information related to a request for an exception from the vaccination 
requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 while the injunction remains in 
place. But USPTO may nevertheless receive information regarding a 
medical exception. That is because, if USPTO were to receive a request 
for an exception from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to 
E.O. 14043 during the pendency of the injunction, USPTO will accept the 
request, hold it in abeyance, and notify the employee who submitted the 
request that implementation and enforcement of the COVID-19 vaccination 
requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 is currently enjoined and that an 
exception therefore is not necessary so long as the injunction is in 
place. In other words, during the pendency of the injunction, any 
information collection related to requests for medical exception from 
the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 is not 
undertaken to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination 
requirement.
    Form Numbers:
    <bullet> USPTO-OEEOD Form 303 (COVID-19 Vaccine Supplemental 
Medical Provider Statement)
    Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Affected Public: Private sector.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 150 respondents.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 150 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses 
in this information collection will take the public 10 minutes (0.167 
hours) to complete. This includes the time to gather the necessary 
information, create the document, and submit the completed request to 
the USPTO.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 25 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-Hourly Cost Burden: $0.
    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 0651-0087.
    Further information can be obtained by:
    <bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#db92b5bdb4a9b6baafb2b4b598b4b7b7beb8afb2b4b59baea8abafb4f5bcb4ad"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f8b1969e978a95998c919796bb9794949d9b8c919796b88d8b888c97d69f978e">[email protected]</span></a>. Include ``0651-
0087 information request'' in the subject line of the message.
    <bullet> 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. 2022-11667 Filed 5-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P


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