Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 105 / Wednesday, June 2, 2010 / Notices 30773 

USAID’s Implementation and 

Procurement Reform Working Group 

process. We would like to ask some of 

our implementing partners from the 

non-profit and contracting community 

to indicate their level of interaction and 

reactions to the financial data currently 

available on USAID’s Web site. This 

will be the first step towards concrete 

improvements to the accessibility, 

availability, and ease of use of 

information. 

Annual Reporting Burden: 

Respondents: 100. 

Total annual responses: 100. 

Total annual hours requested: 25 

hours. 

Dated: May 20, 2010. 

Robert Miranda, 

Director, Office of Administrative Services, 

Bureau for Management. 

[FR Doc. 2010–12865 Filed 6–1–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6116–01–M 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

United States Patent Applicant Survey 

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment 

request. 

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO), as part of its 

continuing effort to reduce paperwork 

and respondent burden, invites the 

general public and other Federal 

agencies to take this opportunity to 

comment on the extension of a currently 

approved collection, as required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(2)(A)). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted on or before August 2, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• E-mail: 

InformationCollection@uspto.gov. 

Include ‘‘0651–0052 comment’’ in the 

subject line of the message. 

• Fax: 571–273–0112, marked to the 

attention of Susan K. Fawcett. 

• Mail: Susan K. Fawcett, Records 

Officer, Office of the Chief Information 

Officer, U.S. Patent and Trademark 

Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 

22313–1450. 

• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information 

should be directed to the attention of 

Gerard Torres, Economist, Office of 

Corporate Planning, U.S. Patent and 

Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 

Alexandria, VA 22313–1450; by 

telephone at 571–272–4951; or by e-mail 

at gerard.torres@uspto.gov with 

‘‘Paperwork’’ in the subject line. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

For several years the USPTO has 

supported an ongoing forecasting 

program for patent application filings 

that includes the use of quantitative and 

qualitative methodologies. Given the 

importance of accurate application 

filing forecasts, the USPTO considers 

more than one type of methodology. As 

part of this strategy, information from a 

survey of the inventor community is 

included when formulating application 

filing forecasts. In addition to using the 

survey as part of a comprehensive 

approach to forecasting, the USPTO is 

also using this tool in response to 

Senate Appropriations Report 106–404 

(September 8, 2000). This report 

directed the USPTO to ‘‘develop a 

workload forecast with advice from a 

representative sample of industry and 

the inventor community.’’ A patent 

application filing survey assists the 

USPTO in better understanding key 

factors driving future application filings, 

such as newly emerging technologies. 

The USPTO developed the United 

States Patent Applicant Survey as part 

of the continuing effort to better predict 

the future growth of patent application 

filings by understanding applicant 

intentions. The main purpose of this 

survey is to determine the number of 

application filings that the USPTO can 

expect to receive over the next three 

years from patent-generating entities, 

ranging from large domestic 

corporations to independent inventors. 

In recent decades, the rate of patent 

application filings to the USPTO 

steadily increased with expanding 

technological innovations. However, 

newly emerging technologies, evolving 

business patenting strategies, patent 

valuations and costs, and intellectual 

property legislative changes, among 

other factors, may significantly impact 

patent applicants’ decisions to file 

applications at the USPTO. These 

factors cannot easily be accounted for in 

other methodologies or sufficient 

information is not available from 

databases or other sources. Therefore, it 

is necessary for the USPTO to conduct 

the Patent Applicant Survey to obtain 

information directly from applicants. 

The information will allow the agency 

to anticipate demand and estimate 

future revenue flow more reliably; to 

identify input and output triggers and 

allocate resources to meet and 

understand customer needs; and to 

reassess output and capacity goals and 

re-align organization quality control 

measures with applicant demand by 

division. 

The Patent Applicant Survey is a mail 

survey, although respondents have the 

option to complete the survey 

electronically. They may also provide 

their responses verbally over the 

telephone. A survey packet, containing 

the survey, a cover letter explaining the 

purpose of and outlining instructions 

for completing the survey, and a 

postage-paid, pre-addressed return 

envelope will be mailed to all survey 

groups. The USPTO plans to survey four 

groups of respondents: Large domestic 

corporations (including those with 500+ 

employees), small and medium-size 

businesses, universities and non-profit 

research organizations, and independent 

inventors. The USPTO does not plan to 

survey foreign entities and will rely on 

the European Patent Office (EPO) and 

the Japan Patent Office (JPO) to provide 

forecasts of application filings by 

foreign entities. Due to variances in 

filing and the varying needs of the 

different patent applicant populations, 

the USPTO has developed two versions 

of the survey: One for the large domestic 

corporations and small and mediumsize businesses and one for universities, 

non-profit research organizations, and 

independent inventors. 

The surveys do not have USPTO form 

numbers associated with them and once 

they are approved, they will carry the 

OMB Control Number and the 

expiration date of the information 

collection. 

II. Method of Collection 

By mail or electronically over the 

Internet when respondents elect the 

online option to complete the survey. 

III. Data 

OMB Number: 0651–0052. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Review: Extension of a 

currently approved collection. 

Affected Public: Business or other for 

profit; not-for-profit institutions. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

400 responses per year. Of this total, the 

USPTO expects that 267 surveys will be 

completed using the online option. 

Estimated Time Per Response: The 

USPTO estimates that it will take 

approximately 30 minutes (0.50 hours) 

for all of the patent applicant 

populations to provide their responses, 

with the exception of the independent 

inventors. The USPTO estimates that it 

will take independent inventors 

approximately 15 minutes (0.25 hours) 

to provide their responses. These 

estimates include the time to gather the 

necessary information, complete the 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
30774 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 105 / Wednesday, June 2, 2010 / Notices 

survey, and submit it to the USPTO. The 

USPTO believes that it will take the 

same amount of time to complete the 

surveys whether they are completed on 

paper and mailed to the USPTO or 

completed and submitted electronically. 

Estimated Total Annual Respondent 

Burden Hours: 140 hours per year. 

Estimated Total Annual Respondent 

Cost Burden: $17,080 per year. The 

USPTO estimates that 31% of the 

respondents completing these surveys 

will be lawyers, about 9% will be legal 

assistants, and 60% will have diverse 

occupations. Using the professional 

hourly rate of $325 for intellectual 

property lawyers, a legal assistant 

specializing in intellectual property rate 

of $100, and a rate of $20 for the 

majority of the respondents, the USPTO 

believes that the average hourly rate for 

completing these surveys will be 

approximately $122 ($101 + $9 + $12). 

The professional rate used for the 

intellectual property lawyers is based on 

the median rate for attorneys in private 

firms as published in the 2009 report of 

the Committee on Economics of Legal 

Practice of the American Intellectual 

Property Law Association. This report 

summarized the results of a survey with 

data on hourly billing rates. The 

estimated hourly rate used for the legal 

assistants specializing in intellectual 

property is based on the rates for the 

2008 National Utilization and 

Compensation Survey, published in 

March 2008 by the National Association 

of Legal Assistants (NALA). Due to the 

many different occupations that can 

possibly be held by the majority of 

respondents, the USPTO is estimating 

$20 per hour as the hourly rate for those 

respondents. Therefore, the USPTO 

estimates that the salary costs for the 

respondents completing these surveys 

will be $17,080. 

Item 

Estimated 

time for 

response 

(minutes) 

Estimated 

annual 

responses 

Estimated 

annual 

burden hours 

Large Domestic Corporations ...................................................................................................... 30 27 14 

Large Domestic Corporations (electronic surveys) ..................................................................... 30 53 27 

Small and Medium-Size Businesses ........................................................................................... 30 18 9 

Small and Medium-Size Businesses (electronic surveys) .......................................................... 30 37 19 

Universities and Non-Profit Research Organizations .................................................................. 30 5 3 

Universities and Non-Profit Research Organizations (electronic surveys) ................................. 30 10 5 

Independent Inventors ................................................................................................................. 15 83 21 

Independent Inventors (electronic surveys) ................................................................................ 15 167 42 

Total ...................................................................................................................................... ........................ 400 140 

Estimated Total Annual Non-Hour 

Respondent Cost Burden: $0 per year. 

There are no capital start-up, 

maintenance, or recordkeeping costs 

associated with this collection. 

Respondents do not submit filing or 

other fees with the surveys. The USPTO 

provides postage-paid, pre-addressed 

return envelopes for the completed mail 

surveys so there are no postage costs 

associated with this information 

collection. 

IV. Request for Comments 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall 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, e.g., the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized or 

included in the request for OMB 

approval of this information collection; 

they will also become a matter of public 

record. 

Susan K. Fawcett, 

Records Officer, USPTO, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2010–13163 Filed 6–1–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Foreign-Trade Zones Board 

[Docket 41–2010] 

Foreign-Trade Zone 46–Cincinnati, 

Ohio; Application for Reorganization/ 

Expansion Under Alternative Site 

Framework 

An application has been submitted to 

the Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ) Board 

(the Board) by the Greater Cincinnati 

Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc., grantee of FTZ 

46, requesting authority to reorganize 

and expand the zone under the 

alternative site framework (ASF) 

adopted by the Board (74 FR 1170, 1/12/ 

09; correction 74 FR 3987, 1/22/09). The 

ASF is an option for grantees for the 

establishment or reorganization of 

general-purpose zones and can permit 

significantly greater flexibility in the 

designation of new ‘‘usage-driven’’ FTZ 

sites for operators/users located within 

a grantee’s ‘‘service area’’ in the context 

of the Board’s standard 2,000-acre 

activation limit for a general-purpose 

zone project. The application was 

submitted pursuant to the Foreign-Trade 

Zones Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a81u), and the regulations of the Board 

(15 CFR part 400). It was formally filed 

on May 21, 2010. 

FTZ 46 was approved by the Board on 

January 12, 1979 (Board Order 141, 44 

F.R. 4003, January 19, 1979). On 

December 19, 1994 the zone was 

relocated and expanded (Board Order 

720, 59 F.R. 66891, December 28, 1994). 

The zone was further expanded on 

December 15, 1997 (Board Order 943, 62 

FR 67044, December 23, 1997), 

December 15, 1999 (Board Order 1070, 

64 F.R. 72643, December 28, 1999) and 

December 29, 2000 (Board Order 1135, 

66 F.R. 3985, January 17, 2001). 

The general-purpose zone includes 

the following sites: Site 1 (35 acres)— 

Avon Products, Inc., 175 Progress Place, 

Springdale (Hamilton County); Site 2 

(122 acres)—Cincinnati Machine, 4701 

Marburg Avenue, Cincinnati (Hamilton 

County); Site 3 (833 acres)—Clermont 

County Industrial Park, 4165 Half Acre 

Road, Batavia (Clermont County); Site 4 

(490 acres)—Brown County Industrial 

Park, 418 W. Main Street, Mt. Orab 

(Brown County); and, Site 5 (160 

acres)—Harrison Commerce Park, 

Southwest Parkway, Harrison (Hamilton 

County). 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES