12502 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices

Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213

(562/980–4001);

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ruth Johnson or Tammy Adams 301/

713–2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

October 11, 2000, notice was published

in the Federal Register (65 FR 60411)

that a request for a scientific research

permit to import/export California sea

lion blood samples had been submitted

by the above-named organization. The

requested permit has been issued under

the authority of the Marine Mammal

Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16

U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and the Regulations

Governing the Taking and Importing of

Marine Mammals (50 CFR part 216).

Dated: February 21, 2001.

Eugene Nitta,

Acting Chief, Permits and Documentation

Division, Office of Protected Resources,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–4746 Filed 2–26–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark

Office

Patent Processing (Updating)

(Proposed Addition of Form PTO/SB/32

‘‘Request for Oral Hearing Before the

Board of Patent Appeals and

Interferences’’ and Form PTO/SB/37

‘‘Request for Deferral of Examination

37 CFR 1.103(d)’’)

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 revision of a continuing

information 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 April 30, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments

to Susan K. Brown, Records Officer,

Data Administration Division, Office of

Data Management, United States Patent

and Trademark Office, Crystal Park 3,

Suite 310, Washington, DC 20231; by

telephone at (703) 308–7400; or by

electronic mail at

Susan.Brown@uspto.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information

should be directed to Robert J. Spar,

Director, Office of Patent Legal

Administration, United States Patent

and Trademark Office, Washington, DC

20231; by telephone at (703) 308–5107;

or by electronic mail at

Bob.Spar@uspto.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

Patent applicants or owners of patents

under reexamination may appeal the

decision of a patent examiner by filing

a notice of appeal to the Board of Patent

Appeals and Interferences (the Board).

Additionally, the appellant may also

make a written request for an oral

hearing before the Board if the appellant

believes such a hearing is necessary for

the proper presentation of the appeal.

Effective December 1, 1997, 37 CFR

1.194(b) was amended to require this

written request for an oral hearing

before the Board to be filed ‘‘in a

separate paper’’ from the appeal itself.

See Changes to Patent Practice and

Procedure, Final Rule, 62 FR 53132,

53170, 53197 (Oct. 10, 1997). In

accordance with this rule change and in

response to requests from the public, the

USPTO has created Form PTO/SB/32,

‘‘Request for Oral Hearing Before the

Board of Patent Appeals and

Interferences.’’ This form will allow the

public to comply quickly and easily

with the requirements set forth in 37

CFR 1.194(b) to request an oral hearing

before the Board on a separate piece of

paper.

In order to implement the Patent

Business Goals, and in accordance with

the eighteen-month publication

provisions of the American Inventors

Protection Act of 1999, the USPTO has

amended 37 CFR 1.103 to permit

applicants to request deferred

examination for up to three years from

the earliest filing date for which a

benefit is claimed under title 35 of the

United States Code. See Changes to

Implement Eighteen-Month Publication

of Patent Applications, Final Rule, 65

FR 57024, 57033, 57056 (Sept. 20,

2000). Section 1.103(d) now allows

applicants to request deferred

examination under the following

conditions: (1) The application is filed

on or after November 29, 2000 (or is an

application for which the applicant

requests voluntary publication), and is

an original utility or plant application

filed under § 1.53(b) or an application

resulting from entry of an international

application into the national stage after

compliance with § 1.494 or § 1.495; (2)

the applicant has not filed a

nonpublication request under § 1.213(a),

or has filed a request under § 1.213(b) to

rescind a previously filed

nonpublication request; (3) the

application is in condition for

publication as provided in § 1.211(c);

and (4) the USPTO has not issued either

an Office action under 35 U.S.C. § 132

or a notice of allowance under 35 U.S.C.

§ 151. To assist applicants in making a

request for deferred examination under

§ 1.103(d), the USPTO has developed a

new form for submitting the required

information, Form PTO/SB/37 ‘‘Request

for Deferral of Examination 37 CFR

1.103(d).’’

The USPTO proposes to add these

two forms, PTO/SB/32 and PTO/SB/37,

to the information collection previously

approved under OMB control number

0651–0031, Patent Processing

(Updating).

II. Method of Collection

By mail, facsimile, or hand delivery

when the applicant wishes to request an

oral hearing under 37 CFR 1.194(b) or a

deferral of examination under 37 CFR

1.103(d).

III. Data

OMB Number: 0651–0031.

Form Number(s): PTO/SB/32 and

PTO/SB/37.

Type of Review: Addition to an

existing information collection.

Affected Public: Individuals or

households; businesses or other forprofits; not-for-profit institutions; farms;

the Federal Government; and state, local

or tribal governments.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

The USPTO estimates receiving 1,224

responses per year using Form PTO/SB/

32 and 50 responses per year using

Form PTO/SB/37, for a total of 1,274

responses per year. These 1,274

responses are in addition to the

previously approved 2,231,365

responses, increasing the total number

of responses for this collection to

2,232,639 per year.

Estimated Time Per Response: The

USPTO estimates that it will take the

public 12 minutes (.2 hours) to complete

the request for an oral hearing and 12

minutes (.2 hours) to complete the

request for deferred examination. These

estimates include the time to gather the

necessary information and submit the

completed form.

Estimated Total Annual Respondent

Burden Hours: The USPTO estimates

that the total annual burden hours will

be 245 hours per year for Form PTO/SB/

32 and 10 hours per year for Form PTO/

SB/37, for a total of 255 hours per year.

These 255 hours are in addition to the

previously approved annual burden of

1,018,736 hours, increasing the total

annual burden for this collection to

1,018,991 hours.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12503

Estimated Total Annual Respondent

Cost Burden: Of the 1,224 estimated

annual responses for Form PTO/SB/32,

the USPTO expects to receive 275

responses from small entities (§ 1.9(f))

and 949 responses from others. Under

37 CFR 1.17(d), the processing fee for

filing a request for an oral hearing before

the Board of Patent Appeals and

Interferences is $135 for small entities

and $270 for others. Therefore, the total

annual nonhour cost burden associated

with this form is $293,355.

When filing a request for deferral of

examination, the applicant must pay the

processing fee of $130 indicated by 37

CFR 1.17(i) and the publication fee of

$300 indicated by 37 CFR 1.18(d). The

combined filing cost of $430 for each

request results in a total annual nonhour

cost burden of $21,500 associated with

this form.

Using the professional hourly rate of

$175 per hour for associate attorneys in

private firms, the USPTO estimates

$42,840 per year for salary costs

associated with respondents using Form

PTO/SB/32, and $1,750 per year for

salary costs associated with respondents

using Form PTO/SB/37.

Item Form number

Estimated time

for response

(minutes)

Estimated

annual

responses

Estimated

annual burden

hours

Request for Oral Hearing Before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences.POT/SB/32 12 1,224 245

Request for Deferral of Examination 37 CFR 1.103(d) ..................................... PTO/SB/37 12 50 10

Total ............................................................................................................ ........................ 1,274 255

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 also will become a matter of public

record.

Dated: February 20, 2001.

Susan K. Brown,

Records Officer, USPTO, Office of Data

Management, Data Administration Division.

[FR Doc. 01–4698 Filed 2–26–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P

CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Information Collection; Submission for

OMB Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Corporation for National and

Community Service.

ACTION: Notice.

The Corporation for National and

Community Service (hereinafter the

‘‘Corporation’’), has submitted the

following public information collection

requests (ICRs) to the Office of

Management and Budget for review and

approval in accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.

L. 104–13. (44 U.S.C. chapter 35)).

Copies of these individual ICRs, with

applicable supporting documentation,

may be obtained by calling the

Corporation for National and

Community Service, Office of

Evaluation, Chuck Helfer, (202) 606–

5000, extension 248. Individuals who

use a telecommunications device for the

deaf (TTY/TDD) may call (202) 606–

5256 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and

4:30 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through

Friday.

Comments should be sent to the

Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Attn: Ms. Brenda Aguilar, OMB

Desk Officer for the Corporation for

National and Community Service, Office

of Management and Budget, Room

10235, Washington, D.C. 20503, (202)

395–7326, within 30 days of this

publication in the Federal Register.

The OMB is particularly interested in

comments which:

• Evaluate whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the proper performance of the

Corporation, including whether the

information will have practical utility;

• Evaluate the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information,

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used;

• Propose ways to enhance the

quality, utility and clarity of the

information to be collected; and

• Propose ways to minimize the

burden of the collection of information

to 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

submissions of responses.

Type of Review: New.

Agency: Corporation for National and

Community Service.

Title: Evaluation of the Effectiveness

of Learn and Serve America Grants in

Promoting Institutionalization of

Service-Learning in Grantee Institutions.

OMB Number: None.

Agency Number: None.

Affected Public: Service-learning

coordinators, service-learning program

administrators or similar staff at

schools, school districts, communitybased organizations or higher education

institutions that received a Learn and

Serve America grant in 1994–95.

Total Respondents: Approximately

470 service-learning coordinators or

similar staff in schools, districts,

community-based organizations and

higher education institutions that

received Learn and Serve grants.

Frequency: This is a one-time survey.

Average Time Per Response: 60

minutes.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 470

hours.

Total Burden Cost (capital/startup):

None.

Total Burden Cost (operating/

maintenance): None.

Description: The Corporation seeks

approval of a survey to be used in

evaluating the effectiveness of Learn

and Serve America grants in promoting

the institutionalization of servicelearning in grantee institutions and the

degree to which funded programs have

been and are likely to be sustained after

the completion of the grant period.

There are four versions of the survey:

one each for K–12 district and schoolbased programs, one for communitybased organizations, and one for higher

education institutions. The versions are

parallel in structure and content, with

variations in the wording of specific

items to address the characteristics of