Please note that the OMB number and expiration date may not have been determined when this Information Collection Request and associated Information Collection forms were submitted to OMB. The approved OMB number and expiration date may be found by clicking on the Notice of Action link below.

View ICR - OIRA Conclusion

OMB Control No: 0651-0032	ICR Reference No: 202011-0651-006
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 202003-0651-002
Agency/Subagency: DOC/PTO	Agency Tracking No:
Title: Initial Patent Applications
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved with change	Conclusion Date: 05/28/2021
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 11/30/2020
Terms of Clearance: Supporting statement updated during review.

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	05/31/2024	36 Months From Approved	05/31/2021
Responses	633,209	0	636,153
Time Burden (Hours)	15,598,813	0	15,760,107
Cost Burden (Dollars)	1,205,738,237	0	1,299,223,502

Abstract: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is required by Title 35 of the United States Code (U.S.C.) , including 35 U.S.C. 131, to examine applications for patents. The USPTO administers the patent statutes through various rules in Chapter 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), such as, for example, 37 CFR 1.16 through 1.84. Each patent applicant must provide sufficient information to allow the USPTO to properly examine the application to determine whether it meets the criteria set forth in the patent statutes and regulations for issuance as a patent. The patent statues and regulations require that an application for patent include the following information: 1) a specification containing a description of the invention and at least one claim defining the property right sought by the applicant; 2) a drawing(s) or photograph(s), where necessary, for an understanding of the invention; 3) an oath or declaration signed by the applicant; and 4) a filing fee. The following types of patent applications are covered under the present information collection: • New original utility, plant, design, and provisional applications, • Continuation/divisional applications of international applications • Continued prosecution applications (design), and • Continuations/divisionals and continuation-in-part applications of utility, plant, and design applications. In addition, the present information collection covers petitions to accept an unintentionally delayed priority or benefit claim under 37 CFR 1.47 to accept a filing by other than all of the inventors or a person not the inventor, petitions under 37 CFR 1.6(g) to accord an application under 37 CFR 1.495(b) a receipt date, and papers filed under 37 CFR 1.41(c), 1.41(a)(2) (pre-AIA), 1.49(d), 1.53(c)(2), and 1.53(c)(2) (pre-Patent Law Treat (PLT) (AIA)). Most applications for patent, including new utility, design, and provisional applications, can be submitted to the USPTO through EFS-Web. EFS-Web is the USPTO's system for electronically filing of patent correspondence and is accessible via the Internet on the USPTO web site. The Legal Framework for EFS-Web provides a listing of patent applications and documents permitted to be filed via EFS-Web and patent applications and documents not permitted to be filed via EFS-Web. There are 69 forms in this information collection. This total includes versions of the inventor's oath and declaration forms that were created to comply with the changes resulting from the America Invents Act (AIA) as well as pre-AIA versions of the oath and declaration and foreign language translations of the oath and declaration forms. Items in this collection that do not have forms associated with them include the petitions and the papers filed under 37 CFR 1.41(c), 1.41(a)(2) (pre-AIA), 1.53(c)(2), and the 1.53(c)(2) (pre-PLT)(AIA)). This information collection contains various types of patent applications, such as new original utility, plant, design, and provisional applications, continuation/divisional applications of international applications, continued prosecution applications (design), and continuations/divisionals and continuation-in-part applications of utility, plant, and design applications. In addition to the applications, this collection also includes various petitions and papers filed under 37 CFR 1.41, 1.48, and 1.53(c)(2). The applications, petitions, and additional papers are filed in paper as well as electronically. The USPTO expects that the primary audience for this collection will be businesses, for-profits, and nonprofits.

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate
Annual Number of Responses	633,209	636,153	-150	-2,794
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	15,598,813	15,760,107	-3,025	-158,269
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	1,205,738,237	1,299,223,502	0	-93,485,265

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Reduction Due to: Miscellaneous Actions

Short Statement: The total number of estimated respondents for this information collection has decreased by 2,944 (from the previous renewal of this information collection in 2017): • Decrease in response estimates is based on recent Agency estimates of respondents using these processes. The slight overall decline is the primary driver of change (in burdens hours and respondent costs) to this information collection. • Decreases in estimated hourly rates. The 2017 renewal used an estimated rate of $438 per hour for attorneys and $145 for paraprofessionals. For the current renewal, the USPTO is using updated hourly rates of $400 for attorneys and $145 for paraprofessionals. • Increases in the postage rates being used to estimate mailing costs to USPTO now include updated next day and Priority Mail shipping costs. • Removal of items related to the National Patent and Drafting Competition, which now uses a different PRA compliance process through 0690-0031, resulted in a removal of 150 responses and 3,025 burden hours from this information collection.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $15,363,599

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. Yes

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. Yes

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? No

Agency Contact: Raul Tamayo 571 272-7728 raul.tamayo@uspto.gov