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OMB Control No: 0651-0058	ICR Reference No: 202003-0651-001
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 201911-0651-006
Agency/Subagency: DOC/PTO	Agency Tracking No:
Title: Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Program
Type of Information Collection: No material or nonsubstantive change to a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 03/31/2020
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 03/13/2020
Terms of Clearance:

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	06/30/2021	06/30/2021	06/30/2021
Responses	8,120	0	8,130
Time Burden (Hours)	16,240	0	16,260
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a framework in which an application whose claims have been determined to be patent table by an Office of Earlier Examination (OEE) is eligible to go through an accelerated examination in an Office of Later Examination with a simple procedure upon an applicant's request. By leveraging the search and examination work product of the OEE, PPH programs (1) deliver lower prosecution costs, (2) support applicants in their efforts to obtain stable patent rights efficiently around the world, and (3) reduce the search and examination burden, while improving the examination quality, of participating patent offices. Originally, the PPH programs were limited to the utilization of search and examination results of national applications between cross filings under the Paris Convention. Later, the potential of the PPH was greatly expanded by PCT-PPH programs, which permit participating patent offices to draw upon the positive results of the PCT work product from another participating office. PCT-PPH programs use international written opinions and international preliminary examination reports developed within the framework of the PCT, thereby making the PPH available to a larger number of applicants. Information collected for the PCT is approved under OMB control number 0651-0021. More recently, the USPTO and several other offices acted to consolidate and replace existing PPH programs, with the goal of streamlining the PPH process for both offices and applicants. To that end, the USPTO and other offices established the Global PPH pilot program and the IP5 PPH pilot program. The Global PPH and IP5 PPH pilot programs are running concurrently and are substantially identical, differing only with regard to their respective participating offices. The USPTO is participating in both the Global PPH pilot program and the IP5 PPH pilot program. For USPTO applications, the Global PPH and IP5 PPH pilot programs supersede any prior PPH program between the USPTO and each Global PPH and IP5 PPH participating office. Any existing PPH programs between the USPTO and offices that are not participating in either the Global PPH pilot program or the IP5 PPH pilot program remain in effect. For more complete information on the PPH, including (1) a complete identification of participating countries and offices and the programs under which each country/office is participating, (2) the forms needed to request entry into the PPH, both at the USPTO and other participating offices, and (3) information as to which of the PPH programs remain pilots and which have been made permanent, please visit http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/pph/index.jsp. The forms in this collection allow participants to file in a U.S. application a request to make the U.S. application special under a PPH or PCT-PPH program.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 35 USC 119

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	83 FR 6532	02/14/2018
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	83 FR 18281	04/26/2018
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to Agency Discretion
Annual Number of Responses	8,120	8,130	-10
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	16,240	16,260	-20
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

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 USPTO is proposing to remove from this information collection an existing participant, National Institute of Industrial Property of Argentina (INPI). The PPH pilot program with the INPI ended on March 2, 2020. The offices involved in this agreement, USPTO and INPI, did not agree to extend the program. The INPI’s involvement in the PPH program was as a bilateral participant with the USPTO and not via the Global or IP5 programs. Requests filed after March 2, 2020, to participate in a PPH program in the USPTO based on INPI-Argentina work product will not be granted.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $668,996

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? Uncollected

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

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