Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Certificate Action Form

Forms and Documents

Document Name	Status
Form PTO-2042 Certificate Action Form (including Subscriber Agreement) Form	Modified
Certificate Self-Recovery Form Form	Unchanged
0651-0045-justificationforchange-Aug2010-final.pdf Justification for No Material/Nonsubstantive Change	2010-08-13
0651-USPTO-Information-Quality-Guidelines-Dec2009.pdf Supplementary Document	2010-07-30
0651-0045-JustStmt-2009-final.pdf Supporting Statement A	2009-01-12

IC Document Collections

IC ID	Document Title	Status
4770	Certificate Action Form (including Subscriber Agreement) Form	Modified
187782	Certificate Self-Recovery Form Form	Unchanged

ICR Details

OMB Control No: 0651-0045	ICR Reference No: 201007-0651-008
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 200901-0651-002
Agency/Subagency: DOC/PTO	Agency Tracking No:
Title: Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Certificate Action Form
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: 08/25/2010
	Date Received in OIRA: 08/13/2010
Terms of Clearance:

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	02/29/2012	02/29/2012	02/29/2012
Responses	3,920	0	4,126
Time Burden (Hours)	1,280	0	1,383
Cost Burden (Dollars)	4,531	0	4,992

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Abstract: The USPTO uses Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology to support electronic commerce between the USPTO and its customers. In order to access secure online systems offered by the USPTO for transactions such as electronic filing of patent applications and retrieving confidential patent application information, customers must first obtain a digital certificate. The public uses this collection to request a new digital certificate, the revocation of a current certificate, or the recovery of a lost certificate. This collection includes the Certificate Action Form (PTO-2042), which is provided by the USPTO to ensure that customers submit the necessary information for processing certificate requests. The accompanying subscriber agreement explains the regulations governing the use of the digital certificates and the software that creates and validates the encryption keys. The online self-recovery form allows the public to recover lost keys without having to contact support staff at the USPTO. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is submitting this request to revise the Certificate Action Form (PTO-2042). In order to take full advantage of the online patent application systems offered by the USPTO, users must obtain a PKI certificate and then associate the PKI certificate with a USPTO customer number. The USPTO is streamlining the procedure for associating a PKI certificate with a customer number. Typically, practitioners or pro se inventors would submit a Certificate Action Form (PTO-2042) to the USPTO in order to associate their PKI certificates with a customer number. Users may request a new customer number from the USPTO or change the address or practitioners for an existing customer number by submitting a Request for Customer Number (PTO/SB/125) or Request for Customer Number Data Change (PTO/SB/124), which are approved under OMB Control Number 0651-0035. Under the revised procedure, practitioners or inventors listed on these Request for Customer Number forms would automatically have their existing PKI certificates associated with the indicated customer number (or deleted from the customer number, in the case of deleted practitioners) without having to submit a separate Certificate Action Form. In order to accommodate the revised procedure, the USPTO will revise the text on the Certificate Action Form (PTO-2042) to indicate that users who are requesting a new PKI certificate will have the new certificate associated with the customer numbers that the user provides on the form. The proposed revision to the Certificate Action Form (PTO-2042) clarifies the new procedure for users of the form and does not change the information being collected. The USPTO estimates that it will receive approximately 10% fewer Certificate Action Forms per year due to the elimination of the need to submit a separate Certificate Action Form to associate PKI certificates with customer numbers in certain instances as explained above.

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Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 35 USC 2 Name of Law: null
   US Code: 35 USC 122 Name of Law: null
  

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

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

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Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	73 FR 63134	10/23/2008
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	74 FR 890	01/09/2009
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

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Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 2

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
Certificate Action Form (including Subscriber Agreement)	PTO-2042	Certificate Action Form
Certificate Self-Recovery Form	None	Certificate Self-Recovery Form

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ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to New Statute	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA
Annual Number of Responses	3,920	4,126	0	-206	0	0
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	1,280	1,383	0	-103	0	0
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	4,531	4,992	0	-498	37	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: Changing Forms

Short Statement: The USPTO estimates that it will receive approximately 10% fewer Certificate Action Forms per year due to the elimination of the need to submit a separate Certificate Action Form to associate PKI certificates with customer numbers in certain instances. Consequently, the USPTO estimates that the number of annual responses for the Certificate Action Form will decrease by 206 and that the burden hours will decrease by 103 due to the program change. The annual costs for notarization and postage associated with submitting this form will also decrease based on the decreased number of annual responses from the program change, but that decrease will be partially offset by an increase in the estimated first-class postage cost as an administrative adjustment.

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Annual Cost to Federal Government: $215,254

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

Is the Supporting Statement intended to be a Privacy Impact Assessment required by the E-Government Act of 2002? No

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]? Uncollected

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

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Uncollected

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Common Form ICR:  No

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On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).

The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:

(a) It is necessary for the proper performance of agency functions;

(b) It avoids unnecessary duplication;

(c) It reduces burden on small entities;

(d) It uses plain, coherent, and unambiguous language that is understandable to respondents;

(e) Its implementation will be consistent and compatible with current reporting and recordkeeping practices;

(f) It indicates the retention periods for recordkeeping requirements;

(g) It informs respondents of the information called for under 5 CFR 1320.8 (b)(3) about:

(i) Why the information is being collected;

(ii) Use of information;

(iii) Burden estimate;

(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);

(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and

(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;

(h) It was developed by an office that has planned and allocated resources for the efficient and effective management and use of the information to be collected.

(i) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology (if applicable); and

(j) It makes appropriate use of information technology.

If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.

Certification Date: 08/13/2010

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