Submission Request for SIPO Search for Chinese Patents

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0690-0030)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Knowledge Elicitation Sessions to Support the Chinese Patent Search Initiative

PURPOSE:

Bring together small groups of individuals to generate ideas and capture expertise to inform the design and functionality of USPTO’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) outward facing Chinese Patent Search interface, the “Lightweight Search for SIPO Data Initiative.” (Lightweight is ‘lighter version of the full search tool”).

The information gathered will aid the USPTO’s efforts in designing an interface to allow the public to search for Chinese patents.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Any external stakeholder to include Patent Attorneys, Paralegals, and others with an interest in searching patent information.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [x] Small Discussion Group

[] Focus Group [ ] Other: _____________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Cynthia Zolnowski

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [x ] Yes [ ] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [x ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [x] Yes [ ] No

Dissemination Events and Registrations (71 Fed. Reg. 77739)

PII will include contact information (such as name and addresses) in order to correspond with the volunteer participants.

Data collected from the interviews will not be linked to the respondents in any way.  All information collected from the SIPO Search Demographics questionnaire will be maintained in a separate electronic file from the quantitative and qualitative data collected in the interviews.  At the end of the data collection, two files will be maintained by the interviewer.  One file will contain respondent contact information and will establish a current and continuous sample file for use in future survey administrations.  The second file will contain the quantitative and qualitative data generated from the interview sessions. Once the two files are created, respondent information will not be realigned with the collected data.

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [x ] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Individual	50	2 hrs.	100 hrs.
Private Sector (Company)	50	2 hrs.	100 hrs.
Totals	100		200 hrs.

FEDERAL COST:  The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $$7,626.

The USPTO is estimating that it will gather feedback from 100 customers during the 2 hour small group discussions each year in support of the Lightweight Search for SIPO Data initiative.

The USPTO estimates that one GS-13 step 4 employee and one GS-13 step 4 equivalent contractor will facilitate the discussions and summarize the information gathered. It will take each person an estimated 62.5 hours to accomplish these activities. (25 two hour discussions with 4 customers in each one, with .5 hours/meeting to summarize discussion)

The hourly rate for a GS-13 step 4 is currently $46.93 according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management wage chart including locality pay for the Washington, D.C. area.  When 30% is added to account for a fully loaded hourly rate (benefits and overhead), the rate per hour for a GS-13, step 4 is $61.01.  ($46.93 + $14.08= $61.01)

(62.5 hours x $61.01 = $3,813)

(3813 x 2 individuals=$7,626)

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents:

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [x]Yes []No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

We will be requesting participants from a USPTO OPIM (Office of Patent Information Management) managed database of volunteers from the community. This list includes Patent Attorneys, Paralegals, and others with an interest in searching for patents that have volunteered to provide feedback. When a round of small group sessions is planned, a cross-sampling of the volunteers will be selected so as to most closely represent all relevant stakeholders. The main target groups for the site are Patent Attorneys, Paralegals, and individual inventors who are all widely represented in the current volunteer database.

Administration of the Instrument

2. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[x] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[] Telephone

[x] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

The USPTO expects sessions to have between 4 and 8 participants, but on occasion they could be one-on-one, either due to scheduling difficulties or because that participant has unique knowledge.

The small group discussions may take place in person on government property or remotely in person at the volunteers’ workplace. In addition the sessions may be conducted virtually using web-based screen sharing (e.g. WebEx).

The USPTO may record both sessions in both audio and video. Audio will be taken of the discussion, and video will be taken of the visual elements (not participants; video will not intentionally be taken of the volunteers themselves). The recordings will not be associated with PII data. If participants do not consent to recording, the USPTO will not record the session.

3. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ x] Yes [ ] No

Each participant will fill out either printed or online versions of:

• Form - SIPO Search Demographics

• Form - SIPO Search Audio Video Recording Consent (will not be included if the session will not be recorded)

The facilitator will use the following guide for assistance in preparing for the discussion:

• Facilitator Guide - Lightweight Search for SIPO Data Initiative

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