SUPPORTING STATEMENT
United States Patent and Trademark Office
National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nomination Application
OMB CONTROL NUMBER 0651-0060
April 2018
A. JUSTIFICATION
1. Necessity of Information Collection
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation is the highest honor awarded by the President of the United States to America’s leading innovators. Established by an Act of Congress in 1980, the Medal of Technology and Innovation was first awarded in 1986. The Medal is awarded annually to individuals, teams (of up to four individuals), and companies or divisions of companies for their outstanding contributions to the Nation’s economic, environmental, and social well-being through the development and commercialization of technology products, processes and concepts, technological innovation, and development of the Nation’s technological manpower.
The purpose of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation is to recognize those who have made lasting contributions to America’s competitiveness, standard of living, and quality of life through technological innovation, and to recognize those who have made substantial contributions to strengthening the Nation’s technological workforce. By highlighting the national importance of technological innovation, the Medal also seeks to inspire future generations of Americans to prepare for and pursue technical careers to keep America at the forefront of global technology and economic leadership.
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nomination Evaluation Committee, a distinguished independent committee appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, reviews and evaluates the merit of all candidates nominated through an open, competitive solicitation process. The committee makes its recommendations for Medal candidates to the Secretary of Commerce who, in turn, makes recommendations to the President for final selection. The National Medal of Technology and Innovation Laureates are announced by the White House and the Department of Commerce once the Medalists are notified of their selection.
Table 1 provides the specific statutes and regulations authorizing the USPTO to collect the information discussed above:
Table 1: Information Requirements
IC #
|
Requirement |
Statute |
Rule |
1 |
National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nomination Application (includes six letters of recommendations)
|
15 U.S.C. § 3711 |
N/A |
2. Needs and Uses
The public uses the National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nomination Application to recognize through nomination of an individual’s or company’s extraordinary leadership and innovation in technology achievement. The application must be accompanied by six letters of recommendation or support from individuals who have first-hand knowledge of the cited achievement(s).
The information collected, maintained, and used in this collection is based on OMB and USPTO guidelines. This includes the basic information quality standards established in the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), in OMB Circular A-130, and in the USPTO information quality guidelines.
Table 2 outlines how this collection of information is used by the public and the USPTO:
Table 2: Needs and Uses
IC # |
Form and Function
|
Form # |
Needs and Uses |
1 |
National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nomination Application (includes six letters of recommendations)
|
No form associated |
|
3. Use of Information Technology
Information about this program, nomination guidelines, and instructions are electronically posted on the USPTO Web site. Interested parties can review criteria and informational requirements at their convenience. The nomination form is a fillable Word document, can be downloaded from the USPTO Web site, and is available for electronic submission to the USPTO via email at http://www.uspto.gov/nmti/index.html. The letters of recommendations may be sent by e-mail, fax, or overnight delivery, though the USPTO expects that they will primarily be submitted electronically via e-mail.
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
This information is collected for an annual award event. It does not duplication information or collection of data found elsewhere.
5. Minimizing Burden to Small Entities
This information collection does not impose a significant economic impact on small entities. The information being collected in this collection is required of every individual entering a nomination and is not available from any other source.
6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection
This information is collected annually and only as required to enter a nomination for that year’s National Medal of Technology and Innovation. It is not collected elsewhere. Therefore, this collection of information could not be conducted less frequently. If this information were not collected, the National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nomination Evaluation Committee, a distinguished, independent committee appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, would not be able to review and evaluate the merit of all candidates and the President would not be able to bestow the honor upon the recipients of the Medal.
7. Special Circumstances in the Conduct of Information Collection
There are no special circumstances associated with this collection of information.
8. Consultation Outside the Agency
The 60-Day Notice was published in the Federal Register on February 14th, 2018 (83 Fed. Reg. 6534). The comment period ended on April 16th, 2018. One comment was received.
The commenter vouched for the efficiency and accuracy of the collection, as well as suggested using PDF files as a way to improve the submission of applications. At present, the USPTO uses a web-based portal that the public uses to upload the NMTI application files and PDFs and submit to the USPTO. This is the most effective way for the agency to receive these applications.
The USPTO collects this information and provides administrative support to this program. The National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nomination Evaluation Committee, a distinguished, independent committee appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, reviews and evaluates the merit of all candidates nominated through an open, competitive solicitation process. The Committee makes its recommendations for Medal candidates to the Secretary of Commerce, who, in turns, makes recommendations to the President for final selection. The National Medal of Technology and Innovation Laureates are announced by the White House and the Department of Commerce once the Medalists are notified of their selection.
9. Payment or Gift to Respondents
This information collection does not involve a payment or gift to any respondent.
10. Assurance of Confidentiality
Confidentiality is governed by 35 U.S.C. 122 and 37 CFR 1.11 and 1.14. This collection contains information of a confidential nature, which is subject to the Privacy Act. A System of Records Notice, “COMMERCE/PAT-TM-21: National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nominations,” was published in the Federal Register on January 28, 2008 [73 Fed. Reg. 4850].
11. Justification for Sensitive Questions
None of the required information in this collection is considered to be sensitive.
12. Estimate of Hour and Cost Burden to Respondent
Table 3 calculates the burden and costs of this information collection to the public, based on the following factors:
Respondent Calculation Factors
The USPTO estimates that it will receive approximately 50 total responses per year for this collection.
Burden Hour Calculation Factors
The USPTO estimates that it will take the public approximately 40 hours to download the information from the USPTO Web site, prepare the nomination form, complete the contact information for the letters or recommendation or support, and submit the information to the USPTO via electronic mail or, alternatively, by fax or overnight mail.
Cost Burden Calculation Factors
The USPTO expects that professors, public relations specialists, civil engineer, and research engineers will complete these this information. The professional hourly rate for these occupations, based on the 2017 rates released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, are $37.00 for professors (OES 25-1199), $31.99 for public relation specialists (OES 27-3031), $43.14 for civil engineers (OES 17-2051), and $55.92 for research managers (OES 15-1111). The average hourly rate of professors, public relation specialists, civil engineers, and research managers is $42.01.
Table 3: Burden Hour/Burden Cost to Respondents
IC # |
Item |
Hours
(a) |
Estimated Annual Responses (b) |
Burden (hrs/yr)
(a) x (b) = (c) |
Rate ($/hr)
(d) |
Total Cost ($/hr)
(c) x (d) = (e) |
1 |
National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nomination Application (includes six letters of recommendations)
|
40 |
50 |
2,000 |
$42.01 |
$84,020.00 |
|
Total |
- - - - |
50 |
2,000 |
- - - - |
$84,020.00 |
13. Total Annual (Non-hour) Cost Burden
There are no filing fees, capital start-up, maintenance costs, or operational costs associated with this collection of information. Since the USPTO expects that 100% of the responses will be submitted electronically, there are no postage costs associated with this collection of information.
14. Annual Cost to the Federal Government
The USPTO employs a GS-13 employee to process submissions for this information collection.
The USPTO estimates that the cost of a GS-13, step 10 employee is $78.52 per hours (GS hourly rate of $60.40 with 30% ($18.12 added for benefits and overhead).
The USPTO estimates that it takes an employee 6 hours to process the items in this collection.
Table 4 calculates the processing hours and costs of this information collection to the Federal Government:
Table 5: Burden Hour/Cost to the Federal Government
IC # |
Item |
Hours
(a) |
Responses (yr)
(b) |
Burden (hrs/yr) (a) x (b) (c) |
Rate ($/hr)
(d) |
Total Cost ($/hr) (c) x (d) (e) |
1 |
National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nomination Application (includes six letters of recommendations)
|
6 |
50 |
300 |
$78.52 |
$23,556.00 |
|
Total |
- - - - |
50 |
300 |
- - - - - |
$23,556.00 |
15. Reason for Change in Burden
A. Changes in Collection since previous OMB approval in 2015
OMB previously approved the renewal of this information collection in April 2015. The current collection contains:
50 responses
2,000 burden hours
$77,160 in respondent hourly cost burden
$1.47 in annual (non-hour) costs
B. Changes proposed in this request to OMB
The proposed collection, as outlined in the tables above, seeks to modify the existing collection. The proposed collection contains an estimated:
50 responses
2,000 burden hours
$84,020 in respondent hourly cost burden
$0 in annual (non-hour) costs
Change in Respondent Cost Burden
The total respondent cost burden for this collection has increased by $6,860 (from $77,160 to $84,020) from the previous renewal of this collection in April 2018:
Increases in estimated hourly rates. The 2015 renewal used an estimated rate of $38.58 per hour for respondents to this collection, which was an average rate for professors, public relations specialists, civil engineer, and research engineers. For the current renewal, the USPTO is using updated hourly rates of $37.00 for professors, $31.99 for public relation specialists, $43.14 for civil engineers, and $55.92 for research managers, which yields a revised average estimated rate of $42.01 per hour for respondents.
Changes in Responses and Burden Hours
For this renewal, the USPTO estimates that there will be no changes in either responses or burden hours.
Changes in Annual (Non-hour) Costs
For this renewal, the USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) costs will decrease by $1.47 (from $1.47 to $0), with that decrease due to an elimination of the postage costs from this collection.
16. Project Schedule
The USPTO does not plan to publish this information statistical use. No special publication of the items discussed in this statement is planned. The National Medal of Technology and Innovation Laureates are announced by the White House and the Department of Commerce once the Medalist are notified of their selection.
17. Display of Expiration Date of OMB Approval
The forms in this information collection will display the OMB Control Number and the expiration date of OMB approval.
18. Display of Expiration Date of OMB Approval
This collection of information does not include any exceptions to the certificate statement.
B. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
This collection of information does not employ statistical methods.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Gunther, Sarah (AMBIT) |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-15 |