USPTO Patent, OCIO and OCFO Contact Centers Survey Gen IC Request Form

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for Improving Customer Experience: OMB Circular A-11, Section 280 Implementation”

(OMB Control Number: 0690-0035)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: USPTO Patent, OCIO and OCFO Contact Centers Survey

PURPOSE OF COLLECTION:

USPTO wants to collect customer feedback on its contact centers to measure the sentiment of customers who seek, via phone (human-to-human), support services for issues encountered during the patent application process. The feedback will be used by the business unit to gain insight into the customer experience while receiving phone assistance. This will also assist with identifying and implementing enhancements to the overall USPTO customer experience, which especially important for Patents as a high-impact service provider.

TYPE OF ACTIVITY: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Research (Interview, Focus Groups)

[X] Customer Feedback Survey

[ ] User Testing

ACTIVITY DETAILS

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

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

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain:

2. Who will you collect the information from?

Customers who have historically responded to this survey included but were not limited to individual patent applicants, attorneys or agents, paralegals, inventors / makers, small business owners, entrepreneurs, USPTO employees, other intellectual property officials, educators, journalists, etc. This survey does not capture whether the respondent categorized themselves as part of a foreign government, U.S. government, non-profit, or private sector entity. Nor does it capture whether they are affiliated with a certain organizational type, size, or sector.

Last year, the survey respondents identified themselves as:

• Inventor – 43%

• IP Professional: Paralegal – 18%

• Entrepreneur – 15%

• IP Professional: Attorney – 15%

• IP Professional: Agent – 5%

• Other – 4%

• USPTO employee – 0%

3. How will you ask a respondent to provide this information?

Customers will receive an email invitation with a link to participate in the survey. The link opens into a web based survey.

4. What will the activity look like?

When a respondent selects the link from and the email, the survey will open in their web browser. The entire survey appears on a single webpage, with brief instructions at the top of the page. After responding to the questions, a respondent selects the Submit button. Next, the respondent is redirected to a confirmation and thank you page.

5. Please provide your question list.

See attached spreadsheet, “USPTO Patent, OCIO, and OCFO Contact Centers V2.xlsx” for full question list with branching logic in the “Model Questions” and “Custom Questions” worksheets.

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

See attached spreadsheet, “USPTO Patent, OCIO, and OCFO Contact Centers V2.slsx” for instructions in the “Welcome and Thank You Text” worksheet.

6. When will the activity happen?

Surveys are sent out weekly to a sample of USPTO customers who called one or more of the USPTO contact centers and help desks for support. USPTO and its survey administrator, ForeSee, de-duplicate the survey distribution list to weed out emails for customers who may have been served by multiple contact centers in one week and/or for customers who have received the same survey within the last 30 days to avoid customer survey fatigue. This de-duplication process greatly reduces the survey sample size.

7. Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants?

[ ] Yes [ X ] No

If Yes, describe:

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Individual customer survey for callers	22,212	5 minutes	1,851
22,	22,212		1,851

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collections are voluntary;

2. The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;

3. The collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;

4. Any 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 near future;

5. Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained;

6. Information gathered is intended to be used for general service improvement and program management purposes; and,

7. Information gathered will only be shared publically in the manner described in the umbrella clearance of this control number.

Name: Chelsea D’Angona________________________________________

All instruments used to collect information must include:

OMB Control No. 0690-0035

Expiration Date: 09/30/2023

HELP SHEET

(OMB Control Number: 0690-0035)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Agencies should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households;(2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected per row.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of responses and the participation time and divide by 60.

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