Under 35 U.S.C. § 41 and 37 CFR
1.20(e)-(h), 1.362, 1.366, 1.377, and 1.378, the United States
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) charges fees for maintaining in
force all utility patents based on applications filed on or after
December 12, 1980. Payment of these maintenance fees is due at
3-1/2, 7-1/2, and 11-1/2 years after the date the patent was
granted. If the USPTO does not receive payment of the appropriate
maintenance fee and any applicable surcharge within a grace period
of 6 months following each of the above due dates (at 4, 8, or 12
years after the date of grant), the patent will expire at that
time. After a patent expires, it is no longer enforceable.
Maintenance fees are not required for design or plant patents or
for reissue patents if the patent being reissued did not require
maintenance fees. The USPTO must maintain accurate payment records
in order to provide the public with information as to which patents
have expired and which patents remain in force.
Changes in Responses and Hourly
Burden due to Adjustment in Agency Discretion The number of
responses has decreased by 41,956 due to the removal of the fee
address indication form (PTO/SB/47), which accounted for most of
the responses and roughly half of the hourly burden in the
information collection. This form was declared exempt by OMB. The
decrease in the number of responses results in a decrease of 3,356
hours in the annual time burden estimates. Changes in Responses and
Hourly Burden due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate The number of
responses has increased by 30 due to the estimated fluctuations in
submissions for the items in this collection, particularly Item 1
(Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment of Maintenance
Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(b))). Despite the slight
increase in the number of responses, there will be a decrease of 84
hours in the annual time burden estimates. This decrease is due to
the fewer number of estimated submissions for Item 3 (Petition for
Reconsideration of Decision on Petition Refusing to Accept Delayed
Payment of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(d))),
which has a higher estimated time per response than the other two
items. Changes in Annual Non-hour Costs due to Adjustment in Agency
Estimate For this renewal, the USPTO estimates that the annual
non-hour costs will decrease by $174,748 from the previous
approval. This decrease is due to estimated fluctuations in
submissions for items that require a fee.
$45,606
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Raul Tamayo 571 272-7728
raul.tamayo@uspto.gov
No
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:
(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;
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.
Form PTO/SB/47 Fee Address Indication Form (Individuals or Households)
0651-0016 Supporting Statement 2024 Final.docx
Leahy-Smith America Invents Act.pdf
Fee Address Indication Form (Individuals or Households)