Revival of an Application for an Abandoned Patent

[Federal Register: February 9, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 26)]
[Notices][Page 6350-6351]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09fe10-32]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office

Post Allowance and Refiling

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.

To view the complete text of this comment request see:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2010_register&docid=fr09fe10-32

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is required by 35 U.S.C. 131 and 151 to examine applications and, when appropriate, allow applications and issue them as patents. When an application for a patent is allowed by the USPTO, the USPTO issues a notice of allowance and the applicant must pay the specified issue fee (including the publication fee, if applicable) within three months to avoid abandonment of the application. If the appropriate fees are paid within the proper time period, the USPTO can then issue the patent. If the fees are not paid within the designated time period, the application is abandoned and the applicant may petition the Director to accept a delayed payment with a satisfactory showing that the delay was unavoidable or unintentional. The Petition for Revival of an Application for Patent Abandoned Unavoidably (Form PTO/SB/61) and the Petition for Revival of an Application for Patent Abandoned Unintentionally (Form PTO/SB/64) are approved under information collection 0651-0031. The rules outlining the procedures for payment of the issue fee and issuance of a patent are found at 37 CFR 1.18 and
1.311-1.317.

Chapter 25 of Title 35 U.S.C. provides that there are several actions that the applicant may take after issuance of a patent, including requesting the correction of errors in a patent. For original patents that are deemed wholly or partly inoperative, applicants may file a reissue application, which entails several formal requirements including an oath or declaration stating that the errors in the patent were not the result of any deceptive intention on the part of the applicant. The rules outlining these procedures are found at 37 CFR 1.171-1.178 and 1.322-1.325.

The public uses this information collection to pay fees for issued patents, to request corrections of errors in issued patents, and to submit applications for reissue patents. This collection previously included information requirements related to patent reexaminations. These items are being removed from this collection and have been submitted as a separate new collection, 0651-00XX Patent Reexaminations, which is currently under review by OMB.