[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 56 (Thursday, March 22, 2012)]
[Notices][Pages 16813-16817]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2012-6888]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Patent Processing (Updating)
ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.
The following is part of an abstract. To see the full text of this comment request, access http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-03-22/html/2012-6888.htm
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is required by 35 U.S.C. 131to examine an application for patent and, when appropriate, issue a patent. Also, the USPTO is required to publish patent applications, with certain exceptions, promptly after the expiration of a period of eighteen months from the earliest filing date for which a benefit is sought under Title 35, United States Code (``eighteen-month publication''). Certain situations may arise which require that additional information be supplied in order for the USPTO to further process the patent or application. The USPTO administers the statutes through various sections of the rules of practice in 37 CFR Part 1.
The information in this collection can be used by the USPTO to continue the processing of the patent or application to ensure that applicants are complying with the patent regulations and to aid in the prosecution of the application.
Modifications to this collection since the previous renewal include: three requests for non-substantive change; separately accounting for two requirements; the deletion of an item from the collection, and adding electronic equivalents for the majority of the paper forms. The USPTO is also planning to move items out of 0651-0031 into two new collections...