Abstract
Of the half-dozen ICRs that the PTO has submitted since December 1, this one is unique. This one has no bootlegs. This one does not involve a rule the PTO attempted to promulgate by guidance with no notice and comment. This one does not involve a coverup attempt by the PTO to seek retroactive approval for a rulemaking process in which the PTO shortcut its legal obligations. This one does not involve the PTO attempting to slip new burden into a triennial ICR renewal. The only things on the line in this ICR are the PTO’s willingness to (a) put up plausible burden estimates, based on objective, reproducible information, and (b) honor its own regulations and information collection clearances as the definition of information to be collected, without making up new rules and new burden on the whim of agency personnel. This ICR fails those two tests. The PTO’s implacable commitment to implausible estimates, in a no-stakes ICR such as this one, invites OIRA to draw inferences as to the seriousness with which the PTO takes public comments (both in NPRM comment periods and ICR comment periods), the PTO’s ability or willingness to objectively inform OIRA of burden, and the PTO’s respect for rule of law.
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