91 Patent and Trademark Practitioners, Comment letter to PTO, Control Numbers 0651-0035 60-day notice, Representative and Address Provisions (Mar. 12, 2021)

Abstract

91 patent and trademark practitioners to comment on the PTO’s burden estimates for Representative and Address Provisions, and to recommend various steps the PTO can take to minimize burden as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. § 3506(c)(2)(A)(iv); 5 C.F.R. § 1320.5(d). The signatories are members of several email listserv groups, and subscribers to several organizational blogs. The signatories taken together have filed many thousands of patent and trademark applications at the PTO during the past ten years. The Paperwork Reduction Act requires the PTO to establish “objective” estimates of burden, and to use comment periods like this one to solicit recommendations to “reduce[ ] to the extent practicable and appropriate the burden on persons” who file papers at the agency. 44 U.S.C. § 3506(c)(3)(C). The time estimates in the notice are entirely implausible, off by a factor of 10 to 30. They are not “objectively supported” as required by law. We offer corrected estimates, and recommendations that could reduce burden by about $100 to $150 million per year.