[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 87 (Friday, May 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26518-26519]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10737]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No. PTO-C-2012-0023]
Public Advisory Committees
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice and request for nominations.
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SUMMARY: On November 29, 1999, the President signed into law the Patent
and Trademark Office Efficiency Act (the ``Act''), Public Law 106-113,
which, among other things, established two Public Advisory Committees
to review the policies, goals, performance, budget and user fees of the
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) with respect to
patents, in the case of the Patent Public Advisory Committee, and with
respect to trademarks, in the case of the Trademark Public Advisory
Committee, and to advise the Director on these matters (now codified at
35 U.S.C. 5). The USPTO is requesting nominations for three (3) members
to the Patent Public Advisory Committee, and two (2) members to the
Trademark Public Advisory Committee, for terms of three years that
begin on expiration of the predecessors' terms.
DATES: Nominations must be postmarked or electronically transmitted on
or before June 11, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to submit nominations should send the
nominee's resum[eacute] to John W. Cabeca, Senior Advisor, Office of
the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director
of the USPTO, Post Office Box 1450, Alexandria, Virginia, 22313-1450;
by electronic mail to: PPACnominations@uspto.gov for the Patent Public
Advisory Committee or TPACnominations@uspto.gov for the Trademark
Patent Public Advisory Committee; by facsimile transmission marked to
the Senior Advisor's attention at (571) 273-0464; or by mail marked to
the Senior Advisor's attention and addressed to the Office of the Under
Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the
USPTO, Post Office Box 1450, Alexandria, Virginia, 22313-1450.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John W. Cabeca, Senior Advisor, Office
of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and
Director of the USPTO, by facsimile transmission marked to his
attention at (571) 273-0464, or by mail marked to his attention and
addressed to the Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, Post Office Box 1450,
Alexandria, Virginia, 22313-1450.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Advisory Committees' duties include:
Review and advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO on matters relating to
policies, goals, performance, budget, and user fees of the USPTO
relating to patents and trademarks, respectively; and
Within 60 days after the end of each fiscal year: (1)
Prepare an annual report on matters listed above; (2) transmit a report
to the Secretary of Commerce, the President, and the Committees on the
Judiciary of the Senate and the House of Representatives; and (3)
publish the report in the Official Gazette of the USPTO.
Advisory Committees
The Public Advisory Committees are each composed of nine (9) voting
members who are appointed by the Secretary of Commerce (the
``Secretary'') and serve at the pleasure of the Secretary for three
(3)-year terms. The Public Advisory Committee members must be United
States citizens and represent the interests of diverse users of the
USPTO, both large and small entity applicants in proportion to the
number of such applications filed. The Committees must include members
who have ``substantial backgrounds and achievement in finance,
management, labor relations, science, technology, and office
automation'' (35 U.S.C. 5(b)(3)). In the case of the Patent Public
Advisory Committee, at least twenty-five (25) percent of the members
must represent ``small business concerns, independent inventors, and
nonprofit organizations,'' and at least one member must represent the
independent inventor community (35 U.S.C. 5(b)(2)). Each of the Public
Advisory Committees also includes three (3) non-voting members
representing each labor organization recognized by the USPTO.
Administration policy discourages the appointment of federally
registered lobbyists to agency advisory boards and commissions
(Lobbyists on Agency Boards and Commissions, http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/09/23/lobbyist-agency-boards-and- commissions (Sept. 23,
2009, 2:33PM EST)); cf. Exec. Order No. 13490, 74 FR 4673 (January 21,
2009) (while Executive Order 13490 does not specifically apply to
federally registered lobbyists appointed by agency or department heads,
it sets forth the Administration's general policy of decreasing the
influence of special interests in the Federal Government).
Procedures and Guidelines of the Patent and Trademark Public Advisory
Committees
Each newly appointed member of the Patent and Trademark Public
Advisory Committees will serve for a term of three years beginning at
the expiration of his or her predecessor's term. As required by the
Act, members of the Patent and Trademark Public Advisory Committees
will receive compensation for each day while the member is attending
meetings or engaged in the business of that Advisory Committee. The
enabling statute states that members are to be compensated at the daily
equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay in effect for level III of
the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of Title 5, United States
Code. Committee members are compensated on an hourly basis, calculated
at the daily rate. While away from home or regular place of business,
each member will be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu
of subsistence, as authorized by Section 5703 of Title 5, United States
Code. The USPTO will provide clerical and other support services for
the Committees as the Director may determine to be necessary and
proper.
Applicability of Certain Ethics Laws
Members of each Public Advisory Committee shall be Special
Government Employees within the meaning of Section 202 of Title 18,
United States Code. The following additional information includes
several, but not all, of the ethics rules that apply to members, and
assumes that members are not engaged in Public Advisory Committee
business more than sixty days during any period of 365 consecutive
days.
Each member will be required to file a confidential
financial disclosure form within thirty (30) days of appointment (5 CFR
2634.202(c), 2634.204, 2634.903, and 2634.904(b)).
[[Page 26519]]
Each member will be subject to many of the public
integrity laws, including criminal bars against representing a party,
18 U.S.C. 205(c), in a particular matter that came before the member's
committee and that involved at least one specific party. See also 18
U.S.C. 207 for post-membership bars. A member also must not act on a
matter in which the member (or any of certain closely related entities)
has a financial interest (18 U.S.C. 208).
Representation of foreign interests may also raise issues
(35 U.S.C. 5(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. 219).
Meetings of the Patent and Trademark Public Advisory Committees
Meetings of each Advisory Committee will take place at the call of
the respective Committee Chair to consider an agenda set by that Chair.
Meetings may be conducted in person, electronically through the
Internet, or by other appropriate means. The meetings of each Advisory
Committee will be open to the public except each Advisory Committee
may, by majority vote, meet in confidential executive sessions when
considering personnel, privileged, or other confidential matters.
Nominees must have the ability to participate in Committee business
through the Internet.
Procedures for Submitting Nominations
Submit resum[eacute]s for nomination for the Patent Public Advisory
Committee and the Trademark Public Advisory Committee to: Senior
Advisor to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property
and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office,
utilizing the addresses provided above.
Dated: April 30, 2012.
David J. Kappos,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2012-10737 Filed 5-3-12; 8:45 am]
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