[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49260-49262]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19495]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No. PTO-C-2013-0038]
Trademark Public Advisory Committee
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office.
ACTION: Notice and request for nominations for the Trademark Public
Advisory Committee.
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SUMMARY: On November 29, 1999, the President signed into law the Patent
and Trademark Office Efficiency Act (the ``Act''), Pubic 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
[[Page 49261]]
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 America
Invents Act Technical Corrections Act made several amendments to the
1999 Act, including the requirement that the terms of the USPTO Public
Advisory Committee members be realigned so that by 2014, December 1 be
used as the start and end date, with terms staggered so that each year
three existing terms expire and three new terms begin on December 1.
Public Law 112-274, Sec. 1(l)(2) (January 14, 2013). Through this
Notice, the USPTO is requesting nominations for up to three (3) members
of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee for terms of approximately
three years that begin on December 6, 2013. There are no vacancies
expected on the Patent Public Advisory Committee for December 2013.
Accordingly, no nominations are being sought for the Patent Public
Advisory Committee at this time.
DATES: Nominations must be postmarked or electronically transmitted on
or before September 30, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to submit nominations should send the
nominee's resume 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 TPACnominations@uspto.gov; 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 Trademark Public Advisory Committee
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 trademarks; and
Within 60 days after the end of each fiscal year: (1)
Prepare an annual report on matters listed above; (2) transmit the
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 Committee
The Trademark Public Advisory Committee is 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-
year terms. Members are eligible for reappointment for a second
consecutive three-year term. The Trademark Public Advisory Committee
members shall be citizens of the United States and shall represent
small and large entity applicants located in the United States in
proportion to the number of applications filed by such applicants. The
Committee shall include individuals with ``substantial backgrounds and
achievement in finance, management, labor relations, science,
technology, and office automation.'' 35 U.S.C. 5(b)(3). The Committee
also includes three (3) non-voting members representing each labor
organization at 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 Trademark Public Advisory Committee
Each newly appointed member of the Trademark Public Advisory
Committee shall serve a term of approximately three (3) years beginning
December 6, 2013, and ending on December 1, 2016. See AIA Technical
Corrections Act, Sec. l(2)(B) (transition to December 1 as start and
end date for terms). As required by the 1999 Act, members of the
Trademark Public Advisory Committee will receive compensation for each
day (including travel time) while the member is attending meetings or
engaged in the business of the 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
shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of
subsistence, as authorized by Section 5703 of Title 5, United States
Code.
Applicability of Certain Ethics Laws
Public Advisory Committee Members 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
60 days during any period of 365 consecutive days.
Each member is 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).
Each member will be subject to many of the public
integrity laws, including criminal bars against representing a party in
a particular matter that came before the member's committee and that
involved at least one specific party. 18 U.S.C. 205(c); 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 Trademark Public Advisory Committee
Meetings of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee will take place
at the call of the Committee Chair to consider an agenda set by that
Chair. Meetings may be conducted in person, telephonically, on-line
through the Internet, or by other appropriate means. The meetings of
the Advisory Committee will be open to the public except the Committee
may, by majority vote, meet in executive session when considering
personnel, privileged, or other confidential information. Nominees must
have the ability to participate in Committee business through the
Internet.
[[Page 49262]]
Procedures for Submitting Nominations
Submit resum[eacute]s for nomination for the Trademark Public
Advisory Committee to: John W. Cabeca, Senior Advisor, Office of the
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of
the United States Patent and Trademark Office, utilizing the addresses
provided above.
Dated: July 23, 2013.
Teresa Stanek Rea,
Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2013-19495 Filed 8-12-13; 8:45 am]
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