Extension of the Full First Action Interview Pilot Program and Request for Comments, 40342-40343 [2012-16596]
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40342
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 131 / Monday, July 9, 2012 / Notices
The workshop will be held
in the Nordby Conference Room,
Fisherman’s Terminal, 3919 18th
Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98119–1679.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.
Brian Garber-Yonts, AFSC, (206) 526–
6301 or Karen Palmigiano, NMFS
Alaska Region, at 907–586–7240.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
workshop is being held to review
preliminary draft EDR forms for catcher
vessels, catcher/processors, shoreside
crab processors, and stationary floating
crab processors participating in the Crab
Rationalization Program fisheries, as
well as Registered Crab Receivers that
participate in the fisheries as nonprocessing crab buyers. The preliminary
draft EDR forms are intended to
implement changes to the crab EDR
requirements recommended by the
North Pacific Fishery Management
Council (Council) on February 4, 2012.
The Council’s preferred alternative for
crab EDR revisions eliminates
redundant data reporting by removing
requirements to report data that is
collected through other sources. It also
eliminates data inaccuracies in order to
reduce the cost of collecting the data,
and clarifies EDR form instructions to
reduce the burden on those required to
complete the forms. More information
on the Council recommendation and a
description of the preferred alternative,
Modified Alternative 3, can be accessed
at the link below.
The workshop is intended to gather
input from participants on the
preliminary draft EDR forms. Feedback
received during the workshop will also
be used by NMFS to develop the
proposed rule to implement the
Council’s preferred alternative. Other
topics to be addressed at the workshop
include general planning for
administration of the EDR process by
NMFS’ Data Collection Agent (Pacific
States Marine Fisheries Commission
[PSMFC]), future potential for online
reporting, and the development of the
draft proposed rule implementing the
Council’s preferred alternative to revise
the EDR requirements.
Documents describing the draft
revised EDR reporting instructions and
forms for catcher vessels, catcher/
processors, shoreside crab processors,
and stationary floating crab processors
can be downloaded at https://
www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/
sustainablefisheries/crab/rat/edr/. The
Council motion and description of the
preferred alternative to revise crab EDR
requirements, can be downloaded at
https://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/
npfmc/PDFdocuments/catch_shares/
Crab/CrabEDR_Motion212.pdf, and the
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ADDRESSES:
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Jkt 226001
Public Review Draft Regulatory Impact
Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis for Modification of Economic
Data Reports can be downloaded at
https://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/
npfmc/PDFdocuments/catch_shares/
Crab/CrabEDR212.pdf.
Special Accommodations
These workshops are physically
accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for special accommodations
should be directed to Brian GarberYonts (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT) at least 5 working days before
the workshop date.
Dated: July 2, 2012.
Emily Menashes,
Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012–16717 Filed 7–6–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No. PTO–P–2012–0025]
Extension of the Full First Action
Interview Pilot Program and Request
for Comments
United States Patent and
Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (Office) is extending
the First Action Interview (FAI) Pilot
Program while completing a
comprehensive review of the program,
deciding what, if any, adjustments
should be made to the program, and
whether the program should be
extended further or made permanent.
The program is intended to expedite
disposition of an application by
enhancing communication between an
applicant and an examiner at the
beginning of the examination process.
Specifically, the program allows an
applicant to conduct an interview with
an examiner prior to the issuance of an
Office action, but after receiving the
examiner’s search results and initially
identified issues. During its review, the
Office will consider feedback from both
internal and external stakeholders.
Accordingly, in addition to announcing
the extension of the program, the Office
is requesting comments on the program.
DATES: Comment Deadline Date: Written
comments must be received on or before
August 8, 2012. No public hearing will
be held.
Extension Date: The Office has
extended the FAI Pilot Program until
SUMMARY:
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August 16, 2012. Notice of this
extension was placed on the USPTO’s
Web site just after expiration of the prior
extension.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent
by electronic mail message over the
Internet addressed to:
first.action.interview@uspto.gov.
Comments may also be submitted by
postal mail addressed to: United States
Patent and Trademark Office, Mail Stop
Comments—Patents, Commissioner for
Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA
22313–1450, marked to the attention of
Joseph F. Weiss, Jr. Although comments
may be submitted by postal mail, the
Office prefers to receive comments by
electronic mail message over the
Internet in order to facilitate posting on
the Office’s Internet Web site.
The comments will be available for
public inspection at the Office of the
Commissioner for Patents, located at
Madison Building East, Tenth Floor, 600
Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia.
Comments also will be available for
viewing via the Office’s Internet Web
site (https://www.uspto.gov). Because
comments will be made available for
public inspection, information that is
not desired to be made public, such as
an address or phone number should not
be included in the comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joseph F. Weiss, Jr., Legal Advisor
(telephone (571) 272–7759; email
joseph.weiss@uspto.gov), of the Office of
the Deputy Commissioner for Patent
Examination Policy. Alternatively, mail
may be addressed to Mr. Weiss at
Commissioner for Patents, Attn.:
FFAIPP, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA,
22313–1450.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The Office published a
notice implementing the Full FAI Pilot
Program in 2011, which expanded the
eligibility criteria to all utility
applications of the previous Enhanced
FAI Pilot Program. See Full First Action
Interview Pilot Program, 1367 Off. Gaz.
Pat. Office 42 (June 7, 2011). See also
Enhanced First Action Interview Pilot
Program, 1347 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 173
(October 20, 2009). Under the program,
participants are permitted to conduct an
interview with the examiner after
reviewing a Pre-Interview
Communication providing the results of
a prior art search conducted by the
examiner.
Since the date the pilot was
expanded, the Office has received over
2,100 requests to participate in the
program. Of the applications that have
been taken up for examination since the
expansion, the Office has allowed over
35% on first action. Participants in the
E:\FR\FM\09JYN1.SGM
09JYN1
sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 131 / Monday, July 9, 2012 / Notices
program have experienced several
benefits including: (1) Effectively
advancing prosecution of an application
before issuance of an Office action;
(2) enhanced interaction between the
applicant and the examiner before
issuance of an Office action; (3)
resolving patentability issues one-onone with the examiner at the beginning
of the prosecution process, rather than
after a first Office action; and (4)
expedited allowance of an application,
relative to standard examination, due to
the program’s enhanced communication
and shorter time periods for response.
Extension: The Office is extending the
FAI Pilot Program until August 16,
2012, while it completes its evaluation
of the program. During this time, the
Office will be gathering and analyzing
relevant information, including
comments from external and internal
participants in order to determine what,
if any, adjustments should be made to
the program and whether the program
will become permanent or be further
extended.
Request for Comments: The Office is
seeking comments on the FAI Pilot
Program. The Office is interested in
receiving feedback as to whether the
program is meeting the needs of its
applicants, and whether any aspects of
the program cause applicants to not
participate. The following questions
have been provided to help elicit the
types of information the Office is
interested in receiving. However, the list
of questions below is not exhaustive and
responses do not need to be limited to
only information that answers these
questions.
(1) Based on your use of the program,
did you experience the benefits of the
FAI program set out above? Did you
experience additional benefits?
(2) Did the Pre-Interview
Communication provide you with
sufficient, meaningful information to
conduct an effective interview?
(3) How productive is the interview
before first action in advancing
prosecution?
(4) How would you rate the extent/
utility of the information provided in the
Pre-Interview Communication and
subsequent Office action?
(5) What changes would you make to
the FAI program? How would these
changes improve the program?
(6) For any application in which you
decided that the FAI program would not
meet your needs, what aspect of the
program made the program unsuitable
for the application?
(7) Do you consider the FAI program
to be more efficient (or otherwise
beneficial) as compared to traditional
prosecution?
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:20 Jul 06, 2012
Jkt 226001
(8) Should the Office make the FAI
program permanent?
Dated: June 29, 2012.
David J. Kappos,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual
Property and Director of the United States
Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2012–16596 Filed 7–6–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–16–P
COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM
PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR
SEVERELY DISABLED
Procurement List; Additions
Committee for Purchase From
People Who Are Blind or Severely
Disabled.
ACTION: Additions to the Procurement
List.
AGENCY:
This action adds products and
services to the Procurement List that
will be furnished by nonprofit agencies
employing persons who are blind or
have other severe disabilities.
DATES: Effective Date: 8/9/2012.
ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase
From People Who Are Blind or Severely
Disabled, Jefferson Plaza 2, Suite 10800,
1421 Jefferson Davis Highway,
Arlington, Virginia, 22202–3259.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Barry S. Lineback, Telephone: (703)
603–7740, Fax: (703) 603–0655, or email
CMTEFedReg@AbilityOne.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
Additions
On 5/4/2012 (77 FR 26520–26521)
and 5/11/2012 (77 FR 27737–27738), the
Committee for Purchase From People
Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled
published notices of proposed additions
to the Procurement List.
After consideration of the material
presented to it concerning capability of
qualified nonprofit agencies to provide
the products and services and impact of
the additions on the current or most
recent contractors, the Committee has
determined that products and services
listed below are suitable for
procurement by the Federal Government
under 41 U.S.C. 8501–8506 and 41 CFR
51–2.4.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
I certify that the following action will
not have a significant impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
The major factors considered for this
certification were:
1. The action will not result in any
additional reporting, recordkeeping or
other compliance requirements for small
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
40343
entities other than the small
organizations that will furnish the
products and services to the
Government.
2. The action will result in
authorizing small entities to furnish the
products and services to the
Government.
3. There are no known regulatory
alternatives which would accomplish
the objectives of the Javits-WagnerO’Day Act (41 U.S.C. 8501–8506) in
connection with the products and
services proposed for addition to the
Procurement List.
End of Certification
Accordingly, the following products
and services are added to the
Procurement List:
Products
Steel Roller Mop and Refill
NSN: 7920–01–383–7927—Refill, Sponge
Head
NSN: 7920–01–383–7799—Roller Mop,
Industrial Steel, 12’’ Head
NPA: Industries for the Blind, Inc., West
Allis, WI
Contracting Activity: GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION, FORT WORTH, TX
Coverage: B–List for the Broad Government
Requirement as aggregated by the
General Services Administration.
Nuts, Flexible Packaging
NSN: 8925–01–E62–1745—Almonds,
Shelled, Sliced, Natural (2lb bag)
NSN: 8925–01–E62–1746—Almonds,
Shelled, Sliced, Blanched (2lb bag)
NSN: 8925–01–E62–1747—Almonds,
Shelled, Slivered, Blanched (2lb bag)
NSN: 8925–01–E62–1748—Walnuts, English,
Shelled, Halves and Pieces (2lb bag)
NSN: 8925–01–E62–1749—Walnuts, English,
Shelled, Halves and Pieces (2.5lb bag)
NPA: DePaul Industries, Portland, OR
Contracting Activity: Defense Logistics
Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, PA
Coverage: C-List for 100% of the requirement
of the Department of Defense, as
aggregated by the Defense Logistics
Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia,
PA.
A comment was received from a
contractor inferring that his company
currently furnishes products to the
Government that are the same or similar
to the product specified in this proposal
and the addition of the product to the
Procurement List will adversely affect
their business.
The Committee for Purchase From
People Who Are Blind or Severely
Disabled (Committee) operates pursuant
to statutory and regulatory
requirements. Committee regulations
state that a commodity is not suitable
for the Procurement List if there is
‘‘severe adverse impact on the current
contractor for the specific commodity or
service.’’
E:\FR\FM\09JYN1.SGM
09JYN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 131 (Monday, July 9, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40342-40343]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16596]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No. PTO-P-2012-0025]
Extension of the Full First Action Interview Pilot Program and
Request for Comments
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is
extending the First Action Interview (FAI) Pilot Program while
completing a comprehensive review of the program, deciding what, if
any, adjustments should be made to the program, and whether the program
should be extended further or made permanent. The program is intended
to expedite disposition of an application by enhancing communication
between an applicant and an examiner at the beginning of the
examination process. Specifically, the program allows an applicant to
conduct an interview with an examiner prior to the issuance of an
Office action, but after receiving the examiner's search results and
initially identified issues. During its review, the Office will
consider feedback from both internal and external stakeholders.
Accordingly, in addition to announcing the extension of the program,
the Office is requesting comments on the program.
DATES: Comment Deadline Date: Written comments must be received on or
before August 8, 2012. No public hearing will be held.
Extension Date: The Office has extended the FAI Pilot Program until
August 16, 2012. Notice of this extension was placed on the USPTO's Web
site just after expiration of the prior extension.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent by electronic mail message over the
Internet addressed to: first.action.interview@uspto.gov. Comments may
also be submitted by postal mail addressed to: United States Patent and
Trademark Office, Mail Stop Comments--Patents, Commissioner for
Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450, marked to the
attention of Joseph F. Weiss, Jr. Although comments may be submitted by
postal mail, the Office prefers to receive comments by electronic mail
message over the Internet in order to facilitate posting on the
Office's Internet Web site.
The comments will be available for public inspection at the Office
of the Commissioner for Patents, located at Madison Building East,
Tenth Floor, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia. Comments also
will be available for viewing via the Office's Internet Web site
(https://www.uspto.gov). Because comments will be made available for
public inspection, information that is not desired to be made public,
such as an address or phone number should not be included in the
comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph F. Weiss, Jr., Legal Advisor
(telephone (571) 272-7759; email joseph.weiss@uspto.gov), of the Office
of the Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy.
Alternatively, mail may be addressed to Mr. Weiss at Commissioner for
Patents, Attn.: FFAIPP, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA, 22313-1450.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The Office published a notice implementing the Full FAI
Pilot Program in 2011, which expanded the eligibility criteria to all
utility applications of the previous Enhanced FAI Pilot Program. See
Full First Action Interview Pilot Program, 1367 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office
42 (June 7, 2011). See also Enhanced First Action Interview Pilot
Program, 1347 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 173 (October 20, 2009). Under the
program, participants are permitted to conduct an interview with the
examiner after reviewing a Pre-Interview Communication providing the
results of a prior art search conducted by the examiner.
Since the date the pilot was expanded, the Office has received over
2,100 requests to participate in the program. Of the applications that
have been taken up for examination since the expansion, the Office has
allowed over 35% on first action. Participants in the
[[Page 40343]]
program have experienced several benefits including: (1) Effectively
advancing prosecution of an application before issuance of an Office
action; (2) enhanced interaction between the applicant and the examiner
before issuance of an Office action; (3) resolving patentability issues
one-on-one with the examiner at the beginning of the prosecution
process, rather than after a first Office action; and (4) expedited
allowance of an application, relative to standard examination, due to
the program's enhanced communication and shorter time periods for
response.
Extension: The Office is extending the FAI Pilot Program until
August 16, 2012, while it completes its evaluation of the program.
During this time, the Office will be gathering and analyzing relevant
information, including comments from external and internal participants
in order to determine what, if any, adjustments should be made to the
program and whether the program will become permanent or be further
extended.
Request for Comments: The Office is seeking comments on the FAI
Pilot Program. The Office is interested in receiving feedback as to
whether the program is meeting the needs of its applicants, and whether
any aspects of the program cause applicants to not participate. The
following questions have been provided to help elicit the types of
information the Office is interested in receiving. However, the list of
questions below is not exhaustive and responses do not need to be
limited to only information that answers these questions.
(1) Based on your use of the program, did you experience the
benefits of the FAI program set out above? Did you experience
additional benefits?
(2) Did the Pre-Interview Communication provide you with
sufficient, meaningful information to conduct an effective interview?
(3) How productive is the interview before first action in
advancing prosecution?
(4) How would you rate the extent/utility of the information
provided in the Pre-Interview Communication and subsequent Office
action?
(5) What changes would you make to the FAI program? How would these
changes improve the program?
(6) For any application in which you decided that the FAI program
would not meet your needs, what aspect of the program made the program
unsuitable for the application?
(7) Do you consider the FAI program to be more efficient (or
otherwise beneficial) as compared to traditional prosecution?
(8) Should the Office make the FAI program permanent?
Dated: June 29, 2012.
David J. Kappos,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2012-16596 Filed 7-6-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P
