October 21, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) will be meeting at the time and location listed above. Items on the Board's consent agenda include the minutes of the August 21, 2013 meeting and resolutions concerning proposed meeting dates for calendar year 2014, reform of the Board's committee structure, establishment of a special committee on a chief executive officer, establishment of a special committee on shortwave, the Boards of Directors of BBG-funded grantees, and Board travel policy. This meeting will also be available for public observation via streamed webcast, both live and on-demand, on the BBG's public Web site at www.bbg.gov. Information regarding this meeting, including any updates or adjustments to its starting time, can also be found on the Agency's public Web site. The public may also attend this meeting in person, unless the partial government shutdown persists, at the address listed above as seating capacity permits. Member of the public seeking to attend the meeting in person must register at https:// bbgboardmeetingoct2013.eventbrite.com by 12:00 p.m. (EDT) on October 22. For more information, please contact BBG Public Affairs at (202) 203-4400 or by email at pubaff@bbg.gov.

The Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 (PLTIA) amends the patent laws to implement the provisions of the Hague Agreement Concerning International Registration of Industrial Designs (Hague Agreement) in title I, and the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) in title II. The PLT harmonizes and streamlines formal procedures pertaining to the filing and processing of patent applications. This final rule revises the rules of practice for consistency with the changes in the PLT and title II of the PLTIA. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is implementing the Hague Agreement and title I of the PLTIA in a separate rulemaking. The notable changes in the PLT and title II of the PLTIA pertain to: The filing date requirements for a patent application; the restoration of patent rights via the revival of abandoned applications and acceptance of delayed maintenance fee payments; and the restoration of the right of priority to a foreign application or the benefit of a provisional application in a subsequent application filed within two months of the expiration of the twelve- month period (six-month period for design applications) for filing such a subsequent application. This final rule also revises the patent term adjustment provisions to provide for a reduction of any patent term adjustment if an application is not in condition for examination within eight months of its filing date or date of commencement of national stage in an international application, and contains miscellaneous changes pertaining to the supplemental examination, inventor's oath or declaration, and first inventor to file provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA).