Department of Commerce February 1, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is modifying the computer program it uses to calculate patent term adjustments in light of Wyeth v. Kappos, No. 2009-1120 (Fed. Cir., Jan. 7, 2010). The USPTO expects to complete this software modification by March 2, 2010. In the meantime, the USPTO is providing patentees with the ability to request a recalculation of their patent term adjustment without a fee as an alternative to the petition and fee required by 37 CFR 1.705(d). In order to qualify, a form requesting a recalculation of the patent term adjustment must be submitted no later than 180 days after the patent has issued and the patent must be issued prior to March 2, 2010. In addition, this procedure is only available for alleged errors that are specifically identified in Wyeth. The USPTO is deciding pending petitions under 37 CFR 1.705 in accordance with the Wyeth decision. This notice also provides information concerning the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) screen that displays the patent term adjustment calculation.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register providing an additional temporary basis (the Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan) under which a small entity applicant may have an application accorded special status for examination if the applicant expressly abandons another copending unexamined application. The Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan allows small entity applicants having multiple applications currently pending before the USPTO to have greater control over the priority with which their applications are examined while also stimulating a reduction of the backlog of unexamined patent applications pending before the USPTO. The USPTO is extending Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan until June 30, 2010.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended, and implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that a letter of authorization (LOA) has been issued to the 30th Space Wing, U.S. Air Force (USAF), to take four species of seals and sea lions incidental to rocket and missile launches on Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), California, a military readiness activity.

NOAA, the Department of the Interior (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon are collectively referred to as the ``Trustees'' for this case. The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Nation, although a Trustee for Portland Harbor, has withdrawn from the Trustee Council and is no longer participating in the restoration planning efforts of the group of Trustees identified here. The Trustees for this case are providing notice of their efforts to plan restoration projects to compensate for injuries to natural resources in Portland Harbor in the Lower Willamette River. The Trustees seek damages from potentially responsible parties (PRPs) to restore, rehabilitate, replace or acquire the equivalent of natural resources and services injured by the release of hazardous substances. The Trustees will prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement

NMFS proposes regulations to implement measures in Framework Adjustment 44 (FW 44) to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP), and specifications for the FMP for fishing years (FY) 2010- 2012. FW 44 measures and specifications, if approved, would be implemented in conjunction with approved measures in Amendment 16 to the FMP, as well as with approved sector operations plans authorized under the FMP. Specifically, FW 44 would modify the Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod and pollock trip limits proposed in Amendment 16; provide the Regional Administrator (RA) authority to implement inseason trip limits and/or differential day-at-sea (DAS) counting for any groundfish stock in order to prevent catch from exceeding the Annual Catch Limit (ACL); and specify Overfishing Levels (OFLs), Acceptable Biological Catch levels (ABCs), and ACLs for all 20 groundfish stocks in the FMP for fishing years 2010 through 2012, as well as the Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for transboundary Georges Bank (GB) stocks. NMFS also proposes in this rule, pursuant to current Regional Administratory authority under the FMP, to allocate zero trips to the Closed Area II Yellowtail Flounder Special Access Program (SAP); limit the Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock SAP to the use of Category A DAS for common pool vessels; delay the opening of the Eastern U.S./Canada Management Area for trawl vessels; and implement a GB yellowtail flounder trip limit of 2,500 lb (1,125 kg). Finally, this rule would make technical corrections to proposed Amendment 16 regulations.