Department of Commerce April 20, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents
Results 1 - 14 of 14
Request for Comments on Determining Whether a Claim Element Is Well-Understood, Routine, Conventional for Purposes of Subject Matter Eligibility
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) recently issued a decision regarding the inquiry of whether a claim limitation represents well-understood, routine, conventional activities (or elements) to a skilled artisan in the relevant field. Specifically, the Federal Circuit found that whether a claim element, or combination of elements, represents well-understood, routine, conventional activities to a skilled artisan in the relevant field is a question of fact. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has implemented this decision in a memorandum recently issued to the Patent Examining Corps (the Berkheimer memorandum). The Berkheimer memorandum is available to the public on the USPTO's internet website. Examiners had been previously instructed to conclude that an element (or combination of elements) is well-understood, routine, conventional activity only when the examiner can readily conclude that the element(s) is widely prevalent or in common use in the relevant industry. The Berkheimer memorandum now clarifies that such a conclusion must be based upon a factual determination that is supported as discussed in the memorandum. Aditionally the Berkheimer memorandum now also specifies that the analysis for determining whether an element (or combination of elements) is widely prevalent or in common use is the same as the analysis under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as to whether an element is so well-known that it need not be described in detail in the patent specification. The USPTO is now seeking public comment on its subject matter eligibility guidance, and particularly its guidance in the Berkheimer memorandum to the Patent Examining Corps.
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC); Public Meeting
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (Council) Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will hold a meeting.
Pacific Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team (CPSMT) will hold a meeting via webinar that is open to the public.
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Public Meetings
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a public meeting of its Coral Advisory Panel.
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Public Meetings
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of its Spiny Lobster Advisory Panel.
Developing an Update to the National Space Weather Strategy
On behalf of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), Committee on Homeland and National Security, the National Weather Service (NWS) requests input from all interested parties on the development of an update to the National Space Weather Strategy (Strategy). Through this Request for Information (RFI), NWS seeks input from the public on ways to improve government coordination and on long- term guidance for Federal programs and activities to enhance national preparedness to space weather events, including geomagnetic disturbance (a natural source of electromagnetic pulse); promote American leadership in space weather research, technology, and innovation; and improve the safety and viability of human and robotic space activities. This RFI also seeks input on ways to enhance private sector engagement across these endeavors. The public input provided in response to this RFI will inform the NSTC as it works with Federal agencies and other stakeholders to develop the updated Strategy.
Fisheries of the South Atlantic; South Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) and Socio-Economic Panel (SEP) to review the seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model proposed for use by the Southeast Regional Office (SERO) staff to conduct management analyses. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Public Hearings
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a series of public hearings pertaining to Vision Blueprint Regulatory Amendments 26 and 27 to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan for the South Atlantic Region. The amendments address recreational (Amendment 26) and commercial (Amendment 27) measures as identified in the Council's Vision Blueprint for the Snapper Grouper Fishery.
Stainless Steel Bar From India: Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review and Reinstatement of Certain Companies in the Antidumping Duty Order
The Department of Commerce (Commerce) has determined that certain producers/exporters of stainless steel bar (SS Bar) from India made sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value (NV) during the period of review (POR) July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016. Accordingly, they are hereby reinstated in the antidumping order on SS Bar from India.
Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof From the People's Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2015-2016
The Department of Commerce (Commerce) continues to find that certain companies covered by this administrative review made sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value.
Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; National Minority Business Awards
The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) Information Management System Collection
The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects: Proposed Six Month Delay of the General Compliance Date While Allowing the Use of Three Burden-Reducing Provisions During the Delay Period
In a final rule published on January 19, 2017, federal departments and agencies made revisions to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (hereafter the ``2018 Requirements''). The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) adopted the same regulatory changes in a separate final rule published on September 18, 2017. The 2018 Requirements were scheduled to become effective on January 19, 2018, with a general compliance date of January 19, 2018 (with the exception of the revisions to the cooperative research provision). The departments and agencies listed in this document have also published an interim final rule delaying the effective date and general compliance date for the 2018 Requirements for six months, to cover the time period of January 19, 2018 until July 19, 2018. As per the interim final rule, the effective date of the 2018 Requirements is now July 19, 2018. The departments and agencies listed in this document propose delaying the general compliance date for the 2018 Requirements for an additional six months, for the time period of July 19, 2018 until January 21, 2019. This proposed rule is intended to provide additional time to regulated entities for the preparations necessary to implement the 2018 Requirements. This proposed rule, if finalized, would require regulated entities to continue to comply with the requirements of the current Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (hereafter the ``pre-2018 Requirements'') until January 21, 2019. This proposal also takes comment on whether to permit institutions to implement, for certain research studies, the following provisions in the 2018 Requirements during the period from July 19, 2018, until January 21, 2019, that the general compliance date is delayed. Those three provisions, intended to reduce burdens on regulated entities, are the 2018 Requirements' definition of ``research,'' which deems certain activities not to be research, the allowance for no annual continuing review of certain categories of research, and the elimination of the requirement that institutional review boards (IRBs) review grant applications related to the research. The way that this option is proposed, regulated entities would be required to comply with all pre- 2018 Requirements during the period that the general compliance date is delayed, except for provisions substituted by the three burden-reducing provisions of the 2018 Requirements. As described in section III, below, this flexibility is proposed only for studies for which an institution makes a choice to transition to comply with the 2018 Requirements, beginning on July 19, 2018. In order to clearly describe this proposed flexibility, including how it would impact institutions choosing to transition research to comply with the 2018 Requirements, this document proposes a redrafted transition provision.
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