Department of Commerce August 3, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This action serves as a notice that NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), has found that Southern Atlantic red porgy is now subject to overfishing and remains overfished, the Western and Central North Pacific Ocean (WCNPO) stock of striped marlin remains both subject to overfishing and overfished, and the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) stock of oceanic whitetip shark is now both subject to overfishing and overfished. NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary, notifies the appropriate regional fishery management council (Council) whenever it determines that overfishing is occurring, a stock is in an overfished condition, or a stock is approaching an overfished condition.

The New England Fishery Management Council is convening a meeting of its Groundfish Advisory Panel via webinar to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

As required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS has considered public comments for revisions of the 2019 marine mammal stock assessment reports (SARs). This notice announces the availability of 65 final 2019 SARs that were updated and finalized.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) sets or adjusts patent fees as authorized by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (Act or AIA), as amended by the Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success Act of 2018 (SUCCESS Act). The USPTO is a business-like operation where the demand for patent products and services and the cost of operations are affected by external factors, such as the economy, legislation, court decisions, and increases in the costs of supplies and contract services, as well as internal factors, such as changes in patent examination processes and procedures. The fee adjustments are needed to provide the Office with a sufficient amount of aggregate revenue to recover the aggregate cost of patent operations in future years (based on assumptions and estimates found in the FY 2021 Congressional Justification (FY 2021 Budget)) and to allow the Office to continue progress toward achieving its strategic goals.