Department of Commerce March 3, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

To provide updates to patent examination policy and procedures in a single source, which will improve access to essential guidance for all stakeholders and help to ensure issuance of robust and reliable patents that promote and protect innovation, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) issued a revision of the Ninth Edition of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), published in February 2023 (July 2022 revision). The MPEP provides patent examiners and the public with a reference work on the practices and procedures relative to the prosecution of patent applications and other proceedings before the USPTO. The MPEP contains instructions to examiners, as well as other material in the nature of information and interpretation, and outlines the current procedures that examiners are required or authorized to follow in the normal examination of patent applications and during other Office proceedings.

NMFS proposes to approve changes to the Pacific Halibut Catch Sharing Plan for the International Pacific Halibut Commission's regulatory Area 2A off of Washington, Oregon, and California. In addition, NMFS proposes to implement management measures governing the 2023 recreational fisheries that are not implemented through the International Pacific Halibut Commission. These measures include the recreational fishery seasons, subarea allocations, and management measures for Area 2A. These actions are intended to conserve Pacific halibut and provide angler opportunity where available.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) notifies interested parties that it intends to rescind a circumvention inquiry to determine whether certain lawn mowers assembled or completed in the United States by attaching Chinese cutting deck shells (attached to at least one significant non-engine component) to internal combustion engines are circumventing the antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on certain walk-behind lawn mowers and parts thereof (lawn mowers) from the People's Republic of China (China). Interested parties are invited to comment on this intent to rescind.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that certain frozen warmwater shrimp (shrimp) from India is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than normal value (NV) during the period of review (POR) February 1, 2021, through January 31, 2022.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that utility scale wind towers (wind towers) from the Republic of Korea (Korea) were sold in the United States at less than normal value during the period of review (POR) February 14, 2020, through July 31, 2021.