National Institute of Standards and Technology October 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Technology Innovation Program (TIP) announces that it is seeking comments on white papers prepared by TIP staff from any interested party, including academia; Federal, State, and local governments; industry; national laboratories; and professional organizations/ societies; and others. Comments will assist in the further refinement of areas of critical national need and the associated technical challenges that could be addressed in future TIP competitions.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) proposes to revise some of its safety codes and standards and requests proposals from the public to amend existing or begin the process of developing new NFPA safety codes and standards. The purpose of this request is to increase public participation in the system used by NFPA to develop its codes and standards. The publication of this notice of request for proposals by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on behalf of NFPA is being undertaken as a public service; NIST does not necessarily endorse, approve, or recommend any of the standards referenced in the notice. The NFPA process provides ample opportunity for public participation in the development of its codes and standards. All NFPA codes and standards are revised and updated every three to five years in Revision Cycles that begin twice each year and take approximately two years to complete. Each Revision Cycle proceeds according to a published schedule that includes final dates for all major events in the process. The code revision Process contains five basic steps that are followed for developing new documents as well as revising existing documents: Call for Proposals; Publishing the Report on Proposals (ROP); Call for Comments on the Committee's disposition of the Proposals and publication of these Comments in the Report on Comments (ROC); the Association Technical Meeting at the NFPA Conference & Expo; and finally, the Standards Council Consideration and Issuance of documents.

Since 1896, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has accomplished its mission by advocating scientifically based consensus codes and standards, research, and education for safety related issues. NFPA's National Fire Codes [supreg], which holds over 290 documents, are administered by more than 238 Technical Committees comprised of approximately 7,200 volunteers and are adopted and used throughout the world. NFPA is a nonprofit membership organization with approximately 80,000 members from over 70 nations, all working together to fulfill the Association's mission. The NFPA process provides ample opportunity for public participation in the development of its codes and standards. All NFPA codes and standards are revised and updated every three to five years in Revision Cycles that begin twice each year and take approximately two years to complete. Each Revision Cycle proceeds according to a published schedule that includes final dates for all major events in the process. The process contains five basic steps that are followed both for developing new documents as well as revising existing documents. These steps are: Calling for Proposals; Publishing the Proposals in the Report on Proposals; Calling for Comments on the Committee's disposition of the Proposals and these Comments are published in the Report on Comments; having a Technical Report Session at the NFPA Conference and Expo; and finally, the Standards Council Consideration and Issuance of documents.

This is a notice in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209(c)(1) and 37 CFR 404.7(a)(1)(i) that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (``NIST''), U.S. Department of Commerce, is contemplating the grant of an exclusive license in the United States of America, its territories, possessions and commonwealths, to NIST's interest in the invention embodied in U.S. Patent Application No. 12/820,218, titled ``Magnetic Connectors For Microfluidic Applications,'' NIST Docket No. 09-020 to SFC Fluidics, LLC, having a place of business at 534 W. Research Center Blvd. Suite 260, Fayetteville, AR 72701. The grant of the license would be for the field of use: Magnetic Connectors For Microfluidic Applications.