[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 6, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 8922]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-5245]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office

Notice of Meeting To Provide Information to the Public About the 
Sequence Search Systems Utilized by the Patent and Trademark Office
AGENCY: Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) will hold a meeting to 
provide information to the public on the search systems used at the PTO 
to search nucleic acid sequences found in the patent applications. 
interested members of the public are invited to attend the meeting and 
provide input to the PTO on other available search systems.

DATES: The meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 3, 1996 from 9:00 
a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in the PTO Patent Academy, Crystal 
Square 4, Suite 700, 1745 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia, 
22202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
John Doll by telephone at (703) 308-1123, by facsimile transmission to 
(703) 308-4930, by electronic mail at [email protected], or by mail 
marked to his attention addressed to the Assistant Commissioner for 
Patents, Box Comments-Patents, Washington, D.C., 20231.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission of Patents and Trademarks is 
authorized under 35 U.S.C. 131 to cause an examination to be made of 
patent applications. The PTO has received a small number of patent 
applications each of which claim thousands of nucleic acid sequences. 
The search and examination of these applications will require the 
dedication of human and computer resources far in excess of normal 
workloads. These relatively few applications alone will require a large 
share of resources from both the sequences searching staff of the PTO 
Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC) and the 
biotechnology examining staff for over a year. In an effort to get 
public suggestions on how the PTO can best meet this challenge, the PTO 
is establishing a dialog with its customers. On April 3, 1996, from 
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., the PTO will host an open house meeting to 
provide information about our current sequence search systems, 
including the hardware and software utilized, types of claims found in 
typical biotechnology applications, and the search times and costs 
associated with the volume of sequences which have been filed. The 
meeting will take place in the PTO Patent Academy, Crystal Square 4, 
Suite 700, 1745 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia 22202. PTO 
would welcome recommendations from the public on available search 
systems, strategies, automated solutions or suggestions for 
efficiencies to address these search and examination challenges.
    Space is limited and reservations will be allotted on a first come, 
first served basis. Individuals interested in participating should 
contact John Doll, Director, Patent Examining Group 1800, by telephone 
at (703) 308-1123, by fax at (703) 308-4930, by mail marked to his 
attention addressed to the Assistant Commissioner for Patents, Box 
Comments-Patents, Washington, D.C. 20231 or over the Internet to 
[email protected]. A request for participation should include the names 
and addresses of attendees, the number of spaces requested, 
affiliation, the area of expertise for each attendee and telephone 
number. PTO will confirm your participation by telephone.

    Dated: March 1, 1996.
Lawrence J. Goffney,
Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and 
Trademarks.
[FR Doc. 96-5245 Filed 3-5-96; 8:45 am]
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