[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 12, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6505-6506]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-3276]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Disposal of Paper Copies of U.S. Patents Removed From the
Examiners' Search Rooms
AGENCY: Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is
considering whether the paper copies of selected subclasses of U.S.
patents to be removed from the examiners' search rooms should be
disposed of as wastepaper or donated to a non-profit organization. The
USPTO is seeking input on whether any non-profit organization is
interested in acquiring the paper copies of the U.S. patents to be
removed from the examiners' search rooms.
DATES: Any interested non-profit organization should contact the USPTO
on or before March 14, 2002 to indicate a desire to acquire paper
copies of U.S. patents. If such interest is expressed, and the USPTO
proceeds with donating the paper copies of U.S. patents removed from
the examiners' search rooms to a non-profit organization, interested
non-profit organizations will then be required to contact the USPTO
within thirty days of the date the USPTO's web site is updated to
include the subclasses in which the organization is interested.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any interested non-profit organization
should contact Richard Seidel by facsimile marked ``ATTN EXAMINERS
SEARCH ROOMS'' at (703) 308-7725. Questions concerning this notice may
be directed to Richard Seidel by telephone at (703) 306-3431.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The USPTO is in the process of removing
paper copies of selected subclasses of U.S. patents from the examiners'
search rooms. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
has determined that paper copies of U.S. patents in the examiners'
search rooms are temporary records that may be destroyed when no longer
needed for current USPTO business. Some of the paper copies have
already been destroyed. The USPTO is considering whether it should: (1)
Dispose of the paper copies of the selected subclasses of U.S. patents
removed from the examiners' search rooms as wastepaper; or (2) donate
the paper copies of the selected subclasses of U.S. patents removed
from the examiners' search rooms to a non-profit organization.
Therefore, the USPTO is seeking input on whether any non-profit
organization is interested in acquiring the paper copies of U.S.
patents to be removed from the examiners' search rooms (the USPTO is
not currently aware of any).
Any donation of paper copies of U.S. patents must comply with the
NARA regulations for the donation of temporary records which are set
out in 36 CFR 1228.60. For example, the donee must be a non-profit
organization and must agree not to sell the U.S. patent copies except
as wastepaper, the donation must be made without cost to the United
States Government, and NARA must provide written approval of the
donation. Thus, even if there is interest by a non-profit organization
in acquiring the paper copies of U.S. patents removed from the
examiners' search rooms, the USPTO may still dispose of them as
wastepaper if the USPTO cannot donate them to the non-
[[Page 6506]]
profit organization in a cost-effective manner or if the USPTO cannot
obtain written approval for the donation by NARA in a timely manner.
Since the USPTO is removing the paper copies of U.S. patents from
the examiners' search rooms on a subclass-by-subclass basis, the USPTO
is not in a position to accommodate a request by a non-profit
organization for a complete set of all U.S. patents or even all U.S.
patents in any particular class. The USPTO is only seeking non-profit
organizations interested in the selected subclasses for which the paper
copies of U.S. patents are being removed from the examiners' search
rooms. In addition, as the USPTO will not be conducting a file
integrity review of the paper copies of the U.S. patents in a subclass
as they are being removed from the examiners' search rooms, the USPTO
cannot assure that the paper copies of U.S. patents available for
donation are a complete set of U.S. patents even as to the selected
subclasses.
If the USPTO proceeds with donating the paper copies of U.S.
patents removed from the examiners' search rooms to a non-profit
organization, the USPTO will provide a list of the subclasses for which
the paper copies of U.S. patents are being removed from the examiners'
search rooms on the USPTO's Internet web site (www.uspto.gov). The
USPTO will update this list when additional subclasses are removed from
the examiners' search rooms.
The USPTO published a notice seeking public input on a proposal to
eliminate patent and trademark classified paper files from the public
search room. See Notice of Request for Comments on Development of a
Plan to Remove the Patent and Trademark Classified Paper Files from the
Public Search Room, 66 FR 45012 (Aug. 27, 2001), 1250 Off. Gaz. Pat.
Office 137 (Sept. 25, 2001). This notice concerns a plan to dispose of
paper copies of selected subclasses of U.S. patents removed from the
examiners' search rooms and is not related to the development of a plan
to eliminate patent and trademark classified paper files from the
public search room.
Dated: February 5, 2002.
James E. Rogan,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and, Director of
the Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 02-3276 Filed 2-11-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P