[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 173 (Friday, September 5, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51860-51861]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-20572]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA): Notice of Public 
Meeting

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), 
together with key trading partners, is negotiating an Anti-
Counterfeiting Trade Agreement with the objective of strengthening 
international cooperation, enforcement practices, and participants' 
legal frameworks to address counterfeiting and piracy. As part of this 
effort, USTR, together with the U.S. Department of Commerce, is 
organizing a public meeting to consult with interested parties on the 
initiative. The purposes of the meeting will be to inform stakeholders 
about ACTA and to receive comments from stakeholders about their views 
regarding this initiative. Interested parties should review the section 
on requirements for participation below.

DATES: The meeting will be held on Monday, September 22, 2008, 10 a.m.-
12 noon.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Department of Commerce, Herbert C. Hoover Building, 
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230. The meeting will 
be held in the Main Auditorium.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel S. Bae, Director for 
Intellectual Property and Innovation, Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, at (202) 395-4510.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 23, 2007, USTR announced that the 
United States, along with a group of trading partners, would pursue 
negotiation of a new Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to 
enhance international leadership in the fight against IPR 
counterfeiting and piracy. The United States and other interested 
parties intend to seek an agreement with provisions in three main 
areas: International cooperation, enforcement practices, and the legal 
framework for IPR enforcement.
    A principal goal of the ACTA is to establish, among governments 
committed to strong IPR protection, a common standard for IPR 
enforcement to combat global infringements of IPR particularly in the 
context of counterfeiting and piracy that addresses today's challenges, 
in terms of increasing international cooperation, strengthening the 
framework of practices that contribute to effective enforcement of 
IPRs, and strengthening relevant IPR enforcement measures themselves. A 
fact sheet providing further details on the ACTA can be found on the 
USTR Web site at: http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Fact_Sheets/2008/asset_upload_file760_15084.pdf
    Requirements for Participation: Prior registration is required. To 
register, please send all required information by Wednesday, September 
17, 2008 to the following e-mail address: [email protected]. 
Required information for U.S. Citizens: Full Name and Name of 
Organization (if appropriate). Required information for Non-U.S. 
Citizens: Full Name, Gender, Title, Name of Organization (if 
appropriate), Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Passport Number, Place of 
Residence, Place of Citizenship. All attendees must bring a government-
licensed photo identification upon arrival.
    Due to limited space in the room, participation will be on a first-
come, first-serve basis. The participation of more than one 
representative from an organization may also be conditioned on the 
total number of participants. Those unable to participate in the 
meeting and/or who wish to present their positions in writing may send 
their comments electronically no later than Wednesday, September 17, 
2008, to the following e-mail address: [email protected].
    Requirements for Comments: Comments must be in English. No 
submissions will be accepted via postal service mail or facsimile. 
Documents should be submitted as either WordPerfect, MS Word, Adobe, or 
text (.TXT) files. Supporting documentation submitted as spreadsheets 
is acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel files. A submitter requesting 
that information contained in a comment be treated as confidential 
business information must certify that such information is business 
confidential and would not customarily be released to the public by the 
submitter. A non-confidential version of the comment must also be 
provided. For any document containing business confidential 
information, the file name of the business confidential version should 
begin with the characters ``BC-'', and the file name of the public 
version should begin with the character ``P-''. The ``P-'' or ``BC-'' 
should be followed by the name of the submitter. Submissions should not 
include separate cover letters; information that might appear in a 
cover letter should be included in the submission itself. To the extent 
possible, any attachments to the submission should be included in the

[[Page 51861]]

same file as the submission itself, and not as separate files.
    Public Inspection of Submissions: Within one business day of 
receipt, non-confidential submissions will be placed in a public file, 
open for inspection at the USTR reading room, Office of the United 
States Trade Representative, Annex Building, 1724 F Street, NW., Room 
1, Washington, DC. An appointment to review the file must be scheduled 
at least 48 hours in advance and may be made by calling Jacqueline 
Caldwell at (202) 395-6186. The USTR reading room is open to the public 
from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through 
Friday.

Rachel S. Bae,
Director for Intellectual Property and Innovation.
[FR Doc. E8-20572 Filed 9-4-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W8-P