[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49260-49262]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19495]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office

[Docket No. PTO-C-2013-0038]


Trademark Public Advisory Committee

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office.

ACTION: Notice and request for nominations for the Trademark Public 
Advisory Committee.

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SUMMARY: On November 29, 1999, the President signed into law the Patent 
and Trademark Office Efficiency Act (the ``Act''), Pubic Law 106-113, 
which, among other things, established two Public Advisory Committees 
to review the policies, goals, performance, budget and user fees of the 
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) with respect to 
patents, in the case of the

[[Page 49261]]

Patent Public Advisory Committee, and with respect to trademarks, in 
the case of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee, and to advise the 
Director on these matters (now codified at 35 U.S.C. 5). The America 
Invents Act Technical Corrections Act made several amendments to the 
1999 Act, including the requirement that the terms of the USPTO Public 
Advisory Committee members be realigned so that by 2014, December 1 be 
used as the start and end date, with terms staggered so that each year 
three existing terms expire and three new terms begin on December 1. 
Public Law 112-274, Sec. 1(l)(2) (January 14, 2013). Through this 
Notice, the USPTO is requesting nominations for up to three (3) members 
of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee for terms of approximately 
three years that begin on December 6, 2013. There are no vacancies 
expected on the Patent Public Advisory Committee for December 2013. 
Accordingly, no nominations are being sought for the Patent Public 
Advisory Committee at this time.

DATES: Nominations must be postmarked or electronically transmitted on 
or before September 30, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to submit nominations should send the 
nominee's resume to John W. Cabeca, Senior Advisor, Office of the Under 
Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the 
USPTO, Post Office Box 1450, Alexandria, Virginia, 22313-1450; by 
electronic mail to [email protected]; by facsimile transmission 
marked to the Senior Advisor's attention at (571) 273-0464; or by mail 
marked to the Senior Advisor's attention and addressed to the Office of 
the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director 
of the USPTO, Post Office Box 1450, Alexandria, Virginia, 22313-1450.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John W. Cabeca, Senior Advisor, Office 
of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and 
Director of the USPTO, by facsimile transmission marked to his 
attention at (571) 273-0464, or by mail marked to his attention and 
addressed to the Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce for 
Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, Post Office Box 1450, 
Alexandria, Virginia, 22313-1450.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Trademark Public Advisory Committee 
duties include:
     Review and advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for 
Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO on matters relating to 
policies, goals, performance, budget, and user fees of the USPTO 
relating to trademarks; and
     Within 60 days after the end of each fiscal year: (1) 
Prepare an annual report on matters listed above; (2) transmit the 
report to the Secretary of Commerce, the President, and the Committees 
on the Judiciary of the Senate and the House of Representatives; and 
(3) publish the report in the Official Gazette of the USPTO.

Advisory Committee

    The Trademark Public Advisory Committee is composed of nine (9) 
voting members who are appointed by the Secretary of Commerce (the 
``Secretary'') and serve at the pleasure of the Secretary for three-
year terms. Members are eligible for reappointment for a second 
consecutive three-year term. The Trademark Public Advisory Committee 
members shall be citizens of the United States and shall represent 
small and large entity applicants located in the United States in 
proportion to the number of applications filed by such applicants. The 
Committee shall include individuals with ``substantial backgrounds and 
achievement in finance, management, labor relations, science, 
technology, and office automation.'' 35 U.S.C. 5(b)(3). The Committee 
also includes three (3) non-voting members representing each labor 
organization at the USPTO. Administration policy discourages the 
appointment of federally registered lobbyists to agency advisory boards 
and commissions (Lobbyists on Agency Boards and Commissions, http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/09/23/lobbyist-agency-boards-and-commissions (Sept. 23, 2009, 2:33PM EST)); cf. Exec. Order No. 13490, 
74 FR 4673 (January 21, 2009) (While Executive Order 13490 does not 
specifically apply to federally registered lobbyists appointed by 
agency or department heads, it sets forth the Administration's general 
policy of decreasing the influence of special interests in the Federal 
Government).

Procedures and Guidelines of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee

    Each newly appointed member of the Trademark Public Advisory 
Committee shall serve a term of approximately three (3) years beginning 
December 6, 2013, and ending on December 1, 2016. See AIA Technical 
Corrections Act, Sec.  l(2)(B) (transition to December 1 as start and 
end date for terms). As required by the 1999 Act, members of the 
Trademark Public Advisory Committee will receive compensation for each 
day (including travel time) while the member is attending meetings or 
engaged in the business of the Committee. The enabling statute states 
that members are to be compensated at the daily equivalent of the 
annual rate of basic pay in effect for level III of the Executive 
Schedule under section 5314 of Title 5, United States Code. Committee 
members are compensated on an hourly basis, calculated at the daily 
rate. While away from home or regular place of business, each member 
shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of 
subsistence, as authorized by Section 5703 of Title 5, United States 
Code.

Applicability of Certain Ethics Laws

    Public Advisory Committee Members shall be Special Government 
Employees within the meaning of Section 202 of Title 18, United States 
Code. The following additional information includes several, but not 
all, of the ethics rules that apply to members, and assumes that 
members are not engaged in Public Advisory Committee business more than 
60 days during any period of 365 consecutive days.
     Each member is required to file a confidential financial 
disclosure form within thirty (30) days of appointment. 5 CFR 
2634.202(c), 2634.204, 2634.903, and 2634.904(b).
     Each member will be subject to many of the public 
integrity laws, including criminal bars against representing a party in 
a particular matter that came before the member's committee and that 
involved at least one specific party. 18 U.S.C. 205(c); see also 18 
U.S.C. 207 for post-membership bars. A member also must not act on a 
matter in which the member (or any of certain closely related entities) 
has a financial interest. 18 U.S.C. 208.
     Representation of foreign interests may also raise issues. 
35 U.S.C. 5(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. 219.

Meetings of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee

    Meetings of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee will take place 
at the call of the Committee Chair to consider an agenda set by that 
Chair. Meetings may be conducted in person, telephonically, on-line 
through the Internet, or by other appropriate means. The meetings of 
the Advisory Committee will be open to the public except the Committee 
may, by majority vote, meet in executive session when considering 
personnel, privileged, or other confidential information. Nominees must 
have the ability to participate in Committee business through the 
Internet.

[[Page 49262]]

Procedures for Submitting Nominations

    Submit resum[eacute]s for nomination for the Trademark Public 
Advisory Committee to: John W. Cabeca, Senior Advisor, Office of the 
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of 
the United States Patent and Trademark Office, utilizing the addresses 
provided above.

    Dated: July 23, 2013.
Teresa Stanek Rea,
Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting 
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2013-19495 Filed 8-12-13; 8:45 am]
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