[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 230 (Friday, November 29, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71613-71614]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-28528]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Extension of Public Comment Period

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

ACTION: Notice of extension of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The FTC is soliciting public comments on proposed information 
requests to Patent Assertion Entities (``PAEs'') asserting patents in a 
variety of sectors, as well as a group of other entities asserting 
patents specifically in the wireless communications sector, including 
manufacturers and other non-practicing entities and organizations 
engaged in licensing. The Commission has now determined to extend the 
public comment period until December 16, 2013.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 16, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``PAE Reports: Paperwork 
Comment; Project No. P131203'' on your comment, and file your comment 
online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/paestudypra, by 
following the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file 
your comment on paper, mail or deliver your comment to the following 
address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 
(Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William F. Adkinson, Jr., Attorney 
Advisor, Office of Policy Planning, Federal Trade Commission, 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580; (202) 326-2096; 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 27, 2013, the Commission 
announced that it would seek public comments on a proposal to gather 
information from approximately 25 companies known as Patent Assertion 
Entities (``PAEs''), along with 15 other entities asserting patents 
specifically in the wireless communications sector. For purposes of 
this notice, PAEs are firms with a business model based primarily on 
purchasing patents and then attempting to generate revenue by asserting 
the intellectual property against persons who are already practicing 
the patented technology.\1\ A notice containing the proposed 
information requests and seeking public comment was published in the 
Federal Register on October 3, 2013.\2\ The Commission intends to use 
this information to add to the existing literature and evidence on PAE 
activity. These comments will be considered before the FTC submits a 
request for Office of Management and Budget review of the compulsory 
process orders described in this notice under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act. The compulsory process orders will seek information from firms 
concerning, among other things, patent acquisition, litigation, and 
licensing practices.
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    \1\ The Commission distinguishes PAEs from other non-practicing 
entities or NPEs that primarily seek to develop and transfer 
technology, such as universities, research entities and design 
firms. Fed. Trade Comm'n, The Evolving IP Marketplace: Aligning 
Patent Notice and Remedies with Competition, 8 n.5 (2011), available 
at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2011/03/110307patentreport.pdf.
    \2\ See Federal Trade Commission: Agency Information Collection 
Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 78 FR 61,352 (Oct. 
3, 2013), available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/fedreg/2013/10/131003agencyinfofrn.pdf.
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    The Commission has now determined to extend the public comment 
period until December 16, 2013. The Commission will not consider 
requests for further extension. You may file a comment online or on 
paper, and the content of the comment should conform to the 
requirements detailed in the October 3, 2013 Federal Register Notice. 
For the Commission to consider your comment, we must receive it on or 
before December 16, 2013. Write ``PAE Reports: Paperwork Comment; 
Project No. P131203'' on your comment. Your comment, including your 
name and your state, will be placed on the public record of this 
proceeding, including, to the extent practicable, on the public 
Commission Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a 
matter of discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals' home 
contact information from comments before placing them on the Commission 
Web site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number, 
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification 
number or foreign country

[[Page 71614]]

equivalent, passport number, financial account number, or credit or 
debit card number. You are also solely responsible for making sure that 
your comment does not include any sensitive health information, like 
medical records or other individually identifiable health information. 
In addition, do not include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or 
financial information which is . . . privileged or confidential,'' as 
discussed in Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 
4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include 
competitively sensitive information such as costs, sales statistics, 
inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or 
customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\3\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel grants your request in 
accordance with the law and the public interest.
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    \3\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/paestudypra, by following the instructions on the web-based form. 
If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also 
may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``PAE Reports: Paperwork 
Comment; Project No. P131203'' on your comment and on the envelope, and 
mail or deliver it to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, 
Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20580. If possible, submit your paper comment to 
the Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws 
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public 
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The 
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that 
it receives on or before December 16, 2013. You can find more 
information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in 
the Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-28528 Filed 11-27-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P