[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45470-45471]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18655]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office

[Docket No.: PTO-T-2019-0028]


Trademark Public Advisory Committee Public Hearing on the 
Proposed Trademark Fee Schedule

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: Under Section 10 of the America Invents Act (AIA), the United 
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) may set or adjust by rule 
any patent or trademark fee established, authorized, or charged under 
Title 35 of the United States Code or the Trademark Act of 1946, 
respectively. The USPTO currently is planning to set or adjust 
trademark fees pursuant to its Section 10 fee setting authority. As 
part of the rulemaking process to set or adjust trademark fees, the 
Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC) is required under Section 10 
of the AIA to hold a public hearing about any proposed trademark fees, 
and the USPTO is required to assist TPAC in carrying out that hearing. 
To that end, the USPTO will make its proposed trademark fees available 
as set forth in the Supplementary Information section of this Notice 
before any TPAC hearing and will help the TPAC to notify the public 
about the hearing. Accordingly, this document announces the dates and 
logistics for the TPAC public hearing regarding USPTO proposed 
trademark fees. Interested members of the public are invited to testify 
at the hearing and/or submit written comments about the proposed 
trademark fees.

DATES: 
    Public hearing: September 23, 2019.
    Comments: For those wishing to submit written comments on the fee 
proposal that will be published on or about September 9, 2019, but not 
requesting an opportunity to testify at the public hearing, the 
deadline for receipt of those written comments is September 30, 2019.
    Oral testimony: Individuals wishing to present oral testimony at 
the hearing must request an opportunity to do so in writing no later 
than September 16, 2019. Those individuals who are scheduled by the 
TPAC to present oral testimony at the hearing should submit a written 
copy of their testimony for inclusion in the record of the proceedings 
no later than September 30, 2019.

ADDRESSES: 
    Public hearing: The TPAC will hold a public hearing on September 
23, 2019 beginning at 2:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST), and 
ending at 4:00 p.m., EST, at the USPTO, Clara Barton Auditorium South, 
Concourse Level, Madison Building, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, 
Virginia 22314.
    Email: Written comments should be sent by email addressed to 
[email protected].
    Postal mail: Comments may also be submitted by postal mail 
addressed to: Commissioner for Trademarks, P.O. Box 1451, Alexandria, 
VA 22313-1451, attention Catherine Cain. Although comments may be 
submitted by postal mail, the USPTO prefers to receive comments via 
email. Written comments should be identified in the subject line of the 
email or postal mailing as ``Fee Setting.'' Because comments will be 
made available for public inspection, information that is not desired 
to be made public, such as an address or telephone number should not be 
included in the comments.
    Web cast: The public hearing will be available via Web cast. 
Information about the Web cast will be posted on the USPTO's internet 
website (address: www.uspto.gov/about-us/performance-and-planning/fee-setting-and-adjusting) before the public hearing.
    Transcripts: Transcript of the hearing will be available on the 
USPTO internet website (address: www.uspto.gov/about-us/performance-and-planning/fee-setting-and-adjusting) shortly after the hearing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Catherine Cain, Office of the Deputy 
Commissioner for Trademark Examination Policy, at 571-272-8946, or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Effective September 16, 2011, with the 
passage of the AIA, the USPTO is authorized under Section 10 of the AIA 
to set or adjust by rule all patent and trademark fees established, 
authorized, or charged under Title 35 of the United States Code and the 
Trademark Act of 1946, respectively. This authority was extended an 
additional 8 years by the Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing 
Engineering and Science Success (SUCCESS) Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-
273). Patent and trademark fees set or adjusted by rule under Section 
10 of the AIA may only recover the aggregate estimated costs to the 
Office for processing, activities, services, and materials relating to 
patents and trademarks, respectively, including administrative costs of 
the Office with respect to each as the case may be. This proposal 
represents the third iteration of trademark fee setting by the USPTO to 
set fees under the authority of the AIA. The first AIA trademark fee-
setting rule, which reduced certain trademark fees, was implemented in 
January 2015, and the second was implemented in January 2017.
    Congress set forth the process for the USPTO to follow in setting 
or adjusting patent and trademark fees by rule under Section 10 of the 
AIA. Congress requires the relevant advisory committee to hold a public 
hearing about the USPTO fee proposals after receiving them from the 
agency. Congress likewise requires the relevant advisory committee to 
prepare a written report on the proposed fees and the USPTO to consider 
the relevant

[[Page 45471]]

advisory committee's report before finally setting or adjusting the 
fees. Further, Congress requires the USPTO to publish its proposed fees 
and supporting rationale in the Federal Register and give the public 
not less than 45 days in which to submit comments on the proposed 
change in fees. Finally, Congress requires the USPTO to publish its 
final rule setting or adjusting fees also in the Federal Register.
    Presently, the USPTO is planning to exercise its fee-setting 
authority to set or adjust trademark fees. The USPTO will publish a 
proposed trademark fee schedule and related supplementary information 
for public viewing on or about September 9, 2019, on the USPTO internet 
website (address: www.uspto.gov/about-us/performance-and-planning/fee-setting-and-adjusting). In turn, the TPAC will hold a public hearing 
about the proposed trademark fee schedule on the date indicated herein. 
The USPTO will assist the TPAC in holding the hearing by providing 
resources to organize the hearing and by notifying the public about the 
hearing, such as through this notice.
    Following the TPAC public hearing, the USPTO will publish a Notice 
of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register, setting forth its 
proposed trademark fees. The publication of that Notice will open a 
comment window through which the public may provide written comments 
directly to the USPTO. Additional information about public comment to 
the USPTO will be provided in the USPTO's Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking.

Requests To Present Oral Testimony

    Interested members of the public are invited to testify at the TPAC 
hearing about the proposed trademark fees. Requests to testify should 
indicate the following: (1) The name of the person wishing to testify; 
(2) the person's contact information (telephone number and email 
address); (3) the organization(s) the person represents, if any; and 
(4) an indication of the amount of time needed for the testimony. 
Requests to testify must be submitted by email to Anastasia Johnson at 
[email protected]. Based upon the requests received, an 
agenda for witness testimony will be sent to testifying requesters and 
posted on the USPTO internet website (address: www.uspto.gov/about-us/performance-and-planning/fee-setting-and-adjusting). If time permits, 
the TPAC may permit unscheduled testimony as well.

    Dated: August 23, 2019.
Andrei Iancu,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of 
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2019-18655 Filed 8-28-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P