[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44643-44644]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-10748]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No. PTO-P-2024-0022]
Patent and Trademark Public Advisory Committees
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Request for nominations for the Patent and Trademark Public
Advisory Committees.
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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)--
America's Innovation Agency--is seeking nominations for up to three
members of its Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) to advise the
Director of the USPTO on patent policy, and for up to three members of
its Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC) to advise the Director
on trademark policy. Each new member, who can serve remotely, will
serve a three-year term starting December 1, 2024. The members
represent the interests of the public and the stakeholders of the
USPTO.
DATES: Nominations must be electronically transmitted on or before July
5, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to submit nominations will be required to
electronically complete the appropriate Public Advisory Committee
application form by entering detailed information and qualifications at
https://bit.ly/4d9MlQy for the PPAC and https://bit.ly/4aKhecY for the
TPAC.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shirin Bidel-Niyat, Chief of Staff,
Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and
Director of the USPTO, at 571-272-8600.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 29, 1999, the President signed
into law the Patent and Trademark Office Efficiency Act (1999 Act). The
1999 Act established two Public Advisory Committees--the PPAC and the
TPAC--to review the policies, goals, performance, budget, and user fees
of the USPTO. The America Invents Act Technical Corrections set
staggered terms for the members of the Advisory Committees, with each
term starting and ending on December 1.
The PPAC and TPAC members shall:
Advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual
Property and Director of the USPTO on matters involving the policies,
goals, performance, budget, and user fees of the USPTO related to
patents and trademarks, respectively (35 U.S.C. 5); and
Within 60 days after the end of each fiscal year: (1)
prepare an annual report
[[Page 44644]]
on the matters listed above; (2) transmit the report to the Secretary
of Commerce (Secretary), the President, and the Committees on the
Judiciary of the Senate and the House of Representatives; and (3)
publish the report in the USPTO's Official Gazette. Id.
Public Advisory Committees
The Public Advisory Committees are each composed of nine voting
members who are appointed by 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 Public
Advisory Committee members must be citizens of the United States.
Members must also certify that they are not required to register with
the Department of Justice as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents
Registration Act of 1938, as amended, and that they are not a
federally-registered lobbyist. Members are chosen to represent the
interests of diverse users of the USPTO and must represent small- and
large-entity applicants located in the United States in proportion to
the number of applications filed by such applicants. In no case,
however, shall members who represent small-entity patent applicants,
including small business concerns, independent inventors, and nonprofit
organizations, constitute less than 25% of the members of the PPAC.
There must also be at least one independent inventor on the PPAC. The
Committees must include individuals with a ``substantial background and
achievement in finance, management, labor relations, science,
technology, and office automation.'' 35 U.S.C. 5(b)(3). Each of the
Public Advisory Committees also includes three non-voting members
representing each labor organization recognized by the USPTO.
Procedures and Guidelines of the PPAC and the TPAC
Each newly appointed member of the PPAC and the TPAC will serve for
a three-year term that begins on December 1, 2024, and ends on December
1, 2027. As required by the 1999 Act, members of the PPAC and the TPAC
will receive compensation for each day (including travel time) they
attend meetings or engage in the business of their 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 5 U.S.C. 5314. Committee members are
compensated on an hourly basis, calculated at the daily rate. While
away from home or their regular place of business, each member shall be
allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as
authorized by 5 U.S.C. 5703.
Applicability of Certain Ethics Laws
Public Advisory Committee members are Special Government Employees
within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. 202. 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 will be required to file a confidential
financial disclosure form within 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 comes before the member's committee and that
involves at least one specific party. 18 U.S.C. 205(c); see also 18
U.S.C. 207 for post-membership bars. Also, a member 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 PPAC and the TPAC
Meetings of each Public Advisory Committee will take place at the
call of the respective Committee Chair to consider an agenda set by
that Chair. Meetings may be conducted in person, telephonically,
online, or by other appropriate means. The meetings of each Public
Advisory Committee will be open to the public, but each Public Advisory
Committee may, by majority vote, meet in an executive session when
considering personnel, privileged, or other confidential information.
Nominees must have the ability to participate in Public Advisory
Committee business through the internet.
Katherine K. Vidal,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-10748 Filed 5-20-24; 8:45 am]
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