[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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