70660 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 7, 2004 / Notices 

courts to review expeditiously the final 

determination to determine whether it 

conforms with the antidumping or 

countervailing duty law of the country 

that made the determination. 

Under Article 1904 of the Agreement, 

which came into force on January 1, 

1994, the Government of the United 

States, the Government of Canada and 

the Government of Mexico established 

Rules of Procedure for Article 1904 

Binational Panel Reviews (‘‘Rules’’). 

These Rules were published in the 

Federal Register on February 23, 1994 

(59 FR 8686). 

Panel Decision: On December 1, 2004, 

the Binational Panel remanded the 

Department of Commerce’s final 

countervailing duty determination on 

remand. The following issues were 

remanded to the Department: 

(1) The Department is directed to 

reinstate the C$3.46 profit figure in 

computing the log-seller profit in 

Alberta. 

(2) The Department is directed to 

include in the Quebec benchmarks the 

volume of logs for which the Syndicate 

data does not indicate prices, or to 

explain why it should not do so, or why 

it cannot do so. 

(3) The Department is directed to 

adjust the Quebec benchmarks by 

deducting log-seller profit from both the 

import and Syndicate prices. 

(4) The Department is directed to 

consider the conversion factor to be 

used to convert Syndicate prices in 

Quebec to cubic meters where the data 

is reported in other forms. 

(5) The Department is directed to 

include Balsam Fir and Larch in the 

Ontario SPF benchmark. 

(6) The Department is directed to 

correct the clerical error in the import 

statistics for Ontario which grossly 

inflated the benchmark. 

(7) The Department is directed to 

examine the issue of log-seller profit in 

Ontario. If the Department determines 

that it is appropriate to use a surrogate 

profit figure from some other province, 

it is directed to explain its choice. 

(8) The Department is directed to 

redetermine the net benefit for Ontario. 

(9) The Department is directed to 

recalculate the British Columbia 

benchmark taking into account actual 

market conditions in that province. In 

so doing, the Department must perform 

separate benefit calculations for the 

Coast and for the Interior using data 

available for each region. 

(10) The Department is directed to 

apply recalculated profit figures for 

Alberta and Quebec in calculating 

British Columbia stumpage benefits. 

(11) The Department is directed to 

eliminate the import data in the 

surrogate benchmarks for Saskatchewan 

and Manitoba. 

(12) If the Department’s benchmark 

calculations result in a higher benefit for 

Quebec or Ontario, the Department is 

directed to exclude additional sales that 

might erroneously be attributed to Bois 

Omega. 

The Investigating Authority is 

directed to complete its remand 

determination by January 24, 2005.

Dated: December 2, 2004. 

Caratina L. Alston, 

United States Secretary, NAFTA Secretariat.

[FR Doc. E4–3512 Filed 12–6–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–GT–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office 

[Docket No. 2004–P–050] 

Changes to Patent Fees Under the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005

AGENCY: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: If enacted in its present form, 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2005 (Consolidated Appropriations 

Act), will revise patent fees in general, 

including maintenance fees, and will 

provide for a search fee and 

examination fee that are separate from 

the filing fee, during fiscal years 2005 

and 2006. This notice provides advance 

notice to the public of the changes to 

patent fees in the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act. In particular, with 

respect to maintenance fees, this notice 

advises the public to remain vigilant as 

to the effective date of the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act and to consider 

paying maintenance fees early or taking 

other appropriate steps to ensure that 

their patents remain in force.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

Office of Patent Legal Administration, 

Office of the Deputy Commissioner for 

Patent Examination Policy, by telephone 

at (571) 272–7701 or by electronic mail 

message over the Internet at 

PatentPractice@USPTO.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: H.R. 4818, 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2005 (Consolidated Appropriations Act) 

would, upon enactment, revise certain 

patent application and maintenance 

fees; provide separate fees for a basic 

filing fee, a search fee, and an 

examination fee; and require an 

additional fee for any patent application 

whose specification and drawings 

exceed 100 sheets of paper (application 

size fee). 

The new patent fees become effective 

on the date the President signs the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act. The 

fees will remain in effect during the 

remainder of fiscal year 2005 and during 

fiscal year 2006. The USPTO expects the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act to be 

signed by the President in December. 

The patent maintenance fee changes 

apply to any maintenance fee payment 

made on or after the date of enactment 

of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

regardless of the filing or issue date of 

the patent for which the fee is 

submitted. The revised maintenance 

fees take effect on the date the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act is 

signed by the President. For example, if 

the President signs the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act at noon on 

December 8, 2004, any maintenance fee 

paid at any time on December 8, 2004, 

or thereafter, would be subject to the 

revised maintenance fee amounts set 

forth in the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, regardless of 

whether the President signs the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act before 

or after the payment is made. For this 

reason, persons paying the second and 

third maintenance fees may want to 

consider: (1) Authorizing payment of 

any deficiency from a deposit account; 

or (2) paying the maintenance fee with 

sufficient time remaining in the 

payment window to allow for a timely 

payment of any fee deficiency due to the 

enactment of the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act. This is especially 

important if paying via the USPTO’s 

Internet Web site since there may be 

some delay in updating maintenance fee 

information on the USPTO’s Office of 

Finance On-Line Shopping Web page 

and maintenance fees must be timely 

paid in the appropriate amount to avoid 

expiration of a patent. 

The new basic filing fee (or national 

fee), search fee, examination fee, and 

application size fee will apply to 

national patent applications filed on or 

after the date of enactment of the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act and to 

international patent applications in 

which the basic national fee is paid on 

or after the date of enactment. The filing 

fee (or national fee), search fee, and 

examination fee are due on filing. If the 

filing fee (or national fee) is paid on 

filing, but the search fee and/or 

examination fee is missing, the USPTO 

will issue a notice requiring that any 

missing search fee and examination fee 

(but no surcharge until further notice) 

be paid within a specified period of 

time in order to avoid abandonment. 

Thus, if at least the full basic filing fee 

in effect on the date of enactment of the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act is paid 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 7, 2004 / Notices 70661

on or after the date of enactment of the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, the 

USPTO will issue a notice requiring any 

balance of the search fee and the 

examination fee (but no surcharge). 

Since the changes to the patent fees 

take effect on the date the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act is signed by the 

President, there will be applications 

filed on or after the effective date that 

may not include the revised fees set 

forth in the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act. For example, if the 

President signs the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act at noon on 

December 8, 2004, any application filed 

(before or after noon) on December 8, 

2004, or thereafter, would be subject to 

the basic filing fee, search fee, 

examination fee and the revised patent 

application fees set forth in the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act. 

The remaining patent application fee 

changes, including the excess claims 

fees, extension of time fees, and appeal 

fees, apply to any fee payment made on 

or after the date of enactment of the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

regardless of the filing date of the 

application for which the fee is 

submitted. 

The USPTO will post additional 

information on its Internet Web site 

(http://www.uspto.gov) as soon as 

possible after enactment of the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act. 

USPTO customers should monitor the 

USPTO’s Internet Web site frequently 

for current patent fee information. 

Payments from foreign countries must 

be payable and immediately negotiable 

in the United States for the full amount 

of the fee required.

Dated: December 2, 2004. 

Jon W. Dudas, 

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 

Property and Director of the United States 

Patent and Trademark Office.

[FR Doc. 04–26853 Filed 12–3–04; 9:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P

COMMITTEE FOR THE 

IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE 

AGREEMENTS

Solicitation of Public Comments on 

Request for Textile and Apparel 

Safeguard Action on Imports from 

China

December 2, 2004.

AGENCY: The Committee for the 

Implementation of Textile Agreements 

(the Committee)

ACTION: Solicitation of public comments 

concerning a request for safeguard 

action on imports from China of other 

synthetic filament fabric (Category 620).

SUMMARY: The Committee has received a 

request from the National Council of 

Textile Organizations, the National 

Textile Association, the American 

Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, 

and UNITE HERE! (Requestors) asking 

the Committee to limit imports from 

China of other synthetic filament fabric 

in accordance with the textile and 

apparel safeguard provision of the 

Working Party on the Accession of 

China to the World Trade Organization 

(the Accession Agreement). The 

Committee hereby solicits public 

comments on this request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jay 

Dowling, Office of Textiles and Apparel, 

U.S. Department of Commerce, (202) 

482-4058.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority: Section 204 of the Agriculture 

Act of 1956, as amended; Executive Order 

11651, as amended.

BACKGROUND:

The textile and apparel safeguard 

provision of the Accession Agreement 

provides for the United States and other 

members of the World Trade 

Organization that believe imports of 

Chinese origin textile and apparel 

products are, due to market disruption, 

threatening to impede the orderly 

development of trade in these products 

to request consultations with China 

with a view to easing or avoiding the 

disruption. Pursuant to this provision, if 

the United States requests consultations 

with China, it must, at the time of the 

request, provide China with a detailed 

factual statement showing ‘‘(1) the 

existence or threat of market disruption; 

and (2) the role of products of Chinese 

origin in that disruption.’’ Beginning on 

the date that it receives such a request, 

China must restrict its shipments to the 

United States to a level no greater than 

7.5 percent (6 percent for wool product 

categories) above the amount entered 

during the first 12 months of the most 

recent 14 months preceding the request. 

If exports from China exceed that 

amount, the United States may enforce 

the restriction.

The Committee has published 

procedures (the Procedures) it follows 

in considering requests for Accession 

Agreement textile and apparel safeguard 

actions (68 FR 27787, May 21, 2003; 68 

FR 49440, August 18, 2003), including 

the information that must be included 

in such requests in order for the 

Committee to consider them.

On November 8, 2004, the Requestors 

asked the Committee to impose an 

Accession Agreement textile and 

apparel safeguard action on imports 

from China of other synthetic filament 

fabric (Category 620) on the ground that 

an anticipated increase in imports of 

other synthetic filament fabric after 

January 1, 2005, threatens to disrupt the 

U.S. market for other synthetic filament 

fabric. For a list of the products 

included in Category 620, see ‘‘Textile 

Correlation’’ at http://otexa.ita.doc/

corr.htm. The request is available at 

http://otexa.ita.doc.gov/

Safeguardlintro.htm. In light of the 

considerations set forth in the 

Procedures, the Committee has 

determined that the Requestors have 

provided the information necessary for 

the Committee to consider the request.

The Committee is soliciting public 

comments on the request, in particular 

with regard to whether there is a threat 

of disruption to the U.S. market for 

other synthetic filament fabric and, if so, 

the role of Chinese-origin other 

synthetic filament fabric in that 

disruption. To this end, the Committee 

seeks relevant information addressing 

factors such as the following, which 

may be relevant in the particular 

circumstances of this case, involving a 

product under a quota that will be 

removed on January 1, 2005: (1) 

Whether imports of other synthetic 

filament fabric from China are entering, 

or are expected to enter, the United 

States at prices that are substantially 

below prices of the like or directly 

competitive U.S. product, and whether 

those imports are likely to have a 

significant depressing or suppressing 

effect on domestic prices of the like or 

directly competitive U.S. product or are 

likely to increase demand for further 

imports from China; (2) Whether exports 

of Chinese-origin other synthetic 

filament fabric to the United States are 

likely to increase substantially and 

imminently (due to existing unused 

production capacity, to capacity that 

can easily be shifted from the 

production of other products to the 

production of other synthetic filament 

fabric, or to an imminent and 

substantial increase in production 

capacity or investment in production 

capacity), taking into account the 

availability of other markets to absorb 

any additional exports; (3) Whether 

Chinese-origin other synthetic filament 

fabric that is presently sold in the 

Chinese market or in third-country 

markets will be diverted to the U.S. 

market in the imminent future (for 

example, due to more favorable pricing 

in the U.S. market or to existing or 

imminent import restraints into third 

country markets); (4) The level and the 

extent of any recent change in