Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 15, 2013 / Notices 2961 

1 35 U.S.C. 112(f) replaces 35 U.S.C. 112, ¶ 6 as 

the section of the statute pertaining to means-plusfunction limitations for applications filed on or 

after September 16, 2012. See Leahy-Smith America 

Invents Act, Pub. L. 112–29, § 4(c)(6), 125 Stat. 284, 

296 (2011). 

transitional phrase, and each particular 

claim limitation. 

2. Identifying corresponding support 

in the specification for each of the claim 

limitations utilizing, for example, a 

claim chart or the standardized template 

described above. This practice could be 

particularly beneficial where claims are 

amended or where a continuing 

application (continuation, divisional, 

continuation-in-part) is filed. 

3. Indicating whether examples in the 

specification are intended to be limiting 

or merely illustrative. 

4. Identifying whether the claim 

preamble is intended to be a limitation 

on claim scope. 

5. Expressly identifying clauses 

within particular claim limitations for 

which the inventor intends to invoke 35 

U.S.C. 112(f) and pointing out where in 

the specification corresponding 

structures, materials, or acts are 

disclosed that are linked to the 

identified 35 U.S.C. 112(f) claim 

limitations.1

6. Using textual and graphical 

notation systems known in the art to 

disclose algorithms in support of 

computer-implemented claim 

limitations, such as C-like pseudo-code 

or XML-like schemas for textual 

notation and Unified Modeling 

Language (UML) for graphical notation. 

B. Clarifying the Meaning of Claim 

Terms in the Specification 

The best source for determining the 

meaning of a claim term is the 

specification. See Phillips v. AWH 

Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1315–16 (Fed. Cir. 

2005). The specification should clearly 

define the claim language so that the 

scope of each claim can readily be 

determined, ensuring the public notice 

function of the patent claims is best 

served. In this regard, the USPTO is 

seeking public comments on advantages 

and disadvantages of applicants 

employing the following practices when 

preparing their patent applications: 

1. Indicating whether terms of 

degree—such as substantially, 

approximately, about, essentially—have 

a lay or technical meaning and 

explaining the scope of such terms. 

2. Including in the specification a 

glossary of potentially ambiguous, 

distinctive, and specialized terms used 

in the specification and/or claims, 

particularly for inventions related to 

certain technologies, such as software. 

3. Designating, at the time of filing the 

application, a default dictionary or 

dictionaries (e.g., a technical dictionary 

and a non-technical dictionary) to be 

used in ascertaining the meaning of the 

claim terms. 

III. Guidelines for Written Comments 

As discussed previously, the USPTO 

prefers to receive comments via 

electronic mail. Information provided in 

response to this request for comments 

will be made part of a public record and 

may be available via the Internet. In 

view of this, parties should not submit 

information that they do not wish to be 

publicly disclosed or made 

electronically accessible. Parties who 

would like to rely on confidential 

information to illustrate a point are 

requested to summarize or otherwise 

submit the information in a way that 

will permit its public disclosure. 

Dated: January 10, 2013. 

David J. Kappos, 

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 

Property and Director of the United States 

Patent and Trademark Office. 

[FR Doc. 2013–00690 Filed 1–14–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meeting—Closed 

Meeting 

The following notice of a closed 

meeting is published pursuant to the 

provisions of the Government in the 

Sunshine Act, Public Law 94–409, 5 

U.S.C. 552b. 

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING: 

Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission. 

TIME AND DATE: January 14, 2013 at 10:00 

a.m. 

PLACE: Three Lafayette Center, 1155 21st 

St. NW., Washington, DC, 9th Floor 

Commission Conference Room. 

STATUS: Closed. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Litigation 

Matters. In the event that the time or 

date of this meeting changes, an 

announcement of the change, along with 

the new time and place of the meeting 

will be posted on the Commission’s 

Web site at www.cftc.gov. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

Stacy D. Yochum, Counsel to the 

Executive Director, 202–418–5157. 

Stacy D. Yochum, 

Counsel to the Executive Director. 

[FR Doc. 2013–00787 Filed 1–11–13; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 6351–01–P 

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL 

PROTECTION 

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request 

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection. 

ACTION: Notice and request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer 

Financial Protection (Bureau), as part of 

its continuing effort to reduce 

paperwork and respondent burden, 

invites the general public and other 

Federal agencies to take this 

opportunity to comment on proposed 

and/or continuing information 

collections, as required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 

1995, Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the Bureau is 

soliciting comments concerning the 

information collection requirements 

relating to identifying strategies to help 

consumers make better-informed 

financial decisions. 

DATES: Written comments are 

encouraged and must be received on or 

before March 18, 2013 to be assured of 

consideration. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• Electronic: 

CFPB_Public_PRA@cfpb.gov. 

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Direct 

all written comments to Consumer 

Financial Protection Bureau (Attention: 

PRA Office), 1700 G Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20552. 

Instructions: Submissions should 

include agency name and Generic 

Clearance for Qualitative Consumer 

Education and Engagement Information 

Collections. Comments will be available 

for public inspection and copying at 

1700 G Street NW., Washington, DC 

20552 on official business days between 

the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern 

Time. You can make an appointment to 

inspect comments by telephoning (202) 

435–7275. All comments, including 

attachments and other supporting 

materials, will become part of the public 

record and subject to public disclosure. 

For this reason, please do not include in 

your comments information of a 

confidential nature, such as sensitive 

personal information or proprietary 

information. You should only submit 

information that you wish to make 

available publicly. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of the documents contained 

under this approval number should be 

directed to the Consumer Financial 

Protection Bureau, (Attention: PRA 

Office), 1700 G Street NW., Washington, 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with 
2962 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 15, 2013 / Notices 

DC 20552, (202) 435–9011, or through 

the Internet at 

CFPB_Public_PRA@cfpb.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Generic Clearance for 

Qualitative Consumer Education and 

Engagement Information Collections. 

OMB Control Number: 3170–XXXX. 

Abstract: Under the Dodd-Frank Wall 

Street Reform and Consumer Protection 

Act, Public Law 111–203, Section 

1013(b), the Bureau is responsible for 

developing and implementing 

initiatives intended to educate and 

empower consumers to make better 

informed financial decisions. The 

collection will focus on identifying 

financial education and empowerment 

strategies, practices, and experiences 

that inform or improve consumer 

financial decision-making. 

The Bureau expects to collect 

qualitative data on effective strategies 

from both financial education 

practitioners and consumers through a 

variety of methods, including in-person 

meetings, focus groups, qualitative 

surveys, online discussion forums, and 

other qualitative methods as necessary. 

The information collected through these 

processes will increase the Bureau’s 

understanding of financial education 

and empowerment programs and 

practices that can improve financial 

decision-making skills and outcomes for 

consumers. 

The core objective of the data 

collection is to develop a deeper 

understanding of effective financial 

education and empowerment strategies 

in order to help inform future work at 

the Bureau. This information collection 

will also provide useful information on 

financial education and empowerment 

practices that can be shared with 

providers and practitioners of financial 

education and empowerment programs, 

leading to better financial decisionmaking outcomes for adult consumers. 

Below is an estimate of the aggregate 

burden hours for the activities 

anticipated under this information 

collection. 

Type of Review: New Generic 

Collection. 

Average Expected Annual Number of 

Activities: 15. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

Households, and Business or other forprofit, not-for-profit institutions, Farms, 

Federal government, State, Local or 

Tribal government. 

Estimated Number of Annual 

Responses: 60,000 annual responses. 

Estimated Time Per Respondent: 

Varies from 10 to 120 minutes. 

Frequency of Response: On occasion. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 15,000 hours. 

Request for Comments: Comments 

submitted in response to this notice will 

be summarized and/or included in the 

request for Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) approval. All comments 

will become a matter of public record. 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the collection of information is 

necessary for the proper performance of 

the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

collection of information, including the 

validity of the methodology and the 

assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (d) 

ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on 

respondents, including through the use 

of automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

unless it displays a currently valid OMB 

control number. 

Dated: January 9, 2013. 

Chris Willey, 

Chief Information Officer, Bureau of 

Consumer Financial Protection. 

[FR Doc. 2013–00722 Filed 1–14–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P 

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meetings 

FEDERAL REGISTER CITATION OF PREVIOUS

ANNOUNCEMENT: Vol. 78, No. 7, 

Thursday, January 10, 2013, page 2257. 

CHANGE IN ANNOUNCED TIME AND DATE OF

OPEN MEETING: 10 a.m.–11 a.m., 

Wednesday January 16, 2013. 

Changes To Open Meeting Agenda 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Decisional 

Matter: Fiscal Year 2013 Operating Plan. 

ITEM REMOVED FROM THE AGENDA: 

Decisional Matter: Section 1110 

Certification of Compliance—Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking. 

For a recorded message containing the 

latest agenda information, call (301) 

504–7948. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR ADDITIONAL

INFORMATION: Todd A. Stevenson, Office 

of the Secretary, 4330 East West 

Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814 (301) 

504–7923. 

Dated: January 10, 2013. 

Todd A. Stevenson, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2013–00762 Filed 1–11–13; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 6355–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Applications for New Awards; 

Personnel Development To Improve 

Services and Results for Children With 

Disabilities—Personnel Preparation in 

Special Education, Early Intervention, 

and Related Services 

AGENCY: Office of Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services, Department of 

Education. 

ACTION: Notice. 

Overview Information: 

Personnel Development to Improve 

Services and Results for Children 

with Disabilities—Personnel 

Preparation in Special Education, 

Early Intervention, and Related 

Services Notice inviting applications 

for new awards for fiscal year (FY) 

2013. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA) Number: 84.325K. 

DATES: 

Applications Available: January 15, 

2013. 

Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: March 18, 2013. 

Deadline for Intergovernmental 

Review: May 15, 2013. 

Full Text of Announcement 

I. Funding Opportunity Description 

Purpose of Program: The purposes of 

this program are to (1) help address 

State-identified needs for highly 

qualified personnel—in special 

education, early intervention, related 

services, and regular education—to 

work with children, including infants 

and toddlers, with disabilities; and (2) 

ensure that those personnel have the 

necessary skills and knowledge, derived 

from practices that have been 

determined through scientifically based 

research and experience, to be 

successful in serving those children. 

Priorities: In accordance with 34 CFR 

75.105(b)(2)(iv), this priority is from 

allowable activities specified in the 

statute (see sections 662 and 681 of the 

Individuals with Disabilities Education 

Act (IDEA)). 

Absolute Priority: For FY 2013 and 

any subsequent year in which we make 

awards from the list of unfunded 

applicants from this competition, this 

priority is an absolute priority. Under 34 


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