39916 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 152 / Monday, August 10, 2009 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Natural Resources Conservation 

Service 

Notice of Proposed Change to Section 

IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide 

AGENCY: Natural Resources 

Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. 

Department of Agriculture. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability of 

proposed changes in the Virginia NRCS 

State Technical Guide for review and 

comment. 

SUMMARY: It has been determined by the 

NRCS State Conservationist for Virginia 

that changes must be made in the NRCS 

State Technical Guide specifically in 

practice standards: #356, Dike; #378, 

Pond; #402, Dam; #554, Draining Water 

Management; #587, Structure for Water 

Control; and #606, Subsurface Drain. 

These practices will be used to plan and 

install conservation practices on 

cropland, pastureland, woodland, and 

wildlife land. 

DATES: Comments will be received for a 

30-day period commencing with the 

date of this publication. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Inquire in writing to John A. Bricker, 

State Conservationist, Natural Resources 

Conservation Service (NRCS), 1606 

Santa Rosa Road, Suite 209, Richmond, 

Virginia 23229–5014; Telephone 

number (804) 287–1691; Fax number 

(804) 287–1737. Copies of the practice 

standards will be made available upon 

written request to the address shown 

above or on the Virginia NRCS Web site: 

http://www.va.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ 

draftstandards.html. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

343 of the Federal Agriculture 

Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 

states that revisions made after 

enactment of the law to NRCS State 

technical guides used to carry out 

highly erodible land and wetland 

provisions of the law shall be made 

available for public review and 

comment. For the next 30 days, the 

NRCS in Virginia will receive comments 

relative to the proposed changes. 

Following that period, a determination 

will be made by the NRCS in Virginia 

regarding disposition of those comments 

and a final determination of change will 

be made to the subject standards. 

Dated: July 21, 2009. 

John A. Bricker, 

State Conservationist, Natural Resources 

Conservation Service, Richmond, Virginia. 

[FR Doc. E9–19014 Filed 8–7–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

Patent Reexaminations 

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment 

request. 

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO), 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 the new information 

collection, as required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104– 

13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted on or before October 9, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• E-mail: Susan.Fawcett@uspto.gov. 

Include A0651–00XX Patent 

Reexaminations comment@ in the 

subject line of the message. 

• Fax: 571–273–0112, marked to the 

attention of Susan K. Fawcett. 

• Mail: Susan K. Fawcett, Records 

Officer, Office of the Chief Information 

Officer, Administrative Management 

Group, United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 

Alexandria, VA 22313–1450. 

• Federal Rulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information 

should be directed to Robert A. Clarke, 

Director, Office of Patent Legal 

Administration, United States Patent 

and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 

Alexandria, VA 22313–1450; by 

telephone at 571–272–7735; or by e-mail 

at Robert.Clarke@uspto.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO) is required 

by 35 U.S.C. 131 and 151 to examine 

applications and, when appropriate, 

allow applications and issue them as 

patents. 

Chapter 30 of Title 35 U.S.C. provides 

that any person at any time may file a 

request for reexamination by the USPTO 

of any claim of a patent on the basis of 

prior art patents or printed publications. 

Once initiated, the reexamination 

proceedings under Chapter 30 are 

substantially ex parte and do not permit 

input from third parties. Chapter 31 of 

Title 35 U.S.C. provides for inter partes 

reexamination allowing third parties to 

participate throughout the 

reexamination proceeding. If a request 

for ex parte or inter partes 

reexamination is denied, the requester 

may petition the Director to review the 

examiner’s refusal of reexamination. 

The rules outlining ex parte and inter 

partes reexaminations are found at 37 

CFR 1.510–1.570 and 1.902–1.997. 

Information requirements related to 

patent reexaminations are currently 

covered under OMB Control Number 

0651–0033, along with other 

requirements related to patent issue fees 

and reissue applications. The USPTO is 

proposing to move the following items 

that are under 0651–0033 into a new 

information collection for Patent 

Reexaminations: Request for Ex Parte 

Reexamination Transmittal Form; 

Request for Inter Partes Reexamination 

Transmittal Form; Petition to Review 

the Refusal to Grant Ex Parte 

Reexamination; Petition to Review the 

Refusal to Grant Inter Partes 

Reexamination; and Petition to Request 

Extension of Time in Ex Parte or Inter 

Partes Reexamination. 

The USPTO is also proposing to 

include additional items related to 

patent reexaminations in this new 

information collection: Request for Ex 

Parte Reexamination; Request for Inter 

Partes Reexamination; Patent Owner’s 

37 CFR 1.530 Statement; Third Party 

Requester’s 37 CFR 1.535 Reply; 

Amendment in Ex Parte or Inter Partes 

Reexamination; Third Party Requester’s 

37 CFR 1.947 Comments in Inter Partes 

Reexamination; Response to Final 

Rejection in Ex Parte Reexamination; 

Patent Owner’s 37 CFR 1.951 Response 

in Inter Partes Reexamination; and 

Third Party Requester’s 37 CFR 1.951 

Comments in Inter Partes 

Reexamination. These additional items 

are existing information requirements 

that previously were not fully covered 

by an information collection and are 

now being included in order to more 

accurately reflect the burden on the 

public for submitting requests related to 

patent reexaminations. 

The Requests for Ex Parte and Inter 

Partes Reexamination are distinct 

collections from the Request for Ex 

Parte Reexamination Transmittal Form 

and the Request for Inter Partes 

Reexamination Transmittal Form, 

respectively. Whereas the transmittal 

forms are used by a requester (patent 

owner or third party) as a checklist to 

ensure compliance with the 

requirements of the statutes and rules 

for ex parte and inter partes 

reexaminations, the newly added 

collections represent the substantive 

analysis undertaken by a requester of 

reexamination. Thus, the Requests for 

Ex Parte and Inter Partes Reexamination 

are not new requirements. The other 

items being included in this new 


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