47780 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 179 / Thursday, September 17, 2009 / Notices 

rule. Before including your address, 

phone number, e-mail address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment- including your 

personal identifying information- may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lynne Barre, Northwest Regional Office, 

206–526–4745; or Trevor Spradlin, 

Office of Protected Resources, 301–713– 

2322. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On July 29, 2009, NMFS proposed 

regulations under the Endangered 

Species Act and Marine Mammal 

Protection Act to prohibit vessels from 

approaching killer whales within 200 

yards and from parking in the path of 

whales for vessels in inland waters of 

Washington State (74 FR 37674). The 

proposed regulations would also 

prohibit vessels from entering a 

conservation area during a defined 

season. Certain vessels would be exempt 

from the prohibitions. The purpose of 

the action is to protect killer whales 

from interference and noise associated 

with vessels. In the final rule 

announcing the endangered listing of 

Southern Resident killer whales NMFS 

identified disturbance and sound 

associated with vessels as a potential 

contributing factor in the recent decline 

of this population. The Recovery Plan 

for Southern Resident killer whales calls 

for evaluating current guidelines and 

assessing the need for regulations and/ 

or protected areas. We developed the 

proposed rule after considering 

comments submitted in response to an 

Advance Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (72 FR 13464; March 22, 

2007) and preparing a draft 

environmental assessment (EA). 

Reasonable Accommodation 

Persons needing reasonable 

accommodations to attend and 

participate in the public meetings 

should contact Lynne Barre (see FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). To 

allow sufficient time to process 

requests, please call at least 5 business 

days prior to the relevant meeting(s). 

Dated: September 11, 2009. 

James H. Lecky, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–22414 Filed 9–16–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

[Docket No. PTO–P–2009–0037] 

Request for Comments on Interim 

Examination Instructions for 

Evaluating Patent Subject Matter 

Eligibility 

AGENCY: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Commerce. 

ACTION: Request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO) has prepared 

interim examination instructions for 

evaluating patent subject matter 

eligibility under 35 U.S.C. 101 (Interim 

Patent Subject Matter Eligibility 

Examination Instructions) pending a 

decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 

Bilski v. Kappos. The Interim Patent 

Subject Matter Eligibility Examination 

Instructions will be for use by USPTO 

personnel in their review of patent 

applications to determine whether the 

claims in a patent application are 

directed to patent eligible subject matter 

under 35 U.S.C. 101. The USPTO is 

requesting comments from the public 

regarding the Interim Patent Subject 

Matter Eligibility Examination 

Instructions. 

DATES: Comment Deadline Date: To be 

ensured of consideration, written 

comments must be received on or before 

September 28, 2009. No public hearing 

will be held. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent 

by electronic mail message over the 

Internet addressed to 

AB98.Comments@uspto.gov. Comments 

may also be submitted by facsimile to 

(571) 273–0125, marked to the attention 

of Caroline D. Dennison. Although 

comments may be submitted by mail or 

facsimile, the USPTO prefers to receive 

comments via the Internet. 

The comments will be available for 

public inspection at the Office of the 

Commissioner for Patents, located in 

Madison East, Tenth Floor, 600 Dulany 

Street, Alexandria, Virginia, and will be 

available via the Office Internet Web site 

(address: http://www.uspto.gov). 

Because comments will be made 

available for public inspection, 

information that is not desired to be 

made public, such as an address or 

phone number, should not be included 

in the comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Caroline D. Dennison, Office of the 

Deputy Commissioner for Patent 

Examination Policy, by telephone at 

571–272–7729, or by facsimile 

transmission to 571–273–0125, marked 

to the attention of Caroline D. Dennison. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

USPTO has prepared Interim Patent 

Subject Matter Eligibility Examination 

Instructions for evaluating patent 

subject matter eligibility under 35 

U.S.C. 101. The Interim Patent Subject 

Matter Eligibility Examination 

Instructions are based on the USPTO’s 

current understanding of the law and 

are believed to be fully consistent with 

binding precedent of the U.S. Supreme 

Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 

Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) and the 

Federal Circuit’s predecessor courts. 

The USPTO posted the Interim Patent 

Subject Matter Eligibility Examination 

Instructions on its Internet Web site 

(http://www.uspto.gov) on August 27, 

2009, with a notice requesting public 

comment on the Interim Patent Subject 

Matter Eligibility Examination 

Instructions and indicating that written 

comments must be received on or before 

September 28, 2009, to be ensured of 

consideration. 

The Interim Patent Subject Matter 

Eligibility Examination Instructions do 

not constitute substantive rule making 

and hence do not have the force and 

effect of law. Rejections are and will 

continue to be based upon the 

substantive law, and it is these 

rejections that are appealable. 

Consequently, any perceived failure by 

USPTO personnel to follow the Interim 

Patent Subject Matter Eligibility 

Examination Instructions is neither 

appealable nor petitionable. 

The U.S. Supreme Court granted 

certiorari in Bilski, S.Ct. No. 08–964. 

See 556 U.S.___ (June 1, 2009). The 

USPTO expects that a decision in Bilski 

will be rendered sometime before the 

end of June 2010. The Interim Patent 

Subject Matter Eligibility Examination 

Instructions are to provide instructions 

to examiners pending a final decision 

from the Supreme Court in Bilski. 

Following the Supreme Court’s decision 

in Bilski, the USPTO will revise its 

examination instructions for evaluating 

patent subject matter eligibility under 

35 U.S.C. 101 for consistency with the 

Supreme Court’s decision. 

The Interim Patent Subject Matter 

Eligibility Examination Instructions 

merely revise USPTO examination 

practice for consistency with the 

USPTO’s current understanding of the 

case law regarding patent subject matter 

eligibility under 35 U.S.C. 101. 

Therefore, the Interim Patent Subject 

Matter Eligibility Examination 

Instructions relate only to interpretative 

rules, general statements of policy, or 

rules of agency organization, procedure, 


cprice-sewell on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 179 / Thursday, September 17, 2009 / Notices 47781 

or practice. The USPTO is providing 

this opportunity for public comment 

because the USPTO desires the benefit 

of public comment on the Interim Patent 

Subject Matter Eligibility Examination 

Instructions; however, notice and an 

opportunity for public comment are not 

required under 5 U.S.C. 553(b) or any 

other law. See Cooper Techs. Co. v. 

Dudas, 536 F.3d 1330, 1336–37, 87 

U.S.P.Q.2d 1705, 1710 (Fed. Cir. 2008) 

(stating that 5 U.S.C. 553, and thus 35 

U.S.C. 2(b)(2)(B), does not require notice 

and comment rule making for 

‘‘ ‘interpretative rules, general 

statements of policy, or rules of agency 

organization, procedure, or practice.’ ’’ 

(quoting 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A))). Persons 

submitting written comments should 

note that the USPTO may not provide a 

‘‘comment and response’’ analysis of 

such comments as notice and an 

opportunity for public comment are not 

required under 5 U.S.C. 553(b) or any 

other law. 

Dated: September 11, 2009. 

David J. Kappos, 

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 

Property and Director of the United States 

Patent and Trademark Office. 

[FR Doc. E9–22420 Filed 9–16–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XR64 

Marine Mammals; File No. 1000–1617 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; withdrawal of 

application. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

Whitlow Au, PhD, University of Hawaii, 

Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, 

Marine Mammal Research Program, PO 

Box 1106, Kailua, Hawaii 96734, has 

withdrawn an application to amend 

Scientific Research Permit No. 1000– 

1617–04. 

ADDRESSES: The documents related to 

this action are available for review upon 

written request or by appointment in the 

following offices: 

Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 

13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone 

(301)713–2289; fax (301)713–0376; 

Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West 

Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, 

CA 90802–4213; phone (562)980–4001; 

fax (562)980–4018; and 

Pacific Islands Region, NMFS, 1601 

Kapiolani Blvd., Rm 1110, Honolulu, HI 

96814–4700; phone (808)944–2200; fax 

(808)973–2941. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kristy Beard or Carrie Hubard, 

(301)713–2289. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 

16, 2009, a notice was published in the 

Federal Register (74 FR 17635) that Dr. 

Au had submitted an application to 

amend Permit No. 1000–1617–04, 

which authorizes behavioral 

observations, photo-identification, 

genetic sampling, and suction-cup 

tagging of cetaceans in Hawaii and 

California. The amendment was 

requested under the authority of the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, 

as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the 

regulations governing the taking and 

importing of marine mammals (50 CFR 

part 216), and the Endangered Species 

Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 

et seq.). The applicant has withdrawn 

his application. 

Dated: September 14, 2009. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–22415 Filed 9–16–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meetings 

TIME AND DATE: Thursday, September 24, 

2009, 2 p.m. 

PLACE: Hearing Room 420, Bethesda 

Towers, 4330 East-West Highway, 

Bethesda, Maryland. 

STATUS: Closed to the public. 

MATTER TO BE CONSIDERED: Compliance 

Status Report (Monthly)—Commission 

Briefing. 

The staff will brief the Commission on 

various compliance matters. 

For a recorded message containing the 

latest agenda information, call (301) 

504–7948. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

Todd A. Stevenson, Office of the 

Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product 

Safety Commission, 4330 East-West 

Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 

504–7923. 

Dated: September 11, 2009. 

Todd A. Stevenson, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–22397 Filed 9–16–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6355–01–M 

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meetings 

TIME AND DATE: Tuesday, September 22, 

2009, 2 p.m. 

PLACE: Hearing Room 420, Bethesda 

Towers, 4330 East West Highway, 

Bethesda, Maryland. 

STATUS: Closed to the Public. 

MATTER TO BE CONSIDERED: Compliance 

Weekly Report—Commission Briefing 

The staff will brief the Commission on 

various compliance matters. 

For a recorded message containing the 

latest agenda information, call (301) 

504–7948. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

Todd A. Stevenson, Office of the 

Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product 

Safety Commission, 4330 East West 

Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 

504–7923. 

Dated: September 11, 2009. 

Todd A. Stevenson, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–22396 Filed 9–16–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6355–01–M 

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 

COMMISSION 

[CPSC Docket No. 09–C0036] 

K.S. Trading Corporation, Inc., 

Provisional Acceptance of a 

Settlement Agreement and Order 

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: It is the policy of the 

Commission to publish settlements 

which it provisionally accepts under the 

Consumer Product Safety Act in the 

Federal Register in accordance with the 

terms of 16 CFR 1118.20(e). Published 

below is a provisionally-accepted 

Settlement Agreement with K.S. Trading 

Corporation, containing a civil penalty 

of $35,000.00. 

DATES: Any interested person may ask 

the Commission not to accept this 

agreement or otherwise comment on its 

contents by filing a written request with 

the Office of the Secretary by October 2, 

2009. 

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to 

comment on this Settlement Agreement 

should send written comments to the 

Comment 09–C0036, Office of the 

Secretary, Consumer Product Safety 

Commission, 4330 East West Highway, 

Room 502, Bethesda, Maryland 20814– 

4408. 


cprice-sewell on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES