52184 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 195 / Friday, October 9, 2009 / Notices 

Dated: October 6, 2009. 

Patrick Gallagher, 

Deputy Director. 

[FR Doc. E9–24430 Filed 10–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

United States Patent and Trademark 

Office 

[Docket No. PTO–P–2009–0037] 

Additional Period for Comments on 

Interim Examination Instructions for 

Evaluating Patent Subject Matter 

Eligibility 

AGENCY: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Commerce. 

ACTION: Request for comments; 

additional comment period. 

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, and invited the public 

to submit written comments on the 

Interim Patent Subject Matter Eligibility 

Examination Instructions. The USPTO 

is extending the comment period to 

ensure that members of the public have 

sufficient opportunity to submit 

comments on the Interim Patent Subject 

Matter Eligibility Examination 

Instructions. The USPTO will revise the 

instructions as appropriate based on 

comments received. 

Comment Deadline Date: Written 

comments must be received on or before 

November 9, 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 posted the Interim Patent 

Subject Matter Eligibility Examination 

Instructions on its Internet Web site 

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

August 27, 2009. The notice published 

on the USPTO’s Internet Web site 

invited public comment on the Interim 

Patent Subject Matter Eligibility 

Examination Instructions and indicated 

that comments must be received on or 

before September 28, 2009, to be 

ensured of consideration. The USPTO 

subsequently published a notice in the 

Federal Register confirming that the 

USPTO was inviting public comment on 

the Interim Patent Subject Matter 

Eligibility Examination Instructions and 

that comments must be received on or 

before September 28, 2009, to be 

ensured of consideration. See Request 

for Comments on Interim Examination 

Instructions for Evaluating Patent 

Subject Matter Eligibility, 74 FR 47780 

(September 17, 2009) (notice). The 

USPTO is extending the comment 

period because the USPTO desires the 

benefit of public comment on the 

instructions and wants to ensure that 

members of the public have sufficient 

opportunity to submit comments on the 

Interim Patent Subject Matter Eligibility 

Examination Instructions. Comments 

that have already been received are 

under consideration and the USPTO 

will revise the instructions as 

appropriate based on comments 

received. 

Dated: October 5, 2009. 

David J. Kappos, 

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 

Property and Director of the United States 

Patent and Trademark Office. 

[FR Doc. E9–24395 Filed 10–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XS13 

Marine Mammals; File No. 87–1743 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit 

amendment. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

Daniel P. Costa, Ph.D., Long Marine 

Laboratory, University of California at 

Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa 

Cruz, California 95060, has been issued 

a minor amendment to Scientific 

Research Permit No. 87–1743. 

ADDRESSES: The amendment and related 

documents are available for review 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the following office(s): 

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; and 

Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West 

Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, 

CA 90802–4213; phone (562)980–4001; 

fax (562)980–4018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy Sloan or Tammy Adams, 

(301)713–2289. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

requested amendment has been granted 

under the authority of the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as 

amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and 

the regulations governing the taking and 

importing of marine mammals (50 CFR 

part 216). 

The original permit (No. 87–1743–00), 

issued on September 17, 2004 (69 FR 

56999), authorized long-term 

behavioral, physiological, and life 

history research studies on northern 

elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) 

through September 30, 2009. This 

permit was subsequently amended on 

four occasions through minor 

amendments. 

This minor amendment (Permit No. 

87–1743–05) extends the duration of the 

permit through September 30, 2010 with 

no increase in the number of animals 

that may be taken. Permit No. 87–1743– 

05 also authorizes a minor change to 

permitted methods for a physiological 

study to allow researchers to substitute 

one instrument, a thermister, for another 

instrument, a Doppler flow sensor, but 

does not change any other terms or 

conditions of the permit. 

In compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), a supplemental 

environmental assessment (SEA) was 

prepared to analyze the effects of 

issuing the amendment. Based on the 

analysis, NMFS determined that 

issuance of the permit amendment 

would not significantly impact the 

quality of the human environment and 

that preparation of an environmental 

impact statement was not required. That 

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