Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 130 / Thursday, July 6, 2000 / Notices 41639

Title: Invention Promoters/Promotion

Firms Complaints.

Form Number(s): PTO/SB/2048.

Agency Approval Number: 0651–

0044.

Type of Request: Revision of a

collection previously approved under

an emergency clearance.

Burden: 50 hours annually.

Number of Respondents: 200

responses per year. The PTO expects to

receive 100 complaints concerning

invention promoters/promotion firms

and 100 responses to such complaints.

Avg. Hours Per Response: The USPTO

estimates that it takes an average of 15

minutes (.25 hours) to gather the

information, complete the complaint,

and submit it to the USPTO. The

USPTO estimates that it will take an

invention promoter an average of 15

minutes (.25 hours) to gather the

information, complete the response, and

submit it to the USPTO.

Needs and Uses: The Inventors’

Rights Act of 1999 requires the USPTO

to publish complaints filed by

independent inventors against invention

promoters/promotion firms and publish

any replies to such complaints. The

Inventors’ Rights Act requires the

USPTO to publish these complaints and

replies, but it does not require the

USPTO to enforce the Act, to investigate

the complaints, or to participate in any

legal proceedings against the invention

promoters/promotion firms. The USPTO

has developed a form that complainants

may choose to use to submit their

complaints against an invention

promoter/promotion firm to the USPTO.

Use of this form, PTO/SB/2048

Complaint Regarding Invention

Promoter, is not mandatory; however,

its use will ensure that all of the

necessary information is provided,

which in turn enables the USPTO to

make the complaint publicly available.

At this time, there is no associated form

for responses to the complaints. In

addition, this information collection

enables the invention promoters/

promotion firms to respond to such

complaints. The USPTO uses the

complaint form to ensure that all of the

necessary information is provided so

that the complaints can be made

publicly available. The USPTO then

forwards the complaints to the

invention promoter/ promotion firm and

makes sure that any responses to these

complaints are also made publicly

available.

Affected Public: Individuals or

households, businesses or other forprofit, not-for-profit institutions, and

farms.

Frequency: On occasion.

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.

OMB Desk Officer: David Rostker,

(202) 395–3897.

Copies of the above information

collection proposal can be obtained by

calling or writing Thao P. Nguyen,

Acting Records Officer, Office of Data

Management, Data Administration

Division, (703) 308–7397, USPTO, Suite

310, 2231 Crystal Drive, Washington,

DC 20231.

Written comments and

recommendations for the proposed

information collection should be sent on

or before August 7, 2000, to David

Rostker, OMB Desk Officer, Room

10202, New Executive Office Building,

Washington, D.C. 20503.

Dated: June 29, 2000.

Thao P. Nguyen,

Acting Records Officer, USPTO, Office of Data

Management, Data Administration Division.

[FR Doc. 00–17029 Filed 7–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark

Office

RIN 0651–ABXX

Notice of Intellectual Property

Symposium of the Americas:

Protecting Intellectual Property in the

Digital Age

AGENCY: United States Patent and

Trademark Office, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and

Trademark Office (USPTO) is

announcing that it will hold a two-day

symposium on the enforcement of

intellectual property in the Western

Hemisphere. The symposium is

expected to provide an opportunity for

high-ranking government intellectual

property officials and members of the

business and intellectual property

communities in the Western

Hemisphere to discuss and formulate an

agenda for cooperation in the critical

area of intellectual property

enforcement. Particular attention during

the symposium will be paid to the

Internet, Optical Media Piracy, and

Business Software and Business

Methods Patent enforcement issues, and

to developing a basis for closer

Hemispheric coordination in the

enforcement of intellectual property

rights generally.

DATES: The symposium will be held on

Monday, September 11, 2000, and

Tuesday, September 12, 2000, beginning

at 9:30 a.m. and ending at

approximately 5:30 p.m. each day. Due

to security concerns, attendance at the

symposium will be limited to 150

people. Requests to attend the

symposium must be made in writing no

later than July 31, 2000, and must

comply with the requirements set forth

in this notice. Because seating is

limited, only one request to participate

per firm, agency or organization will be

granted. For purposes of determining

eligibility, affiliates and subsidiaries in

different countries will be considered

separate organizations.

ADDRESSES: The symposium will be

held at the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel,

1800 Jefferson Davis Highway,

Arlington, Virginia 22202. Directions to

the symposium location will be

available inside the lobby of the

Sheraton Crystal City.

Requests to attend the symposium

should be made to Doris Long by

electronic mail to soa2k@uspto.gov, by

facsimile transmission marked to the

attention of Doris Long at (877) 786–

4220, or by mail marked to the attention

of Doris Long and addressed to the

Office of Legislative and International

Affairs, United States Patent and

Trademark Office, Box 4, Washington,

DC 20231. Symposium attendees will be

accepted as their requests are received

on a first-come, first-serve basis

according to the time and date of receipt

of each request, and subject to the

restrictions that: (1) Only written

requests will be accepted; (2) only one

request (one person) per company, firm,

agency or organization will be accepted

(for purposes of determining eligibility,

affiliates and subsidiaries in different

countries will be considered separate

organizations); (3) only requests which

contain the information set forth below

under ‘‘Further Registration

Information’’ will be accepted; and (4)

only requests received on or before July

31, 2000, will be considered.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Doris Long by telephone at (877) 786–

4220; by electronic mail to

soa2k@uspto.gov; by fax at (877) 786–

4220; or by mail marked to her attention

and addressed to the Office of

Legislative and International Affairs,

United States Patent and Trademark

Office, Box 4, Washington, DC 20231.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

Over the past several decades, the

global economy has undergone a

fundamental change, where the

principal engine of economic growth

and job creation is not based on raw

natural resources, but on the use of

knowledge, ideas and innovation. From

the Internet and E-commerce, to

41640 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 130 / Thursday, July 6, 2000 / Notices

computer software and technology,

countries increasingly rely on

knowledge-based products and services

to fuel their economic and technological

growth. Intellectual property protection

forms an integral part of any knowledgebased economy, since intellectual

property laws traditionally serve as a

source of protection for knowledge,

ideas and innovation. At the same time,

the rights of intellectual property

owners are being increasingly

threatened by the widespread use of the

Internet and other digital technologies

in facilitating global piracy.

As of January 1, 2000, most countries

in the Western Hemisphere are

obligated to have domestic laws and

enforcement mechanisms that comply

with the international standards set

forth under the Agreement on TradeRelated Aspects of Intellectual Property

Rights (TRIPS). In order to assure

continuing growth for the countries of

the Western Hemisphere, enforcement

mechanisms must be designed to take

into account the needs and issues of a

knowledge-based economy and be built

on traditional methodologies for

enforcement of intellectual property

rights against infringing physical goods

and services. At the same time such

mechanisms must be designed to

combat the increasing use of the Internet

and other digital technologies in the

development and distribution of pirated

and counterfeit goods.

In light of the Hemispheric

importance of effective intellectual

property enforcement programs capable

of dealing with the challenges posed by

digital piracy, this symposium will

feature structured dialogues and roundtable discussions regarding cutting edge

intellectual property enforcement policy

issues. These discussions will occur

between high-level government officials

from every country in the Western

Hemisphere with which the United

States maintains diplomatic relations.

The goals of the symposium are:

A. To assist government officials from

the Western Hemisphere in developing

effective enforcement systems based on

an interdisciplinary approach in which

civil, criminal, administrative, and

border (customs) measures work

together and separately to aid in

protecting and enforcing intellectual

property rights in the Digital Age.

B. To strengthen regional cooperation

for the improvement of the enforcement

of intellectual property rights in order to

meet international treaty obligations,

including those under TRIPS.

C. To provide Western Hemisphere

countries with a detailed review of the

emerging intellectual property treaty

regimes of the Digital Age. Included

among the topics would be the WIPO

Copyright Treaty, the WIPO

Performances and Phonograms Treaty,

and the enforcement requirements of

TRIPS and NAFTA.

D. To discuss ways to generally

improve the enforcement of intellectual

property rights throughout the

Hemisphere.

2. Draft Agenda

A draft agenda for the symposium is

set forth below:

Intellectual Property Symposium of The

Americas: Protecting Intellectual

Property in The Digital Age

Monday, September 11

Plenary Round Table I

E-Commerce and Other Strategies For

Turning Intellectual Property Protection

into Investment Opportunities.

Break Out Round Table A

Intellectual Property Rights and the

Internet: Digital Distribution and the

Technological Threat to Intellectual

Property.

Break Out Round Table B

Establishing a Workable Enforcement

System under TRIPS: Practical Problems

and Potential Solutions.

Break Out Round Table C

Adapting ‘‘Hard’’ Goods Enforcement

Techniques to Cyberspace.

Break Out Round Table D

Legal and Technological Obstacles to

Protecting Intellectual Property in the

Digital Age: Practical Problems and

Realistic Solution.

Break Out Round Table E

Prevention v. Cure: Creating Effective

Educational and Public Awareness

Enforcement Campaigns.

Break Out Round Table F

Creating an Effective Enforcement

Program With Limited Resources: Some

Models for Facilitating Information and

Resource Sharing.

Break Out Round Table G

Resolving Domain Name Problems in

Cyberspace.

Break Out Round Table H

Copyright and the WIPO Treaties:

Protecting Content on the Internet.

Tuesday, September 12

Plenary Round Table II

Technology Transfers, Business

Method Patents and the Pitfalls of

Licensing.

Break Out Round Table J

Creating an Effective Enforcement

Program for New Technologies:

Protecting Trade Secrets and

Technology Patents.

Break Out Round Table K

Trademark Counterfeiting and the

Net: Enforcing Rights on the Internet

Frontier.

Plenary Round Table III

Future Issues in Intellectual Property

Enforcement: Technology Patents and

Confidential Information.

Plenary Round Table IV

An Action Plan for the Future: A

Dialogue Among the Participants on

Future Problems and Solutions.

3. Further Registration Information

This symposium, and all programrelated materials, are offered free of

charge. As noted above, due to security

concerns, admission to the symposium

will be limited to 150 participants who

are pre-registered and whose

registration has been accepted in

accordance with the following

guidelines:

1. Requests to attend the symposium

should be made to Doris Long by

electronic mail to soa2k@uspto.gov, by

facsimile transmission marked to the

attention of Doris Long at (877) 786–

4220, or by mail marked to the attention

of Doris Long and addressed to the

Office of Legislative and International

Affairs, United States Patent and

Trademark Office, Box 4, Washington,

DC 20231.

2. All requests to attend must be in

writing and must contain the following

information:

A. Name;

B. Company/ Firm/Agency or

Organization Affiliation (if any);

C. Mailing Address;

D. Facsimile, or Email Address where

notification of acceptance of registration

can be sent.

3. Symposium attendees will be

accepted as their requests are received

on a first-come, first-serve basis

according to the time and date of receipt

of each request. To be considered

‘‘received,’’ a request to attend must

contain all of the information required

in this section; and must be received on

or before the July 3, 2000, application

deadline.

4. Only one request (one person) per

company, firm, agency or organization

will be accepted. For purposes of

determining eligibility, affiliates and

subsidiaries in different countries will

be considered separate organizations.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 130 / Thursday, July 6, 2000 / Notices 41641

1Access to Automated Boards of Trade, 64 FR

32829 (June 18, 1999).

2 In February 1996, Commission staff issued noaction relief to Deutsche Termibourse (‘‘DTB’’), an

automated international futures and options

exchange headquartered in Frankfurt, German, that

permitted DTB, subject to certain terms and

conditions, to place computer terminals in the U.S.

offices of its members for principal trading. See

CFTC Interpretative Letter No. 96–28 (1996–1997

Transfer Binder) Comm. Fut. L. Rep. (CCH) ¶ 26,669

(Feb. 20. 1996.) In June 1998, DTB changed its name

to Eurex Deutschland.

3Access to Automated Boards of Trade, 64 FR

32829 (June 18, 1999).

4Commission staff has issued Foreign Trading

System No-Action Letters to Eurex Deutschland; the

Hong Kong Futures Exchange Ltd.; the International

Petroleum Exchange of London Limited; LIFFE

Administration and Management (‘‘LIFFE’’);

Parisbourse SBF SA; the Singapore Exchange Ltd.

(formerly known as the Singapore International

Monetary Exchange); and, collectively, the Sydney

Futures Exchange Limited and the New Zealand

Futures and Options Exchange Limited. The text of

these letters may be accessed through the

Commission’s website, located at www.cftc.gov. See

Letter from I. Michael Greenberger, Director,

Division of Trading and Markets, Commodity

Futures Trading Commission, to Edward J. Rosen,

Esq., Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton (Aug. 10,

1999); Letter from John C. Lawton, Acting Director,

Division of Trading and Markets, Commodity

Futures Trading Commission, to Philip McBride

Johnson, Esq., Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher &

Flom LLP (June 9, 2000); Letter from John C.

Lawton, Acting Director, Division of Trading and

Markets, Commodity Futures Trading Commission,

to Arthur W. Han, Esq., Katten Muchin & Zavis

(Nov. 12, 1999); Letter from I. Michael Greenberger,

Director, Division of Trading and Markets,

Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to Arthur

W. Hahn, Esq., Katten Muchin & Zavis (July 23,

1999); Letter from I. Michael Greenberger, Director,

Division of Trading and Markets, Commodity

Futures Trading Commission, to Catherine Langlais,

Senior Vice President, Parisbourse SBF SA (Aug. 10,

1999); Letter from John C. Lawton, Acting Director,

Division Trading and Markets, Commodity Futures

Trading Commission to Jane Kang Thorpe, Esq.,

Brown & Wood LLP (Dec. 17, 1999); Letter from I.

Michael Greenberger, Director, Division of Trading

and Markets, Commodity Futures Trading

Commission, to Philip McBride Johnson, Esq.,

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (Aug. 10,

1999).

5Commission staff has granted two separate

requests from LIFFE to list additional futures and

option contracts through LIFFE CONNECTTM, its

automated trading and order matching system. See

Letter from John C. Lawton, Acting Director,

Division of Trading and Markets, Commodity

Futures Trading Commission, to Arthur W. Han,

Esq., Katten Muchin & Zavis (Dec. 10, 1999) and

Letter from John C. Lawton, Acting Director,

Division of Trading and Markets, Commodity

Futures Trading Commission, to Arthur W. Han,

Esq. Katten Muchin & Zavis (Mar. 14, 2000).

6The first Foreign Trading System No-Action

Letter was issued to LIFFE on July 23, 1999. See

Letter from I. Michael Greenberger, Director,

Division of Trading and Markets, Commodity

Futures Trading Commission, to Arthur W. Han,

Esq., Katten Muchin & Zavis (July 23, 1999).

7Rule 5.3 allows a domestic board of trade that

has been designated as a contract market in at least

one non-dormant commodity to list new futures

and option contracts for trading upon satisfaction

of specified filing and certification requirements. A

domestic board of trade is permitted, but not

required, to list new contracts through this filing

and certification procedure in lieu of compliance

with either the regular or fast-track procedure for

contract market designation. Revised Procedures for

Listing New Contracts, 64 FR 66373 (Nov. 26, 1999).

5. It would be helpful for purposes of

determining space needs, but is not

required, if the applicant would also

indicate which Break Out sessions he or

she intends to attend. For convenience,

a registration form has been placed on

the USPTO web-site at www.uspto.gov.

Dated: June 29, 2000.

Q. Todd Dickinson,

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual

Property and Director of the United States

Patent and Trademark Office.

[FR Doc. 00–17030 Filed 7–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING

COMMISSION

Notice of Statement of Commission

Policy Regarding the Listing of New

Futures and Option Contracts by

Foreign Boards of Trade That Have

Received Staff No-Action Relief To

Place Electronic Trading Devices in the

United States

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading

Commission.

ACTION: Statement of policy.

SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures

Trading Commission (‘‘Commission’’)

has issued a Statement of Policy in

which it expresses the view that foreign

boards of trade that have placed

automated trading systems in the U.S.

pursuant to a Commission staff noaction letter shall be permitted to list

certain additional futures and option

contracts without obtaining

supplemental no-action relief, subject to

specified filing and certification

requirements.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This Statement of

Policy is effective immediately.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jocelyn B. Brone, Attorney-Advisor,

Division of Trading and Markets,

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission, Three Lafayette Center,

1155 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC

20581. Telephone: (202) 418–5450.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 2,

1999, the Commodity Futures Trading

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) issued an

order which, among other things,

withdrew proposed rules that would

have governed automated access to

foreign boards of trade (‘‘June 2

Order’’).1 The June 2 Order also

instructed the Commission staff to

‘‘begin immediately processing noaction requests from foreign boards of

trade seeking to place trading terminals

in the United States, and to issue

responses where appropriate, pursuant

to the general guidelines included in the

Eurex (DTB) no-action process, 2 or

other guidelines established by the

Commission. * * * ’’ 3 In accordance

with these instructions, Commission

staff has issued seven no-action letters

that permit foreign boards of trade to

place in the U.S. electronic trading

devices that provide access to those

boards of trade, without obtaining

contract market designation (‘‘Foreign

Trading System No-Action Letters’’). 4

The relief is subject to the terms and

conditions set forth in each no-action

letter and applies exclusively to the

futures and option contracts delineated

therein. Foreign boards of trade that

wish to list additional futures and

option contracts for trading through

their U.S.-located trading systems are

require to request and receive

supplemental no-action relief

(‘‘Supplemental Relief’’) from

Commission staff prior to doing so. To

date, Commission staff has granted two

requests for Supplemental Relief. 5

Almost one year has passed since the

first Foreign Trading System No-Action

Letter was issued. 6 In that time,

Commission staff has not learned of any

significant problems or concerns

regarding the operation of U.S.-located

foreign trading systems nor has

Commission staff learned that foreign

boards of trade are listing impermissible

products through such systems. Also

within the past year, the Commission

has promulgated Rule 5.3 which

generally permits domestic boards of

trade to list new futures and option

contracts for trading without acquiring

Commission approval of such contracts

or their respective terms and

conditions. 7 In light of Commission

staff’s successful experience with the

relief provided by the Foreign Trading

System No-Action Letters and in

consideration of the relief provided to

domestic boards of trade via Rule 5.3,

the Commission believes that it is

appropriate to permit foreign boards of

trade that are operating electronic

trading devices in the U.S. pursuant to

Commission staff no-action relief to be

permitted to list certain new futures and

option contracts for trading through

those devices, without requiring

additional regulatory action.

Accordingly, it has issued the following

Statement of Policy setting forth this

view.