35432 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 124 / Thursday, June 28, 2007 / Notices 

thorough and accurate results for the 

project. 

In order to ensure that the upcoming 

microfilming project is complete and 

accurate, the PSF will employ a 

comprehensive quality review 

procedure while the project is in 

progress. The quality review should 

ensure that all records are microfilmed. 

Moreover, there will be a significant 

‘‘grace period’’ before destruction of the 

paper records, during which they will 

be available to the PSF if needed to 

correct the microfilm. 

Comment 6: Marks Under Paris 

Convention or Native American Tribal 

Insignia 

Several comments referred to the 

alleged inadequacy of the electronic 

records with respect to the protected 

notifications under Article 6ter of the 

Paris Convention and the notified 

Native American tribal insignia. 

Response: As a threshold matter, the 

USPTO notes that these comments refer 

to records that are not registered 

trademarks, and therefore do not fall 

within the scope of the paper search 

collection at issue. Nonetheless, in 

response to the concern expressed in 

these comments, the USPTO has 

undertaken efforts to ensure that its 

electronic database for such records is 

complete. A project is nearly finished to 

load missing images into the Office’s 

image data server to make them 

available for viewing on X-Search and 

TESS, and significant progress on the 

project has already been made. The 

USPTO notes that the missing images 

identified by the project were also 

missing from the paper search 

collection. Thus far, over 125 missing 

images have been loaded into the 

Office’s image data server. No paper 

copies of protected notifications or 

insignia will be eliminated until the 

project is complete. 

Comment 7: Archiving the Paper Record 

Annotations 

One commenter expressed concern 

that handwritten annotations made to 

the paper records of word marks, which 

may provide assistance in locating 

intentionally altered spellings or 

misspellings, have not been reviewed 

for potential incorporation into the 

pseudo-mark field in the electronic 

database. 

Response: The USPTO created the 

pseudo-mark field to improve the 

accuracy of searches in its electronic 

databases, but the USPTO notes that no 

statutory obligation compels the 

maintenance of this feature. The 

pseudo-mark field shows the literal 

equivalent of a pictorial representation 

of wording in a design mark, and/or 

spellings that are similar or phonetically 

equivalent to wording in a word mark. 

The assignment of pseudo-marks to 

electronic records is performed by the 

Trademark Office within the USPTO. 

PSF staff members regularly make 

recommendations for pseudo-mark 

assignments, which may reflect the type 

of information in the handwritten 

annotations to the paper records. 

Moreover, members of the public may 

also suggest the addition of pseudomarks. As with the design codes, the 

USPTO has sought and applied public 

input regarding the pseudo-mark data in 

the USPTO database. For example, since 

April 4, 2006, the USPTO has notified 

applicants whose marks include a 

pseudo-mark, to allow them the 

opportunity to correct or add to the 

pseudo-mark field. The USPTO has sent 

approximately 83,600 such notices. 

Although the pseudo-mark field 

provides a useful tool for searching, the 

USPTO is not required to provide this 

feature. Thus, a decision not to review 

an extensive number of documents for 

potential additions to the pseudo-mark 

field does not negatively impact the 

public. The USPTO has determined that 

the burden associated with this type of 

nonessential review of each page in the 

paper search collection, for 

consideration of all the handwritten 

notations, is too great. Nonetheless, 

because the microfilmed records will 

accurately capture the handwritten 

notations made on the paper records, 

the full scope of these notations will be 

archived for future reference. 

Additional Information 

As set forth above and in the June 23, 

2006 Federal Register Notice, the 

purpose of the new design coding 

system is to replicate the ability to 

search the paper collection using the 

PSD. Since 2001, no design coding with 

the PSD has been done for incoming 

applications in the paper search 

collection. Rather, design coding with 

the PSD has only been applied to 

registrations. Accordingly, in order to 

replicate the benefits of redundant 

searching currently available with the 

paper search collection, the new design 

coding system need only be applied to 

new registrations, not to incoming 

applications. Therefore, the USPTO 

clarifies that the new system using the 

PSD will only be applied to registered 

marks. This suffices to ensure that no 

negative impact on existing search 

capabilities will result from the 

cessation of maintenance of the current 

paper search collection of registered 

marks including design elements. 

Notice 

Accordingly, the USPTO hereby gives 

notice that upon the completion of 

development and testing of its new 

redundant design coding system, but no 

earlier than sixty (60) days from the date 

of this Notice, the USPTO will: (1) Begin 

coding with the new coding system all 

new registrations of marks that include 

design elements; (2) stop adding design 

coded registrations to the paper search 

collection; and (3) begin microfilming 

the paper search collection of registered 

marks that include design elements. 

When microfilming is complete, the 

USPTO will remove the paper search 

collection of registered marks that 

include design elements. The microform 

collection will be available to the public 

in the Public Search Facility at 600 

Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia. 

This will ensure that all information 

currently available in the paper search 

collection remains available to the 

public. 

Dated: June 22, 2007. 

Jon W. Dudas, 

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 

Property and Director of the United States 

Patent and Trademark Office. 

[FR Doc. E7–12498 Filed 6–27–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

[Transmittal No. 07–06] 

36(b)(1) Arms Sales Notification 

AGENCY: Department of Defense, Defense 

Security Cooperation Agency. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Defense is 

publishing the unclassified text of a 

section 36(b)(1) arms sales notification. 

This is published to fulfill the 

requirements of section 155 of Public 

Law 104–164 dated 21 July 1996. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

B. English, DSCA/DBO/CFM, (703) 601–

3740. 

The following is a copy of a letter to 

the Speaker of the House of 

Representatives, Transmittal 07–06 with 

attached transmittal and policy 

justification. 

C.R. Choate, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–M 

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BILLING CODE 5001–06–C 


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