[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 6, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9932-9933]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-3853]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office

[Docket No. PTO-T-2007-0003]


Notice of the Removal of the Paper Search Collection of 
Registered Word-Only Marks From Trademark Search Library in Arlington, 
VA

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (``USPTO'') 
hereby provides sixty (60) days notice of the microfilming and removal 
of the paper search collection of registered marks consisting only of 
words from the USPTO's Trademark Search Facility in Arlington, VA. This 
Notice does not concern the paper search collection of registered marks 
that consist of or include design elements.

DATES: Removal of the paper search collection of registered word-only 
marks shall be effected beginning sixty (60) days from the date of this 
Notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Chicoski, Office of the 
Commissioner for Trademarks, 571-272-8943.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under 35 U.S.C. 41(i), the USPTO must 
maintain a collection of United States trademark applications and 
registrations for use by the public in paper, microform, or electronic 
form. The provision authorizing an electronic search collection was 
added by Sec.  4804(d)(1) of the American Inventors Protection Act of 
1999 (``AIPA''), Title IV, Subtitle B, of Pub. L. 106-113, 113 Stat. 
1501, 1501A-589. The USPTO currently maintains a searchable electronic 
database of registered marks and marks in pending applications, as well 
as text and images of marks in abandoned, cancelled and expired records 
dating back to 1984. Government insignia protected by U.S. law or by 
Article 6ter of the Paris Convention, and insignia that various 
federally and state recognized Native American tribes have identified 
as their official tribal insignia are also included. Trademark 
examining attorneys have relied exclusively on the electronic search 
system since before 1990.
    Section 4804(d)(2) of the AIPA provides that the USPTO can 
eliminate the paper or microform search collection only pursuant to 
notice and opportunity for public comment, and only after submitting a 
report to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and the House 
of Representatives detailing its plan for removal, and certifying that 
the implementation of such plan will not negatively impact the public. 
On May 9, 2003, the USPTO certified to Congress that the USPTO could 
cease to maintain a paper search collection of marks that consist only 
of words, without harm to the public. The 2003 report and certification 
are currently available on the USPTO Web site at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/comments/epubsearch/crtpapr.pdf.

[[Page 9933]]

    While the 2003 report and certification remain effective, the 
United States subsequently entered a stipulated settlement in National 
Intellectual Property Researchers Association, Inc. v. Rogan, Civ. A. 
No. 03-808-A. Among other terms, the settlement required that the USPTO 
continue to maintain its paper search collection through at least 
January 1, 2006, to publish a Federal Register notice sixty (60) days 
prior to ceasing maintenance, and to create microform copies of all 
paper trademark registrations and expired trademark registrations prior 
to disposing of them.
    In a June 23, 2006, Federal Register Notice, the USPTO announced 
that it ``has determined that a paper collection of registered word 
marks is no longer necessary, and has met the requirements of the AIPA 
with respect to their removal. All papers will be microfilmed prior to 
removal and the microform collection will be available to the public in 
the Public Search Facility at 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, 
Virginia.'' 71 FR 36065, 36067 (June 23, 2006). The Notice provided 
that ``[b]ecause the USPTO will continue to maintain all existing word 
marks in non-electronic form, i.e., on microfilm, the certification 
requirements of AIPA Sec.  4804(d)(2) are not applicable to such 
marks.'' Id. The Notice further indicated that the USPTO would issue a 
notice sixty (60) days prior to the removal of the paper collection of 
registered word-only marks. Id.
    Accordingly, the USPTO hereby gives notice that beginning sixty 
(60) days from the date of this Notice, the USPTO will begin removing 
the paper collection of active and expired trademark registrations that 
consist only of words. All papers will be microfilmed before being 
discarded, and 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: February 28, 2007.
Jon W. Dudas,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of 
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
 [FR Doc. E7-3853 Filed 3-5-07; 8:45 am]
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