2868 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 14 / Tuesday, January 23, 2007 / Notices 

ACTION: Notice of public meetings. 

SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery 

Management Council’s (Council) Highly 

Migratory Species Management Team 

(HMSMT) and Highly Migratory Species 

Advisory Subpanel (HMSAS) will hold 

work sessions, which are open to the 

public. 

DATES: The HMSMT/HMSAS work 

sessions will be held on Wednesday, 

February 7, 2007, from 8:30 a.m. until 

5 p.m. and on Thursday, February 8, 

2008, beginning at 8:30 a.m. until 

business is completed. 

ADDRESSES: The work sessions will be 

held at the National Marine Fisheries 

Service, Southwest Fisheries Science 

Center, Large Conference Room and 

Green Room, 8604 La Jolla Shores Drive, 

La Jolla, CA 92037; telephone: (858) 

546–7000. 

Council address: Pacific Fishery 

Management Council, 7700 NE 

Ambassador Place, Suite 101, Portland, 

OR 97220–1384. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Kit Dahl, Pacific Fishery Management 

Council; telephone: (503) 820–2280. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

HMSMT/HMSAS work sessions will 

continue review of U.S. and Canadian 

albacore catch and effort data, with the 

intent of recommending an appropriate 

method to characterize historical effort 

in the fishery. The two groups will also 

review progress in developing 

environmental impact evaluations of 

exempted fishing permit proposals for 

2007 and any information on potential 

applications for 2008. They will also 

discuss development of an fishery 

management plan amendment to 

address overfishing of yellowfin tuna in 

the eastern Pacific Ocean and 

procedures to enhance communication 

with regional fishery management 

organizations, including the Western 

Pacific Fishery Management Council. 

The HMSMT will also discuss 

preparation of the 2007 stock 

assessment and fishery evaluation 

report and related data issues. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in the meeting agenda may be 

discussed, those issues may not be the 

subject of formal action during these 

meetings. Action will be restricted to 

those issues specifically listed in this 

document and any issues arising after 

publication of this document that 

require emergency action under section 

305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 

provided the public has been notified of 

the intent to take final action to address 

the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

The meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to Ms. Carolyn Porter 

at (503) 820–2280 at least 5 days prior 

to the meeting date. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: January 18, 2007. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–933 Filed 1–22–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[I.D. 011707A] 

Marine Mammals; File No. 774–1847–01 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for 

amendment. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science 

Center, Antarctic Marine Living 

Resources Program (Rennie Holt, Ph.D., 

Principal Investigator), 8604 La Jolla 

Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037, has 

requested an amendment to scientific 

research Permit No. 774–1847. 

DATES: Written, telefaxed, or e-mail 

comments must be received on or before 

February 22, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: The amendment request 

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)427–2521; and 

Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West 

Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, 

CA 90802–4213; phone (562)980–4001; 

fax (562)980–4018. 

Written comments or requests for a 

public hearing on this request should be 

submitted to the Chief, Permits, 

Conservation and Education Division, 

F/PR1, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 

13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Those 

individuals requesting a hearing should 

set forth the specific reasons why a 

hearing on this particular amendment 

request would be appropriate. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

facsimile at (301)427–2521, provided 

the facsimile is confirmed by hard copy 

submitted by mail and postmarked no 

later than the closing date of the 

comment period. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

e-mail. The mailbox address for 

providing e-mail comments is 

NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. Include 

in the subject line of the e-mail 

comment the following document 

identifier: File No. 774–1847–01. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate 

Swails or Tammy Adams, (301)713–

2289. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

subject amendment to Permit No. 774–

1847, issued on September 11, 2006 (71 

FR 53423) is requested 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). 

Permit No. 774–1847 authorizes the 

permit holder to continue a long-term 

ecosystem monitoring program of 

pinniped species in the South Shetland 

Islands, Antarctica. The applicant is 

authorized to take up to 710 Antarctic 

fur seals and 20 leopard seals annually. 

The animals are captured, measured, 

weighed, tagged, blood sampled, and 

have time-depth recorders, VHF 

transmitters, and platform terminal 

transmitters attached. A subset of fur 

seals are given an enema, have a tooth 

extracted, milk sampled, and are part of 

a doubly-labeled water study on 

energetics. A subset of leopard seals are 

blubber and muscle sampled. The 

permit authorizes the research-related 

mortality of up to three Antarctic fur 

seals (one adult and two pups) and one 

leopard seal annually. 

The permit holder requests 

authorization to increase researchrelated mortality to eight Antarctic fur 

seals (3 adults and 5 pups) and two 

leopard seals annually. Permit 

conditions are such that research must 

be stopped when the mortality level is 

reached. The requested amendment is 

intended to allow the continuation of 

the long-term monitoring studies in the 

event of greater than anticipated levels 

of research-related mortality. 

Concurrent with the publication of 

this notice in the Federal Register, 

NMFS is forwarding copies of this 

application to the Marine Mammal 

Commission and its Committee of 

Scientific Advisors. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 14 / Tuesday, January 23, 2007 / Notices 2869 

Dated: January 17, 2007. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–944 Filed 1–23–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

Post Allowance and Refiling 

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment 

request. 

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO), as part of its 

continuing effort to reduce paperwork 

and respondent burden, invites the 

general public and other Federal 

agencies to take this opportunity to 

comment on the continuing information 

collection, as required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104–

13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted on or before March 26, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• E-mail: Susan.Brown@uspto.gov. 

Include ‘‘0651–0033 comment’’ in the 

subject line of the message. 

• Fax: 571–273–0112, marked to the 

attention of Susan Brown. 

• Mail: Susan K. Brown, Records 

Officer, Office of the Chief Information 

Officer, Architecture, Engineering and 

Technical Services, Data Architecture 

and Services Division, U.S. Patent and 

Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 

Alexandria, VA 22313–1450. 

• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information 

should be directed to Robert A. Clarke, 

Deputy Director, Office of Patent Legal 

Administration, U.S. Patent and 

Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 

Alexandria, VA 22313–1450; by 

telephone at 571–272–7735; or by e-mail 

at Robert.Clarke@uspto.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

I. Abstract 

The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO) is required 

by 35 U.S.C. 131 and 151 to examine 

applications and, when appropriate, 

allow applications and issue them as 

patents. When an application for a 

patent is allowed by the USPTO, the 

USPTO issues a notice of allowance and 

the applicant must pay the specified 

issue fee (including the publication fee, 

if applicable) within three months to 

avoid abandonment of the application. 

If the appropriate fees are paid within 

the proper time period, the USPTO can 

then issue the patent. If the fees are not 

paid within the designated time period, 

the application is abandoned and the 

applicant may petition the Director to 

accept a delayed payment with a 

satisfactory showing that the delay was 

unavoidable. This Petition for Revival of 

an Application for Patent Abandoned 

Unavoidably (Form PTO/SB/61) is 

approved under information collection 

0651–0031. The rules outlining the 

procedures for payment of the issue fee 

and issuance of a patent are found at 37 

CFR 1.18 and 1.311–1.317. 

Chapter 25 of Title 35 U.S.C. provides 

that there are several actions that the 

applicant may take after issuance of a 

patent, including requesting the 

correction of errors in a patent. For 

original patents that are deemed wholly 

or partly inoperative, applicants may 

file a reissue application, which entails 

several formal requirements including 

an oath or declaration stating that the 

errors in the patent were not the result 

of any deceptive intention on the part of 

the applicant. The rules outlining these 

procedures are found at 37 CFR 1.171–

1.178 and 1.322–1.325. 

Chapter 30 of Title 35 U.S.C. provides 

that any person at any time may file a 

request for reexamination by the USPTO 

of any claim of a patent on the basis of 

prior art patents or printed publications. 

Once initiated, the reexamination 

proceedings are substantially ex parte 

and do not permit input from third 

parties under Chapter 30, but Chapter 

31 also provides for inter partes 

reexamination allowing third parties to 

participate. If a request for ex parte or 

inter partes reexamination is denied, the 

requester may petition the Director to 

review the examiner’s refusal of 

reexamination. The rules outlining ex 

parte and inter partes reexaminations 

are found at 37 CFR 1.510–1.570 and 

1.902–1.997. 

The USPTO is adding two items to 

this information collection, an 

electronic version of the Issue Fee 

Transmittal (Form PTOL–85B) and a 

petition to request an extension of time 

in ex parte or inter partes reexamination 

proceedings. The USPTO is developing 

a new version of the existing Issue Fee 

Transmittal that customers will be able 

to submit electronically through EFSWeb, the USPTO’s latest electronic 

filing initiative. EFS-Web is a web-based 

patent application and document 

submission system that allows 

customers to file applications and 

associated documents through their 

standard web browser. EFS-Web offers 

many benefits to filers, including 

immediate notification that a 

submission has been received by the 

USPTO, automated processing of 

requests, and avoidance of postage and 

other paper delivery costs. The petition 

for an extension of time in an ex parte 

or inter partes reexamination allows 

patent owners to request additional time 

to take action in a reexamination 

proceeding for sufficient cause and for 

a reasonable time specified. This 

petition is an existing requirement that 

was not previously covered under this 

information collection. No form is 

provided for this petition. 

The public uses this information 

collection to request corrections of 

errors in issued patents, to request 

reissue patents, to request 

reexamination proceedings, and to 

ensure that the associated fees and 

documentation are submitted to the 

USPTO. 

II. Method of Collection 

By mail, facsimile, hand delivery, or 

electronically to the USPTO. 

III. Data 

OMB Number: 0651–0033. 

Form Number(s): PTO/SB/44/50/51/ 

51S/52/53/56/57/58 and PTOL–85B. 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Affected Public: Businesses or other 

for-profits; not-for-profit institutions. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

224,926 responses per year. 

Estimated Time Per Response: The 

USPTO estimates that it will take the 

public from 1.8 minutes (0.03 hours) to 

2 hours to gather the necessary 

information, prepare the appropriate 

form or other document, and submit the 

information to the USPTO. 

Estimated Total Annual Respondent 

Burden Hours: 68,245 hours per year. 

Estimated Total Annual Respondent 

Cost Burden: $12,486,080 per year. The 

USPTO expects that the information in 

this collection will be prepared by 

attorneys, except for the Issue Fee 

Transmittal, which will be prepared by 

paraprofessionals. Using the 

professional rate of $304 per hour for 

associate attorneys in private firms, the 

USPTO estimates that the respondent 

cost burden for attorneys submitting the 

information in this collection will be 

$9,012,080 per year. Using the 

paraprofessional rate of $90 per hour, 

the USPTO expects that the respondent 

cost burden for submitting the Issue Fee 

Transmittal will be $3,474,000 per year. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES