Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 28 / Tuesday, February 11, 1997 / Notices 6217

(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog 11.419

Coast Zone Management Program

Administration)

Dated: February 6, 1997.

David L. Evans,

Acting Deputy Assistant, Administrator for

Ocean Services and Coastal Zone

Management, National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration.

Robert H. Wayland, III,

Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and

Watersheds, Environmental Protection

Agency.

[FR Doc. 97–3397 Filed 2–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–12–M

[I.D. 020497B]

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management

Council; Public Meeting

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery

Management Council (Council) will

convene a public meeting of the

Standing and Special Reef Fish

Scientific and Statistical Committee

(SSC).

DATES: The meeting will be held on

March 3, 1997, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00

p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at

the Holiday Inn Crown Plaza, 333

Poydras Street, New Orleans, LA;

telephone 504–525–9444.

Council address: Gulf of Mexico

Fishery Management Council, 3018 U.S.

Highway 301 North, Suite 1000, Tampa,

FL 33619.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Wayne E. Swingle, Executive Director,

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management

Council; telephone: 813–228–2815.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Reef

Fish SSC will review additional

analyses of shrimp trawl bycatch of red

snapper prepared by NMFS. These

analyses may include revisions to the

data base and to the methodology based

on recommendations developed at the

Reef Fish Stock Assessment Panel

(RFSAP) meeting held February 12–14,

1997.

The SSC will also consider

recommendations, if any, of the RFSAP

for phasing in over a 3-year period

levels of total allowable catch, bag

limits, and quotas for vermilion snapper

in the Gulf of Mexico. The SSC will

develop their recommendations to the

Council on these issues.

Special Accommodations

This meeting is physically accessible

to people with disabilities. Requests for

sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to

Anne Alford at the Council (see

ADDRESSES) by February 24, 1997.

Dated: February 5, 1997.

Bruce Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–3259 Filed 2–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

Patent and Trademark Office

[Docket No. 970129014–7014–01]

RIN 0651–XX09

Interim Guidelines for the Examination

of Claims Directed to Species of

Chemical Compositions Based Upon a

Single Prior Art Reference

AGENCY: Patent and Trademark Office,

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Patent and Trademark

Office (PTO) requests comments from

any interested member of the public on

interim guidelines to be used by office

personnel in their review of patent

applications which contain claims

directed to a species or subgenus of

chemical compositions for compliance

with 35 U.S.C. 103 based upon a single

prior art reference which discloses a

genus embracing the claimed species or

subgenus but does not expressly

describe the particular claimed species

or subgenus.

DATES: The interim guidelines are

effective February 11, 1997.

Written comments on the interim

guidelines will be accepted by the PTO

until April 14, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be addressed to the attention of Linda

Moncys Isacson, Office of the Solicitor,

P.O. Box 15667, Arlington, Virginia

22215 or to Linda S. Therkorn, Box

Comments, Assistant Commissioner for

Patents, Washington, DC. 20231, or by

facsimile transmission to (703) 305–

9373 or by electronic mail to bairdcomments@uspto.gov.

Written comments will be made

available for public inspection at the

Patent Search Room, Crystal Plaza 3,

2021 South Clark Place, Arlington, VA.

In addition, comments provided in

machine-readable format will be

available through the PTO’s Website at

http://www.uspto.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Linda Moncys Isacson, Office of the

Solicitor, P.O. Box 15667, Arlington,

Virginia 22215 or Linda S. Therkorn,

Box Comments, Assistant Commissioner

for Patents, Washington, DC. 20231, or

by facsimile transmission to (703) 305–

9373 or by electronic mail to bairdcomments@uspto.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Commissioner of Patents and

Trademarks issued a Notice in the

Official Gazette (O.G.) on April 17, 1995

(1174 O.G. 68), withdrawing the Office’s

March 22, 1994 O.G. Notice (1161 O.G.

314). Both notices were entitled ‘‘In re

Baird.’’ Pursuant to the April 17, 1995

O.G. Notice, the following interim

examination guidelines are being

published for public comment. The

purpose of these guidelines is to assist

PTO personnel in the examination of

applications which contain claims

directed to a species or subgenus of

chemical compositions for compliance

with 35 U.S.C. 103 based upon a single

prior art reference which discloses a

genus embracing the claimed species or

subgenus but does not expressly

describe the particular claimed species

or subgenus. Thereof, these interim

guidelines will be referred to as ‘‘GenusSpecies Guidelines.’’

It has been determined that these

interim guidelines are not a significant

rule for purposes of Executive Order

12866. Because these guidelines govern

internal practices, they are exempt from

notice and comment rulemaking under

5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A).

Members of the public may present

written comments on these guidelines.

Written comments should include the

following information:

—Name and affiliation of the individual

responding;

—An indication of whether the

comments offered represent views of

the respondent’s organization or are

the respondent’s personal views; and

—If applicable, information on the

respondent’s organization, including

the type of organization (e.g.,

business, trade group, university,

nonprofit organization).

The PTO is particularly interested in

comments relating to the accuracy of the

emphasized prior art teachings, and

comments identifying any additional

teachings that should be emphasized in

determining whether a prima facie case

of obviousness exists in the types of

cases covered by these interim

guidelines. The PTO is also interested in

comments relating to the effect these

guidelines may have on future

application submissions.