44264 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 169 / Thursday, August 30, 2018 / Notices 

ocean exploration science and 

technology; and ‘omics science. 

Individuals with expertise in other 

NOAA mission areas are also welcome 

to apply. 

Composition and Points of View: The 

Board will consist of approximately 

fifteen members, including a Chair, 

designated by the Under Secretary in 

accordance with FACA requirements. 

Members will be appointed for threeyear terms, renewable once, and serve at 

the discretion of the Under Secretary. If 

a member resigns before the end of his 

or her first term, the vacancy 

appointment shall be for the remainder 

of the unexpired term, and shall be 

renewable twice if the unexpired term is 

less than one year. Members will be 

appointed as special government 

employees (SGEs) and will be subject to 

the ethical standards applicable to 

SGEs. Members are reimbursed for 

actual and reasonable travel and per 

diem expenses incurred in performing 

such duties but will not be reimbursed 

for their time. As a Federal Advisory 

Committee, the Board’s membership is 

required to be balanced in terms of 

viewpoints represented and the 

functions to be performed as well as the 

interests of geographic regions of the 

country and the diverse sectors of U.S. 

society. 

The SAB meets in person three times 

each year, exclusive of teleconferences 

or subcommittee, task force, and 

working group meetings. Board 

members must be willing to serve as 

liaisons to SAB working groups and/or 

participate in periodic reviews of the 

NOAA Cooperative Institutes and 

overarching reviews of NOAA’s research 

enterprise. 

Nominations: Interested persons may 

nominate themselves or third parties. 

Applications: An application is 

required to be considered for Board 

membership, regardless of whether a 

person is nominated by a third party or 

self-nominated. The application package 

must include: (1) The nominee’s full 

name, title, institutional affiliation, and 

contact information; (2) the nominee’s 

area(s) of expertise; (3) a short 

description of his/her qualifications 

relative to the kinds of advice being 

solicited by NOAA in this Notice; and 

(4) a current resume (maximum length 

four [4] pages). 

Dated: August 23, 2018. 

David Holst, 

Chief Financial Officer/Administrative 

Officer, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2018–18815 Filed 8–29–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–KD–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

United States Patent and Trademark 

Office 

[Docket No.: PTO–P–2018–0054] 

Filing Patent Applications 

Electronically During Designated 

Significant Outages of the United 

States Patent and Trademark Office 

Electronic Business Systems 

AGENCY: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO) encourages 

applicants to file their patent 

applications via its electronic filing 

system (EFS-Web). The USPTO 

experiences occasional unplanned 

electronic business system outages, 

including unplanned system outages 

that preclude patent applicants and 

patentees from filing patent documents 

and fees via the electronic filing system 

for a significant period of time. This 

notice prescribes a procedure for filing 

patent applications by alternative 

electronic means during a significant 

unplanned electronic business system 

outage, as designated by the Director of 

the USPTO. An application filed by the 

alternative electronic means prescribed 

in this notice during a designated 

significant unplanned electronic 

business system outage will be 

considered to have been filed by the 

USPTO’s electronic filing system, and 

thus will not incur the fee required by 

section 10(h) of the Leahy-Smith 

America Invents Act for a patent 

application not filed by the USPTO’s 

electronic filing system. 

DATES: 

Applicability date: The alternative 

electronic filing procedures prescribed 

in this notice apply to patent 

applications filed from August 15, 2018 

through and including August 23, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Eugenia A. Jones, Senior Legal Advisor, 

Office of Patent Legal Administration, at 

571–272–7727, or Erin M. Harriman, 

Senior Legal Advisor, Office of Patent 

Legal Administration, at 571–272–7747. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

USPTO encourages applicants to file 

their patent applications via its 

electronic filing system (EFS-Web) and 

collects a fee as required by section 

10(h) of the Leahy-Smith America 

Invents act for patent applications not 

filed by electronic means as prescribed 

by the Director. Information concerning 

electronic filing via EFS-Web is 

available from the EFS-Web landing 

page on the USPTO’s internet website 

(https://www.uspto.gov/patentsapplication-process/applying-online/ 

about-efs-web) and is discussed in 

section 502.05 of the Manual of Patent 

Examining Procedure (MPEP). 

The USPTO periodically takes various 

electronic business systems off line 

(during non-business hours) to perform 

routine maintenance. The USPTO, 

however, also experiences occasional 

unplanned electronic business system 

outages. While the USPTO is typically 

able to restore its electronic business 

systems with sufficient time remaining 

in a day to permit patent applicants and 

patentees to file patent documents and 

fees via the electronic filing system on 

that day, the USPTO also experiences 

significant unplanned electronic 

business system outages that preclude 

patent applicants and patentees from 

filing patent documents and fees via the 

electronic filing system for a significant 

period of time. The USPTO experienced 

such a significant unplanned electronic 

business systems outage beginning on 

August 15, 2018. This notice prescribes 

a procedure for filing patent 

applications by electronic means during 

a designated significant unplanned 

electronic business system outage. 

The alternative electronic filing 

means prescribed in this notice is 

available only when there is a 

significant unplanned electronic 

business system outage that precludes 

patent applicants and patentees from 

filing patent documents and fees via the 

electronic filing system for a significant 

period of time, as designated by the 

Director of the USPTO (a ‘‘designated 

significant unplanned electronic 

business system outage’’). The 

unplanned electronic business systems 

outage beginning August 15, 2018 is 

designated as a significant unplanned 

electronic business system outage, and 

the alternative electronic filing means 

prescribed in this notice is available for 

patent applications filed from August 

15, 2018 through and including August 

23, 2018. The USPTO will post a notice 

on its internet website in the event of a 

future designated significant unplanned 

electronic business system outage, and 

indicate the dates during which the 

alternative electronic filing means 

prescribed in this notice are available 

due to such designated significant 

unplanned electronic business system 

outage. 

37 CFR 1.16(t) and 1.445(a)(1)(ii) 

implement section 10(h) of the LeahySmith America Invents Act, which 

requires an additional fee for each 

application for an original (i.e., 

nonreissue) patent, except for a design, 

plant, or provisional application, that is 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 169 / Thursday, August 30, 2018 / Notices 44265 

1The USPTO has no authority to treat an 

international application filed by the alternative 

electronic filing means prescribed by this notice as 

having been filed in the electronic format 

prescribed by the Administrative Instructions under 

the PCT for the electronic filing discount in the 

international filing fee or to waive the international 

filing fee. 

2New patent applications hand carried to the 

USPTO must be delivered to the Customer Service 

Window in the Randolph Building, 401 Dulany 

Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314 (MPEP section 

501). 

3Applicants are reminded that applications filed 

under 37 CFR 1.53 (except a design continued 

prosecution application (CPA) under 37 CFR 

1.53(d)), PCT international applications, and 

international design applications cannot be 

submitted by facsimile transmission. See 37 CFR 

1.6(d). 

4Patent Center is a new patent electronic filing 

and management system that is in development, 

and which will replace EFS-Web and the Patent 

Application Information and Retrieval (PAIR) 

system. Further information concerning Patent 

Center is available on the USPTO’s internet website 

at https://www.uspto.gov/patent/initiatives/aboutpatent-center. 

5The term ‘‘filing receipt’’ as used in this notice 

also includes a Notification of the International 

Application Number and of the International Filing 

Date (PCT/RO/105) in a PCT application. 

not filed by electronic means as 

prescribed by the Director of the 

USPTO. An application filed by the 

alternative electronic filing means 

prescribed by this notice during a 

designated significant unplanned 

electronic business system outage will 

be treated as an application filed by 

electronic means for purposes of section 

10(h) of the Leahy-Smith America 

Invents Act (and by the USPTO’s 

electronic filing system for purposes of 

37 CFR 1.16(t) and 1.445(a)(1)(ii)). Thus, 

the non-electronic filing fee set forth in 

37 CFR 1.16(t) and 1.445(a)(1)(ii) is not 

required for an application filed by the 

alternative electronic filing means 

prescribed by this notice during a 

designated significant unplanned 

electronic business system outage. The 

application will also be treated as being 

filed by the USPTO’s electronic filing 

system for purposes of calculation of the 

application size fee set forth in 37 CFR 

1.52(f)(2) and the reduced basic filing 

fee for small entities who file in 

compliance with the USPTO’s 

electronic filing system (37 CFR 1.16(a)). 

The application, however, will not be 

treated as being filed by the USPTO’s 

electronic filing system for purposes of 

the electronic filing discount in the 

international filing fee (PCT Rule 15 and 

37 CFR 1.445(b)).1

The alternative electronic filing 

means during designated significant 

unplanned electronic business system 

outages is as follows: The applicant 

must file the patent application during 

a designated significant unplanned 

electronic business system outage by an 

alternative filing method permitted by 

37 CFR 1.6, such as by the Priority Mail 

Express® service of the U.S. Postal 

Service under 37 CFR 1.10 or hand 

delivery 2 to the USPTO. See MPEP 

§ 502.05; see also Legal Framework for 

Electronic Filing System—Web (EFSWeb), 74 FR 55200, 55204 (Oct. 27, 

2009).3 Applicants are reminded that 

unless an application is filed by the 

Priority Mail Express® service of the 

U.S. Postal Service in accordance with 

37 CFR 1.10, the filing date of the 

application will be the date on which 

the application is received at the 

USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, 

Virginia. See 37 CFR 1.6. In addition, a 

copy of the application must be filed via 

EFS-Web (or Patent Center 4) no later 

than: (1) One month from the date a 

filing receipt 5 is first issued for the 

application, and be accompanied by a 

request for refund, if the non-electronic 

filing fee has been paid; or (2) the 

expiration of the period for reply to a 

notice requiring payment of the nonelectronic filing fee (e.g., a notice to file 

missing parts under 37 CFR 1.53(f)) if 

the non-electronic filing fee has not 

been paid. 

The copy of the application filed via 

EFS-Web (or Patent Center) must be 

accompanied by a statement that it is a 

true copy of the original application as 

filed by the alternative filing method 

during the designated significant 

unplanned electronic business system 

outage. The copy of the application also 

must be filed via EFS-Web (or Patent 

Center) as a follow-on paper in the 

application, and not as a new 

application. If the copy of the 

application is filed via EFS-Web (or 

Patent Center) as a new application, the 

copy will be treated as a new 

application, and the application filed by 

an alternative filing method will not be 

treated as an application filed by the 

prescribed alternative electronic filing 

means. The copy of the application 

should not be filed until applicant has 

received either a filing receipt or other 

USPTO notice identifying the 

application number assigned to the 

application. 

Dated: August 27, 2018. 

Andrei Iancu, 

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 

Property and Director of the United States 

Patent and Trademark Office. 

[FR Doc. 2018–18897 Filed 8–29–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

[Docket No. ED–2018–ICCD–0072] 

2019–20 National Postsecondary 

Student Aid Study (NPSAS: 20) Field 

Test Institution Contacting and 

Enrollment List Collection; 

Cancellation 

AGENCY: National Center for Education 

Statistics (NCES), Department of 

Education (ED). 

ACTION: Notice of cancellation. 

SUMMARY: On July 3, 2018, the 

Department of Education (ED) published 

a 60 day comment period notice in the 

Federal Register with FR DOC #2018– 

14441 (Page 31383, Column 2 and 3; 

Page 31384, Column 1 and 2) seeking 

public comment for an information 

collection entitled, ‘‘2019–20 National 

Postsecondary Student Aid Study 

(NPSAS:20) Field Test Institution 

Contacting and Enrollment List 

Collection’’ conducted by the National 

Center for Education Statistics (NCES). 

The Department of Education would 

like to cancel that public comment 

period notice. NCES intends to conduct 

the NPSAS:20 full-scale study as 

planned from October 2019 to 

November 2020. In March 2019, NCES 

will publish a notice in the Federal 

Register for a 60-day public comment 

period followed by a 30-day comment 

period for NPSAS:20 Full-Scale 

Institution Contacting and Enrollment 

List Collection clearance request. 

The NPSAS:20 full-scale study will 

use methods and survey items that have 

already been used in previous cycles of 

NPSAS. In addition, NCES is 

developing a cognitive testing plan that 

will allow pre-testing of a subset of 

questions from the planned NPSAS:20 

student interview. NCES expects to 

submit a clearance request for these 

cognitive testing activities by July 2019. 

The Acting Director, Information 

Collection Clearance Division, Office of 

the Chief Privacy Officer, Office of 

Management, hereby issues a 

cancellation notice as required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

Dated: August 27, 2018. 

Kate Mullan, 

Acting Director, Information Collection 

Clearance Division, Office of the Chief Privacy 

Officer, Office of Management. 

[FR Doc. 2018–18840 Filed 8–29–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1