49428 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 159 / Thursday, August 16, 2012 / Notices 

1See 17 CFR 145.9. 

submitted on paper in a format that 

facilitates convenient digital scanning 

into ADOBE® portable document 

format. 

The comments will be available for 

public inspection at the Office of the 

Commissioner for Patents, currently 

located in Madison East, Tenth Floor, 

600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia. 

Comments also will be available for 

viewing via the Office’s Internet Web 

site (http://www.uspto.gov). Because 

comments will be made available for 

public inspection, information that the 

submitter does not desire to make 

public, such as an address or phone 

number, should not be included in the 

comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Janet Gongola, Patent Reform 

Coordinator, by telephone at (571) 272– 

8734, or by electronic mail message at 

janet.gongola@uspto.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AIA 

was enacted into law on September 16, 

2011. Public Law 112–29, 125 Stat. 284 

(2011). Section 3 of the AIA amends the 

patent laws to: (1) Convert the United 

States patent system from a ‘‘first to 

invent’’ system to a ‘‘first inventor to 

file’’ system; (2) eliminate the 

requirement that a prior public use or 

sale activity be ‘‘in this country’’ to be 

a prior art activity; (3) treat U.S. patents 

and U.S. patent application publications 

as prior art as of their earliest effective 

filing date, regardless of whether the 

earliest effective filing date is based 

upon an application filed in the U.S. or 

in another country; and (4) treat 

commonly owned patents and patent 

application publications, or those 

resulting from a joint research 

agreement, as being by the same 

inventive entity for purposes of 35 

U.S.C. 102 and 103. The changes in 

section 3 of the AIA take effect on 

March 16, 2013. 

The USPTO published a notice of 

proposed rulemaking and notice of 

proposed examination guidelines on 

July 26, 2012, to implement the firstinventor-to-file provisions of the AIA. 

See Changes to Implement the First 

Inventor to File Provisions of the LeahySmith America Invents Act, 77 FR 

43742 (July 26, 2012), and Examination 

Guidelines for Implementing the FirstInventor-to-File Provisions of the LeahySmith America Invents Act, 77 FR 

43759 (July 26, 2012). The notice of 

proposed rulemaking proposes changes 

to the rules of practice in title 37 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) for 

consistency with, and to address the 

examination issues raised by, the 

changes in section 3 of the AIA. The 

proposed examination guidelines set out 

the Office’s interpretation of 35 U.S.C. 

102 and 103 as amended by the AIA, 

and advise the public and the Patent 

Examining Corps on how the changes to 

35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 in the AIA 

impact the provisions of the Manual of 

Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) 

pertaining to 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103. 

As a part of the implementation of the 

AIA, the USPTO is conducting a 

roundtable at the USPTO to obtain 

public input from organizations and 

individuals on issues relating to the 

USPTO’s implementation of the firstinventor-to-file provisions of the AIA. 

The USPTO plans to invite participants 

from patent user groups, practitioners, 

industry, independent inventor 

organizations, academia, and 

government to provide input. The 

roundtable likewise is open to any 

member of the public to provide input. 

The USPTO will provide an agenda 

prior to the roundtable in order to focus 

the discussion and enhance the 

efficiency of the proceedings. The 

agenda will be posted on the USPTO’s 

Internet Web site at www.uspto.gov/ 

AmericaInventsAct. The USPTO plans 

to make the roundtable available via 

Web cast. Web cast information will be 

available before the roundtable on the 

USPTO’s Internet Web site at 

www.uspto.gov/AmericaInventsAct. 

Dated: August 3, 2012. 

David J. Kappos, 

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 

Property and Director of the United States 

Patent and Trademark Office. 

[FR Doc. 2012–20239 Filed 8–15–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 

COMMISSION 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Collection, 

Comment Request: Further Definition 

of ‘‘Swap,’’ ‘‘Security-Based Swap,’’ 

and ‘‘Security-Based Swap 

Agreement’’; Mixed Swaps; SecurityBased Swap Agreement 

Recordkeeping: Book-out Agreement 

Confirmation 

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission (‘‘Commission’’ or 

‘‘CFTC’’) is announcing an opportunity 

for public comment on the proposed 

collection of certain information by the 

agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction 

Act (‘‘PRA’’), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., 

Federal agencies are required to publish 

notice in the Federal Register 

concerning each proposed collection of 

information and to allow 60 days for 

public comment. The Commission 

recently adopted a final rule and 

interpretations, as required by the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 

Protection Act (‘‘Dodd-Frank Act’’), 

requiring that oral book-out agreements 

must be followed in a commercially 

reasonable timeframe by a confirmation 

in some type of written or electronic 

form. This notice solicits comments on 

the recordkeeping requirement that is 

embedded in the final interpretation’s 

reporting requirement. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before October 15, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

regarding the burden estimated or any 

other aspect of the information 

collection, including suggestions for 

reducing the burden, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget, Attention: 

Desk Officer for CFTC, 725 17th Street, 

Washington, DC 20503. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

any of the following methods: 

• The Agency’s Web site, at http:// 

comments.cftc.gov/. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

through the Web site. 

• Mail: David A. Stawick, Secretary of 

the Commission, Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission, Three Lafayette 

Centre, 1155 21st Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20581. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as 

mail above. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Please submit your comments using 

only one method. 

All comments must be submitted in 

English, or if not, accompanied by an 

English translation. Comments will be 

posted as received to www.cftc.gov. If 

you wish the Commission to consider 

information that you believe is exempt 

from disclosure under the Freedom of 

Information Act, a petition for 

confidential treatment of the exempt 

information may be submitted according 

to the procedures established in § 145.9 

of the Commission’s regulations.1

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Julian E. Hammar, Assistant General 

Counsel, at 202–418–5118, 

jhammar@cftc.gov; Lee Ann Duffy, 

Assistant General Counsel, at 202–418– 

6763, lduffy@cftc.gov; or David E. Aron, 

Counsel, at 202–418–6621, 

daron@cftc.gov, Office of General 

Counsel, Commodity Futures Trading 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 159 / Thursday, August 16, 2012 / Notices 49429 

2 77 FR 48207, August 13, 2012 (‘‘Product 

Definitions’’). 

3Statutory Interpretation Concerning Forward 

Transactions, 55 FR 39188, 39192 Sept. 25, 1990, 

(‘‘Brent Interpretation’’). 

4 7 U.S.C. 12(a)(1). 

5Cost per response: .166 × $100, Average: 1.5 × 

.166 × $100. The Commission estimates that entities 

will spend $100 per hour. The $100 per hour 

estimate was used as the average hourly wage rate 

in the PRA section of the Internal Business Conduct 

Standards for Swap Dealers and Major Swap 

Participants final rule (See 77 FR 20128, 20194) and 

the wage rate for Chief Compliance Officers under 

the Derivatives Clearing Organization final rules 

(See 76 FR 69344, 69428). As the Commission 

explained in the Internal Business Conduct 

Standards final rule, the estimate of $100 per hour 

was based on recent Bureau of Labor Statistics 

findings, including the mean hourly wage of an 

employee under occupation code 23–1011, 

‘‘Lawyers,’’ that is employed by the ‘‘Securities and 

Commodity Contracts Intermediation and Brokerage 

Industry,’’ which is $82.22. The mean hourly wage 

of an employee under occupation code 11–3031, 

‘‘Financial Manager,’’ in the same industry is 

$74.41. Additionally, SIFMA’s ‘‘Report on 

Management & Professional Earnings in the 

Securities Industry—2010’’ estimates the average 

wage of a compliance attorney and a compliance 

staffer in the U.S. at only $46.31 per hour. As in 

those rules, the Commission is using a $100 per 

hour wage rate in calculating the cost burdens 

imposed by this collection of information and 

requests comment on the accuracy of its estimate. 

6Total number of hours arrived by multiplying 

the average number of responses, [(30,000 + 

60,000)/2] × .166 minutes = 7,470 hours. 

7 7,470 hours × $100 per hour = $747,000. 

Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 

1155 21st Street NW., Washington, DC 

20581. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

PRA, Federal agencies must obtain 

approval from the Office of Management 

and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for each collection 

of information they conduct or sponsor. 

‘‘Collection of Information’’ is defined 

in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3 

and includes agency requests or 

requirements that members of the public 

submit reports, keep records, or provide 

information to a third party. Section 

3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(2)(A), requires Federal agencies 

to provide a 60-day notice in the 

Federal Register concerning each 

proposed collection of information 

before submitting the collection to OMB 

for approval. An agency may not 

conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 

required to respond to, a collection of 

information unless it displays a 

currently valid control number. To 

comply with this requirement, the CFTC 

is publishing the notice of the proposed 

collection of information listed below. 

Abstract: In accordance with section 

712(a)(8), section 712(d)(1), sections 

712(d)(2)(B) and (C), sections 721(b) and 

(c), and section 761(b) of the DoddFrank Act, on July 10, 2012, the 

Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission (‘‘CFTC’’) and the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘SEC’’) (collectively, ‘‘Commissions’’), 

in consultation with the Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System (‘‘Board’’), jointly adopted new 

rules and interpretations under the 

Commodity Exchange Act (‘‘CEA’’) and 

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Exchange Act’’) to further define the 

terms ‘‘swap,’’ ‘‘security-based swap,’’ 

and ‘‘security-based swap agreement’’ 

(collectively, ‘‘Product Definitions’’); 

regarding ‘‘mixed swaps;’’ and 

governing books and records with 

respect to ‘‘security-based swap 

agreements’’ (collectively, ‘‘Adopting 

Release’’).2

In the Adopting Release, the CFTC 

clarified that its ‘‘Brent Interpretation’’ 

regarding book-outs developed in 

connection with the forward exclusion 

from futures applies to the forward 

exclusion from the swap definition as 

well. As noted in the Adopting Release, 

the issue of book-outs first arose in 1990 

in the CFTC’s Brent Interpretation. 

Citing to the Brent Interpretation’s 

description of book-outs, the Adopting 

Release stated: 

It is noteworthy that while such [book-out] 

agreements may extinguish a party’s delivery 

obligation, they are separate, individually 

negotiated, new agreements, there is no 

obligation or arrangement to enter into such 

agreements, they are not provided for by the 

terms of the contracts as initially entered 

into, and any party that is in a position in 

a distribution chain that provides for the 

opportunity to book-out with another party 

or parties in the chain is nevertheless entitled 

to require delivery of the commodity to be 

made through it, as required under the 

contracts.3

In response to a comment to the 

proposed rule, the interpretation 

included in the Adopting Release 

clarified that an oral book-out agreement 

must be followed in a commercially 

reasonable timeframe by a confirmation 

in some type of written or electronic 

form. If a party to a contract elects to 

enter into such a book-out agreement, 

the collection of information would be 

mandatory to qualify for the Brent 

Interpretation Safe Harbor. If the 

Commission obtains information 

required to be kept through this 

collection, it would protect proprietary 

information in accordance with the 

Freedom of Information Act and 17 CFR 

part 145, ‘‘Commission Records and 

Information.’’ In addition, Section 

8(a)(1) of the CEA strictly prohibits the 

Commission, unless specifically 

authorized by the CEA, from making 

public ‘‘data and information that 

would separately disclose the business 

transactions or market positions of any 

person and trade secrets or names of 

customers.’’ 4 The Commission is also 

required to protect certain information 

contained in a government system of 

records according to the Privacy Act of 

1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a. 

Burden Statement: The respondent 

burden for this collection is estimated to 

be 10 minutes per response. This 

estimate includes the time to prepare 

the written or electronic confirmation to 

an oral book-out agreement. The 

Commission estimates the average 

burden of this collection of information 

as follows: 

ESTIMATED ANNUAL REPORTING BURDEN HOURS

17 CFR 

Annual number of respondents Frequency of 

response per 

respondent 

Hours per response 

and cost 

Total annual 

responses Total hours cost 

17 CFR Part 1 .................... 30,000 On occasion, 1–2 annually.10 minutes per response (.166 hour), 

at $16.60 per response.5

45,000, (average of 

1–2 annually for a 

total of 30,000– 

60,000 annually).

7,470 (average of 

5,000–10,000 total 

hours annually; 6

$747,000, based on 

$100/hour.7

Respondents/Affected Entities: 

30,000. 

Estimated average number of 

responses: 45,000 [1–2 annually for a 

total of 30,000–60,000 annually] 

Estimated total average annual 

burden on respondents: 7,470 [5,000– 

10,000] hours. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

49430 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 159 / Thursday, August 16, 2012 / Notices 

Frequency of collection: Occasionally, 

1–2 annually. 

Average total cost: $747,000. 

There are no capital costs or operating 

and maintenance costs associated with 

this collection. The Commission 

believes that, as part of customary and 

usual business practices, most 

respondents already create and store 

book-out agreements in either a written 

or electronic format. 

The Commission invites comments 

on: 

• Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Commission, including whether the 

information will have a practical use; 

• The accuracy of the Commission’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information, including the 

validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; 

• Ways to enhance the quality, 

usefulness, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and 

• Ways to minimize the burden of 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including through the 

use of appropriate automated electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology; e.g., permitting 

electronic submission of responses. 

Dated: August 13, 2012. 

Sauntia Warfield, 

Assistant Secretary of the Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2012–20123 Filed 8–15–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

[Transmittal Nos. 12–38] 

36(b)(1) Arms Sales Notification 

AGENCY: Defense Security Cooperation 

Agency, Department of Defense. 

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 July 21, 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, Transmittals 12–38 

with attached transmittal, and policy 

justification. 

Dated: August 10, 2012. 

Aaron Siegel, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

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