Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 3 / Wednesday, January 5, 2022 / Notices 431 

1A copy of the January 14, 2020 delegation of 

authority is available upon request. Please contact 

the USPTO using the contact information provided 

in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 

this notice. 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB692] 

North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of webconference. 

SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council) Bering 

Sea Fishery Ecosystem Plan Local 

Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge, and 

Subsistence Taskforce (LKTKS) will be 

held January 20, 2022 through January 

21, 2022. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Thursday, January 20, 2022, and on 

Friday, January 21, 2022, from 9 a.m. to 

3 p.m., Alaska Time. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be a 

webconference. Join online through the 

link at https://meetings.npfmc.org/ 

Meeting/Details/2735. 

Council address: North Pacific 

Fishery Management Council, 1007 W 

3rd Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501–2252; 

telephone: (907) 271–2809. Instructions 

for attending the meeting are given 

under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, 

below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate 

Haapala Council staff; phone: (907) 271– 

2809 and email: kate.haapala@

noaa.gov. For technical support, please 

contact our administrative staff; email: 

npfmc.admin@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Agenda 

Thursday, January 20, 2022 and Friday, 

January 21, 2022 

The LKTKS will discuss tools for 

identifying and cataloging LK, TK, and 

subsistence information like a search 

engine and futher develop the protocol. 

The agenda is subject to change, and the 

latest version will be posted at https:// 

meetings.npfmc.org/Meeting/Details/ 

2735 prior to the meeting, along with 

meeting materials. 

Connection Information 

You can attend the meeting online 

using a computer, tablet, or smart 

phone; or by phone only. Connection 

information will be posted online at: 

https://meetings.npfmc.org/Meeting/ 

Details/2735. If you are attending the 

meeting in-person please note that all 

attendees will be required to wear a 

mask. 

Public Comment 

Public comment letters will be 

accepted and should be submitted 

electronically to https://

meetings.npfmc.org/Meeting/Details/ 

2735 by 5 p.m. Alaska time on 

Wednesday, January 19, 2022. An 

opportunity for oral public testimony 

will also be provided during the 

meeting. 

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

Dated: December 30, 2021. 

Diane M. DeJames-Daly, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–28602 Filed 1–4–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

[Docket No. PTO–T–2021–0055] 

Trademarks Administrative Sanctions 

Process 

AGENCY: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: As part of the United States 

Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO 

or Office) continuing efforts to protect 

the integrity of the U.S. trademark 

register, the Commissioner for 

Trademarks (Commissioner) has 

established an administrative process 

for investigating submissions filed with 

the USPTO in trademark matters that 

appear to violate the Trademark Rules of 

Practice, including the rules concerning 

signatures, certificates, and 

representation of others in trademark 

matters before the USPTO (collectively, 

the USPTO rules), and/or the USPTO 

website’s Terms of Use; and imposing 

sanctions, as appropriate. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

January 20, 2022 to ensure 

consideration. 

ADDRESSES: Comments regarding this 

notice should be sent to TMFRNotices@

uspto.gov with the subject line 

‘‘Trademarks Administrative Sanctions 

Process.’’ If a submission by email is not 

feasible (e.g., due to a lack of access to 

a computer and/or the internet), please 

contact the USPTO for special 

instructions using the contact 

information provided in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 

this notice. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert Lavache, Office of the Deputy 

Commissioner for Trademark 

Examination Policy, at 571–272–5881 or 

TMFRNotices@uspto.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As part of 

the USPTO’s continuing efforts to 

protect the integrity of the U.S. 

trademark register, the Commissioner 

has established an administrative 

process to investigate improper 

submissions filed with the USPTO in 

trademark matters. The USPTO Director 

has the authority to investigate 

submissions that appear to violate the 

USPTO rules and/or the USPTO 

website’s Terms of Use and impose 

sanctions or actions as deemed 

appropriate. See 37 CFR 11.18. 

Sanctions may include terminating 

proceedings. See 37 CFR 11.18(c)(5). 

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 3(a)–(b), the 

Director has explicitly delegated to the 

Commissioner for Trademarks the 

authority to impose such sanctions or 

actions permitted under 37 CFR 

11.18(c), as deemed appropriate in 

trademark matters, and to otherwise 

exercise the Director’s authority in 

trademark-related matters. The Director 

has also provided that such authority 

may be further delegated by the 

Commissioner. See generally Delegation 

of Authority to Issue Sanctions in 

Trademark Proceedings (January 14, 

2020) 1 and Trademark Manual of 

Examining Procedure § 1701. 

To promote transparency regarding 

the sanctions process for applicants or 

registrants who may be impacted by 

sanctions, as well as third parties who 

may be concerned about a particular 

application or registration, the USPTO 

will place documents associated with 

the process, including administrative 

orders to show cause and orders for 

sanctions regarding particular 

applications or registrations, in the 

electronic file record, which can be 

viewed by the public in the USPTO 

Trademark Status and Document 

Retrieval (TSDR) database. Further, 

examination may be suspended while 

the application is subject to a pending 

administrative investigation or order, 

and, if so, the TSDR record will reflect 

that as well. 

I. Reporting and Investigation of 

Suspicious Filings 

The administrative process begins 

when the USPTO identifies or otherwise 

learns of a suspicious submission in 

connection with a trademark 

application or registration, based on 

information communicated by internal 

sources, such as examining attorneys 

and data analytics personnel, or through 

external sources, such as Letters of 


TKELLEY on DSK125TN23PROD with NOTICE 
432 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 3 / Wednesday, January 5, 2022 / Notices 

Protest, the TMScams@uspto.gov 

mailbox, law enforcement, or media 

reports. 

The USPTO will investigate 

suspicious submissions, and any related 

submissions, to determine whether they: 

(1) Appear to violate the USPTO rules 

and/or the USPTO website’s Terms of 

Use, and (2) are part of an improper 

filing scheme. These determinations are 

made using filing data from the 

suspicious submissions and any related 

submissions, as well as any other 

information and evidence available to 

the USPTO. 

Once the USPTO initiates an 

investigation, the relevant application(s) 

may be removed from examination 

status to ensure that it does not move 

forward to approval for publication or 

registration while the administrative 

process is ongoing. In such cases, the 

USPTO will update the prosecution 

history to indicate that the application 

is suspended pending administrative 

review. In addition, a suspension letter 

will issue to all correspondence email 

addresses in the electronic record, as 

appropriate. When an application is 

suspended on this basis, any associated 

deadlines are also suspended, and the 

applicant will not be able to make any 

electronic submissions other than: (1) 

An express abandonment, (2) a 

withdrawal of attorney, or (3) a petition 

to the Director under Rule 2.146. 37 CFR 

2.146. Thus, an applicant would be able 

to request permission to make a further 

submission by filing a petition to the 

Director under Rule 2.146. If an 

investigation ends without the issuance 

of an administrative order, the 

suspension will be lifted, and the 

application will then be assigned to an 

examining attorney for examination in 

the normal course or, if examination 

had begun prior to suspension, returned 

to the assigned examining attorney, who 

will issue a new Office action resetting 

any response deadline. 

II. Show Cause Order 

If, upon investigation, the USPTO 

identifies conduct that illustrates 

violations of the USPTO rules and/or 

the USPTO website’s Terms of Use, 

particularly conduct that indicates an 

intent to circumvent the USPTO rules, 

the Office may issue an order to show 

cause why sanctions should not be 

imposed on individuals or entities 

involved, which may include the 

applicants or registrants themselves, or 

third parties involved in an improper 

filing scheme. A copy of the order to 

show cause will be placed in the 

electronic records of the affected 

applications or registrations. 

The show cause order will inform the 

relevant parties of the conduct that 

indicates violations of the USPTO rules 

and/or the USPTO website’s Terms of 

Use, identify the affected application(s) 

or registration(s), and specify the 

proposed action or sanction the USPTO 

deems appropriate, which may include 

terminating all involved applications, 

striking a submission, precluding a 

party from appearing before the USPTO 

in trademark matters, and/or 

deactivating all relevant uspto.gov 

accounts. The order will require the 

parties to respond by a certain date to 

explain why the USPTO should not 

impose the proposed sanctions. The 

USPTO will consider any timely 

response in determining whether to 

impose sanctions. Resubmitting 

documents or appointing a new attorney 

will not avoid the imposition of 

sanctions. Petitions such as those filed 

under 37 CFR 2.146 are not appropriate 

during the investigation or response 

period unless the USPTO made a 

mistake in including a specific 

application or registration in the show 

cause order. Furthermore, applicants 

and registrants are reminded that they 

are responsible for actions or omissions 

made by their representatives on their 

behalf. Moreover, any misrepresentation 

or deceit on the part of a representative 

does not necessarily constitute an 

‘‘extraordinary circumstance’’ under 37 

CFR 2.146 or 2.148. 

III. Order for Sanctions 

The USPTO will issue a final decision 

that includes an order for sanctions, if 

appropriate. The order will indicate 

what sanctions were deemed 

appropriate to address the improper 

conduct, and will identify the 

application(s) or registration(s) subject 

to the sanctions. For transparency of 

process, a copy of the decision will be 

included in the TSDR record of the 

relevant application(s) or registration(s). 

For orders that include the sanction of 

termination and involve pending 

applications, the USPTO will terminate 

the involved applications and will 

update the USPTO’s electronic records 

to include an appropriate entry in the 

application prosecution history in TSDR 

to indicate that the application was 

terminated upon the entry of sanctions. 

Generally, applicants may not revive a 

terminated application unless the 

applicant can demonstrate that the 

USPTO erred in including the 

application in the order for sanctions. 

The applicant should file a new 

application to seek registration of the 

mark that was the subject of a 

terminated application. 

For orders that include the sanction of 

termination and involve registrations 

that issued before the administrative 

sanctions process was initiated, the 

USPTO does not intend to terminate the 

registrations, but will update the 

USPTO’s electronic records to include 

an appropriate entry in the prosecution 

history indicating that the registration 

was subject to an order for sanctions. 

Affected registrants should note that 

findings made in the sanctions order 

may affect the underlying validity of the 

registration. In addition, the USPTO 

will consider a sanctions order that 

includes the sanction of termination to 

be a final decision adverse to the 

owner’s right to keep a mark on the 

register under section 15 of the 

Trademark Act of 1946, 15 U.S.C. 1065. 

Therefore, owners of such registrations 

may wish to file a new application for 

the mark. 

The USPTO may take additional 

actions to enforce orders for sanctions in 

cases where a sanctioned actor 

continues to violate the USPTO rules 

and/or the USPTO website’s Terms of 

Use. 

Andrew Hirshfeld, 

Commissioner for Patents, Performing the 

Functions and Duties of the Under Secretary 

of Commerce for Intellectual Property and 

Director of the United States Patent and 

Trademark Office. 

[FR Doc. 2021–28536 Filed 1–4–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

Combined Notice of Filings 

Take notice that the Commission has 

received the following Natural Gas 

Pipeline Rate and Refund Report filings: 

Filings Instituting Proceedings 

Docket Numbers: RP22–438–000. 

Applicants: ETC Tiger Pipeline, LLC. 

Description: § 4(d) Rate Filing: NRA 

Amendment No 2—Chesapeake to be 

effective 1/1/2022. 

Filed Date: 12/28/21. 

Accession Number: 20211228–5081. 

Comment Date: 5 p.m. ET 1/10/22. 

Docket Numbers: RP22–439–000. 

Applicants: Algonquin Gas 

Transmission, LLC. 

Description: § 4(d) Rate Filing: 

Negotiated Rates—Various Releases eff 

1–1–2022 to be effective 1/1/2022. 

Filed Date: 12/29/21. 

Accession Number: 20211229–5033. 

Comment Date: 5 p.m. ET 1/10/22. 

Docket Numbers: RP22–440–000. 


TKELLEY on DSK125TN23PROD with NOTICE