Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 124 / Thursday, July 1, 2021 / Notices 35075 

(Fed. Cir. 2014) (the inventor ‘‘admitted 

that he never performed the 

experiments described in the . . . 

patent, and yet he drafted the examples 

in the specification entirely in pasttense language.’’). No results should be 

represented as actual results unless they 

have actually been achieved. 

Distinguishing prophetic examples from 

working examples in a clear manner 

will avoid raising issues relating to the 

applicant’s duty of disclosure. 

Best Practices 

When drafting a patent application, 

care must be taken to ensure the proper 

tense is employed to describe 

experiments and test results so readers 

can readily distinguish between actual 

results and predicted results. Any 

ambiguities should be resolved so a 

person having ordinary skill in the art 

reading the disclosure, including those 

who may not have the level of skill of 

the inventor, can rely on the disclosure 

as an accurate description of 

experiments that support the patent 

claim coverage. It is a best practice to 

label examples as prophetic or 

otherwise separate them from working 

examples to avoid ambiguities. Such 

presentation will help a reader easily 

distinguish prophetic examples from 

working examples with actual 

experimental results and will enhance 

the public’s ability to rely on the patent 

disclosure. 

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. 2021–14034 Filed 6–30–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Air Force 

[Docket ID: USAF–2021–HQ–0003] 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Department of the Air Force, 

Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: 30-Day information collection 

notice. 

SUMMARY: The DoD has submitted to 

OMB for clearance the following 

proposal for collection of information 

under the provisions of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. 

DATES: Consideration will be given to all 

comments received by August 2, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. Find this particular 

information collection by selecting 

‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open 

for Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Angela Duncan, 571–372–7574, or 

whs.mc-alex.esd.mbx.dd-dodinformation-collections@mail.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title; Associated Form; and OMB 

Number: Aircraft and Personnel 

Automated Clearance System (APACS); 

OMB Control Number 0701–0160. 

Type of Request: Extension. 

Number of Respondents: 492,000. 

Responses per Respondent: 1. 

Annual Responses: 492,000. 

Average Burden per Response: 30 

minutes. 

Annual Burden Hours: 246,000. 

Needs and Uses: The information 

collection requirement is necessary to 

obtain PII which is used by in-country 

U.S. Embassy approvers to grant country 

travel clearances, Geographical 

Combatant Commands approvers to 

grant theater travel clearances, and by 

the Office of Secretary of Defense for 

Policy approvers to grant special area 

travel clearances. Aircrew PII is used for 

verification, identification and 

authentication of travelers for aircraft 

and personnel travel clearances, as 

required by DoDD 4500.54E, DoD 

Foreign Clearance Program. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households. 

Frequency: On occasion. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

OMB Desk Officer: Ms. Jasmeet 

Seehra. 

You may also submit comments and 

recommendations, identified by Docket 

ID number and title, by the following 

method: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name, Docket 

ID number, and title for this Federal 

Register document. The general policy 

for comments and other submissions 

from members of the public is to make 

these submissions available for public 

viewing on the internet at http://

www.regulations.gov as they are 

received without change, including any 

personal identifiers or contact 

information. 

DOD Clearance Officer: Ms. Angela 

Duncan. 

Requests for copies of the information 

collection proposal should be sent to 

Ms. Duncan at whs.mc-alex.esd.mbx.dddod-information-collections@mail.mil. 

Dated: June 28, 2021. 

Kayyonne T. Marston, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register, Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14073 Filed 6–30–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Defense Acquisition Regulations 

System 

Early Engagement Opportunity: 

Implementation of National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 

AGENCY: Defense Acquisition 

Regulations System, Department of 

Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: DoD announces an early 

engagement opportunity regarding 

implementation of the National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 

within the acquisition regulations. 

DATES: Early inputs should be submitted 

in writing via the Defense Acquisition 

Regulations System (DARS) website 

shown below. The website will be 

updated when early inputs will no 

longer be accepted. 

ADDRESSES: Submit early inputs via the 

DARS website at https://

www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/dars/early_

engagement.html. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennifer Johnson, Tel: 703–717–8226. 

Send inquiries via email to osd.dfars@

mail.mil and reference ‘‘Early 

Engagement Opportunity: 

Implementation of NDAA for FY 2021’’ 

in the subject line. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DoD is 

providing an opportunity for the public 

to provide early inputs on 

implementation of the National Defense 

Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal 

Year (FY) 2021 within the acquisition 

regulations. The public is invited to 

submit early inputs on sections of the 

NDAA for FY 2021 via the DARS 

website at https://www.acq.osd.mil/ 

dpap/dars/early_engagement.html. The 

website will be updated when early 

inputs will no longer be accepted. 

Please note, this venue does not replace 

or circumvent the rulemaking process. 

DARS will engage in formal rulemaking, 

in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 1707, 

when it has been determined that 

rulemaking is required to implement a 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
35076 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 124 / Thursday, July 1, 2021 / Notices 

section of the NDAA for FY 2021 within 

the acquisition regulations. 

Authority: DoD Instruction 5000.35, 

Defense Acquisition Regulations (DAR) 

System. 

Jennifer D. Johnson, 

Editor/Publisher, Defense Acquisition 

Regulations System. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14009 Filed 6–30–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket ID: DoD–2021–OS–0056] 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary of 

Defense for Personnel and Readiness, 

Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: Information collection notice. 

SUMMARY: Consistent with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 

its implementing regulations, this 

document provides notice DoD is 

submitting an Information Collection 

Request to OMB to collect information 

on establishing an understanding of the 

beliefs and attitudes of active 

component mid-grade (O–4 to O–6) and 

junior officers (O–2 to O–3) toward 

diversity and inclusion (D&I), retention 

and promotion, and specifically any 

perceived differences of retention and 

promotion related to race, ethnicity, and 

gender. The study will identify potential 

and existing factors that serve as barriers 

which may affect such differences in 

retention and promotion to inform D&I 

policies, programs, and procedures. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

July 16, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: The Department has 

requested emergency processing from 

OMB for this information collection 

request by 15 days after publication of 

this notice. Interested parties can access 

the supporting materials and collection 

instrument and submit comments and 

recommendations to OMB at 

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 

Find this particular information 

collection by selecting ‘‘Currently under 

15-day Review—Open for Public 

Comments’’ or by using the search 

function. Comments submitted in 

response to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval of this information 

collection. They will also become a 

matter of public record. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Angela Duncan, 571–372–7574, or 

whs.mc-alex.esd.mbx.dd-dodinformation-collections@mail.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Officer Retention and Promotion Barrier 

Analysis is a qualitative study which 

will include virtual interviews and 

focus groups with active component 

mid-grade and junior officers from 

Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine 

Corps to examine their beliefs and 

attitudes toward D&I, retention and 

promotion, and specifically any 

perceived differences of retention and 

promotion related to race, ethnicity, and 

gender. The study will identify potential 

and existing factors that serve as barriers 

which may affect such differences in 

retention and promotion. The study will 

assess topics related to retention and 

promotion such as career progression 

and mentorship, leadership, workplace 

climate and culture, and work-life 

balance. The Office of Diversity, Equity, 

and Inclusion (ODEI) will analyze data 

in aggregate and provide key themes 

that emerge. In order to meet reporting 

requirements per the Fiscal Year (FY) 

2021 National Defense Authorization 

Act (NDAA), the study needs to begin in 

FY 2021 and completed by FY 2022. As 

required by the NDAA, the study will 

identify barriers to diversity to assist in 

developing and implementing plans and 

processes to resolve or eliminate any 

barriers to diversity, and reviewing the 

progress of the Services in 

implementing previous plans and 

processes to resolve or eliminate 

barriers to diversity. 

Title; Associated Form; and OMB 

Number: Officer Retention and 

Promotion Barrier Analysis; OMB 

Control Number 0704–ORPB. 

Type of Request: Emergency. 

Number of Respondents: The study 

will include 340 respondents (total of 20 

interview respondents and 320 focus 

group participants). 

Responses per Respondent: 1. 

Annual Responses: 340. 

Average Burden per Response: 

Interviews will require 60 minutes per 

response. Focus groups will require 90 

minutes per response. 

Annual Burden Hours: The total 

annual amount of burden hours for 

interviews is 20 hours. The total amount 

of annual burden for focus groups is 480 

hours. The total annual burden hours 

are 500. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households. 

Frequency: Once. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

Request for Comments: Comments are 

invited on: (1) Whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of DoD, including whether the 

information collected has practical 

utility; (2) the accuracy of DoD’s 

estimate of the burden (including hours 

and cost) of the proposed collection of 

information; (3) ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (4) 

ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on 

respondents, including automated 

collection techniques or the use of other 

forms of information technology. 

Dated: June 28, 2021. 

Kayyonne T. Marston, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14075 Filed 6–30–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket ID: DOD–2021–OS–0055] 

Request for Information Related to IP 

Evaluation and Valuation Methods and 

Techniques 

AGENCY: Office of the Deputy Assistant 

Secretary of Defense (Acquisition 

Enablers), Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: Request for information. 

SUMMARY: The Secretary of Defense is 

soliciting information from the public 

(including, but not limited to, the 

private sector, academia, and other 

interested parties) related to Intellectual 

Property (IP) evaluation and valuation 

methods and techniques. 

DATES: The due date for submitting 

comments is August 2, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by docket number and title, 

by any of the following methods: 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Mail: The DoD cannot receive written 

comments at this time due to the 

COVID–19 pandemic. Comments should 

be sent electronically to the docket 

listed above. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name, docket 

number and title for this Federal 

Register document. The general policy 

for comments and other submissions 

from members of the public is to make 

these submissions available for public 

viewing on the internet at http://

www.regulations.gov as they are 

received without change, including any 

personal identifiers or contact 

information. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES