49522 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 169 / Friday, September 3, 2021 / Notices 

internet, please contact the USPTO 

using the contact information below for 

special instructions regarding how to 

submit comments by other means. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Courtney L. Stopp, Office of Policy and 

International Affairs, USPTO, at 

Courtney.Stopp@uspto.gov or 571–272– 

9300. Please direct media inquiries to 

the USPTO’s Office of the Chief 

Communications Officer at 571–272– 

8400. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At the 

request of Senators Tillis, Hirono, 

Cotton, and Coons, the USPTO is 

conducting a study on the current state 

of patent eligibility jurisprudence in the 

United States and on how that 

jurisprudence has impacted investment 

and innovation. On July 9, 2021, the 

USPTO published a request for 

information, seeking public input to 

assist in the preparation of that study. 

See Patent Eligibility Jurisprudence 

Study, 86 FR 36257 (Jul. 9, 2021). The 

notice requested public comments by 

September 7, 2021. 

Through this notice, the USPTO is 

extending the period for public 

comment until October 15, 2021, to give 

interested members of the public 

additional time to submit comments. All 

other information and instructions to 

commenters provided in the July 9, 

2021, notice remain unchanged. 

Previously submitted comments do not 

need to be resubmitted. 

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. 2021–19112 Filed 9–2–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

[Docket No.: PTO–P–2021–0037] 

Modification of COVID–19 Prioritized 

Examination Pilot Program 

AGENCY: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is 

modifying the COVID–19 Prioritized 

Examination Pilot Program to accept 

applications until December 31, 2021. 

Requests that are compliant with the 

pilot program’s requirements and are 

filed on or before December 31, 2021, 

will be accepted, even if more than 500 

requests have already been approved. 

The USPTO will evaluate whether to 

terminate or further extend the program 

during this extension. 

DATES: The COVID–19 Prioritized 

Examination Pilot Program is modified 

as of September 3, 2021 and is extended 

to run until December 31, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert A. Clarke, Editor of the Manual 

of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) 

(telephone at 571–272–7735; email at 

robert.clarke@uspto.gov). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 

14, 2020, the USPTO published a notice 

for the implementation of the COVID–19 

Prioritized Examination Pilot Program. 

See COVID–19 Prioritized Examination 

Pilot Program, 85 FR 28932 (May 14, 

2020) (COVID–19 Track One Notice). 

The COVID–19 Track One Notice 

indicated that an applicant may request 

prioritized examination without 

payment of the prioritized examination 

fee and associated processing fee if: (1) 

The application’s claim(s) covered a 

product or process related to COVID–19, 

(2) the product or process was subject to 

an applicable Food and Drug 

Administration (FDA) approval for 

COVID–19 use, and (3) the applicant 

met other requirements given in the 

COVID–19 Track One Notice. As of 

August 2, 2021, 120 patents have issued 

from applications granted prioritized 

status under the pilot program. The 

average total pendency, including time 

consumed by continued examination, 

from filing to issue for those 

applications was 249 days. The shortest 

pendency from filing date to issue date 

for those applications was 75 days. 

The COVID–19 Track One Notice 

indicated that the pilot program would 

expire after the USPTO accepted 500 

applications into the program. As of 

August 16, 2021, the USPTO had 

accepted 476 applications into the 

program, and there were 52 requests to 

participate that had not yet been acted 

upon. To ensure that applicants are not 

refused access to the pilot program due 

to delays in the USPTO’s consideration 

of the requests to participate, the 

USPTO is modifying the program to 

consider on the merits any request filed 

on or before December 31, 2021, even if 

an applicant’s request to participate is 

not acted upon until after the USPTO 

has accepted 500 requests. The USPTO 

will evaluate whether to terminate or 

further extend the program during this 

extension. If the USPTO determines that 

a further extension of the pilot program 

is appropriate, the USPTO will publish 

a subsequent notice further extending 

the program. 

Unless the pilot program is further 

extended by a subsequent notice to the 

public, following the expiration of this 

extension, the pilot program will be 

terminated, and applicants may instead 

seek to use the Prioritized Examination 

(Track One) Program. Applications 

accorded prioritized examination under 

the pilot program will not lose that 

status merely because the application is 

pending after the date the pilot program 

is terminated. In other words, 

applications accepted into the pilot 

program will continue to be examined 

under prioritized examination status 

until that status is terminated for one or 

more reasons, as described in the 

COVID–19 Track One Notice. 

The Prioritized Examination (Track 

One) Program permits an applicant to 

have an application advanced out of 

turn (accorded special status) for 

examination under 37 CFR 1.102(e) if 

the applicant timely files a request for 

prioritized (Track One) examination 

accompanied by the appropriate fees 

and meets the other conditions of 37 

CFR 1.102(e). See MPEP 708.02(b)(2). 

The current fee schedule is available at: 

www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/ 

fees-and-payment/uspto-fee-schedule. 

The Track One Program does not have 

the restrictions of the COVID–19 Track 

One Program on the types of inventions 

for which special status may be sought, 

as the Track One Program does not 

require a connection to any particular 

technology. Moreover, delays associated 

with the determination of whether an 

application presents a claim that covers 

a product or process related to COVID– 

19 and whether the product or process 

was subject to an applicable FDA 

approval for COVID–19 use will be 

avoided under the Track One Program. 

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. 2021–19114 Filed 9–2–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM 

PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR 

SEVERELY DISABLED 

Procurement List; Additions and 

Deletions 

AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From 

People Who Are Blind or Severely 

Disabled. 

ACTION: Additions to and deletions from 

the Procurement List. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 169 / Friday, September 3, 2021 / Notices 49523 

SUMMARY: This action adds service(s) to 

the Procurement List that will be 

furnished by nonprofit agencies 

employing persons who are blind or 

have other severe disabilities and 

deletes product(s) from the Procurement 

List previously furnished by such 

agencies. 

DATES:

Date added to the Procurement List: 

September 11, 2021. 

Date deleted from the Procurement 

List: October 3, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase 

From People Who Are Blind or Severely 

Disabled, 1401 S Clark Street, Suite 715, 

Arlington, Virginia 22202–4149. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael R. Jurkowski, Telephone: (703) 

785–6404, or email CMTEFedReg@

AbilityOne.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Additions 

On 6/11/2021, the Committee for 

Purchase From People Who Are Blind 

or Severely Disabled published notice of 

proposed additions to the Procurement 

List. This notice is published pursuant 

to 41 U.S.C. 8503 (a)(2) and 41 CFR 51– 

2.3. 

After consideration of the material 

presented to it concerning capability of 

qualified nonprofit agencies to provide 

the service(s) and impact of the 

additions on the current or most recent 

contractors, the Committee has 

determined that the service(s) listed 

below are suitable for procurement by 

the Federal Government under 41 U.S.C. 

8501–8506 and 41 CFR 51–2.4. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification 

I certify that the following action will 

not have a significant impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

The major factors considered for this 

certification were: 

1. The action will not result in any 

additional reporting, recordkeeping, or 

other compliance requirements for small 

entities other than the small 

organizations that will furnish the 

service(s) to the Government. 

2. The action will result in 

authorizing small entities to furnish the 

service(s) to the Government. 

3. There are no known regulatory 

alternatives which would accomplish 

the objectives of the Javits-WagnerO’Day Act (41 U.S.C. 8501–8506) in 

connection with the product(s) and 

service(s) proposed for addition to the 

Procurement List. 

End of Certification 

Accordingly, the following service(s) 

are added to the Procurement List: 

Service(s) 

Service Type: Base Operation Support 

Services 

Mandatory for: United States Coast Guard, 

Air Station Barber’s Point, Kapolei, HI 

Designated Source of Supply: Service 

Disabled Veterans Business Association, 

Silver Spring, MD 

Contracting Activity: U.S. COAST GUARD, 

DOL–9 

The Committee finds good cause to 

dispense with the 30-day delay in the 

effective date normally required by the 

Administrative Procedure Act. See 5 

U.S.C. 553(d). This addition to the 

Committee’s Procurement List is 

effectuated because of the expiration of 

the U.S. Coast Guard contract. The 

Federal customer contacted and has 

worked diligently with the AbilityOne 

Program to fulfill this service need 

under the AbilityOne Program. To avoid 

performance disruption, and the 

possibility that the U.S. Coast Guard 

will refer its business elsewhere, this 

addition must be effective on September 

11, 2021ensuring timely execution for a 

September 11, 2021, start date while 

still allowing nine (9) days for comment. 

Pursuant to its own regulation 41 CFR 

51–2.4, the Committee determined that 

no severe adverse impact exists against 

the current contractor. The Committee 

also published a notice of proposed 

Procurement List addition in the 

Federal Register on June 11, 2021 and 

did not receive any comments from any 

interested persons, including from the 

incumbent contractor. This addition 

will not create a public hardship and 

has limited effect on the public at large, 

but, rather, will create new jobs for 

other affected parties—people with 

significant disabilities in the AbilityOne 

program who otherwise face challenges 

locating employment. Moreover, this 

addition will enable Federal customer 

operations to continue without 

interruption. 

Deletions 

On 7/30/2021, the Committee for 

Purchase From People Who Are Blind 

or Severely Disabled published notice of 

proposed deletions from the 

Procurement List. This notice is 

published pursuant to 41 U.S.C. 

8503(a)(2) and 41 CFR 51–2.3. 

After consideration of the relevant 

matter presented, the Committee has 

determined that the product(s) listed 

below are no longer suitable for 

procurement by the Federal Government 

under 41 U.S.C. 8501–8506 and 41 CFR 

51–2.4. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification 

I certify that the following action will 

not have a significant impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

The major factors considered for this 

certification were: 

1. The action will not result in 

additional reporting, recordkeeping or 

other compliance requirements for small 

entities. 

2. The action may result in 

authorizing small entities to furnish the 

product(s) and service(s) to the 

Government. 

3. There are no known regulatory 

alternatives which would accomplish 

the objectives of the Javits-WagnerO’Day Act (41 U.S.C. 8501–8506) in 

connection with the product(s) and 

service(s) deleted from the Procurement 

List. 

End of Certification 

Accordingly, the following product(s) 

and service(s) are deleted from the 

Procurement List: 

Product(s) 

NSN(s)—Product Name(s): 7520–00–286– 

1725—File, Sorter, Legal, A–Z, Blue 

Designated Source of Supply: Exceptional 

Children’s Foundation, Culver City, CA 

Contracting Activity: GSA/FAS ADMIN 

SVCS ACQUISITION BR(2, NEW YORK, 

NY 

NSN(s)—Product Name(s): 

MR 921—Roller Mop, Angled Head, 10.5’’ 

Head 

MR 399—Set, Cookie Cutter, Assorted, 3PC 

MR 391—Slotted Turner, Red 

Designated Source of Supply: Industries for 

the Blind and Visually Impaired, Inc., 

West Allis, WI 

Contracting Activity: Military Resale-Defense 

Commissary Agency 

NSN(s)—Product Name(s): 

MR 13111—Cookie Spatula, Slip N’ Serve 

MR 11103—Pan, Roasting, Oval, Includes 

Shipper 21103 

MR 10640—Bowl, Dressing Dispenser, 

Salad 

Designated Source of Supply: Winston-Salem 

Industries for the Blind, Inc., WinstonSalem, NC 

Contracting Activity: Military Resale-Defense 

Commissary Agency 

NSN(s)—Product Name(s): 4240–01–390– 

3057—Head Harness, Skull Cap 

Contracting Activity: W4GG HQ US ARMY 

TACOM, ROCK ISLAND, IL 

NSN(s)—Product Name(s): 6530–00–NIB– 

0069—Catheter, External, Male, SelfAdhering, Wide-band, Extra Large 

Designated Source of Supply: The Lighthouse 

for the Blind, St. Louis, MO 

Contracting Activity: STRATEGIC 

ACQUISITION CENTER, 

FREDERICKSBURG, VA 

NSN(s)—Product Name(s): 8455–00–292– 

9558—Insignia, Embroidered, Marine 

PFC 

Designated Source of Supply: Georgia 

Industries for the Blind, Bainbridge, GA 

Contracting Activity: DLA TROOP SUPPORT, 

PHILADELPHIA, PA 


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49524 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 169 / Friday, September 3, 2021 / Notices 

NSN(s)—Product Name(s): 8465–00–001– 

6474—Entrenching Tool Carrier, Plastic 

Resin, Olive Drab 

Designated Source of Supply: Dallas 

Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc., Dallas, TX 

Contracting Activity: DLA TROOP SUPPORT, 

PHILADELPHIA, PA 

Michael R. Jurkowski, 

Acting Director, Business Operations. 

[FR Doc. 2021–19099 Filed 9–2–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6353–01–P 

COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM 

PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR 

SEVERELY DISABLED 

Procurement List; Proposed Additions 

and Deletions 

AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From 

People Who Are Blind or Severely 

Disabled. 

ACTION: Proposed additions to and 

deletions from the procurement list. 

SUMMARY: The Committee is proposing 

to add product(s) to the Procurement 

List that will be furnished by nonprofit 

agencies employing persons who are 

blind or have other severe disabilities 

and deletes product(s) and service(s) 

previously furnished by such agencies. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before: October 3, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase 

From People Who Are Blind or Severely 

Disabled, 1401 S Clark Street, Suite 715, 

Arlington, Virginia 22202–4149. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information or to submit 

comments contact: Michael R. 

Jurkowski, Telephone: (703) 785–6404 

or email CMTEFedReg@AbilityOne.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice is published pursuant to 41 

U.S.C. 8503(a)(2) and 41 CFR 51–2.3. Its 

purpose is to provide interested persons 

an opportunity to submit comments on 

the proposed actions. 

Additions 

If the Committee approves the 

proposed additions, the entities of the 

Federal Government identified in this 

notice will be required to procure the 

product(s) listed below from nonprofit 

agencies employing persons who are 

blind or have other severe disabilities. 

The following product(s) are proposed 

for addition to the Procurement List for 

production by the nonprofit agencies 

listed: 

Product(s) 

NSN(s)—Product Name(s): 

1095–01–600–0972—Knife, Combat 

Designated Source of Supply: DePaul 

Industries, Portland, OR 

Contracting Activity: DEFENSE LOGISTICS 

AGENCY, DLA LAND AND MARITIME 

List Designation: C-List 

Mandatory for: 100% of the requirement of 

the Department of Defense 

Deletions 

The following product(s) and 

service(s) are proposed for deletion from 

the Procurement List: 

Product(s) 

NSN(s)—Product Name(s): 

7045–01–370–9678—Mini-Cartridge, Data, 

120 MB, 3-1⁄2’’ 

Designated Source of Supply: North Central 

Sight Services, Inc., Williamsport, PA 

Contracting Activity: DLA TROOP SUPPORT, 

PHILADELPHIA, PA 

Service(s) 

Service Type: Janitorial Services 

Mandatory for: Department of Veteran 

Affairs, Ventura Vet Center, 790 East 

Santa Clara Street, Suite 100, Ventura, 

CA, 790 East Santa Clara Street, Ventura, 

CA 

Designated Source of Supply: The ARC of 

Ventura County, Inc., Ventura, CA 

Contracting Activity: VETERANS AFFAIRS, 

DEPARTMENT OF, 262–NETWORK 

CONTRACT OFFICE 22 

Michael R. Jurkowski, 

Acting Director, Business Operations. 

[FR Doc. 2021–19101 Filed 9–2–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6353–01–P 

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meeting Notice 

TIME AND DATE: Wednesday, September 

1, 2021; 10 a.m. 

PLACE: This meeting will be conducted 

by remote means. 

STATUS: Commission Meeting—Closed 

to the Public. 

MATTER TO BE CONSIDERED: Briefing 

Matter. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

Alberta E. Mills, Secretary, Division of 

the Secretariat, Office of the General 

Counsel, U.S. Consumer Product Safety 

Commission, 4330 East West Highway, 

Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 504–7479 

(Office) or 240–863–8938 (cell). 

Dated: August 31, 2021. 

Alberta E. Mills, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–19164 Filed 9–1–21; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 6355–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

[Docket No.: ED–2021–SCC–0129] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Comment Request; 

Implementation of Title I/II–A Program 

Initiatives 

AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences 

(IES), Department of Education (ED). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is 

proposing a new collection. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before 

November 2, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: To access and review all the 

documents related to the information 

collection listed in this notice, please 

use http://www.regulations.gov by 

searching the Docket ID number ED– 

2021–SCC–0129. Comments submitted 

in response to this notice should be 

submitted electronically through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov by selecting the 

Docket ID number or via postal mail, 

commercial delivery, or hand delivery. 

If the regulations.gov site is not 

available to the public for any reason, 

ED will temporarily accept comments at 

ICDocketMgr@ed.gov. Please include the 

docket ID number and the title of the 

information collection request when 

requesting documents or submitting 

comments. Please note that comments 

submitted by fax or email and those 

submitted after the comment period will 

not be accepted. Written requests for 

information or comments submitted by 

postal mail or delivery should be 

addressed to the PRA Coordinator of the 

Strategic Collections and Clearance 

Governance and Strategy Division, U.S. 

Department of Education, 400 Maryland 

Ave. SW, LBJ, Room 6W208B, 

Washington, DC 20202–8240. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

specific questions related to collection 

activities, please contact Erica Johnson, 

(202) 245–7676–4018. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Department of Education (ED), in 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general 

public and Federal agencies with an 

opportunity to comment on proposed, 

revised, and continuing collections of 

information. This helps the Department 

assess the impact of its information 

collection requirements and minimize 

the public’s reporting burden. It also 

helps the public understand the 

Department’s information collection 

requirements and provide the requested 


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