Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 5, 2001 / Notices 30167

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 052901B]

Pacific Fishery Management Council;

Public Meeting

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery

Management Council’s (Council) Highly

Migratory Species Plan Development

Team (HMSPDT) will hold a work

session, which is open to the public.

DATES: The HMSPDT will meet on

Wednesday, June 20, 2001, 8 a.m. to 5

p.m.; Thursday, June 21, 2001, 8 a.m. to

5 p.m.; and Friday, June 22, 2001, 8 a.m.

until business for the day is completed.

ADDRESSES: The work session will be

held in the large conference room at the

NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science

Center, 8604 La Jolla Shores Drive,

Room D–203, La Jolla, CA 92038–0271;

telephone: (619) 546–7100.

Council address: Pacific Fishery

Management Council, 2130 SW Fifth

Avenue, Suite 224, Portland, OR 97201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan

Waldeck, Pacific Fishery Management

Council; (503) 326–6352.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

primary purpose of the work session is

to revise the draft fishery management

plan (FMP) for highly migratory species

(HMS) per Council guidance stemming

from the June 2001 Council meeting.

Proposed Agenda

Wednesday June 20, 2001, 8 a.m.

A. Call to order

B. Introduction of Team and Advisory

Subpanel Members

C. Review and Approval of the

Agenda

D. Distribute and Review New

HMSPDT Documents

E. Review Executive Summary and

Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4

Thursday, June 21, 2001, 8 a.m.

F. Review of Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8

Friday, June 22, 2001, 8 a.m.

G. Review of Chapter 9

H. Further Discussion as Needed

I. Report to Council

J. Report to Advisory Subpanel

Adjournment

Although non-emergency issues not

contained in the HMSPDT meeting

agenda may come before the HMSPDT

for discussion, those issues may not be

the subject of formal HMSPDT action

during this meeting. HMSPDT action

will be restricted to those issues

specifically listed in this document and

any issues arising after publication of

this document that require emergency

action under section 305 (c) of the

Magnuson-Stevens Act, provided the

public has been notified of the

HMSPDT’s intent to take final action to

address the emergency.

Special Accommodations

The meeting is physically accessible

to people with disabilities. Requests for

sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to Ms.

Carolyn Porter at (503) 326–6352 at least

5 days prior to the meeting date.

Dated: May 30, 2001.

Richard W. Surdi,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–14124 Filed 6–4–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 052901C]

Pacific Fishery Management Council;

Public Meeting

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery

Management Council’s (Council)

Groundfish Stock Assessment Review

(STAR) Panel will hold a work session

to review assessment information for

species in the ‘‘remaining rockfish’’

complex. This meeting is open to the

public.

DATES: The STAR Panel for the

‘‘remaining rockfish’’ complex will meet

beginning at 1 p.m. June 25, 2001 and

continue through June 29, 2001. Except

for Monday, June 25, 2001, the STAR

Panel will meet each day from 8 a.m. to

5 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The STAR Panel will be

held in the Large Conference Room

(Room 188) at NMFS Southwest

Fisheries Science Center, Santa Cruz

Laboratory, 110 Shaffer Road, Santa

Cruz, CA 95060; telephone: (831) 420–

3900.

Council address: Pacific Fishery

Management Council, 2130 SW Fifth

Avenue, Suite 224, Portland, OR 97201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan

Waldeck, Staff Officer; telephone: (503)

326–6352.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

purpose of the meeting is to review

assessments of black rockfish (in the

southern area), yelloweye rockfish, and

the first phase of a new method being

developed for data poor rockfish

species. The STAR Panel will work with

stock assessment teams to make

necessary revisions to the assessment

documents and produce STAR Panel

reports for use by the Council family

and other interested persons.

Although non-emergency issues not

contained in the STAR Panel agenda

may come before the STAR Panel for

discussion, those issues may not be the

subject of formal panel action during

this meeting. STAR Panel action will be

restricted to those issues specifically

listed in this notice, and any issues

arising after publication of this notice

that require emergency action under

section 305 (c) of the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management

Act, provided the public has been

notified of the panel’s intent to take

final action to address the emergency.

Special Accommodations

The meeting is physically accessible

to people with disabilities. Requests for

sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to Ms.

Carolyn Porter at (503) 326–6352 at least

5 days prior to the meeting date.

Dated: May 30, 2001.

Richard W. Surdi,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–14125 Filed 6–4–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark

Office

[Docket No. 010321076–1076–01]

RIN 0651–AB26

Notification of Required and Optional

Search Criteria for Computer

Implemented Business Method Patent

Applications in Class 705, and Request

for Comments

AGENCY: United States Patent and

Trademark Office, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of request for public

comments.

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and

Trademark Office (USPTO) is providing

notification to the public of required

and optional search criteria used during

30168 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 5, 2001 / Notices

examination of patent applications

related to computer-implemented

Business Methods in Class 705. The

Office is seeking comments concerning

databases, documenting practices,

procedures, and developments, in

addition to those listed in this notice, in

specific industries within the computerimplemented business method field, to

identify additional information and

materials that could be considered

during the examination process.

DATES: The recommended database will

be reviewed quarterly. Database

recommendations received before June

30, 2001, will be included in the first

evaluation process which will

commence on July 31, 2001. Results of

the evaluation of the first group of

database recommendations should be

completed by September 30, 2001. The

schedule through June of 2002 is set

forth in the Supplementary Information

section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gail

Hayes by telephone at (703) 305–9711 or

by fax at (703) 305–0040, or James

Trammell by telephone at (703) 305–

9768 or by fax at (703) 308–1396.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent

by electronic mail message over the

internet addressed to

Robert.Clarke@USPTO.gov. Comments

may also be submitted by mail

addressed to: Box Comments—Patents,

Commissioner for Patents, Washington,

D.C. 20231, or by facsimile to (703) 872–

9399 or (703) 308–6916, marked to the

attention of Robert A. Clarke. Although

comments may be submitted by mail or

facsimile, the Office prefers to receive

comments via the Internet. If comments

are submitted by mail, the Office would

prefer that comments be submitted on a

DOS formatted 31⁄2 inch disk

accompanied by a paper copy.

The comments will be available for

public inspection at the Office of Patent

Legal Administration, Office of the

Deputy Commissioner for Patent

Examination Policy, located at Room 3–

C23 of Crystal Plaza 4, 2201 South Clark

Place, Arlington, Virginia, and will be

available through anonymous file

transfer protocol (ftp) via the Internet

(address: http://www.uspto.gov). Since

comments will be made available for

public inspection, information that is

not desired to be made public, such as

an address or phone number, should not

be included in the comments.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

On March 29, 2000, the Director of the

USPTO announced the USPTO Business

Methods Patent Initiative: An Action

Plan. One step in that action plan called

for:

Industry Outreach

Industry Feedback: A greater effort will be

made to obtain industry feedback on prior art

resources used by the USPTO, solicit input

on other databases and information

collections and sources, and expand prior art

collections.

2. Purpose

This announcement is a request for

input on the USPTO search resources

that are employed in the examination of

business method patent applications in

Class 705. By this process the USPTO

hopes to achieve two significant results.

First to inform the public of the prior art

resources that are currently available to

the Office. Second to identify additional

information and materials that could be

considered during the examination

process.

The announcement is presented in

two major sections; the listing of the

current USPTO prior art resources and

the process for providing comments on

that listing. The listing of the current

USPTO prior art resources includes a

detailed description of the mandatory

search that is now required for all patent

applications examined in Class 705. In

the important area of non-patent

literature (NPL), the listing also sets

forth a further identification of other

prior art resources that are available to

the patent examiners and may, in

accordance with their professional

judgment, be searched during the

examination process. The section

relating to the process for submitting

comments to the USPTO details the

primary type of information the Office

is seeking, how the input may be

submitted, and a general description of

the process the Office will employ in

considering the comments received. The

USPTO will fully consider all comments

and suggestions submitted in

accordance with the guidelines set forth

below.

Table of Contents

I. Current USPTO Prior Art Resources

A. U.S. Patents

1. Classified (Mandatory Search)

2. Text (Mandatory Search)

B. Foreign Patents (Mandatory Search)

C. Non-Patent Literature (NPL)

1. Core Databases (Mandatory Search)

2. Supplemental Resources

a. Commercial Database Services

b. Books, Technical Reports, and

Conference Proceedings

c. Journals

d. Web-based Resources and Internet Usage

Policy

e. Interlibrary Loan

II. Process for Providing Comments

A. Resource Recommendations

B. Criteria for Evaluation—Searchable

Databases

C. Schedule to Evaluate Recommended

Resources

I. Current USPTO Prior Art Resources

for Examination of Business Method

Patent Applications in Class 705

Examiners are required to search three

main types of prior art when examining

every class 705 application: U.S.

patents, foreign patents, and NPL.

A. U.S. Patents

1. Classified (Mandatory Search)

The USPTO uses a classification

schedule to sort and store all patents

issued. The classification schedule is

structured into class and subclass

sections. For example, a patent on a

computerized method of determining

insurance claims is classified in class

705 ‘‘Data Processing: Financial,

Business Practice, Management, or Cost/

Price Determination’’, and located in

subclass 4, ‘‘Insurance.’’ Thus, the exact

classification of this patent is 705/4.

A search of an application with

claims directed to the business art

includes a classified search in at least

the subclass which the claimed subject

matter of the application would be

properly classified. This is referred to as

an original classification (OR). A search

of an application with multiple

independent claims, some of which if

presented separately would have been

classified as an original classification in

other areas, will be searched in each of

the relevant classes and subclasses.

Examiners are not required to search

areas in which it is reasonably

determined that there is a low

probability of finding the best

reference(s). In outlining a field of

search, the examiner notes every class

and subclass under the U.S. Patent

Classification that may have material

pertinent to the subject matter as

claimed. Every subclass, digest, and

cross-reference art collection pertinent

to each type of invention claimed is

included, from the largest combination

through the various subcombinations.

The field of search extends to all

probable areas relevant to the claimed

subject matter and covers the disclosed

features which might reasonably be

expected to be claimed. The examiner

consults with other examiners and/or

supervisory patent examiners,

especially with regard to applications

covering subject matter unfamiliar to the

examiner. The areas to be searched are

prioritized so that the areas where

relevant prior art is most likely to be

found are searched first. (For more

information, see the MPEP, http://

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 5, 2001 / Notices 30169

www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/

index.html)

Class 705 Schedule. The schedule for

Class 705 is posted on the home page for

the USPTO at http://www.uspto.gov/

web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/moc/

705.htm.

2. Text (Mandatory Search)

Examiners are also required to

perform a text search of U.S. patents.

Examiners use Boolean and proximity

operators to search keywords and

multiple concept terms to retrieve U.S.

patents relevant to the application.

Concept terms are derived from many

aspects of the invention including, but

not limited to: Background of the

invention; Objects of the invention;

Technological and field of use

environment; Prior effort/work; Problem

to be solved; Major advantages/

outcomes; How the problem is solved;

How components relate; Functionality;

and Environment—Field of Use.

B. Foreign Patents (Mandatory Search)

Examiners are also required to

perform a text search in the Foreign

Patent Databases indicated below.

Concept and keywords terms are

searched using Boolean and proximity

operators with search strategies tailored

to these databases. The name of each

database listed below is followed by the

name of the database producer.

Derwent World Patents Index [Derwent

Information]

European Patents Fulltext [European

Patent Office]

JAPIO—Patent Abstracts of Japan [Japan

Patent Information Organization]

WIPO/PCT Patents Fulltext

[MicroPatent LLC]

C. Non-Patent Literature (NPL)

The examination procedure for patent

applications includes text searching of

commercially available databases to

identify relevant NPL. Examples of NPL

include journal articles, newspaper

articles, books, software manuals,

conference proceedings, and standards.

Commercial database providers with

extensive content coverage, powerful

search interfaces, and the capability to

simultaneously search multiple files

provide the primary resources to

effectively search large quantities of

NPL. Examples of the search services

used in the USPTO include DataStar,

Dialog, Lexis/Nexis, Questel/Orbit, STN,

and Westlaw. These services provide

access to hundreds of databases from

commercial producers. Through a single

set of search operations, applied

simultaneously to multiple database

files of NPL selected according to the

core and subclass specific criteria

specified below, through a single

commercial database provider, an

examiner can retrieve search results

simultaneously from across multiple

NPL sources using a single search

strategy commonly applicable to all

accessed files. The USPTO also

subscribes to other resources and

databases to provide examiners with

additional sources for supplemental

searches. These resources are noted in

the section of this notice regarding

Supplemental Resources.

1. Mandatory

USPTO staff have in-depth expertise

on commercial database services and

their products. Based on this

knowledge, databases with businessrelated literature were reviewed.

Representative databases were chosen as

mandatory resources to be searched for

business cases. Several factors were

considered during the review of these

databases including coverage of

business-related topics, date coverage

(including older materials), and

inclusion in commercial database

services which allow for simultaneous

searching of numerous databases. The

databases selected are considered the

‘‘core’’ or ‘‘mandatory’’ NPL databases

that must be searched for business

method patent applications. This list is

not intended to be exhaustive or

comprehensive. However, by searching

these databases, the examiner has

searched a wide range of resources that

can provide significant and relevant

prior art for business method cases.

Examiners are not restricted to

searching the databases in this list. If, in

the examiner’s professional judgment,

other prior art resources should be

searched, they have hundreds of

additional databases available (e.g.

commercial database vendors

mentioned above) to search.

The first section of the core database

list, designated as ‘‘Non-Patent

Literature Core Databases,’’ includes

databases that are searched for every

case classified in Class 705. Databases

that may provide significant resources

of NPL relevant to specific subclasses

are designated as ‘‘Subject Specific

Databases.’’

For example, an application on a

computerized method of determining

insurance claims is classified in class

705 and subclass 4. All the core NPL

databases in addition to the subject

specific databases listed under subclass

4 are searched for NPL.

Business examiners are required to

perform a text search in the NPL

databases listed below. Concept and

keywords terms are searched using

Boolean and proximity operators with

search strategies tailored to these

databases.

The name of each database (except for

newspapers) is followed by the name of

the database producer.

CLASS 705 CORE DATABASES

NPL Core Databases. All Class 705

applications will be searched in the

following databases:

ABI/INFORM [Bell & Howell

Information and Learning]

Business & IndustryTM [Responsive

Database Services, Inc.]

Business Week [The McGraw-Hill

Companies Publications Online]

Business Wire [Business Wire]

Computer DatabaseTM [The Gale Group]

Conference Papers Index [Cambridge

Scientific Abstracts]

Dissertation Abstracts Online [Bell &

Howell Information and Learning]

GlobalbaseTM [The Gale Group]

Inside Conferences [The British Library]

INSPEC [INSPEC, Inc.]

Internet & Personal Computing

Abstracts [Information Today,

Inc.]

The McGraw-Hill Companies

Publications Online [The McGrawHill Companies, Inc.]

Microcomputer Software Guide Online

[R. R. Bowker Company]

New Product Announcements/Plus

(NPA/Plus) [The Gale Group]

Newsletter DatabaseTM [The Gale

Group]

Newspapers

Financial Times Abstracts

New York Times Abstracts

San Jose Mercury News

Wall Street Journal Abstracts

PR Newswire [PR Newswire

Association, Inc.]

PROMT [The Gale Group]

Softbase: Reviews, Companies, and

Products [Information Sources, Inc.]

Trade & Industry DatabaseTM [The Gale

Group]

Wilson Applied Science and Technology

Abstracts [The H.W. Wilson

Company]

World Reporter [The Dialog

Corporation, Dow Jones & Company

and Financial Times Information]

Subject Specific Databases. There are

other databases which contain

significant NPL resources relevant to

specific Class 705 subclasses. Therefore,

additional core databases are listed for

the subclasses indicated in this section.

Examiners are required to search these

databases during the examination of

cases classified under these subclasses.

In this list, the subclass numbers are

listed to the left of the subclass

description.

30170 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 5, 2001 / Notices

2. Health Care Management

In addition to Core databases,

examiners will search the following

databases:

American Medical Association Journals

[The American Medical

Association]

BIOSIS Previews [BIOSIS]

EMBASE [Elsevier Science, B.V.]

Health & Wellness DatabaseSM [The

Gale Group]

Health News Daily [F–D–C Reports, Inc.]

HealthSTAR [U.S. National Library of

Medicine (NLM)]

MEDLINE [U.S. National Library of

Medicine (NLM)]

New England Journal of Medicine

[Massachusetts Medical Society]

SciSearch [Institute for Scientific

Information’’ (ISI)]

If drugs/pharmaceuticals are involved.

***

Drug News & Perspectives [Prous

Science Publishers]

International Pharmaceutical Abstracts

[American Society of Health-System

Pharmacists]

Pharmaceutical and Healthcare

Industry News Database [PJB

Publications Ltd.]

Pharmaceutical News Index (PNI) [Bell

& Howell Information and Learning]

4 Insurance

In addition to Core databases,

examiners will search the following

databases:

American Banker Financial

Publications [American BankerBond Buyer]

Insurance Periodicals Index [NILS

Publishing Company]

The Journal of Commerce [The Journal

of Commerce, Inc.]

7 Operations Research

In addition to Core databases,

examiners will search the following

databases:

Inventory Monitoring Databases

13 Transportation Facility Access

In addition to Core databases,

examiners will search the following

databases:

Aerospace/Defense Markets &

Technology [The Gale Group]

Aerospace Database [AEROPLUS

ACCESS]

The Journal of Commerce [The Journal

of Commerce, Inc.]

NTIS—National Technical Information

Service [National Technical

Information Service, U.S.

Department of Commerce]

Transportation Research Information

Services [Transportation Research

Board]

14 Advertising/Coupon Redemption/

Incentives

In addition to Core databases,

examiners will search the following

databases:

Business Dateline [Bell & Howell

Information and Learning]

Marketing & Advertising Reference

Service [The Gale Group]

Newspapers:

The Atlanta Journal/The Atlanta

Constitution

The Arizona Republic/The Phoenix

Gazette (Phoenix)

The Sun (Baltimore)

The Boston Globe

Chicago Tribune

The Christian Science Monitor

Detroit Free Press

The Denver Post

Houston Chronicle

Independent (London)

The Irish Times

Los Angeles Times

The Miami Herald

Newsday and New York Newsday

The Oregonian (Portland)

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Rocky Mountain News (Denver)

San Francisco Chronicle

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

St. Petersburg Times

Times/Sunday Times (London)

USA Today

Washington Post Online

26 Electronic Shopping

In addition to Core databases,

examiners will search the following

databases:

Advertising/Coupon Redemption/

Incentives Databases

Magazine DatabaseTM [The Gale Group]

28 Inventory Monitoring

In addition to Core databases,

examiners will search the following

databases:

EI Compendex [Engineering

Information, Inc.]

ISMEC: Mechanical Engineering

Abstracts [Cambridge Scientific

Abstracts]

JICST-EPlus—Japanese Science &

Technology [Japan Information

Center for Science and Technology

(JICST)]

NTIS: National Technical Information

Service [National Technical

Information Service, U.S.

Department of Commerce]

SciSearch [Institute for Scientific

Information (ISI)]

Social SciSearch [Institute for

Scientific Information (ISI)]

35 Banking/Finance/Investments

In addition to Core databases,

examiners will search the following

databases:

American Banker Financial

Publications [American BankerBond Buyer]

Banking Information Source [Bell &

Howell Information and Learning]

Bond Buyer Full Text [American

Banker-Bond Buyer]

DIALOG Finance and Banking

Newsletters [The Dialog

Corporation]

EconLit [American Economic

Association]

36 Portfolio Selection

In addition to Core databases,

examiners will search the following

databases:

Banking/Finance/Investment Databases

37 Trading, Matching or Bidding

In addition to Core databases,

examiners will search the following

databases:

Banking/Finance/Investment Databases

38 Credit Processing or Loan

Processing

In addition to Core databases,

examiners will search the following

databases:

Banking/Finance/Investment Databases

39 Including Funds Transfer or Credit

Transaction

In addition to Core databases,

examiners will search the following

databases:

Banking/Finance/Investment Databases

Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business

NewsTM [Knight-Ridder/Tribune

Business News]

Brief descriptions are provided for the

above-listed NPL and Foreign Patent

databases in Appendix I attached to this

document.

3. Supplemental Resources

The USPTO has access to a multitude

of resources and databases containing

NPL. Many of these resources include

significant amounts of business-related

information. The following resources

are available to patent examiners and

may, in accordance with their

professional judgment, be searched

during the examination process.

a. Commercial Database Services. The

USPTO provides access to commercial

database vendors who provide over

1,000 searchable databases. In addition

to the databases included in the core list

mentioned earlier, examiners can

choose to search other databases

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 5, 2001 / Notices 30171

provided by these vendors when, in

their professional judgment, searching

additional databases is warranted.

DataStar—complete list of databases

located at

http://ds.datastarweb.com/ds/

products/datastar/ds.htm

Dialog—complete list of databases

located at

http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/

html/blf.html

Lexis-Nexis—complete list of databases

located at

http://www.lexis-nexis.com/lncc/

literature/Directory/default.htm

(At the bottom of this web page, click

on the link to view the alphabetical list

of their entire directory.)

Questel-Orbit—complete list of

databases located at

http://www.questel.orbit.com/en/

userdoc/docindex.htm

(Click on ‘‘fact sheets’’)

STN International—complete list of

databases located at

http://www.cas.org/ONLINE/DBSS/

dbsslist.html

Westlaw—the database directory is

located at

http://directory.westlaw.com/

WIPO Journal of Patent Associated

Literature (JOPAL)—the database

directory is located at

http://jopal.wipo.int/

b. Books, Technical Reports, and

Conference Proceedings. The USPTO

maintains print collections of over

160,000 books, technical reports,

journals, and conference proceedings

that are not available electronically.

Additionally, many materials are

available in microformat.

c. Journals. The USPTO has access to

over 5,000 full text journals. Many of

these journals are available in electronic

format. Please see the following section

on ‘‘Web-based Resources,’’ which

includes sources providing access to full

text electronic journals. The USPTO

also maintains full text CD-ROM

products. Examples include Computer

Select (1989 to date), Advances in

Cryptography (1981–1997), and Dr.

Dobb’s Journals (1988–June 1997; newer

Dr. Dobb’s Journal issues are available

via web-based resources). The

remainder of the journal collection is in

hard copy or microform formats.

d. Web-based Resources. Examiners

have direct access to the web-based

resources including technical books and

reports, legal publications, indexes,

encyclopedias, dictionaries, and

databases of NPL, such as journal

articles and conference proceedings.

The primary strength of many of these

electronic resources is that they provide

quick access to full text publications,

some of them with graphics. Some of

these resources also allow for Boolean

and proximity searching and can be

searched by examiners to determine if

additional relevant prior art is available.

The following web-based resources

are available. Brief descriptions are

provided for those most relevant to

examiners in business methods areas.

Academic Press Dictionary of Science &

Technology

Agricola

American Chemical Society

Association for Computing Machinery

(ACM)—provides access to 95% of all

ACM articles and proceedings from

1991 to the present.

ChemConnect

Corporate Resource Net B provides

access to over 4,000 journals in

electronic format.

Department of Energy Information

Bridge

DTIC STINET

Encyclopedia Britannica

Faulkner—provides comprehensive

coverage of the full spectrum of

computer systems, software,

networking, and telecom

technologies, including trends,

vendor strategies, and product

solutions. Includes B2B E-Commerce

Trends reports.

Institute for Electrical and Electronics

Engineers (IEEE Xplore)—provides

access to more than 500,000 IEEE/IEE

articles written since 1988. All IEEE/

IEE conferences, journals and

standards from 1988 on are included.

ITKnowledge—provides full text access

to more than 1,000 technical

computing books.

Matthew Bender Legal and Intellectual

Property Publications

Medline

Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal

Physicians Desk Reference, PDR Herbal

& Stedmans Medical Dictionary

Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences

Proquest Direct—Proquest is organized

into separate, subject-based libraries.

USPTO subscribes to most of these

including the Banking Library

(containing 248 journal titles); the

Computing library (containing 256

journal titles); the

Telecommunications library

(containing 92 journal titles). In all,

USPTO has access to the full text and/

or bibliographic records for over 5,000

journal titles through Proquest.

Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature

ScienceServer—provides access to

nearly 200 scientific, technical and

medical journals published by

Elsevier and Academic Press.

Wiley Encyclopedia of Electrical and

Electronics Engineering—covers core

knowledge of all specialties

encompassed by electrical and

electronics engineering, including

computer and software engineering.

Internet Usage Policy With Above

Resources—When the Internet is used

to search, browse, or retrieve

information relating to a patent

application, other than a reissue

application or reexamination

proceeding, USPTO examiners and

searchers restrict search queries to the

general state of the art unless the

Office has established a secure link on

the Internet with a specific vendor to

maintain the confidentiality of the

patent application. Non-secure

Internet search, browse, or retrieval

activities that could disclose

proprietary information directed to a

specific application, other than a

reissue application or reexamination

proceeding, are not permitted.

e. Interlibrary Loan. The USPTO

maintains an interlibrary loan operation

to gain access to full text documents

that are not available electronically or

on-site in hard copy or microform

format. The interlibrary loan staff have

access to local, national and

international organizations and provide

rapid retrieval of full text documents to

examiners.

II. Process for Providing Comments

A. Resource Recommendations

The USPTO requests comments

regarding the search resources

employed in the examination of

business method patent applications in

Class 705. In order to identify additional

information and materials that could be

considered during the examination

process, members of the public are

invited to recommend databases and

electronic resources that the USPTO

does not currently access for searching

business methods prior art.

Recommended databases must be

publicly available. These databases will

be evaluated based on the set of criteria

published in this document. The

information you provide will help us

verify that the correct resource has been

identified for evaluation. Please provide

detailed information in support of

suggested resource(s). Such information

should address the following topics:

Reason for Recommendation

Please specify why you are

recommending the database, focusing

on the specific value of the content and

search features of the particular

database. For example, the database

provides full text documents, or it

30172 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 5, 2001 / Notices

contains business methods information

not found in other databases.

Database Identification

(a) Provide the full name of the

database and other names by which the

database may be identified, e.g.

acronyms or shortened names.

(b) Provide the name, address, and

phone number for the database

producer.

(c) Provide the name, address, and

phone number for the entity that

provides access to the database.

Database Content

(a) What are the years of coverage?

(b) What is the subject matter?

(c) Does the bibliographic information

include documented publication dates?

(d) Does the database include

abstracts and/or full text?

Accessibility

(a) Is the database publicly available?

(b) If so, what are the operational

hours?

Technical Support

What is the availability of technical

support?

Continuity

What is the database policy on

maintaining backfile data?

Mode of Access

How is the database available?

(a) Online.

(b) Web-based.

(c) In-house CD-ROM or other

electronic media.

(1) networked.

(2) stand-alone system.

B. Criteria for Evaluation—Searchable

Databases

Recommended databases should

provide substantial added value over

resources already available. Databases

will be evaluated in terms of whether or

not they are of sufficient value to be

included as mandatory search tools or

whether they should be included as

supplemental resources for examiners to

search, at their discretion, during the

patent application examination process.

Content

The intellectual content of the

database will be evaluated on:

(a) Extent of the retrospective

coverage of business-related prior art.

(b) Extent of unique, difficult-to-find

sources and content not available in

currently used tools.

(c) Extent of bibliographic

documentation in addition to the

availability of searchable abstracts and/

or full text.

(d) The documentation of publication

dates for the information included in

the database.

(e) Thoroughness of indexing.

(f) Frequency of updates.

Search Interface

Databases should have a search

interface that is powerful, user-friendly,

and has multiple access points. For

example: Does the database provide for

single-search access to the entire

resource content? Does it support

Boolean and proximity searching? Does

it allow for truncation and nesting of

terms or synonyms?

Cost

The cost of the resource will be

evaluated in relation to the value of the

product and the cost of other

comparable products.

Accessibility and Reliability

Database providers or producers

should deliver reliable access 24 hours

a day, seven days a week. The database

must be publicly available.

Technical Support

Technical support must be

knowledgeable and reliable, and must

be available, at a minimum, Monday

through Friday.

Continuity

Database content must be stable and

consistent. In particular, continuing

availability of backfile data is critical.

Mode of Access

The database should be accessible via

TCP/IP (online), the Internet, or an inhouse platform (networked or standalone). The mode of access must meet

the requirements of the USPTO’s Office

of the Chief Information Officer’s

Technical Reference Model (TRM). The

TRM is available at the following url:

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/

comp/proc/acquisitions/oamref.htm

C. Schedule to Evaluate Recommended

Resources

Recommendations

received by: Will be evaluated by:

June 30, 2001 ........... September 30, 2001.

September 30, 2001 December 31, 2001.

December 31, 2001 .. March 31, 2002.

March 31, 2002 ......... June 30, 2002.

Classification Section

It has been determined that this notice

is not significant for purposes of

Executive Order 12866 (September 30,

1993).

Paperwork Reduction Act

This notice involves information

collection requirements which are

subject to review by the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) under

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). As required by

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

(44 U.S.C. 3507(d)), the Office has

submitted an information collection

package to OMB for its review and

approval. The title, description, and

respondent description for this

information collection is shown below

with an estimate of the annual reporting

burdens. Included in the estimate is the

time for reviewing instructions,

searching existing data sources,

gathering and maintaining the data

needed and completing and reviewing

the collection of information.

OMB Number: 0651–0047.

Title: United States Patent and

Trademark Office Business Method

Database Information.

Form Number: Not applicable.

Type of Review: Approved through

March of 2004.

Affected Public: Individuals or

households, business or other for-profit,

not-for-profit institutions, farms, state,

local or tribal governments, and the

Federal Government.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

100.

Estimated Time Per Response: 1.5

hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden

Hours: 150 hours.

Needs and Uses: Input from industry

and the public on the current search

areas and suggestions from industry and

the public on new sources of prior art

is considered important to improve the

examination process in the computerimplemented business method field.

The public feedback will be used to

evaluate suggested databases for

inclusion in either mandatory or

optional search areas in this field.

Comments are invited on: (1) Whether

the collection of information is

necessary for proper performance of the

functions of the agency; (2) the accuracy

of the agency’s estimate of the burden;

(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

to respondents.

Interested persons are requested to

send comments regarding these

information collections, including

suggestions for reducing this burden, to

Robert J. Spar, Director, Office of Patent

Legal Administration, United States

Patent and Trademark Office,

Washington, D.C. 20231, or to the Office

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 5, 2001 / Notices 30173

of Information and Regulatory Affairs of

OMB, New Executive Office Building,

725 17th Street, N.W., Room 10235,

Washington, D.C. 20503, Attention:

Desk Officer for the Patent and

Trademark Office.

Notwithstanding any other provision

of law, no person is required to respond

to nor shall a person be subject to a

penalty for failure to comply with a

collection of information subject to the

requirements of the Paperwork

Reduction Act unless that collection of

information displays a currently valid

OMB control number.

Authority: Sec. 4712, Pub. L. 106–113, 113

Stat. 1501A–572 (35 U.S.C. 2(b)(2)).

Dated: May 30, 2001.

Nicholas P. Godici,

Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for

Intellectual Property and Acting Director of

the United States Patent and Trademark

Office.

Appendix I

Brief descriptions are provided for the

above listed NPL and Foreign Patent

databases. The following descriptions are

excerpts obtained from the Dialog

Corporation’s Bluesheets.

ABI/INFORM—includes details on

virtually every aspect of business, including

company histories, competitive intelligence,

and new product development. ABI/INFORM

contains bibliographic citations and 25–150

word summaries of articles appearing in

professional publications, academic journals,

and trade magazines published worldwide.

Aerospace/Defense Markets & Technology

(Gale Group Aerospace/Defense Markets &

Technology)—provides full-text articles and

abstracts covering all aspects of the

worldwide aerospace industry. Corporations

in the aerospace/defense industry rely on A/

DM&T: for coverage of key industry sources

for details on competitors, products and

technologies to monitor government funding,

budgets, and contracts to identify market

opportunities in the defense and aerospace

industries.

Aerospace Database—provides references,

abstracts, and controlled-vocabulary indexing

of key scientific and technical documents, as

well as books, reports, and conferences,

covering aerospace research and

development in over 40 countries including

Japan and eastern European nations. This

database supports basic and applied research

in aeronautics, astronautics, and space

sciences, as well as technology development

and applications in complementary and

supporting fields such as chemistry,

geosciences, physics, communications, and

electronics.

American Banker Financial Publications—

corresponds to the full text of the

authoritative daily financial services

newspaper, American Banker, as well as the

full text of many financial newsletters

published by American Banker in the areas

of capital markets, bank regulation, insurance

letters, and public finance letters. This

collection of publications follows trends,

developments, and news in banking and

related financial areas.

American Medical Association Journals—

contains the full-text articles from 11 medical

journals, including the well-known JAMA,

The Journal of the American Medical

Association. The articles include all subject

areas relating to the practice of medicine. The

American Medical Association is the world’s

largest single publisher of scientific and

medical information. This database also

contains peer-reviewed clinical and

investigative articles in major medical

disciplines. All original articles included are

full-text; the database also includes letters to

the editor, editorials, book reviews,

corrections, medical news and perspectives,

columns, special features, and occasional

sections.

Banking Information Source—provides

essential information about the financial

services industry, banking trends, topics,

issues, and operations. Its uniquely

comprehensive coverage of important

industry sources meets the banking-related

information needs of researchers in banking,

finance, government, tax, insurance,

economics, financial services, and business

schools. It contains the full text of cited

articles from many high demand sources

BIOSIS Previews—contains citations from

Biological Abstracts (BA), and Biological

Abstracts/Reports, Reviews, and Meetings

(BA/RRM) (formerly BioResearch Index),

the major publications of BIOSIS. Together,

these publications constitute the major

English-language service providing

comprehensive worldwide coverage of

research in the biological and biomedical

sciences.

Bond Buyer Full Text—corresponds to the

printed publication, The Bond Buyer. The

newspapers specialize in the fixed-income

investment market and are considered the

authoritative sources of information for the

municipal bond community in the U.S.

Essential daily coverage of government and

Treasury securities, financial futures,

corporate bonds, and mortgage securities is

provided. Extensive coverage of U.S.

Congressional actions, worldwide monetary

and fiscal policies, and regulatory changes

relating to the bond industry is included.

Bond Buyer Full Text also lists planned bond

issues, bond calls and redemptions, and

results of bond sales.

Business & IndustryTM—this database

contains information with facts, figures, and

key events dealing with public and private

companies, industries, markets products for

all manufacturing and service industries at

an international level. B&I coverage

concentrates on leading trade magazines and

newsletters, the general business press,

regional newspapers and international

business journals.

Business DatelineTM—provides the full text

of major news and feature stories from 550

regional business publications from

throughout the United States and Canada.

The regional perspectives reported in the

business press make Business Dateline an

excellent source of in-depth business

information with a local point of view.

Virtually every aspect of regional business

activities and trends is covered in the file,

with particular emphasis on economic

conditions in selected cities, states, or

regions, as well as mergers, acquisitions,

company executives, new products, and

competitive intelligence.

Business Week—contains the complete text

of articles from the domestic and

international English-language editions of the

highly acclaimed McGraw-Hill weekly

business news magazine, Business Week.

Articles focus on companies, the economy,

government regulation, industries, labor and

management issues, technology, and

international markets.

Business Wire—contains the full text of

news releases issued by approximately

10,000 corporations, universities, research

institutes, hospitals, and other organizations.

The file primarily covers U.S. industries and

organizations, although some information on

international events is included.

Computer DatabaseTM (Gale Group

Computer DatabaseTM)—provides

comprehensive information about the

computer, electronics, and

telecommunications industries. Coverage

includes detailed information about the

evaluation, purchase, use, and support of

computer and other electronic products. Gale

Group Computer Database is designed to

answer the questions of business and

computer professionals about hardware,

software, networks, peripherals, and services.

Conference Papers Index—provides access

to records of the more than 100,000 scientific

and technical papers presented at over 1,000

major regional, national, and international

meetings each year. Conference Papers Index

provides a centralized source of information

on reports of current research and

development from papers presented at

conferences and meetings; it provides titles

of the papers as well as the names and

addresses (when available) of the authors of

these papers. Also included in this database

are announcements of any publications

issued from the meetings, in addition to

available preprints, reprints, abstract

booklets, and proceedings volumes,

including dates of availability, costs and

ordering information. Primary subject areas

covered include the life sciences, chemistry,

physical sciences, geosciences, and

engineering.

Derwent World Patent Index (DWPI)—

provides access to information from more

than 18 million patent documents, giving

details of over 9 million inventions. Each

week, approximately 20,000 documents from

40 patent-issuing authorities are added to

DWPI. Patent-related items from Research

Disclosure and International Technology

Disclosures (ceased publication June 1994)

are also included.

DIALOG Finance and Banking

Newsletters—database is a collection of fulltext newsletters from primary publishers in

the field of investment, finance and banking.

The database contains specialized industry

newsletters that provide concise information

on companies, products, markets, and

technologies. It also contains rulings,

regulations, and other legislative activities

that affect the financial community.

Dissertation Abstracts Online—is a

definitive subject, title, and author guide to

30174 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 5, 2001 / Notices

virtually every American dissertation

accepted at an accredited institution since

1861. Selected Masters theses have been

included since 1962. In addition, since 1988,

the database has included citations for

dissertations from 50 British universities that

have been collected by and filmed at The

British Document Supply Centre. Beginning

with DAIC Volume 49, Number 2 (Spring

1988), citations and abstracts from Section C,

Worldwide Dissertations (formerly European

Dissertations), have been included in the file.

Abstracts are included for doctoral records

from July 1980 (Dissertation Abstracts

International, Volume 41, Number 1) to the

present. Abstracts are included for masters

theses from Spring 1988 (Masters Abstracts,

Volume 26, Number 1) to the present.

Drug News & Perspectives (Prous Science

Drug News & Perspectives)—this database

allows users to quickly and easily consul the

latest pharmaceutical news. The Prous

Science Drug News & Perspectives database

contains all articles and texts published from

selected sections of the printed journal, Prous

Science Drug News & Perspectives, plus

unpublished records from the journal’s

sections: ‘‘Line Extensions,’’ ‘‘R&D Briefs,’’

and ‘‘People on the Move.’’ Unpublished

records, omitted from the printed journal due

to space limitations, are labeled

‘‘unpublished’’ and do not have volume,

issue, or page numbers. Unpublished records

may also include those in preparation for

print. These records will have volume, issue

and page numbers added in a later update to

the database.

EconLit—provides indexing and abstracts

of the worldwide literature on economics,

currently covers more than 600 major

economics journals annually. In addition,

this file indexes about 600 collective volumes

(essays, proceedings, etc.), 2,000 books, 900

dissertations, 2,000 working papers, and

book reviews each year.

EI Compendex—database is the machinereadable version of the Engineering Index

(monthly/annual). It provides abstracted

information from significant engineering and

technological literature. The Compendex

database provides worldwide coverage of

approximately 4,500 journals and selected

government reports and books. Subjects

covered include: civil, energy,

environmental, geological, and biological

engineering; electrical, electronics, and

control engineering; chemical, mining,

metals, and fuel engineering; mechanical,

automotive, nuclear, and aerospace

engineering; and computers, robotics, and

industrial robots.

EMBASE—comprehensive index of the

world’s literature on human medicine and

related disciplines.

European Patents Fulltext—covers all

European patent applications and granted

European patents published since the

opening of the European Patent Office (EPO)

in 1978. This database also contains

bibliographic records for PCT (Patent

Cooperation Treaty) applications transferred

to the EPO.

Financial Times Abstracts—produced by

the Business Information Services of the New

York Times Electronic Media Company,

contains concise, informative abstracts of

articles from the U.S. Edition of the Financial

Times newspaper. The Financial Times

provides in-depth coverage on worldwide

industries, companies, and markets.

GlobalbaseTM (Gale Group GlobalbaseTM)—

provides worldwide coverage of companies,

products, and industries with a primary

focus on Europe.

Health & Wellness DatabaseSM (Gale Group

Health & Wellness DatabaseSM)—is a

comprehensive periodical and reference

database produced by The Gale Group,

providing broad coverage in the areas of

health, medicine, fitness, and nutrition. Gale

Group Health & Wellness Database is

designed to address the needs of health and

medical professionals, specialized business

and industry researchers, consumers, and a

wide range of people seeking a general

understanding about important health issues

and practices.

Health News Daily—contains all the daily

news and text articles from the Health News

Daily publication from F–D–C Reports. It

provides specialized, in-depth business,

scientific, regulatory and legal news. Each

issue has features including news in the

following columns: Product News, People,

Litigation, Legislative News, Industry News,

Research, Regulatory News, Financings,

Reimbursement, and Public Health. A feature

entitled ‘‘Washington This Week’’ lists

scheduled congressional hearings, agency

meetings, and industry conferences in the

D.C. area. The ‘‘Calendar’’ presents notices of

upcoming meetings, seminars, and

conferences. The ‘‘Legislative Roundup’’

tracks recently introduced bills, committee

activities, and congressional votes on health

care issues.

HealthSTARTM—(Health Services

Technology, Administration, and Research)

is provided cooperatively by the U.S.

National Library of Medicine and the

American Hospital Association. This file

incorporates all records from the former

Health Abstracts, which are taken directly

from the published articles, and are included

for approximately 60% of the records.

Inside Conferences—contains details of all

papers given at every congress, symposium,

conference, exposition, workshop, and

meeting received at the British Library

Document Supply Centre (BLDSC) since

October 1993.

INSPEC—(The Database for Physics,

Electronics and Computing) corresponds to

the three Science Abstracts print

publications: Physics Abstracts, Electrical

and Electronics Abstracts, and Computer and

Control Abstracts. The Science Abstracts

family of abstract journals began publication

in 1898.

Insurance Periodicals Index—indexes and

abstracts 35 of the most respected and widely

read insurance industry journals and

magazines, dating from January 1984 to the

present.

International Pharmaceutical Abstracts—

provides information on all phases of the

development and use of drugs and on

professional pharmaceutical practice. In early

1985 coverage was expanded to include

pharmacy journals that deal with state

regulations, salaries, guidelines, manpower

studies and laws. The scope of the database

includes the clinical, practical, and

theoretical aspects of the literature as well as

economic and scientific. A unique feature of

these abstracts is the inclusion of the study

design, number of patients, dosage, dosage

forms, and dosage schedule.

Internet & Personal Computing AbstractsTM

(replaced Microcomputer Abstracts)—

contains abstracts and citations to the

literature on the use of computers in

business, industry, education, libraries and

the home. Over 90 traditional and cuttingedge publications are covered, including

widely read mass-market computer

publications, as well as those focusing on

specific topics, such as hardware platforms,

operating systems (Windows, DOS, UNIX,

Macintosh, etc.), online systems,

management, networks, and electronic

publishing. Informative abstracts summarize

software and hardware. Book reviews, feature

articles, news, columns, program listings,

product announcements, and buyer/vendor

guides are included.

ISMEC: Mechanical Engineering

Abstracts—(Information Service in

Mechanical Engineering) indexes significant

articles in all aspects of mechanical

engineering, production engineering and

engineering management from approximately

250 journals published throughout the world.

In addition, books, reports, and conference

proceedings are indexed. The primary

emphasis is on comprehensive coverage of

leading international journals and

conferences on mechanical engineering

subjects. The principal areas covered are

mechanical, nuclear, electrical, electronic,

civil, optical, medical, and industrial process

engineering; mechanics; production

processes; energy and power; transport and

handling; and applications of mechanical

engineering.

JAPIO—Patent Abstracts of Japan—

provided by the Japan Patent Information

Organization, represents the most

comprehensive English-language access to

Japanese unexamined patent applications

(Kokai Tokkyo Koho) published since

October 1976. All technologies are covered.

Application records include both Japanese

and non-Japanese priorities. Abstracts are

provided only for applications originating in

Japan, but are available for most records.

Images of front page drawings, when

available for a given patent, are also

included.

JICST-EPlus—Japanese Science &

Technology—this is a comprehensive

bibliographic database covering literature

published in Japan from all fields of science,

technology, and medicine. The file contains

both the JICST-E and the PreJICST-E files

from Japan Science and Technology

Corporation, Information Center for Science

and Technology (JICST).

The Journal of Commerce—provides the

complete text of all news, columns,

editorials, briefs, calendar listings, and

selected tables that appear in the Five-Star

edition of the world’s premier daily business

newspaper covering international trade and

transportation issues. It also includes the SixStar news summary and West Coast/Trade

page. Journal of Commerce features special

individual sections which focus on ocean,

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 5, 2001 / Notices 30175

barge, air, rail, and truck transportation,

international banking and finance, foreign

trade, energy, insurance, chemicals and

plastics, electronic communications, and

commodities. The online edition also

includes a summary of every major story for

each day.

Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business NewsTM—

provides same-day, full-text business and

related news from 28 Knight-Ridder

publications, 4 Tribune Company

newspapers, and more than 50 affiliated

papers. Articles from contributing

newspapers and magazines are available the

morning of publication.

Magazine DatabaseTM (Gale Group

Magazine DatabaseTM)—is a general interest

database that contains indexes, abstracts, and

full-text records. Gale Group Magazine

Database provides current and retrospective

news from more than 400 popular magazines

on subjects including consumer behavior,

media trends, popular culture, political

opinion, leisure activities, and contemporary

lifestyles. Gale Group Magazine Database also

contains large collections of entertainment

reviews and ratings of books, films, theater,

concerts, hotels, and restaurants. This

database is ideal for searchers who need

background material and a variety of

perspectives to supplement any business

search. Gale Group Magazine Database

includes indexes and abstracts for 400

publications and the full text for more than

250 magazines.

Marketing & Advertising Reference

Service (Gale Group Marketing &

Advertising Reference Service)—is a multiindustry advertising and marketing database

with abstracts and full-text records on a wide

variety of consumer products and services.

Gale Group Marketing & Advertising

Reference Service is widely used by

consumer product and service companies to

locate market size and market share

information, monitor new product or service

introductions, evaluate markets for existing

products or services, and research the

marketing and advertising strategies of

competitors. Advertising agencies and public

relations firms use Marketing & Advertising

Reference Service to research and develop

new client proposals; monitor ad campaigns,

budgets, and target markets; locate

information on products and services; and

gain competitive intelligence on other

agencies and public relations firms by

tracking agency changes, new accounts,

launch dates, contracts and appointments.

The McGraw-Hill Companies Publications

Online—provides the complete text for many

major McGraw-Hill publications. The

database covers not only general business but

also specific industries, i.e., aerospace,

chemical processing, electronics, and

construction. The complete text of each

article is searchable and can be retrieved

online in addition to being printed offline.

MEDLINE—a major source of biomedical

literature. MEDLINE corresponds to three

print indexes: Index Medicus TM, Index to

Dental Literature, and International Nursing

Index. Additional materials not published in

Index Medicus are included in the MEDLINE

database in the areas of communication

disorders, population and reproductive

biology.

Microcomputer Software Guide Online—

database contains information on virtually

every microcomputer software program and

hardware system available or produced in the

United States. The database contains

bibliographic records for microcomputer

software. Each record includes ordering

information, technical specifications, subject

classifications, and a brief description.

New England Journal of Medicine—

contains full-text articles from The New

England Journal of Medicine excluding

meeting notices, ‘‘Books Received,’’ and

advertising content. Founded in 1812, The

New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is

the oldest continuously published medical

journal in the world. It maintains the largest

voluntarily paid circulation of any peerreviewed scientific journal, reaching

physicians and other healthcare professionals

in more than 120 countries.

New York Times Abstracts—contains

concise, informative abstracts of articles in

the final Late Edition of The New York Times

newspaper, a newspaper that is respected

around the world for its unparalleled

coverage of international, national, business

and New York regional news. The file

provides abstracts of every article published

in the newspaper, including the Magazine,

Book Review, and all other Sunday sections.

Newsletter DatabaseTM (Gale Group

Newsletter DatabaseTM)—contains the full

text of specialized industry newsletters that

provide concise information on companies,

products, markets, and technologies; trade

and geopolitical regions of the world; and

government funding, rulings, and regulation

and other legislative activities which impact

the industries and regions covered.

International in scope, the Newsletter

Database provides searchers with important

facts, figures, analysis, and current

information affecting a broad range of

industries and sectors. Information from

newsletters contained in the Gale Group

newsletter Database covers the following

industries and geographic regions of the

world: biotechnology, broadcasting and

publishing, computers and electronics,

chemicals, defense and aerospace, energy,

environment, financial services, general

technology, Japan, Middle East,

manufacturing, medical and health,

materials, packaging, research and

development, telecommunications,

transportation, and more.

Newspapers—includes the full text of all

news stories, features, editorials, and wire

stories. Items such as classified ads, sports,

statistics, fillers, and certain minor items are

excluded. (Description taken from PAPERS

in the Dialog Worldwide Database

Catalogue.)

New Product Announcements/Plus (NPA/

PLUS) (Gale Group New Product

Announcements/Plus)—contains the full text

of press releases from all industries covering

announcements related to products, with a

focus on new products and services. In

addition to product descriptions, press

releases generally contain key details about

new products and technologies, including

technical specifications, availability, uses,

licensing agreements, distribution channels,

and prices. Company contacts and phone

numbers are provided to allow follow-up by

interested parties. The press releases

contained in the NPA/PLUS database are

obtained directly from the product

manufacturer, distributor, or an authorized

marketing representative.

NTIS—National Technical Information

Service—database consists of summaries of

U.S. government-sponsored research,

development, and engineering, plus analyses

prepared by Federal agencies, their

contractors, or grantees. It is the means

through which unclassified, publicly

available, unlimited distribution reports are

made available for sale from agencies such as

NASA, DOD, DOE, HUD, DOT, Department

of Commerce, and some 240 other agencies.

Additionally, some state and local

government agencies now contribute

summaries of their reports to the database.

NTIS also provides access to the results of

government-sponsored research and

development from countries outside the U.S.

Organizations that currently contribute to the

NTIS database include: the Japan Ministry of

International Trade and Industry (MITI);

laboratories administered by the United

Kingdom Department of Industry; the

German Federal Ministry of Research and

Technology (BMFT); the French National

Center for Scientific Research (CNRS); and

many more.

Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Industry

News Database—consists of two files; one

file is the current material, updated daily,

and contains the full text of all newsletter

articles written in the last 25 to 30 days. The

other file is an archival database, and

contains the full text of indexed articles from

the full range of PJB newsletters dating back

to 1980. All publications follow a similar

structure and contain sections on: Product &

Research News, Company News, U.K. &

International News, People, Meetings, and

Conferences.

Pharmaceutical News Index (PNI)—

online source of current news about

pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, medical devices,

and related health fields. PNI cites and

indexes all articles from the publications

listed in the SOURCES section below on the

following topics: drugs; corporation and

industry sales, mergers and acquisitions; and

government legislation, regulations, and

court action. It covers requests for proposals;

research grant applications; industry

speeches; press releases; and other news

items.

PR Newswire—contains the complete text

of news releases prepared by U.S. companies,

public relations agencies, trade associations,

city, state, Federal and municipal

government agencies, and other sources

covering the entire spectrum of news.

PROMT (Gale Group PROMT)—is a

multiple-industry database that provides

broad, international coverage of companies,

products, markets, and applied technologies

for all industries. PROMT is comprised of

abstracts and full-text records from the

world’s important trade and business

journals, local newspapers, regional business

publications, national and international

business newspapers, industry newsletters,

research studies, investment analysts’

reports, corporate news releases, and

corporate annual reports.

30176 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 5, 2001 / Notices

San Jose Mercury News—provides local,

national, and international news coverage.

Bureaus in Sacramento and Washington, DC,

enable the newspaper to provide full

coverage of state and Federal Government

news. Particular emphasis is given to high

technology and the developments in the

industries of Silicon Valley, including

coverage of the following companies:

Hewlett-Packard, Apple Computer,

Consolidated Freightways, Intel, Amdahl,

Sun Microsystems, National Semiconductor,

Tandem Computers, Seagate Technology, and

Syntex. Bureaus in Tokyo, Mexico City, Los

Angeles, and Seattle enable the San Jose

Mercury News to focus on business and

economic developments of the Pacific Rim.

Other major areas of coverage include

science, medicine, and real estate.

SciSearch—is an international,

multidisciplinary index to the literature of

science, technology, biomedicine, and related

disciplines produced by the Institute for

Scientific Information’’ (ISI’’). SciSearch

contains all of the records published in the

Science Citation Index (SCI), plus

additional records from the Current

Contents publications.

Social SciSearch—database is an

international, multidisciplinary index to the

literature of the social, behavioral, and

related sciences, produced by the Institute for

Scientific Information (ISI). Social

SciSearch contains all of the records

published in the Social Sciences Citation

Index.

Softbase: Reviews, Companies, and

Products—is a suite of three discrete record

types: review records, product records, and

company records. The three linked and interrelated record types can be used separately

or together, providing an important

navigation tool for researchers in the

intelligent information technology industry.

Detailed descriptions of products in the

product record file and of companies in the

company record file can be linked to each

other and to independent third-party reviews

and analyses abstracted from more than 200

business, computer, technical, trade, and

consumer publications.

Trade & Industry DatabaseTM (Gale Group

Trade & Industry DatabaseTM)—is a multiindustry database covering international

company, industry, product, and market

information, with strong coverage of such

areas as management techniques, financial

earnings, economic climate, product

evaluations, and executive changes. Industry

subfiles allow users to narrow or broaden

their searches to one or more groups of

industry specific publications.

Transportation Research Information

Services—is a composite file with records

that are either abstracts of published articles

and reports, or summaries of ongoing or

recently completed research projects relevant

to the planning, development, operation, and

performance of transportation systems and

their components. TRIS provides

international coverage of ongoing research

projects, published journal articles, state and

Federal Government reports, conference

proceedings, research and technical papers,

and monographs.

Wall Street Journal Abstracts—contains

abstracts of all articles published in the

Eastern 3-star Edition of The Wall Street

Journal newspaper. The Wall Street Journal

is a daily newspaper valued worldwide for

its coverage of business, finance, and

economics.

Wilson Applied Science & Technology

Abstracts—provides comprehensive

abstracting and indexing of more than 400

core English-language scientific and

technical publications. Non-English-language

periodicals are indexed if English abstracts

are provided. Periodical coverage includes

trade and industrial publications, journals

issued by professional and technical

societies, and specialized subject periodicals,

as well as special issues such as buyers’

guides, directories, and conference

proceedings. Wilson Applied Science &

Technology Abstracts covers a wide range of

interdisciplinary fields through a broad array

of science and technology journals. Detailed

abstracts of 50 to 150 words describe the

content and scope of the source articles.

Materials indexed include feature articles,

interviews, obituaries, biographies, speeches,

and product evaluations.

WIPO/PCT Patents Full-Text—covers the

full text of PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty)

published applications issued under the

auspices of the World Intellectual Property

Organization (WIPO) since 1983. At present,

171 member states participate in the PCT

system. A single PCT application can be

designated as valid in any or all of the

member states, so it is essentially equivalent

to having filed with each designated national

and regional patent office.

World Reporter—is a comprehensive,

global news source, developed jointly by

three of the world’s leading information

companies: The Dialog Corporation,

Financial Times Information, and Dow Jones

& Company. World Reporter covers the

leading newspapers, business magazines, and

newswires from all regions of the world,

including emerging markets.

[FR Doc. 01–14092 Filed 6–4–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P

COMMISSION OF FINE ARTS

Notice of Meeting

The next meeting of the Commission

of Fine Arts is scheduled for June 21,

2001 at 10:00 a.m., in the Commission’s

offices at the National Building

Museum, Suite 312, Judiciary Square,

441 F Street, NW, Washington, DC,

20001–2728. Items of discussion

affecting the appearance of Washington,

DC, may include buildings, parks and

memorials.

Draft agendas are available to the

public one week prior to the meeting.

Inquiries regarding the agenda and

requests to submit written or oral

statements should be addressed to

Charles H. Atherton, Secretary,

Commission of Fine Arts, at the above

address or call 202–504–2200.

Individuals requiring sign language

interpretation for the hearing impaired

should contact the Secretary at least 10

days before the meeting date.

Dated: in Washington, DC, May 30, 2001.

Charles H. Atherton,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–14115 Filed 6–4–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6330–01–M

DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES

SAFETY BOARD

FOIA Fee Schedule Update

AGENCY: Defense Nuclear Facilities

Safety Board.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Defense Nuclear

Facilities Safety Board is publishing its

annual update to the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA) Fee Schedule

pursuant to 10 CFR 1703.107(b)(6) of the

Board’s regulations.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 1, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kenneth M. Pusateri, General Manager,

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board,

625 Indiana Avenue, NW, Suite 700,

Washington, DC 20004–2901, (202) 694–

7060.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FOIA

requires each Federal agency covered by

the Act to specify a schedule of fees

applicable to processing of requests for

agency records. 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(i). On

March 15, 1991, the Board published for

comment in the Federal Register its

proposed FOIA Fee Schedule. 56 FR

11114. No comments were received in

response to that notice and the Board

issued a final Fee Schedule on May 6,

1991.

Pursuant to 10 CFR 1703.107(b)(6) of

the Board’s regulations, the Board’s

General Manager will update the FOIA

Fee Schedule once every 12 months.

Previous Fee Schedule updates were

published in the Federal Register and

went into effect, most recently, on June

6, 2000, 65 FR 35810.

Board Action

Accordingly, the Board issues the

following schedule of updated fees for

services performed in response to FOIA

requests:

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

Schedule of Fees for FOIA Services

(Implementing 10 CFR 1703.107(b)(6))

Search or Review Charge: $55.00 per

hour

Copy Charge (paper): $.04 per page, if

done in-house, or generally available

commercial rate (approximately $.10

per page)