32602 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 116 / Friday, June 15, 2001 / Notices

Secretary. The ONMS has established

the Reserve Council and is now

accepting applications from interested

individuals to fill one vacant Native

Hawaiian representative position on the

Council. The Council is comprised of:

1. Three Native Hawaiian

representatives, including one Native

Hawaiian elder, with experience or

knowledge regarding Native Hawaiian

subsistence, cultural, religious, or other

activities in the Northwestern Hawaiian

Islands.

2. Three representatives from the nonFederal science community with

experience specific to the Northwestern

Hawaiian Islands and with expertise in

at least one of the following areas:

A. Marine mammal science.

B. Coral reef ecology.

C. Native marine flora and fauna of

the Hawaiian Islands.

D. Oceanography.

E. Any other scientific discipline the

Secretary determines to be appropriate.

3. Three representatives from nongovernmental wildlife/marine life,

environmental, and/or conservation

organizations.

4. One representative from the

commercial fishing industry that

conducts activities in the Northwestern

Hawaiian Islands.

5. One representative from the

recreational fishing industry that

conducts activities in the Northwestern

Hawaiian Islands.

6. One representative from the oceanrelated tourism industry.

7. One representative from the nonFederal community with experience in

education and outreach regarding

marine conversation issues.

8. One citizen-at-large representative.

The Reserve Council also includes

one representative from the State of

Hawaii (and an alternate as appropriate)

as appointed by the Governor; the

manager of the Hawaiian Islands

Humpback Whale National Marine

Sanctuary as a non-voting member; and

one representative each, as non-voting

members, from the Department of the

Interior, Department of State, National

Marine Fisheries Service, Marine

Mammal Commission, U.S. Coast

Guard, Department of Defense, National

Science Foundation, National Ocean

Service, and the Western Pacific

Regional Fishery Management Council.

The non-voting representatives and

their alternates are chosen by the

agencies and other entities which they

represent on the Council. The charter

for the Council can be found in the

application kit, or on the web site listed

above.

Selections to the Council will be

made based upon candidates’ particular

expertise and experience in relation to

the seat for which they are applying;

community and professional affiliations;

and philosophy regarding the

conservation and management of marine

resources. Persons who are interested in

applying for membership on the Council

may obtain an application from either

the person or website identified above.

Completed applications must be sent to

the address listed above and must be

received by July 16, 2001.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. Section 1431 et seq.;

Pub. L. 106–513.

(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog

Number 11.429 Marine Sanctuary Program)

Dated: June 11, 2001.

Ted I. Lillestolen,

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Oceans

and Coastal Zone Management.

[FR Doc. 01–15103 Filed 6–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–08–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 060601C]

New England Fishery Management

Council; Public Meetings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery

Management Council (Council) is

scheduling a public meeting of its Red

Crab Oversight Committee in June,

2001. Recommendations from the

committee will be brought to the full

Council for formal consideration and

action, if appropriate.

DATES: The meeting will held on Friday,

June 29, 2001, at 10 a.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at

the Sheraton Ferncroft Hotel, 50

Ferncroft Road, Danvers, MA 01923;

telephone: (978) 777–2500.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul

J. Howard, Executive Director, New

England Fishery Management Council

(978) 465–0492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Committee will hear and discuss a

preliminary report on the social and

economic aspects and available

information for the red crab fishing

industry. The Committee will hear and

discuss a report from the Plan

Development Team on progress on the

development of the Red Crab Fishery

Management Plan (FMP). The

Committee will discuss and develop

specific management alternatives for the

Red Crab FMP.

Although non-emergency issues not

contained in this agenda may come

before this group for discussion, those

issues may not be the subject of formal

action during this meeting. 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

Act, provided the public has been

notified of the Council’s intent to take

final action to address the emergency.

Special Accommodations

This meeting is physically accessible

to people with disabilities. Requests for

sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to Paul

J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5

days prior to the meeting dates.

Dated: June 12, 2001.

Richard W. Surdi,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–15196 Filed 6–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark

Office

Submission for OMB Review;

Comment Request

AGENCY: United States Patent and

Trademark Office (USPTO).

The United States Patent and

Trademark Office (USPTO) has

submitted to the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) for clearance the

following proposal for collection of

information under the provisions of the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35).

Title: Initial Patent Application

(Elimination of Continued Prosecution

Application Practice as to Utility and

Plant Patent Applications).

Form Numbers: PTO/SB/01/01A/02A/

02B/02C/03/03A/04/05/06/07/13PCT/

17/18/19/29/29A/101/102/103/104/105/

106/107/108/109/110.

Agency Approval Number: 0651–

0032.

Type of Request: Revision of a

currently approved collection.

Burden: 2,984,360 hours per year.

Number of Respondents: 319,350

responses per year.

Avg. Hours Per Response: The USPTO

estimates that it takes an average of 24

minutes to gather, prepare, and submit

a Continued Prosecution Application.

This is in contrast to the 12 minutes that

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 116 / Friday, June 15, 2001 / Notices 32603

the USPTO estimates that it takes the

public to gather, prepare, and submit a

Request for Continued Examination. If

the proposed rule to eliminate the

Continued Prosecution Application in

favor of the Request for Continued

Examination for utility and plant

applications is approved, fewer

Continued Prosecution Applications

will be submitted per year. The USPTO

estimates that the elimination of the

Continued Prosecution Applications in

the case of utility and plant applications

will decrease the burden associated

with the continued examination of

applications by 5,900 hours.

Needs and Uses: This collection of

information is required by 35 U.S.C. 131

and 37 CFR 1.16 through 1.84. An

applicant must provide sufficient

information to allow the USPTO to

properly examine the application to

determine whether it meets the

requirements outlined in the patent

statutes and regulations. The American

Inventors Protection Act of 1999

amended 35 U.S.C. 132 to provide that

the USPTO may prescribe regulations

for the continued examination of

applications (for a fee) at the request of

the applicant. As a result of the

American Inventors Protection Act of

1999, the USPTO implemented a new

practice called a Request for Continued

Examination as an alternative to the

existing Continued Prosecution

Application practice. Applicants can

request the continued examination of a

previously submitted utility or plant

application, instead of submitting a

Continued Prosecution Application. The

USPTO is proposing to eliminate the

use of Continued Prosecution

Applications in the case of utility and

plant applications. Applicants will

continue to use Continued Prosecution

Applications to request additional

examination of a previously submitted

design application. The USPTO will

continue to use the Continued

Prosecution Applications to process and

initiate the additional examination of a

previously submitted design

application.

Affected Public: Individuals or

households, businesses or other forprofit, not-for-profit institutions, farms,

Federal government, and state, local or

tribal government.

Frequency: On occasion.

Respondent’s Obligation: Required to

obtain or retain benefits.

OMB Desk Officer: David Rostker,

(202) 395–3897.

Copies of the above information

collection proposal can be obtained by

calling or writing Susan K. Brown,

Records Officer, Data Administration

Division, Office of Data Management,

United States Patent and Trademark

Office, Crystal Park 3, 3rd Floor, Suite

310, Washington, D.C. 20231, by phone

at (703) 308–7400, or via the Internet at

susan.brown@uspto.gov.

Written comments and

recommendations for the proposed

information collection should be sent

within 30 days of publication to David

Rostker, OMB Desk Officer, Room

10236, New Executive Office Building,

725 17th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

20503.

Dated: June 8, 2001.

Susan K. Brown,

Records Officer, Data Administration

Division, Office of Data Management.

[FR Doc. 01–15094 Filed 6–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office

Submission for OMB Review;

Comment Request

The United States Patent and

Trademark Office (USPTO) has

submitted to the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) for clearance the

following proposal for collection of

information under the provisions of the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35).

Agency: United States Patent and

Trademark Office (USPTO).

Title: Patent Processing (Updating)

(Proposed Amendment to Requests for

Continuing Examination and Forms for

Reconstruction of Unlocatable Files,

Request for Oral Appeal Hearing, and

Request for Deferral of Examination).

Form Numbers: PTO/SB/08A/08B/21/

22/23/24/25/26/27/30/31/35/36/42/43/

61/ 61PCT/62/63/64/64PCT/67/68/91/

92/96/97 and the proposed addition of

PTO/SB/32/37 and PTO–2053–A/B,

PTO–2054–A/B, and PTO–2055–A/B.

Agency Approval Number: 0651–

0031.

Type of Request: Revision of a

currently approved collection.

Burden: 1,021,941 hours.

Number of Respondents: 2,247,389

responses.

Avg. Hours Per Response: The USPTO

estimates that it will take the public

approximately 12 minutes to gather

information, prepare, and submit a

Request for Continued Examination, a

Request for an Oral Hearing before the

Board of Patent Appeals and

Interferences, or a Request for Deferral

of Examination. The new forms

associated with the reconstruction of

unlocatable files will not affect the

burden for this collection.

Needs and Uses: This collection of

information supports a proposed

rulemaking entitled ‘‘Elimination of

Continued Prosecution Application

Practice as to Utility and Plant Patent

Applications,’’ which will eliminate the

Continued Prosecution Application

(CPA) in favor of the Request for

Continued Examination (RCE) practice

for utility and plant applications. The

USPTO is retaining the current CPA

practice for design applications only.

Additionally, the USPTO is adding five

new forms to this collection pertaining

to the reconstruction of unlocatable

patent and application files, the request

for an oral hearing before the Board of

Patent Appeals and Interferences, and

the request for deferral of examination

of a non-reissue utility or plant

application. The public uses the forms

in this collection to request continued

examination of a previously submitted

application, to assist the USPTO in

reconstructing a current copy of a

missing patent or application file, to file

a written request for an oral hearing ‘‘in

a separate paper’’ before the Board of

Patent Appeals and Interferences, and to

request deferred examination of a patent

application for up to three years from

the earliest filing date for which a

benefit is claimed. The USPTO uses the

information collected from the public to

process and initiate continued

examination of a previously submitted

application, to notify an applicant or

patent owner that an application or

patent file is unlocatable and to request

a copy of the applicant’s or patentee’s

record of the application or patent file,

and to process and consider requests for

oral hearings before the Board of Patent

Appeals and Interferences and requests

for deferral of examination.

Affected Public: Individuals or

households, businesses or other forprofits, not-for-profit institutions, farms,

the Federal Government, and state, local

or tribal governments.

Frequency: On occasion.

Respondent’s Obligation: Required to

obtain or retain benefits.

OMB Desk Officer: David Rostker,

(202) 395–3897.

Copies of the above information

collection proposal can be obtained by

calling or writing Susan Brown, Records

Officer, Data Administration Division,

Office of Data Management, United

States Patent and Trademark Office,

Crystal Park 3, 3rd Floor, Suite 310,

Washington, D.C., 20231, by phone at

(703) 308–7400, or via the Internet at

susan.brown@uspto.gov.

Written comments and

recommendations for the proposed

information collection should be sent

within 30 days of publication to David