27986 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 96 / Wednesday, May 19, 2010 / Notices 

15Additional guidance for seeking a waiver of the 

electronic filing requirements can be found in the 

CCI Grant Guidance at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ 

broadbandusa/. Note that the CCI Grant Guidance 

includes key submission dates. These dates have 

been superseded by the dates contained in this 

Notice. 

electronic mail, or other media format. 

Applicants, however, may request a 

waiver of these filing instructions 

pursuant to Section X.N. of the Second 

NOFA.15

Dated: May 13, 2010. 

Anna M. Gomez, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for 

Communications and Information. 

[FR Doc. 2010–11898 Filed 5–18–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–60–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

United States Patent and Trademark 

Office 

[Docket No.: PTO–P–2010–0040] 

Electronic Filing System—Web (EFSWeb) Contingency Option 

AGENCY: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO) is increasing 

the availability of its patent electronic 

filing system, Electronic Filing 

System—Web (EFS-Web) by providing a 

new contingency option when the 

primary portal to EFS-Web has an 

unscheduled outage. Previously, the 

entire EFS-Web system is not available 

to the users during such an outage. The 

contingency option in EFS-Web will 

permit users to sign-on as unregistered 

EFS-Web users to file new applications, 

national stage submissions under the 

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) 

submitted with the basic national fee 

necessary to enter the national stage, 

requests for reexamination, and certain 

petitions, during an unscheduled outage 

of the primary portal to EFS-Web. 

DATES: Effective Date: May 19, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joni 

Y. Chang, Senior Legal Advisor, Office 

of Patent Legal Administration, Office of 

the Associate Commissioner for Patent 

Examination Policy, by telephone at 

571–272–7720, or by mail addressed to: 

Mail Stop Comments Patents, 

Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 

1450, Alexandria, VA 22313–1450. 

Inquiries regarding EFS-Web and 

other USPTO information technology 

(IT) systems may be directed to the 

Patent Electronic Business Center 

(Patent EBC), by telephone: 1–866–217– 

9197 (toll-free) and 571–272–4100, or by 

e-mail: ebc@uspto.gov. 

Inquiries regarding IT policy for U.S. 

national patent applications may be 

directed to Mark Polutta, Senior Legal 

Advisor, Office of Patent Legal 

Administration, by telephone at 571– 

272–7709. 

Inquiries regarding IT policy for 

international patent applications may be 

directed to Tamara Graysay, Special 

Program Examiner, Office of Patent 

Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Legal 

Administration, by telephone at 571– 

272–6728. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

USPTO is increasing the availability of 

EFS-Web by providing a new 

contingency option in EFS-Web when 

the primary portal to EFS-Web has an 

unscheduled outage. Currently, 

approximately eighty-seven percent of 

new patent applications are being 

electronically filed via EFS-Web. 

Applicants experience many benefits 

from filing their applications and 

follow-on documents electronically. For 

example, applicants promptly receive 

an electronic acknowledgment receipt of 

their electronic submissions and have 

the ability to review their applications 

or documents via the Patent Application 

Information Retrieval (PAIR) system 

within an hour after the USPTO receives 

the electronic submissions. 

Furthermore, independent inventors 

and other small entity applicants who 

file their applications electronically via 

EFS-Web receive a discount on the basic 

filing fee. Previously, when the primary 

portal to EFS-Web is unavailable during 

an unscheduled outage, the entire EFSWeb system is unavailable to users. The 

new contingency option in EFS-Web 

will minimize any inconvenience to 

users who wish to file a new application 

during an unscheduled outage of the 

primary portal to EFS-Web. 

I. EFS-Web Contingency Option 

Effective immediately, the USPTO 

will provide EFS-Web Contingency 

Option to users to file new applications, 

national stage submissions under 35 

U.S.C. 371, requests for reexamination, 

and certain petitions when the primary 

portal to EFS-Web is unavailable during 

an unscheduled outage. The USPTO 

will post a notification of any 

unscheduled outage of the primary 

portal to EFS-Web and provide the link 

to EFS-Web Contingency Option on the 

EFS-Web Internet page (http:// 

www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/ 

index.jsp). The EFS-Web Contingency 

Option will have the same functionality 

as EFS-Web for unregistered e-filers 

(https://sportal.uspto.gov/secure/portal/ 

efs-unregistered). It will permit users to 

sign on as unregistered EFS-Web users 

to file new applications, national stage 

submissions under 35 U.S.C. 371 

submitted with the basic national fee 

necessary to enter the national stage, 

requests for reexamination, and certain 

petitions. However, other follow-on 

documents and fee payments filed after 

the initial submission of the application 

or reexamination request (e.g., 

amendments and replies to Office 

actions) cannot be filed using EFS-Web 

Contingency Option. 

Specifically, EFS-Web Contingency 

Option will only permit users to 

electronically file the following items as 

unregistered EFS-Web users: 

1. Provisional patent applications 

under 35 U.S.C. 111(b); 

2. Nonprovisional utility patent 

applications under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) 

(including reissue utility patent 

applications); 

3. Nonprovisional design patent 

applications under 35 U.S.C. 171 

(including reissue design patent 

applications); 

4. International applications under 

PCT Article 11 for filing in the United 

States Receiving Office; 

5. National stage submissions under 

35 U.S.C. 371 submitted with the basic 

national fee necessary to enter the 

national stage; 

6. Requests for ex parte reexamination 

under 35 U.S.C. 302 for utility or design 

patents; 

7. Requests for inter partes 

reexamination under 35 U.S.C. 311 for 

utility or design patents; 

8. Petitions to make special based on 

age under 37 CFR 1.102(c) when filed as 

an e-petition using the EFS-Web SB130 

form, for the automatic processing of the 

e-petition (for more information see 

http://www.uspto.gov/ebc/portal/efs/ 

sb130_instructions.doc); 

9. Petitions to accept an 

unintentionally delayed payment of 

maintenance fee under 37 CFR 1.378(c) 

when filed as an e-petition using the 

EFS-Web SB66 form, for the automatic 

processing of the e-petition (for more 

information see http://www.uspto.gov/

ebc/portal/efs/sb0066e_fill.doc); and 

10. Petition to make special under the 

accelerated examination program (must 

be filed with a nonprovisional utility 

patent application under 35 U.S.C. 

111(a)). 

Documents filed via EFS-Web 

Contingency Option as part of the 

submissions listed above must meet the 

same file format requirements 

established for EFS-Web, e.g., file size 

and PDF embedded-font requirements. 

The same file validation performed in 

EFS-Web will be performed in EFS-Web 

Contingency Option. Similar to EFSVerDate Mar<15>2010 16:07 May 18, 2010 Jkt 220001 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\19MYN1.SGM 19MYN1

jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 96 / Wednesday, May 19, 2010 / Notices 27987 

Web, EFS-Web Contingency Option will 

provide an Electronic 

Acknowledgement Receipt that 

establishes the date of receipt by the 

USPTO of an application or document 

submitted via EFS-Web Contingency 

Option. Applicant will not be required 

to, and should not, resubmit the 

application or document when the 

primary portal to EFS-Web is once again 

available. Any resubmission of an 

application will result in filing a 

duplicate application and, if applicant 

pays the filing fees again when 

submitting the duplicate application, no 

refund will be provided. 

Applications filed via EFS-Web 

Contingency Option are protected with 

the same level of security as EFS-Web 

for unregistered e-filers by using 

Transport Layer Security (TLS) to 

encrypt transmission over the Internet. 

Registered e-filers who have uploaded 

documents to a Saved Submission 

package in EFS-Web will not be able to 

access those Saved Submission 

documents in EFS-Web Contingency 

Option. Applicants can submit on-line 

fee payments by selecting fees on the fee 

calculation screen and completing their 

payment at time of submission (i.e., 

chose the ‘‘Yes! I want to pay now’’ 

button rather than ‘‘No—I will pay later’’ 

button). 

When the primary portal to EFS-Web 

is unavailable during an unscheduled 

outage, applicants may also file new 

applications, national stage submissions 

under 35 U.S.C. 371 submitted with the 

basic national fee necessary to enter the 

national stage, and reexamination 

requests, by hand-delivery to the 

USPTO, or ‘‘Express Mail’’ from the 

United States Postal Service (USPS) in 

accordance with 37 CFR 1.10, to 

establish the filing date or national stage 

entry date. See Legal Framework for 

Electronic Filing System—Web (EFSWeb), 74 FR 55200, 55204 (October 27, 

2009) (notice), and Revised Legal 

Framework for EFS-Web (http://

www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/ 

guidance/New_legal_framework.jsp) 

(Section C3). New applications, national 

stage submissions under 35 U.S.C. 371 

submitted with the basic national fee 

necessary to enter the national stage, 

and reexamination requests cannot be 

submitted by facsimile transmission, 

and certificate of mailing procedures 

under 37 CFR 1.8 do not apply to these 

items. 

The EFS-Web Contingency Option 

does not permit follow-on fee payments 

and follow-on documents other than 

those listed above. Applicants may file 

the documents or fee payments by: (1) 

Facsimile transmission, (2) first class 

mail with a certificate of mailing in 

accordance with 37 CFR 1.8, (3) handdelivery to the USPTO, or (4) ‘‘Express 

Mail’’ from USPS in accordance with 37 

CFR 1.10. Documents that are required 

to establish the filing date of an 

application (e.g., a missing drawing 

figure or page of the specification) 

cannot be submitted by facsimile 

transmission, and certificate of mailing 

procedures under 37 CFR 1.8 do not 

apply to these documents. 

II. Improperly Filed Follow-on 

Documents 

As previously stated, EFS-Web 

Contingency Option and EFS-Web for 

unregistered e-filers permit users to sign 

on as unregistered EFS-Web users to file 

new applications, national stage 

submissions under 35 U.S.C. 371 

submitted with the basic national fee 

necessary to enter the national stage, 

requests for reexamination and certain 

petitions. Unfortunately, EFS-Web 

Contingency and EFS-Web for 

unregistered e-filers have limited 

functionality, which do not permit users 

to file other follow-on documents and 

follow-on fee payments after the initial 

submission of the application or 

reexamination request (e.g., 

amendments and replies to Office 

actions). Accordingly, it will be 

improper for users to file follow-on 

documents as new applications. The 

USPTO will continue to provide 

answers to frequently asked questions, 

and other helpful information on the 

USPTO Web site. Users are encouraged 

to check the USPTO Web site for more 

information and contact the Patent 

Electronic Business Center for questions 

related to the usage of USPTO electronic 

systems. 

III. Additional Information Regarding 

National Stage Submissions 

The basic national fee is required in 

order for an international application to 

enter the national stage under 35 U.S.C. 

371. See 37 CFR 1.495. Users are 

permitted to submit the basic national 

fee with the national stage submission 

under 35 U.S.C. 371 via EFS-Web and 

EFS-Web Contingency Option using online payment screens that interface with 

the Revenue Accounting and 

Management (RAM) system. If the RAM 

system is unavailable, neither EFS-Web 

nor EFS-Web Contingency Option will 

permit users to make payment using the 

interactive payment screens. Applicant 

may pay the necessary national stage 

entry fees by including a written 

authorization to charge the desired fees 

together with the national stage 

submission under 35 U.S.C. 371, or 

sending the payment via ‘‘Express Mail’’ 

from the USPS in accordance with 37 

CFR 1.10 on the same date that the 

national stage submission is 

electronically filed. 

For any national stage submissions 

under 35 U.S.C. 371 filed via the EFSWeb or EFS-Web Contingency Option, 

the system automatically checks the 

Patent Application Locating and 

Monitoring (PALM) system to verify that 

no previous national stage submission 

has been made for the particular PCT 

international application referenced in 

the initial national stage submission. If 

the PALM system is unavailable, neither 

EFS-Web nor EFS-Web Contingency 

Option can complete the PALM 

verification, and thus EFS-Web and 

EFS-Web Contingency Option will not 

permit any national stage submissions 

under 35 U.S.C. 371 to be filed. 

Therefore, if PALM is unavailable, 

applicants may use hand-delivery or 

‘‘Express Mail’’ from the USPS in 

accordance with 37 CFR 1.10 to timely 

submit documents and fees for national 

stage entry. However, applicants may 

not file national stage submissions 

under 35 U.S.C. 371 and the basic 

national fee necessary to enter the 

national stage via facsimile 

transmission. See 37 CFR 1.6(d)(3) and 

1.8(a)(2)(i)(F). 

Dated: May 12, 2010. 

David J. Kappos, 

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 

Property and Director of the United States 

Patent and Trademark Office. 

[FR Doc. 2010–11906 Filed 5–18–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[A–580–810] 

Certain Welded Stainless Steel Pipes 

From the Republic of Korea: Final 

Results of Antidumping Duty 

Administrative Review 

AGENCY: Import Administration, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: On January 7, 2010, the 

Department of Commerce (the 

Department) published the preliminary 

results of the administrative review of 

the antidumping duty order on certain 

welded stainless steel pipes (WSSP) 

from the Republic of Korea (Korea). This 

review covers one producer/exporter of 

the subject merchandise to the United 

States, SeAH Steel Corporation (SeAH). 

The period of review (POR) is December 

1, 2007, through November 30, 2008. 

Based on our analysis of the comments 

received, we have made certain changes 


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