Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 86 / Thursday, May 2, 1996 / Notices 19611

Officer; telephone: (803) 571-4366; fax:

(803) 769-4520; E-mail:

Susan_Buchanan@safmc.nmfs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Meeting Dates

May 20, 1996, 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

and May 21, 1996, 8:30 a.m. to 12:00

noon.

The Snapper Grouper and Controlled

Access Committees will meet jointly

with the Snapper Grouper Advisory

Panel to review the draft options paper

for Amendment 9 to the Snapper

Grouper Fishery Management Plan

(FMP), and develop recommendations

for options to be included in the

amendment for public hearing.

May 21, 1996, 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

and May 22, 1996, 8:30 a.m. to 12:00

noon.

The Snapper Grouper and Controlled

Access Committees will meet jointly

with the Snapper Grouper Advisory

Panel to review a videotape on the

Oculina Bank HAPC (Habitat Area of

Particular Concern). They will then

review the draft options paper for

Amendment 8 to the Snapper Grouper

FMP and develop recommendations for

options to be included in the

amendment for public hearing.

May 22, 1996, 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Executive and Finance

Committees will meet jointly. The

Executive Committee will review and

develop recommendations for the Fiscal

Year 1997 Council activities schedule.

The Finance Committee will develop

the Fiscal Year 1997 budget for

presentation to the Council in June.

Special Accommodations

These meetings are physically

accessible to people with disabilities.

Requests for sign language

interpretation or other auxiliary aids

should be directed to the Council office

(see ADDRESSES) by May 14, 1996.

Dated: April 25, 1996.

Richard W. Surdi,

Acting Director, Office of Fisheries

Conservation and Management, National

Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 96–10844 Filed 5–1–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

Patent and Trademark Office

Notice of Hearing and Request for

Comments on a Technical

Documentation Strategy

AGENCY: Patent and Trademark Office,

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of a hearing and request

for public comments.

SUMMARY: The Patent and Trademark

Office (PTO) will hold a public hearing

and is seeking written comments to

obtain views of the public on the effort

of the PTO to make technical

documentation accessible to patent

examiners and the public while

adhering to certain constraints on

financial and personnel resources.

Interested members of the public are

invited to testify at a public hearing and

to present written comments on the

topics outlined in this notice or on any

aspect of this effort.

DATES: A public hearing will be held at

9:00 a.m. on Friday, May 31, 1996

Requests to present oral testimony at

the public hearing should be received

on or before May 30, 1996.

Any written comments by those

persons offering testimony at the

hearings and related to that testimony

should be submitted on or before May

30, 1996.

Other written comments will be

accepted until June 7, 1996.

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held in

the Commissioner’s Conference Room

(Room 912), Crystal Park Two, 2121

Crystal Drive, Arlington, Virginia.

Persons wishing to speak at the

hearings must notify Mr. Lee Schroeder,

in writing marked to his attention at

Commissioner of Patents and

Trademarks, Box 4, Washington, DC

20231, or by telephone (703) 305–9300

or by telefax at (703) 305–8885, in order

to be placed on a list of speakers for the

hearing.

Persons wishing to offer written

comments should address those

comments to the Commissioner of

Patent and Trademarks, Box 4, Patent

and Trademark Office, Washington, DC

20231, marked to the attention of Mr.

Lee Schroeder.

Written comments and transcripts of

the hearing will be available for public

inspection in Room 902 of Crystal Park

Two, at 2121 Crystal Drive, Arlington,

Virginia.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Lee Schroeder by telephone at (703)

305–9300, by telefax at (703) 305–8885

or by mail marked to his attention and

addressed to Commissioner of Patents

and Trademarks, Box 4, Patent and

Trademark Office, Washington, DC

20231.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

The PTO currently makes technical

documentation (foreign and domestic

patent and non-patent literature in

many forms) available to persons within

the PTO for use in the patent

examination process. Much of the

documentation is accessible through use

of the United States Patent

Classification System (USPCS). The

same documentation is made available

to members of the public for use as a

source of technical information or for

other patent-related uses.

To better use the limited financial and

personnel resources available to the

PTO, certain changes have been made in

the documentation area. Less emphasis

is being placed on the continuing

reclassification of the documentation in

the USPCS and the classification of new

foreign patent copies and more reliance

is being placed on the classification

efforts of other countries and the use of

more sophisticated electronic search

tools.

To be more specific, the PTO is

placing increased reliance on the many

commercial data bases of technical

information as well as data bases

maintained by the PTO. These data

bases cover foreign and domestic patent

and non-patent literature. The PTO is

also placing increased reliance on the

classifying, abstracting and

summarizing efforts of documentation

by both domestic and foreign private

entities and also by foreign government

or intergovernmental entities.

Consequently, less reliance is being

placed on the reclassification effort

within the PTO. Also, the PTO no

longer classifies new foreign patents in

the USPCS.

The public’s views are sought on the

increased reliance on the work of others

in the classifying, abstracting and

summarizing of documentation and less

reliance on the USPCS and

classification efforts of persons within

the PTO. Public views are also sought

on the increased reliance on

computerized searching aids, be they

full text data bases or data bases of

abstracted material, classified or not.

Public views are also sought on placing

increased reliance on data bases and

other sources to at least identify such

documents after which a full-text copy

of the document could be obtained.

Written comments may be offered on

the questions posed below. Comments

will also be accepted on any other

aspects of the approach of the PTO to

make technical information available

both to patent examiners and the public.

2. Questions for the Hearing

The public hearing will be held to

receive comments on the following

specific questions:

A. Are the classification efforts of

others (using systems or data bases of

classification different from the United

States Patent Classification System) able

to replace, or partially replace the
19612 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 86 / Thursday, May 2, 1996 / Notices

United States Patent Classification

System?

B. Are the public users of the

classified technical information systems

of the Patent and Trademark Office

willing to contribute, or contribute

more, toward ever increasing costs of

maintaining these systems?

C. Since the usefulness of automated

search tools is affected by the

characteristics of the technology being

searched, should the Patent and

Trademark Office tailor the search

system by technology rather than

maintaining the USPCS for all

technologies?

D. Since it is known that different

search tools and techniques lead to

different search results (e.g., different

results from text or structure search vs.

classified image search), are automated

assisted searches acceptable if there is

an overall improvement in the quality of

the patentability search?

E. Advances contemplated in future

search systems permit the examiner to

add value to the data base while

conducting a search by adding or

changing classifications for a document,

inserting markers and notes on a

document, adding documents, etc. This

value-added capability leads to search

files that exist only in electronic form

and which are constantly being

upgraded.

1. Does the public need access to the

examiner’s search file?

2. For post-prosecution/litigation

purposes, does the public need to know

what is in the examiner’s search file at

the time the examiner made the search?

F. How should the Patent and

Trademark Office approach the issue of

classification and retrieval of prior art in

view of the current state of the art in the

electronic document search and

retrieval area, and expected

developments in this area, including

fully paperless patent and non-patent

data bases?

Dated: April 26, 1996.

Bruce A. Lehman,

Assistant Secretary of Commerce and

Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks.

[FR Doc. 96–10930 Filed 5–1–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–16–M

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING

COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission.

TIME AND DATE: 11:00 a.m., Friday, May

3, 1996.

PLACE: 1155 21st St. N.W., Washington,

D.C., 9th Floor Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Surveillance

Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 96–11104 Filed 4–30–96; 3:03 pm]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission.

TIME AND DATE: 11:00 a.m., Friday, May

10, 1996.

PLACE: 1155 21st St. NW., Washington,

D.C. 9th Floor Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Surveillance

Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 96–11105 Filed 4–30–96; 3:03 pm]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission.

TIME AND DATE: 10:00 a.m., Tuesday,

May 14, 1996.

PLACE: 1155 21st St., N.W., Washington,

D.C., 9th Fl. Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

Enforcement Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 96–11106 Filed 4–30–96; 3:03 pm]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission.

TIME AND DATE: 10:00 a.m., Thursday,

May 30, 1996.

PLACE: 1155 21st St., N.W., Washington,

D.C. 9th Fl. Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

Enforcement Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 96–11107 Filed 4–30–96; 3:03 pm]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission.

TIME AND DATE: 11:00 a.m., Friday, May

31, 1996.

PLACE: 1155 21st St. NE., Washington,

DC. 9th Floor Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Surveillance

Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 96–11108 Filed 4–30–96; 3:03 pm]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission.

TIME AND DATE: 11:00 a.m., Friday, May

24, 1996.

PLACE: 1155 21st St. N.W., Washington,

D.C. 9th Floor Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Surveillance

Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 96–11109 Filed 4–30–96; 3:03 pm]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission.

TIME AND DATE: 11:00 a.m., Friday, May

17, 1996.

PLACE: 1155 21st St. N.W., Washington,

D.C. 9th Floor Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Surveillance

Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 96–11110 Filed 4–30–96; 3:30 pm]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M