Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 28, 2009 / Notices 4947 

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

Because 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert W. Bahr, Senior Patent Counsel, 

Office of the Deputy Commissioner for 

Patent Examination Policy, by telephone 

at (571) 272–8800, or by mail addressed 

to: Mail Stop Comments—Patents, 

Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 

1450, Alexandria, VA 22313–1450, 

marked to the attention of Robert W. 

Bahr. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Currently, 

many intellectual property (IP) offices 

that substantively examine patent 

applications do not perform a 

substantive examination on every patent 

application that is filed in the respective 

office. Specifically, a patent application 

is not given a substantive examination 

in many IP offices unless and until an 

applicant submits an express request for 

examination, and the failure to file any 

such request for examination within a 

specified time period results in 

abandonment or withdrawal of the 

application. This practice is commonly 

referred to as ‘‘deferred examination.’’ 

In the United States, the mere filing 

of a patent application and payment of 

the applicable fees is effectively a 

request for examination of the 

application. The USPTO frequently 

receives suggestions that the USPTO 

adopt a deferral of examination 

procedure. The USPTO has in place an 

optional deferred examination 

procedure that was adopted as part of 

the rule making to implement eighteenmonth publication of patent 

applications. See Changes to Implement 

Eighteen-Month Publication of Patent 

Applications, 65 FR 57023, 57033, 

57056 (Sept. 20, 2000), 1239 Off. Gaz. 

Pat. Office 63, 71–72, 92 (Oct. 10, 2000) 

(final rule). This deferral of examination 

procedure permits deferral of 

examination for up to three years from 

the earliest filing date for which a 

benefit is claimed under title 35, United 

States Code. See 37 CFR 1.103(d). The 

deferral of examination procedure set 

forth in 37 CFR 1.103(d), however, has 

been used in fewer than two hundred 

applications since its inception on 

November 29, 2000 (the effective date of 

eighteen-month publication and 37 CFR 

1.103(d)). 

The USPTO is conducting a 

roundtable to determine whether the 

support expressed for deferral of 

examination is isolated or whether there 

is general support in the patent 

community and/or the public sector 

generally for the adoption of some type 

of deferral of examination. The number 

of participants in the roundtable is 

limited to ensure that all who are 

speaking will have a meaningful chance 

to do so. The USPTO plans to invite a 

number of participants from patent user, 

practitioner, industry, and independent 

inventor organizations, academia, 

industry, and government. The USPTO 

also plans to have a few ‘‘at-large’’ 

participants based upon requests 

received in response to this notice to 

ensure that the USPTO is receiving a 

balanced array of views on deferral of 

examination. 

The roundtable is open to the public, 

but participation in the roundtable is by 

request, as the number of participants in 

the roundtable is limited. While 

members of the public who wish to 

participate in the roundtable must do so 

by request, members of the public who 

wish solely to observe need not submit 

a request. Any member of the public, 

however, may submit written comments 

on issues raised at the roundtable or on 

any pertaining to deferral of 

examination, for consideration by the 

USPTO. Persons submitting written 

comments should note that the USPTO 

does not plan to provide a ‘‘comment 

and response’’ analysis of such 

comments as this notice is not a notice 

of proposed rule making. 

The USPTO plans to make the 

roundtable available via Web cast. Web 

cast information will be available on the 

USPTO’s Internet Web site before the 

roundtable. The written comments and 

list of the roundtable participants and 

their associations will be posted on the 

USPTO’s Internet Web site. 

Dated: January 22, 2009. 

John J. Doll, 

Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for 

Intellectual Property and Acting Director of 

the United States Patent and Trademark 

Office. 

[FR Doc. E9–1740 Filed 1–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

Meeting of the Defense Department 

Advisory Committee on Women in the 

Services (DACOWITS) 

AGENCY: Department of Defense. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 10(a), 

Public Law 92–463, as amended, notice 

is hereby given of a forthcoming 

meeting of the Defense Department 

Advisory Committee on Women in the 

Services (DACOWITS). The purpose of 

the meeting is to receive briefings and 

information on the 2009 topics. The 

meeting is open to the public, subject to 

availability of space. 

DATES: February 18–19, 2009, 8:30 a.m.– 

5 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: Double Tree Hotel Crystal 

City National Airport, 300 Army Navy 

Drive, Arlington, VA 22202. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

MSgt Robert Bowling, USAF, 

DACOWITS, 4000 Defense Pentagon, 

Room 2C548A, Washington, DC 20301– 

4000. Robert.bowling@osd.mil. 

Telephone (703) 697–2122. Fax (703) 

614–6233. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Meeting Agenda 

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 8:30 

a.m.–5 p.m. 

—Rand Report on Assessing the 

Assignment Policy for Army Women 

and Delivery of Services to Reserve 

Component Families. 

—National Guard Support for Families 

of Wounded Warriors. 

—Public Forum. 

Thursday, February 19, 2009 8:30 a.m.– 

5 p.m. 

—Additional Briefings on Women’s 

Roles during Deployment and 

Support to Families of the Wounded. 

—Review of Topics for 2009, 

Installation Visits, and Focus Group 

Discussions. 

Interested persons may submit a 

written statement for consideration by 

the Defense Department Advisory 

Committee on Women in the Services. 

Individuals submitting a written 

statement must submit their statement 

to the Point of Contact at the address 

detailed above not later than 5 p.m., 

Monday, February 16, 2009. If a written 

statement is not received by Monday, 

February 16, 2009 prior to the meeting, 

which is the subject of this notice, then 

it may not be provided to or considered 

by the Defense Department Advisory 

Committee on Women in the Services 

until its next open meeting. The 

Designated Federal Officer will review 

all timely submissions with the Defense 

Department Advisory Committee on 

Women in the Services Chairperson and 

ensure they are provided to the 

members of the Defense Department 

Advisory Committee on Women in the 

Services. If members of the public are 

interested in making an oral statement, 

a written statement must be submitted 

as above. After reviewing the written 

comments, the Chairperson and the 

Designated Federal Officer will 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
4948 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 28, 2009 / Notices 

determine who of the requesting 

persons will be able to make an oral 

presentation of their issue during an 

open portion of this meeting or at a 

future meeting. Determination of who 

will be making an oral presentation will 

depend on time available and if the 

topics are relevant to the Committee’s 

activities. Two minutes will be allotted 

to persons desiring to make an oral 

presentation. Oral presentations by 

members of the public will be permitted 

only on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 

from 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. before the full 

Committee. Number of oral 

presentations to be made will depend 

on the number of requests received from 

members of the public. 

Dated: January 21, 2009. 

Patricia L. Toppings, 

OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, 

Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. E9–1799 Filed 1–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Notice of Proposed Information 

Collection Requests 

AGENCY: Department of Education. 

SUMMARY: The Leader, Information 

Collection Clearance Division, 

Regulatory Information Management 

Services, Office of Management, invites 

comments on the proposed information 

collection requests as required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before March 

30, 2009. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) provide interested 

Federal agencies and the public an early 

opportunity to comment on information 

collection requests. OMB may amend or 

waive the requirement for public 

consultation to the extent that public 

participation in the approval process 

would defeat the purpose of the 

information collection, violate State or 

Federal law, or substantially interfere 

with any agency’s ability to perform its 

statutory obligations. The Leader, 

Regulatory Information Management 

Services, Office of Management, 

publishes that notice containing 

proposed information collection 

requests prior to submission of these 

requests to OMB. Each proposed 

information collection, grouped by 

office, contains the following: (1) Type 

of review requested, e.g. new, revision, 

extension, existing or reinstatement; (2) 

Title; (3) Summary of the collection; (4) 

Description of the need for, and 

proposed use of, the information; (5) 

Respondents and frequency of 

collection; and (6) Reporting and/or 

Recordkeeping burden. OMB invites 

public comment. 

The Department of Education is 

especially interested in public comment 

addressing the following issues: (1) Is 

this collection necessary to the proper 

functions of the Department; (2) will 

this information be processed and used 

in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate 

of burden accurate; (4) how might the 

Department enhance the quality, utility, 

and clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (5) how might the 

Department minimize the burden of this 

collection on the respondents, including 

through the use of information 

technology. 

Dated: January 23, 2009. 

Angela C. Arrington, 

Leader, Information Collections Clearance 

Division, Regulatory Information 

Management Services Office of Management. 

Office of Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services 

Type of Review: Extension. 

Title: Annual State Application Under 

Part B of the Individuals with 

Disabilities Education Act as Amended 

in 2004. 

Frequency: Annually. 

Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal 

Gov’t, SEAs or LEAs. 

Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour 

Burden: 

Responses: 60. 

Burden Hours: 720. 

Abstract: The Individuals with 

Disabilities Education Act, signed on 

December 3, 2004, became Pub. L. 108– 

446. In accordance with 20 U.S.C. 

1412(a) a State is eligible for assistance 

under Part B for a fiscal year if the State 

submits a plan that provides assurances 

to the Secretary that the State has in 

effect policies and procedures to ensure 

that the State meets each of the 

conditions found in 20 U.S.C. 1412. 

Information Collection 1820–0030 is 

being extended so that a State can 

provide assurances that it either has or 

does not have in effect policies and 

procedures to meet the eligibility 

requirements of Part B of the Act as 

found in Pub. L. 108–446. Information 

Collection 1820–0030 corresponds with 

34 CFR Sections 300.100–176; 300.199; 

300.640–645; and 300.705. These 

sections include the requirement that 

the Secretary and local educational 

agencies located in the State be notified 

of any State-imposed rule, regulation, or 

policy that is not required by this title 

and Federal regulations. 

Requests for copies of the proposed 

information collection request may be 

accessed from http://edicsweb.ed.gov, 

by selecting the ‘‘Browse Pending 

Collections’’ link and by clicking on 

link number 3935. When you access the 

information collection, click on 

‘‘Download Attachments’’ to view. 

Written requests for information should 

be addressed to U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

LBJ, Washington, DC 20202–4537. 

Requests may also be electronically 

mailed to ICDocketMgr@ed.gov or faxed 

to 202–401–0920. Please specify the 

complete title of the information 

collection when making your request. 

Comments regarding burden and/or 

the collection activity requirements 

should be electronically mailed to 

ICDocketMgr@ed.gov. Individuals who 

use a telecommunications device for the 

deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1– 

800–877–8339. 

[FR Doc. E9–1848 Filed 1–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Department of Education. 

SUMMARY: The Director, Information 

Collection Clearance Division, 

Regulatory Information Management 

Services, Office of Management invites 

comments on the submission for OMB 

review as required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before February 

27, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be addressed to the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Attention: Education Desk Officer, 

Office of Management and Budget, 725 

17th Street, NW., Room 10222, New 

Executive Office Building, Washington, 

DC 20503 or faxed to (202) 395–6974. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) provide interested 

Federal agencies and the public an early 

opportunity to comment on information 

collection requests. OMB may amend or 

waive the requirement for public 

consultation to the extent that public 

participation in the approval process 

would defeat the purpose of the 

information collection, violate State or 

Federal law, or substantially interfere 

with any agency’s ability to perform its 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES