Trademark Public Advisory Committee Public Hearing on the Proposed Trademark Fee Schedule
| Published date | 29 August 2019 |
| Citation | 84 FR 45470 |
| Record Number | 2019-18655 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Patent And Trademark Office |
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45470-45471]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18655]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No.: PTO-T-2019-0028]
Trademark Public Advisory Committee Public Hearing on the
Proposed Trademark Fee Schedule
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public hearing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Under Section 10 of the America Invents Act (AIA), the United
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) may set or adjust by rule
any patent or trademark fee established, authorized, or charged under
Title 35 of the United States Code or the Trademark Act of 1946,
respectively. The USPTO currently is planning to set or adjust
trademark fees pursuant to its Section 10 fee setting authority. As
part of the rulemaking process to set or adjust trademark fees, the
Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC) is required under Section 10
of the AIA to hold a public hearing about any proposed trademark fees,
and the USPTO is required to assist TPAC in carrying out that hearing.
To that end, the USPTO will make its proposed trademark fees available
as set forth in the Supplementary Information section of this Notice
before any TPAC hearing and will help the TPAC to notify the public
about the hearing. Accordingly, this document announces the dates and
logistics for the TPAC public hearing regarding USPTO proposed
trademark fees. Interested members of the public are invited to testify
at the hearing and/or submit written comments about the proposed
trademark fees.
DATES:
Public hearing: September 23, 2019.
Comments: For those wishing to submit written comments on the fee
proposal that will be published on or about September 9, 2019, but not
requesting an opportunity to testify at the public hearing, the
deadline for receipt of those written comments is September 30, 2019.
Oral testimony: Individuals wishing to present oral testimony at
the hearing must request an opportunity to do so in writing no later
than September 16, 2019. Those individuals who are scheduled by the
TPAC to present oral testimony at the hearing should submit a written
copy of their testimony for inclusion in the record of the proceedings
no later than September 30, 2019.
ADDRESSES:
Public hearing: The TPAC will hold a public hearing on September
23, 2019 beginning at 2:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST), and
ending at 4:00 p.m., EST, at the USPTO, Clara Barton Auditorium South,
Concourse Level, Madison Building, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria,
Virginia 22314.
Email: Written comments should be sent by email addressed to
[email protected].
Postal mail: Comments may also be submitted by postal mail
addressed to: Commissioner for Trademarks, P.O. Box 1451, Alexandria,
VA 22313-1451, attention Catherine Cain. Although comments may be
submitted by postal mail, the USPTO prefers to receive comments via
email. Written comments should be identified in the subject line of the
email or postal mailing as ``Fee Setting.'' Because comments will be
made available for public inspection, information that is not desired
to be made public, such as an address or telephone number should not be
included in the comments.
Web cast: The public hearing will be available via Web cast.
Information about the Web cast will be posted on the USPTO's internet
website (address: www.uspto.gov/about-us/performance-and-planning/fee-setting-and-adjusting) before the public hearing.
Transcripts: Transcript of the hearing will be available on the
USPTO internet website (address: www.uspto.gov/about-us/performance-and-planning/fee-setting-and-adjusting) shortly after the hearing.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Catherine Cain, Office of the Deputy
Commissioner for Trademark Examination Policy, at 571-272-8946, or by
email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Effective September 16, 2011, with the
passage of the AIA, the USPTO is authorized under Section 10 of the AIA
to set or adjust by rule all patent and trademark fees established,
authorized, or charged under Title 35 of the United States Code and the
Trademark Act of 1946, respectively. This authority was extended an
additional 8 years by the Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing
Engineering and Science Success (SUCCESS) Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-
273). Patent and trademark fees set or adjusted by rule under Section
10 of the AIA may only recover the aggregate estimated costs to the
Office for processing, activities, services, and materials relating to
patents and trademarks, respectively, including administrative costs of
the Office with respect to each as the case may be. This proposal
represents the third iteration of trademark fee setting by the USPTO to
set fees under the authority of the AIA. The first AIA trademark fee-
setting rule, which reduced certain trademark fees, was implemented in
January 2015, and the second was implemented in January 2017.
Congress set forth the process for the USPTO to follow in setting
or adjusting patent and trademark fees by rule under Section 10 of the
AIA. Congress requires the relevant advisory committee to hold a public
hearing about the USPTO fee proposals after receiving them from the
agency. Congress likewise requires the relevant advisory committee to
prepare a written report on the proposed fees and the USPTO to consider
the relevant
[[Page 45471]]
advisory committee's report before finally setting or adjusting the
fees. Further, Congress requires the USPTO to publish its proposed fees
and supporting rationale in the Federal Register and give the public
not less than 45 days in which to submit comments on the proposed
change in fees. Finally, Congress requires the USPTO to publish its
final rule setting or adjusting fees also in the Federal Register.
Presently, the USPTO is planning to exercise its fee-setting
authority to set or adjust trademark fees. The USPTO will publish a
proposed trademark fee schedule and related supplementary information
for public viewing on or about September 9, 2019, on the USPTO internet
website (address: www.uspto.gov/about-us/performance-and-planning/fee-setting-and-adjusting). In turn, the TPAC will hold a public hearing
about the proposed trademark fee schedule on the date indicated herein.
The USPTO will assist the TPAC in holding the hearing by providing
resources to organize the hearing and by notifying the public about the
hearing, such as through this notice.
Following the TPAC public hearing, the USPTO will publish a Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register, setting forth its
proposed trademark fees. The publication of that Notice will open a
comment window through which the public may provide written comments
directly to the USPTO. Additional information about public comment to
the USPTO will be provided in the USPTO's Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking.
Requests To Present Oral Testimony
Interested members of the public are invited to testify at the TPAC
hearing about the proposed trademark fees. Requests to testify should
indicate the following: (1) The name of the person wishing to testify;
(2) the person's contact information (telephone number and email
address); (3) the organization(s) the person represents, if any; and
(4) an indication of the amount of time needed for the testimony.
Requests to testify must be submitted by email to Anastasia Johnson at
[email protected]. Based upon the requests received, an
agenda for witness testimony will be sent to testifying requesters and
posted on the USPTO internet website (address: www.uspto.gov/about-us/performance-and-planning/fee-setting-and-adjusting). If time permits,
the TPAC may permit unscheduled testimony as well.
Dated: August 23, 2019.
Andrei Iancu,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2019-18655 Filed 8-28-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P
