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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 60 / Tuesday, March 29, 2022 / Notices

3. NMFS Stock Assessment
Prioritization
4. NMFS Policy Directive 01–101–10
5. Essential Fish Habitat Model Tier 1
Review
6. Discuss and update 5-year stock
assessment review schedule and
review levels, including any
changes to the scheduling of
reviews for stock assessments
already on the calendar, and any
new additions to the schedule
7. Review the upcoming schedule and
nominate additional products for
review by the Center for
Independent Experts, if necessary.
8. Other business
9. Public comment
Special Accommodations
The meeting is physically accessible
to people with disabilities. Make direct
requests for sign language interpretation
or other auxiliary aids to Marlowe
Sabater at (808) 522–8143 or
[email protected], at least 5
days prior to the meeting date.
(Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.)
Dated: March 24, 2022.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022–06554 Filed 3–28–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Permit and Reporting
Requirements for Non-Commercial
Fishing in the Rose Atoll, Marianas
Trench, and Pacific Remote Islands
Marine National Monuments (MANM)
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection,
request for comment.
AGENCY:

The Department of
Commerce, in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA), invites the general public and
other Federal agencies to comment on
proposed and continuing information
collections, which helps us assess the
impact of our information collection
requirements and minimize the public’s
reporting burden. The purpose of this
notice is to allow for 60 days of public

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SUMMARY:

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comment preceding submission of the
collection to OMB.
DATES: To ensure consideration,
comments regarding this proposed
information collection must be received
on or before May 31, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments to
Adrienne Thomas, NOAA PRA Officer,
at [email protected]. Please
reference OMB Control Number 0648–
0664 in the subject line of your
comments. Do not submit Confidential
Business Information or otherwise
sensitive or protected information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
specific questions related to collection
activities should be directed to Walter
Ikehara, Fishery Information Specialist,
NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office,
(808) 725–5175, walter.ikehara@
noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
This is a request for extension of an
approved information collection.
NMFS manages non-commercial
fishing activities in the Rose Atoll,
Marianas Trench, and Pacific Remote
Islands Marine National Monuments.
Regulations at 50 CFR part 665 require
the owner and operator of a vessel used
to non-commercially fish for, take,
retain, or possess any management unit
species in these monuments to hold a
valid permit issued by NMFS.
Regulations also require the owner
and operator of a vessel that is chartered
to fish recreationally for, take, retain, or
possess, any management unit species
in these monuments to hold a valid
permit issued by NMFS. The fishing
vessel must be registered to the permit.
The charter business must be
established legally in the permit area
where it will operate. Charter vessel
clients are not required to have a permit.
The permit application collects basic
information about the permit applicant,
type of operation, vessel, and permit
area. NMFS uses this information to
confirm the identity of the applicant
and determine permit eligibility. The
information is important for
understanding the nature of the fishery
and its participants. It also aids in the
enforcement of fishing regulations
within the monuments.
Regulations also require the vessel
operator to report a complete record of
catch, effort, and other data on a NMFS
log sheet. The vessel operator must
record all requested information on the
log sheet within 24 hours of the
completion of each fishing day. The
vessel operator also must sign, date, and

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submit the form to NMFS within 30
days of the end of each fishing trip.
NMFS uses the information provided in
the log sheets to monitor fishing
activities, evaluate, and assess the status
of fish stocks, and determine whether
changes in management are needed to
sustain the productivity of the fishery
and conserve marine resources.
II. Method of Collection
Information is collected on paper
forms.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0648–0664.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Review: Regular submission,
extension of a currently approved
information collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households, businesses, or other forprofit organizations.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
25.
Estimated Time per Response: 15
minutes per permit application, 20
minutes per log sheet.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 31.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to
Public: $1,033.
Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory.
Legal Authority: 50 CFR 665.
IV. Request for Comments
We are soliciting public comments to
permit the Department to: (a) Evaluate
whether the proposed information
collection is necessary for the proper
functions of the Department, including
whether the information will have
practical utility; (b) Evaluate the
accuracy of our estimate of the time and
cost burden for this proposed collection,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c)
Evaluate ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and (d) Minimize the
reporting burden on those who are to
respond, including the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Comments that you submit in
response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include or
summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this information
collection request. Before including
your address, phone number, email
address, or other personal identifying
information in your comment, you
should be aware that your entire
comment—including your personal
identifying information—may be made
publicly available at any time. While
you may ask us in your comment to
withhold your personal identifying

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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 60 / Tuesday, March 29, 2022 / Notices
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of
the Chief Information Officer, Commerce
Department.
[FR Doc. 2022–06598 Filed 3–28–22; 8:45 am]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

I. Background

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No. PTO–P–2022–0001]

Expanded Collaborative Search Pilot
Program—New Combined Petition
Option for Participation
United States Patent and
Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO), in
partnership with the Japan Patent Office
(JPO) and the Korean Intellectual
Property Office (KIPO), have
collaborated on a new petition option
for participation in the Expanded
Collaborative Search Pilot (CSP)
program. The new petition option,
which has several enhancements
compared to the current petition form
and process, permits an applicant to file
a combined petition in one of the
partner intellectual property (IP) offices
rather than separate petitions in both
partner IP offices. Enhancements
include a more user-friendly layout,
addition of multilingual text, and a
foundation for data collection that both
satisfies the petition requirements and
streamlines the process for partaking in
the Expanded CSP program.
DATES: The combined petition option
and the related process will take effect
on March 29, 2022. Each IP office will
continue to grant no more than 400
requests per year per partner office for
the duration of the pilot, which is
currently set to expire on October 31,
2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Inquiries regarding any specific
application participating in the pilot
may be directed to Jessica Patterson,
Senior Advisor and Director,
International Worksharing, Planning,
and Implementation; Office of
International Patent Cooperation; at
571–272–8828 or Jessica.Patterson@
uspto.gov. Any inquiry regarding this
pilot program and the petition process
can be emailed to [email protected].
Inquiries concerning this notice may be
SUMMARY:

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directed to Michael Arguello;
Management and Program Analyst;
International Worksharing, Planning,
and Implementation; Office of
International Patent Cooperation; at
571–270–7876 or Michael.Arguello@
uspto.gov.

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The USPTO continually looks for
ways to improve its worksharing pilot
programs, including the Expanded CSP
program. The Expanded CSP program
provides applicants who cross-file with
the USPTO and the JPO or the KIPO
with search results from each office
early in the examination process. It is
designed to accelerate examination and
provide the applicant with more
comprehensive prior art by combining
the search expertise of the USPTO and
the JPO or the KIPO examiners before
issuing a first office action. For
additional details of this program, see
Expanded Collaborative Search Pilot
Program Extension, 86 FR 8183
(February 4, 2021) (Expanded CSP
extension notice). Feedback from
applicants based in the United States,
Korea, and Japan has cited the petition
process as an area for improvement,
specifically the requirement to petition
each office separately. As a result, the
USPTO collaborated with its partner IP
offices, the JPO and the KIPO, to
develop combined petition forms (PTO/
437–JP for the USPTO/JPO pilot
program and PTO/437–KR for the
USPTO/KIPO pilot program).
Submitting a completed combined
petition form to either the USPTO or the
partner IP office (JPO or KIPO) will
result in receipt of the form at both
offices in the corresponding pilot and
placement in the application files of
both counterpart applications.
The current petition option and
process, in which an applicant files a
petition or a request separately with
each partner IP office (original petition
option), remains available. Under the
original petition option, an applicant
must submit petition form PTO/SB/437
to the USPTO to request CSP
participation for the U.S. application
and a separate submission to the partner
IP office in the desired pilot to request
CSP participation for a counterpart
application.
II. Overview of the Combined Petition
Option
Applicants need only submit one
combined petition form to the USPTO
or the partner IP office (JPO or KIPO).
There are separate agreements between
the USPTO and the JPO and the USPTO

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17995

and the KIPO. Therefore, to request
participation in the corresponding pilot
between the USPTO and the JPO using
this combined petition option,
applicants must file the combined
petition form PTO/437–JP with either
the USPTO or the JPO. Likewise, to
request participation in the
corresponding pilot between the USPTO
and the KIPO using this combined
petition option, applicants must file the
combined petition form PTO/437–KR
with either the USPTO or the KIPO.
However, if an application in a pilot
program corresponds to more than one
counterpart application in a partner IP
office, the combined petition option
cannot be used. In this situation, an
applicant must use the original petition
option to request participation in the
Expanded CSP program.
Under the combined petition option,
use of the proper combined petition
form will assist applicants in complying
with the pilot program’s requirements,
and will assist the USPTO in quickly
identifying participating applications
and the partner IP office. The combined
petition forms for the USPTO/JPO pilot
and the USPTO/KIPO pilot are
multilingual. Both combined petition
forms provide links to the requirements
(with exceptions noted in section VI
below) and conditions for entry into the
respective pilot program for each
partner IP office. As each office’s
conditions for entry may differ,
applicants should review the
requirements of the relevant partner IP
offices to ensure compliance.
Forms PTO/437–JP and PTO/437–KR
are available at www.uspto.gov/
CollaborativeSearch. The forms will
also be available as Portable Document
Format (PDF) fillable forms in EFS-Web
and Patent Center and on the USPTO
website at www.uspto.gov/patents/
apply/forms/forms-patent-applicationsfiled-or-after-september-16-2012. The
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) has reviewed and approved the
collection of information involved in
this pilot program, under the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.), as part of a collection identified
by OMB control number 0651–0079.
Collection 0651–0079 is available at
OMB’s Information Collection Review
website, www.reginfo.gov/public/do/
PRAMain. No fee for the combined
petition to make special under 37 CFR
1.102 is required for participation in the
Expanded CSP program.
III. Filing a Combined Petition Form
If opting to use a combined petition
form, applicants must file a completed
combined petition form (PTO/437–JP or

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