DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office

Soliciting Applications for Membership on Public Advisory Committee for Trademark Affairs

AGENCY: Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Patent and Trademark Office is seeking five members for the Public Advisory Committee for Trademark Affairs. Member terms would begin on January 1, 1998. A member must be an organization that is representative of the intellectual property community, e.g., a bar group, a business organization or an academic institution. Organizations interested in membership should send a letter expressing that interest and containing the information set out in the

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Supplementary information to the Patent and Trademark Office.

DATES: Submit applications on or before January 8, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Mail letters of request to participate in the Public Advisory Committee for Trademark Affairs to The Honorable Bruce A. Lehman, Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Washington, DC 20231.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David E. Bucher, Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Trademark Policy and Projects, at (703) 308-9100, ext. 20.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Committee is chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463). Its purpose has been, and continues to be, that of advising the Patent and Trademark Office (Office) on ways to increase the Office's efficiency and effectiveness and to provide a continuing flow of insights and perceptions from the private sector to the Office in the area of international and domestic trademark law.

The Office amended the charter of the Committee in 1996 to make the Committee more diverse and more representative of trademark owners, trademark practitioners and the Intellectual Property community as a whole. Accordingly, the Commissioner will select five representative organizations from among intellectual property organizations, bar groups, business-related organizations and academia. The five organizations whose members' terms will expire on December 31, 1997, are not precluded from responding to this notice. However, no member may serve more than two consecutive terms.

Each organization's letter to the Commissioner should explain the nature, size and characteristics of the organization and why this particular group is deserving of membership on this committee.

Selection of the organizations will be based on the following criteria: (1) members' familiarity with the operations of the Patent and Trademark Office relating to trademarks and trademark rules, trademark practices, and the administration of the trademark operations; (2) members' experience practicing before the Patent and Trademark Office in trademark matters; and (3) an indication of the organization's interest in trademark practices by programs such as established committees designed to improve trademark operations, or legal education activities regarding trademark practices.

Dated: December 12, 1997.
Bruce A. Lehman,
Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks.
[FR Doc. 97-33059 Filed 12-17-97; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510-16-P