(227)                       DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
                          Patent and Trademark Office

                 Soliciting Applications for Membership on the
                Public Advisory Committee for Trademark Affairs

AGENCY: Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Patent and Trademark Office is seeking five members fox the
Public Advisory Committee for Trademark Affairs. Member terms would
begin on January 1, 1998. A nmst 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 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 Commmissioner
for Trademark Policy and Projects, at (703) 308-9100, ext. 20.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Commmittee 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 efficiancy 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 file 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 trademask practices by programs such as established committees
designed to improve trademark operations, or legal education activities
rcgarding Trademark practices.
   
December 12, 1997                                           BRUCE A. LEHMAN
                                        Assistant Secretary of Commerce and 
                                     Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks

                                [1205 TMOG 109]