37 CFR - Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights

The Copyright Royalty Judges are publishing for comment proposed regulations that would set the royalty rates and terms for the digital transmission of sound recordings by new subscription services and for the making of ephemeral recordings necessary to facilitate those transmissions for the period commencing January 1, 2016, and ending on December 31, 2020.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is revising the rules of practice pertaining to patent term adjustment in view of the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) in Novartis AG v. Lee. The Federal Circuit confirmed in Novartis that any time consumed by continued examination is subtracted in determining the extent to which the period of application pendency exceeds three years, regardless of when the continued examination was initiated. The Federal Circuit, however, decided that the time consumed by continued examination does not include the time after a notice of allowance, unless the Office actually resumes examination of the application after allowance. Accordingly, the Office is revising the rules of practice to provide that the time consumed by continued examination does not include the time after a notice of allowance, unless the applicant files a request for continued examination after such allowance. The Office also is revising the rules of practice to provide that the submission of a request for continued examination after any notice of allowance has been mailed will constitute a failure of an applicant to engage in reasonable efforts to conclude processing or examination of an application and thus result in a reduction of any period of patent term adjustment. The Office is providing an exception to this patent term adjustment reduction provision for a request for continued examination filed solely to submit information cited in a patent office communication in a counterpart application that is submitted to the Office within thirty days of receipt of the patent office communication. Additionally, the Office is clarifying what papers may be submitted after a notice of allowance without the applicant being considered to have failed to engage in reasonable efforts to conclude processing or examination of the application.

The United States Copyright Office is conducting the sixth triennial rulemaking proceeding under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) concerning possible exemptions to the DMCA's prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. On September 17, 2014, the Office published a Notice of Inquiry requesting petitions for proposed exemptions, and it has received forty-four petitions in response. With this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Office is initiating three rounds of public comment on exemptions proposed in the petitions. Interested parties are invited to make full legal and evidentiary submissions in support of or opposition to the proposed exemptions, in accordance with the requirements set forth below. The Office is providing a “long comment” form for this purpose. The Office is also offering members of the public the opportunity to express general support for or opposition to any of the proposals via a “short comment” form. Commenters should carefully review the legal and evidentiary standards for the granting of exemptions under the DMCA, which are set forth in the September Notice of Inquiry. Commenters should also review the guidance provided in this document regarding specific areas of legal and factual interest with respect to each proposed exemption or category of exemptions, and the types of evidence that commenters may wish to submit for the record. This document also provides information concerning the recommended format and content for submissions, including documentary and multimedia evidence.

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce a cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 2% in the royalty rates that colleges, universities, and other educational institutions not affiliated with National Public Radio pay for the use of published nondramatic musical compositions in the SESAC repertory for the statutory license under the Copyright Act for noncommercial broadcasting.

The Copyright Royalty Judges are publishing for comment proposed regulations governing the rates and terms for the digital performances of sound recordings by noncommercial educational webcasters and for the making of ephemeral recordings necessary for the facilitation of such transmissions for the period commencing January 1, 2016, and ending on December 31, 2020.

The Copyright Royalty Judges are announcing their final determination upholding the validity and application of the $500 minimum fee for noncommercial webcasters for the licensing period 2006 through 2010. The judges issued the determination in response to a second order of remand by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Their review of the evidence was de novo. The judges issued their initial determination in March 2014 and received no motions for rehearing.

The United States Copyright Office published in the Federal Register of September 18, 2014, a final rule implementing section 115(c)(5) of the Copyright Act of 1976, title 17 of the United States Code and prescribing by regulation the procedures for the monthly payment of royalties and preparation and service of monthly and annual statements of account by licensees pursuant to the Section 115 compulsory license for the making and distribution of phonorecords of nondramatic musical works. This document makes technical corrections to that final rule.

Pursuant to an act of Congress, the Librarian of Congress is amending applicable regulations to provide that the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that effectively control access to copyrighted works set forth in the United States Code shall not apply to persons who engage in such circumvention to enable used wireless telephone handsets to connect to wireless telecommunications networks when the circumvention is initiated either by the owner of the handset or certain other persons, and when connection to the network is authorized by the operator of the network.

The Copyright Royalty Judges are extending the period for filing reply comments.

The U.S. Copyright Office is proposing to amend its regulations for the recordation of copyright transfers and other documents. The proposed rule is intended to reduce the amount of time the Office requires to process certain types of documents submitted for recordation and help to alleviate remitter concerns regarding the receipt of documents for processing. To these ends, the Office is proposing to amend the regulations to encourage remitters to include a cover sheet with the documents they submit for processing; allow remitters to submit long title lists in electronic format; and provide remitters with the option to request return receipts that acknowledge that the Office has received a submission. The Office invites public comment on the proposed rule.