2/28. The Senate began consideration of S 23 [LOC | WW], the "Patent Reform Act", on February 28, 2011.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC), and lead sponsor of the bill, stated in the Senate on February 28 that "We should be able to complete action on this bill this week and I would hope by Wednesday night."

He stated that this bill "will help create jobs, energize the economy, and promote innovation. The Patent Reform Act, which has also come to be called the America Invents Act, is a key part of any jobs agenda."

Sen. Leahy (at right), said that "We can help unleash innovation and promote American invention, all without adding a penny to the deficit." The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is funded by user fees. The version of the bill under consideration would give the USPTO authority to both set and retain all fees.

Sen. Leahy, who has been working on patent reform legislation since 2005, said that "This is commonsense and bipartisan legislation. During the next few days, the Senate can come together to pass this needed legislation, and do so in a bipartisan manner. It represents the finest traditions of the Senate."

The SJC approved this bill without opposition on February 3, 2011. Although, some members of the SJC stated then that they would seek changes during full Senate consideration. See, story titled "Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Patent Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,196, February 7, 2011.

The bill would also convert the U.S. to a first inventor to file system.

It would also allow third parties to submit prior art related to a pending application, and provide a post grant administrative process at the USPTO for challenging the validity of patents

It would prevent patents from being issued on claims for tax strategies. It also seeks to limit forum shopping, and increase incentives for government laboratories to commercialize inventions. It also addresses the best mode disclosure requirement, and false marking claims.

Sen. Leahy said that this bill "will accomplish three important goals, which have been at the center of the patent reform debate from the beginning: It will improve and harmonize operations at the Patent and Trademark Office; it will improve the quality of patents that are issued; and it will provide more certainty in litigation."

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) stated that "This is a particularly important bill. It is only the first step, once we bring it up and hopefully pass it, and then the House will bring up their bill. There are likely to be differences between the two, and we will have to get together in conference to resolve those differences. So those who might have some angst about this particular bill, give it time."

Gary Locke, the Secretary of Commerce, stated at a news conference on Tuesday morning, March 1, 2011, that there is good communication between Sen. Leahy and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (HJC). Locke added that there is "mutual commitment".

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), the ranking Republican on the SJC, praised the bill, and stated that "the bill would improve patent quality by establishing the opportunity for third parties to submit prior art and other information related to a pending application for consideration by a patent examiner."

Sen. Grassley (at right) also stated that the bill would "create a ``first window´´ post-grant opposition proceeding open for 9 months after the grant of a patent", that would enable the USPTO "to weed out patents that should not have been issued in the first place."

He continued that this post grant review process "would enable early challenges to patents, but also protect the rights of inventors and patent owners against endless litigation. The reason we want to ensure that the Patent and Trademark Office issues high quality patents is to incentivize investment in truly innovative technological advances and provide more certainty for investors in these inventions."

Also, he said that "the bill would improve the current inter partes administrative process for challenging the validity of a patent. It would establish an adversarial inter partes review, with a higher threshold for initiating a proceeding and procedural safeguards to prevent a challenger from using the process to harass patent owners. It also would include a strengthened estoppel standard to prevent petitioners from raising in a subsequent challenge the same patent issues that were raised or reasonably could have been raised in a prior challenge. The bill would significantly reduce the ability to use post-grant procedures for abusive serial challenges to patents. These new procedures would also provide faster, less costly alternatives to civil litigation to challenge patents."

2/28. The Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a document titled "Statement of Administration Policy" (SAP) which states that the Obama administration "supports Senate passage of S. 23".

This SAP praises the bill's first to file provisions.

It also praises its grant of authority to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to set fees. The SAP is silent on retention of fees.

Gary Locke (at right), the Secretary of Commerce, stated at a news conference on Tuesday morning, March 1, 2011, that both setting and keeping fees are important. He elaborated that if patent fees were diverted, "this does not help us reform patent processes". To the contrary, with diversion, "we could actually be going backwards".

The SAP adds that "the Administration understands that several stakeholders have suggested that the provisions on damages and venue are no longer needed in the legislation in light of recent court decisions in these areas. The Administration would not object to removal of these provisions from the final version of the legislation."

Locke and David Kappos, the head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), held a joint news conference on March 1, 2011, at which they expressed support for the Senate patent reform legislation. They also discussed the USPTO, and the importance of the patent system to the economy.

Secretary Locke said that "passage of this legislation is essential", and that "patent reform is critical to the well being of our patent system" and economy.

Kappos said that the fee setting provision would provide the USPTO with "a larger resource base".

2/28. Ed Black, head of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), sent a letter [2 pages in PDF] to Senators in which he expressed opposition to S 23 [LOC | WW], the "Patent Reform Act".

He wrote that "Since much in S.23 remains unchanged from S.515 as amended last year, it is no less controversial and remains a source of disappointment to the tech sector. It is ironic that it was the concerns of our sector that drove the beginnings of the reform effort six years ago, and yet from our perspective S.23 would leave our industries worse off than before."

One of the concerns of the CCIA is business method patents. Black wrote that "In the course of the mark-up session for S.23, several senators spoke critically of business method patents. We applaud the committee's willingness to speak so bluntly against a broad swath of abstract patents that constrains competition, creates uncertainty, and departed so radically from the traditional technology roots of the patent system."

He continued that "by prospectively singling out a particular sub-type of legal compliance patents, the bill invites the courts to conclude that Congress is thus endorsing all other legal compliance patents, including all tax planning patents issued to date. In fact, the provision could be read as an implicit endorsement of all patents on ``business methods´´ as that term is broadly understood."

The CCIA is also concerned with the first to invent provisions. Black wrote that "Even the move to first-to-file which appears to make eminent sense in the interests of global harmonization poses a real danger since S.23 lacks the prior user rights that commonly mitigate the race to the patent office under first-to-file. The opportunity to use trivial patents for hold up will cause applications to swell, just as the need to file first will spur a rush of half-baked applications. The result will not only add greatly to the overpatenting that already exists in our sector, but it will add immeasurably the backlog that already burdens the USPTO."

David Kappos, the head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), responded to a question about this letter at a news conference on Tuesday, March 1, 2011. Kappos said that this bill is "compromise legislation", and that "it is not perfect from anybody's point of view".

3/1. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register requesting comments regarding its online employment application process for patent examiners. The deadline to submit comments is May 2, 2011. See, Federal Register, March 1, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 40, at Pages 11206-11208.

3/1. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register requesting comments regarding substantive submissions made during prosecution of a trademark application. The deadline to submit comments is May 2, 2011. See, Federal Register, March 1, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 40, at Pages 11208-11210.

3/1. The Copyright Royalty Judges published a notice in the Federal Register requesting comments regarding the motion filed by the Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), SESAC, and Harry Fox Agency (HFA) for partial distribution of the digital audio recording technology (DART) musical works funds for 2005 through 2008. Comments are due by March 31, 2011. See, Federal Register, March 1, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 40, at Pages 11287-11288.

2/25. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a release regarding a pilot project for the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) with the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI). The USPTO stated that this "will permit each office to benefit from work previously done by the other office, which reduces the examination workload and improves patent quality. The expedited examination in each office allows applicants to obtain corresponding patents faster and more efficiently in each country. Under the PPH pilot program an Office of Second Filing (OSF) may utilize the search and examination results of a national application filed in the Office of First Filing (OFF) in a corresponding application filed under the Paris Convention in the OSF."

2/24. The Library of Congress's (LOC) Copyright Office (CO) again extended the deadline to submit reply comments in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) regarding federal coverage of sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972. This proceeding is LOC Docket No. 2010-4. See, story titled "Library of Congress Issues NOI on Extending Copyright Act to Pre 1972 Sound Recordings" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,150, November 8, 2010. See also, notice in the Federal Register, November 3, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 212, at Pages 67777-67781; correction notice in the Federal Register, November 18, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 222, at Pages 70704-70705; extension notice in the Federal Register, December 1, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 230, at Pages 74749-74750; and, further extension notice in the Federal Register, February 24, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 37, at Pages 10405-10406.

2/17. The Copyright Office (CO) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, recites, and sets the effective date for, its amendments to its regulations to (1) set the minimum level of activity required to hold a Copyright Office deposit account at twelve transactions per year, (2) require deposit account holders to maintain a minimum balance in that account, (3) require the closure of a deposit account the second time it is overdrawn within any twelve month period, (4) and offer deposit account holders the option of automatic replenishment of their account via their bank account or credit card. The effective date is May 1, 2011. See, Federal Register, February 17, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 33, at Pages 9229-9231.

2/9. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, recites, describes, and sets the comment deadline for, its supplementary guidelines for the examination of claims in patent applications for compliance with the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112, which requires that claims particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter that applicant regards as his or her invention. These guidelines also pertain to the examination of claims that contain functional language for compliance with Section 112, especially computer implemented invention claims. These guidelines supplement the USPTO's Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP). The are effective February 9, 2011. The comment deadline is April 11, 2011. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 9, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 27, at Pages 7162-7175.

2/8. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register requesting comments regarding how it might use the Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs) more effectively. The deadline to submit comments is March 17, 2011. See, Federal Register, February 8, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 26, at Pages 6764-6765.

2/7. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, recites, and sets the effective date (February 7, 2011) its final regulation regarding tax treatment of a sale of a copyright in a musical work. The IRS stated that this regulation "provides the time and manner rules for electing to treat the sale or exchange of a musical composition or a copyright in a musical work created by the taxpayer (or received by the taxpayer from the composition or work's creator in a transferred basis transaction) as the sale or exchange of  a capital asset. (Parentheses in original.) See, Federal Register, February 7, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 25, at Pages 6553-6554.

2/4. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register that requests comments regarding proposed changes to its Prioritized Examination Track (Track I) of the Enhanced Examination Timing Control Procedures. The deadline to submit comments is March 7, 2011. See, Federal Register, February 4, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 24, at Pages 6369-6376. See also, notice in the Federal Register, June 4, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 107, at Pages 31763-31768, and story titled "USPTO Proposes Three Track Patent Examination System" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,092, June 4, 2010.

2/28. The Senate confirmed Amy Totenberg and Steve Jones to be Judges of the U.S. District Court (NDGa). See, Congressional Record, February 28, 2011, at Page S1022.

2/23. The Department of Commerce (DOC) announced the appointment of 22 persons to the President's Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration (PECSEA). See, DOC release.

3/1. The Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal and Economic Public Policy Studies released a paper [15 pages in PDF] titled "Public Safety or Commercial Use? A Cost/Benefit Framework for the D Block". The co-authors are the Phoenix Center's Lawrence Spiwak and Geroge Ford. This paper states that "The assignment of the D Block spectrum to public safety or commercial use requires an assessment of the relative benefits and costs of these two alternatives." This paper offers such an assessment, and concludes that "D Block assignment to public safety has a higher value, producing no less than $3.4 billion more in social benefits than commercial use. Much of this difference is attributable to the unique opportunity to create a contiguous 20 MHz block of spectrum, and the fact that this opportunity exists only for the public safety community." Also, "the economics seems to lean strongly in the direction of an assignment of the license to public safety."

2/28. The Federal Communications Commission published a notice in the Federal Register that sets comment deadlines for a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [71 pages in PDF] regarding changes to the Form 477 data program. Initial comments are due by March 30, 2011. Reply comments are due by April 14, 2011. The FCC adopted and released this NPRM on February 8, 2011. It is FCC 11-14 in WC Docket Nos. 07-38, 09-190, 10-132, 11-10. See, Federal Register, February 28, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 39, at Pages 10827-10852.

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The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for week of February 28.

The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM. It will resume consideration of S 23 [LOC | WW], the "Patent Reform Act".

9:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science will hold a hearing on the FY 2012 budget for the Department of Justice (DOJ). The witness will be Attorney General Eric Holder. Location: Room 2359, Rayburn Building.

9:00 AM. Georgetown University will host an event titled "DHS Eighth Anniversary Roundtable". The speakers will be Janet Napolitano, Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff. Location: Georgetown University, Gaston Hall, 37th and O St., NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Banking Committee (SBC) will hold a hearing regarding the Federal Reserve Board's report titled "Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress". The witness will be Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. See, notice. Location: Room 216, Hart Building.

11:00 AM. Gary Locke (Secretary of Commerce) and David Kappos (head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) will hold a closed teleconferenced event. The Department of Commerce (DOC) states that this is a "conference call on patent reform" for "media only". For more information, contact Shira Kramer at 202-482-4883 or skramer at doc dot gov.

12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. Proskauer and Lazard will host a webinar titled "Considering an IPO for Your Company".

1:00 - 2:00 PM. Fulbright & Jaworski will host a webinar titled "Where Is My Ripcord? What Counsel and Compliance Officers Need to Do When They Find Out the Company’s Data Has Been Shoved into the Cloud". See, notice and registration page. CLE credit.

1:30 PM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "Oversight of the Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC) will hold a closed meeting. Location: Room 219, Hart Building.

3:00 - 5:00 PM. The Tech Freedom will host an event titled "Decoding the FCC’s Net Neutrality Order". The speakers will be Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Larry Downes, Markham Erickson (Open Internet Coalition), Dave Farber (Carnegie Mellon University), Harold Feld (Public Knowledge), Link Hoewing (Verizon), Randy May (Free State Foundation), and Eliza Krigman (Politico). See, notice. Location: Reserve Officers Association, One Constitution Ave., NE.

5:30 - 7:30 PM. The Tech Freedom (TF) and Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) and will co-host a reception. This reception follows the TF's March 1 event titled "Decoding the FCC’s Net Neutrality Order", and precedes the IPI's March 2 event titled "Communications Summit" Location: Congressional Meeting Room South (CVC 217), Capitol Visitor Center.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "A Plain English Guide to the Revised FTC/DOJ Horizontal Merger Guidelines". The speakers will be Matthew Hammond (DOJ Antitrust Division), Jonathan Kanter (Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft), John Longstreth (K&L Gates), and Elizabeth McIntyre (FCC). See, notice. The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129. CLE credits. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the President's Export Council (PEC) in advance of its March 11, 2001, meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 18, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 34, at Page 9550.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for week of February 28.

8:30 AM - 4:45 PM. Day one of a three day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). The agenda includes discussion of a "National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace" and other topics. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 11, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 29, at Page 7818. Location: Homewood Suites by Washington, 1475 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

9:00 AM - 1:30 PM. The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) will host its third annual event titled "Communications Summit". The keynote speakers will be Meredith Baker (FCC Commissioner), former Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Andrew Keen. There will be three panels. The first is titled "Network Innovation and Internet Regulation: Friends or Enemies?". Its speakers are Richard Bennett (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation), Larry Downes, Randy May (Free State Foundation), and Carolyn Brandon (Georgetown University business school). The second panel is titled "Communications Sector as a Force for Economic Growth". Its speakers are John Horrigan (TechNet), Jeffrey Eisenach (Navigant Economics), and Michael Mandel (Progressive Policy Institute). The third panel is titled "Our Spot in the World -- A Global Perspective of Wireless & Innovation". Its speakers are Philip Verveer (U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, Department of State), David Gross (Wiley Rein), and Christopher Boam (Verizon). See, notice. Location: Reserve Officers Association Building, 5th Floor, One Constitution Ave., NE.

9:00 AM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Materials Processing Equipment Technical Advisory Committee will hold a partially closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 16, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 32, at Page 9001. Location: DOC, Room 6087B, Hoover Building, 14th Street between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues, NW.

9:00 AM. The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies will host a panel discussion titled "National Broadband Plan and the Underserved -- One Year Later". See, notice. Location: National Press Club, 13th floor, 529 14th St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science will hold a hearing on the FY 2012 budget for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The witness will be David Kappos. Location: Room H-309, Capitol Building.

10:00 AM. The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will hold a hearing titled "Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy". The witness will be Ben Bernanke. See, notice. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "Ongoing Intelligence Activities". See, notice. Location?

10:00 AM. The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) will hold a hearing on the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) budget request for FY 2012. Janet Napolitano (Secretary of Homeland Security) will testify. See, notice. Location: Room 138, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "The Future of American Manufacturing: Maintaining America's Competitive Edge". The witnesses will include Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce. See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) will hold a hearing regarding Special 301 designations. The Trade Act of 1974, in what is commonly known as its Special 301 provisions, requires the executive branch to identify countries that fail to protect the IPR and market access of U.S. companies, and take certain actions against those countries. See, OUSTR calendar. Location: OUSTR, 1724 F St., NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a meeting titled "Meet the Federal Communications Commission's Office of General Counsel". The participants will be Austin Schlick (FCC General Counsel), Julie Veach (Deputy General Counsel for Administrative Law), and Peter Karanjia (Deputy General Counsel for Litigation). The FCBA states that this is an FCBA event. Location: Jenner & Block, 1099 New York Ave., NW.

2:00 PM. The House Appropriations Committee (SAC) will hold a hearing on the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) budget request for FY 2012. Janet Napolitano (Secretary of Homeland Security) will testify. Location: Room 2359, Rayburn Building.

1:00 - 2:00 PM. The Center for American Progress (CAP) will host an event titled "Harnessing Trade for Shared Growth, American Competitiveness and Just Jobs". The speaker will be U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. See, notice. Location: CAP, 10th floor, 1333 H St., NW.

3:00 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Nominations". The witnesses will be Goodwin Liu (nominated to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit), Kevin Sharp (USDC/MDTenn), Roy Dalton (USDC/MDFl), Claire Cecchi (USDC/DNJ), and Esther Salas (USDC/DNJ). See, notice. The SJC will webcast this event. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

FURTHER EXTENDED TO APRIL 13. Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Library of Congress's (LOC) Copyright Office (CO) in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) regarding federal coverage of sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 3, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 212, at Pages 67777-67781. This notice states that the deadline to submit reply comments is December 3, 2010. The LOC web site corrects the reply comment deadline: January 19, 2011. See also, correction notice in the Federal Register, November 18, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 222, at Pages 70704-70705. This proceeding is LOC Docket No. 2010-4. See also, story titled "Library of Congress Issues NOI on Extending Copyright Act to Pre 1972 Sound Recordings" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,150, November 8, 2010.  See also, extension notice in the Federal Register, December 1, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 230, at Pages 74749-74750. See, further extension notice in the Federal Register, February 24, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 37, at Pages 10405-10406.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for week of February 28.

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM. Day two of a three day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). See, notice in the Federal Register, February 11, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 29, at Page 7818. Location: Homewood Suites by Washington, 1475 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade will hold a hearing titled "Innovation in Job Creation and Economic Growth". See, notice. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of S 193 [LOC | WW], the "USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act of 2011". It also includes consideration of two judicial nominees: Caitlin Halligan, to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir), Mae D'Agostino (USDC/NDNY), Jimmie Reyna (USCA/FedCir), John Kronstadt (USDC/CDCal), Vincent Briccetti (USDC/SDNY), Arenda Allen (USDC/EDVa), and Michael Urbanski (USDC/WDVa). The SJC rarely follows its published agendas. The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The National Industrial Security Program Policy Advisory Committee (NISPPAC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 7, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 25, at Pages 6636-6637. Location: National Archives and Records Administration, Archivist's Reception Room, Room 105, 700 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold an event titled "open meeting". The FCC will meet at 10:00 AM to adopt the three items regarding tribal lands. The FCC will meet at 2:00 PM to adopt a NPRM on retransmission consent, a NPRM on expanding the Lifeline and Linkup universal service subsidy programs to include broadband, and two NPRMs on disability access. See, FCC agenda [4 pages in PDF], and story titled "FCC Releases Agenda for March 3 Meeting" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,199, February 28, 2011. The FCC will webcast this event. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a brown bag lunch titled "What You Need To Know About Cross-Border Transactions at the FCC" and "Discussion of the FCC Regulatory Processes for International Transfers of Control, Assignments, and Other Transactions". The speakers will be David Krech (FCC's International Bureau), Neil Chilson (Wilkinson Barker Knauer), Jeffrey Carlisle (LightSquared), Kalpak Gude (Intelsat), Colleen King (Wiley Rein), Erin Emmott (TELUS Communications). For more information, contact Mark Brennan (Hogan Lovells) at mark dot brennan at hoganlovells dot com or Jennifer Ullman (J Group Planning & Consulting) at jennifer at thejgroupplanning dot com. Location: Wiley Rein, 10th floor, 1750 K St., NW.

4:00 - 6:00 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host an event titled "Can Technology Save Foreign Aid?". See, notice. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding its CORES Registration System. The FCC adopted this NPRM on November 19, 2010, and released the text on December 7, 2010. It is FCC 10-192 in MD Docket No. 10-234. See, Federal Register, February 1, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 21, at Pages 5651-5677.

The House will meet at 2:00 PM in pro forma session. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for week of February 28.

Supreme Court conference day (discussion of argued cases, and decision on cert petitions). Closed.

8:30 AM - 12:30 PM. Day three of a three day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). The agenda includes discussion of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 11, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 29, at Page 7818. Location: Homewood Suites by Washington, 1475 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Technology Policy Institute (TPI) will host a panel discussion titled "Online Privacy after the DOC and FTC Reports". The speakers will be William Kovacic (FTC Commissioner), Daniel Sepulveda (Sen. John Kerry's staff), Daniel Weitzner (NTIA), Catherine Tucker (MIT business school), and Tom Lenard (TPI). See, notice. Lunch will be served. The event is free and open to the public. Location: Room B-340, Rayburn Building.

1:30 - 5:30 PM. The Public Knowledge (PK) will host a half day conference titled "Toward a Copyright Office for the 21st Century". See, notice.
 • 1:30 PM. Opening by Gigi Sohn (PK).
 • 1:35 PM. Keynote by Maria Pallante (acting Register of Copyright).
 • 2:05 PM. Panel titled "Modernizing the Copyright Registration & Recordation Systems". The speakers will be Tracey Armstrong ( Copyright Clearance Center), Leila Boujnane (TinEye), James Cavanaugh (American Society of Media Photographers), Jule Sigall (Microsoft), Pallante, and Michael Weinberg (PK).
 • 3:30 PM. Keynote by Aneesh Chopra (EOP's Office of Science and Technology Policy).
 • 4:00 PM. Panel titled "Making the Copyright Office a Model of Openness and Transparency". The speakers will be Tom Lee (Sunlight Labs), Jamie Love (Knowledge Ecology), Stephanie Moore (Minority Counsel, House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet), Pallante, and Sohn.
Location:  Mandarin Oriental, 1330 Maryland Ave., SW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [18 pages in PDF] regarding expanding the scope of the permitted operations of the Travelers' Information Stations (TIS). The FCC adopted this item on December 29, 2010, and released the text on December 30, 2010. It is FCC 10-203 in PS Docket No. 09-19. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 19, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 12, at Pages 3064-3069. See also, story titled "FCC Releases NPRM Regarding Government Low Power AM" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,191, January 3, 2011.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding proposed changes to its Prioritized Examination Track (Track I) of the Enhanced Examination Timing Control Procedures. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 4, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 24, at Pages 6369-6376. See also, notice in the Federal Register, June 4, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 107, at Pages 31763-31768, and story titled "USPTO Proposes Three Track Patent Examination System" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,092, June 4, 2010.

8:00 -10:00 AM. Broadband Census News LLC will host a panel discussion titled "Patent Reform in the 112th Congress". The speakers will include retired Judge Paul Michel. Breakfast will be served. This event is free and open to the public. See, notice and registration page. This event is also sponsored by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and the Public Knowledge (PK). Location: Clyde's of Gallery Place, 707 7th St., NW.

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) will hold a partially closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 10, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 28, at Pages 7593-7594. Location: Marriott Metro Center, Junior Ballroom, 775 12th St., NW.

11:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Advisory Committee for the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 2, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 22, at Page 5810. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room (Room TW-C305), 445 12th St., SW.

1:00 - 3:00 PM. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) National Science Board (NSB) will meet by teleconference. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 1, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 40, at Page 11288.

2:30 PM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Heather Higginbottom to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.