Top of Notices Top of Notices   (229)  December 27, 2011 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1373 CNOG  968 

CREATE Act, Examination Instructions and Guidelines Referenced Items (225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244)
(229)                       DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
                   United States Patent and Trademark Office
                         [Docket No. PTO-P-2010-0061]

                  Patent Examiner Technical Training Program

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking
public assistance in providing technical training to patent examiners within
all technology centers. The Patent Examiner Technical Training Program
(PETTP) is intended to provide scientists and experts as lecturers to patent
examiners in order to update them on technical developments, the state of the
art, emerging trends, maturing technologies, and recent innovations in their
fields. Such guest lecturers must have relevant technical knowledge, as well
as familiarity with prior art and industry practices/standards in areas of
technology where such lectures would be beneficial.

DATES: Effective Date: September 15, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Raul Tamayo, Legal Advisor, Office of Patent
Legal Administration, Office of the Associate Commissioner for Patent
Examination Policy, at (571) 272-7728.
    Wynn Coggins, Director of Technology Center (TC) 3600, available at
(571) 272-5350, will provide oversight of the Patent Examiner Technical
Training Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The USPTO is seeking public assistance in
providing technical training to patent examiners within all technology
centers. The Patent Examiner Technical Training Program is intended to
provide scientists and experts as lecturers to patent examiners in order to
update them on technical developments, the state of the art, emerging trends,
maturing technologies, and recent innovations in their fields. Such guest
lecturers must have relevant technical knowledge, as well as familiarity with
prior art and industry practices/standards in areas of technology where such
lectures would be beneficial. The Patent Examiner Technical Training Program
is not intended as an opportunity for applicants to discuss pending
applications or to circumvent normal communication between applicants or
applicants' representatives and examiners or Supervisory Patent Examiners.
In addition, Patent Examiner Technical Training Program participants are not
to provide advice or recommendations to the USPTO. The Patent Examiner
Technical Training Program is envisioned as an opportunity to provide patent
examiners with necessary training from scientists and experts working
directly in the various technologies throughout the USPTO. It is anticipated
that lectures will last approximately two hours.

   All participants in the Patent Examiner Technical Training Program must
agree to serve without compensation and must fund their own expenses,
including, but not limited to: travel to and from the USPTO, meals, and
lodging arrangements. Webinars are an option for participants who elect not
to travel. All offers for technical training made to the program will be
tracked in a database to ensure that all offers for technical training are
addressed. The USPTO reserves the right to refuse any request to participate
in the program. Among other factors, whether a request to participate in the
program is granted will depend on the appropriateness of the topic and the
availability of resources. For granted requests, audience size will vary. If
a participant is not satisfied with the program, the participant may contact
Wynn Coggins, TC 3600 Director, who is overseeing the program.

   The Patent Examiner Technical Training Program will be in effect as of the
date noted above until further notice.

   How to Participate: In order to participate in the Patent Examiner
Top of Notices Top of Notices   (229)  December 27, 2011 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1373 CNOG  969 

Technical Training Program, participants must fill in and submit the on-line
form available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=
leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.uspto.gov/patents/pettp.jsp, or
send an e-mail to Examiner_Technical_Training@uspto.gov identifying the area
of technical assistance that they can provide, their name and phone number,
and other contact information as necessary. Once a participant fills in and
submits the on-line form or sends the e-mail, the participant will receive a
system generated e-mail response noting that the inquiry was received.

   The participant thereafter should expect a telephone call from the point
of contact within the specified area identified for technical assistance.
During this initial telephone call, the participant will be informed of USPTO
invited speaker requirements pursuant to Agency Administrative Order (AAO)
219-05. Also, the target audience will be identified and possible dates for
the event discussed.

   Prior to giving a presentation, all PETTP participants must sign the
USPTO's Invited Speaker Conflict of Interest Policy Statement. In addition,
PETTP presentations are sometimes recorded and made available to employees
for viewing or listening at a later time. The Invited Speaker Conflict of
Interest Policy Statement, as well as additional information on the PETTP,
is available on the USPTO Web site at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-
bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.uspto.gov/
patents/pettp.jsp.

   Technical Areas: The USPTO believes patent examiner technical training on
the technical areas identified below will be most beneficial. However,
participants who wish to provide training in other technical areas may also
contact the USPTO.

   TC 1600 - Biotechnology and Organic Chemistry: Formulation Chemistry;
controlling drug release; drug targeting/conjugation and dosage form
technology; drug delivery; nanotechnology (delivery of nucleic acids,
antibodies, other molecules); statistical methods in validation of
microarry data; personalized medicine, manufacture of carbon nanospheres,
pharmaceutical/clinical chemistry for organic compounds, current animal
models (emphasis on how they are being generated and used), advances in gene
therapy, current methods in drug discovery (identifying current methods for
the isolation and testing of natural products, and strategy for the
modification of the isolated products into more potent/useful compounds).

   TC 1700 - Chemical and Materials Engineering: Analytical chemistry
and lab apparatus, batteries, brazing, catalysts, chemical mechanical
polishing, chemical process control, chemical reactors, detergents,
dishwashers, distillation, electrochemical sensors, electroluminescent
devices and processes of making, electro-osmosis, electrophoresis,
electrophotography, electroplating, encapsulated circuitry/semiconductors,
evaporation, fuel cells, gasification, glass/ceramics processing, growing
monocrystals, hydrogen production, liquid and gas purification and separation,
making nanotubes, microbiological apparatus, mixing, nanolithography,
nanotechnology, perfumes, petroleum technology, photoelectric devices and
processes, photolithography, pigments and inks, polymer chemistry, polymers,
reformation, semiconductor cleaning techniques, solar cells, soldering, solid
separators, thermoelectric, washing machines, and welding.

   TC 2100 - Computer Architecture and Software: Electrical Computers &
Digital Data Processing Systems: Intrasystem Connection, Processing Access
Control & Bus Interrupt Operation; Error Detection/Correction & Fault
Detection/Recovery; Reliability; System Configuration/Timing/Power Control,
Error Detection/Correction & Fault Detection/Recovery; Generic Control
System, Apparatus or Process; Simulation & Modeling, Emulation of Computer
Components; Artificial Intelligence (Neural Networks, Fuzzy Logic, Expert
Systems, Rule based Systems); Database & File Management; Operator Interface
(Windows, Menus, Icons, I/O user interaction, etc.); Document Processing
(displaying, or processing for display, text, graphics, layouts); Processor
Architecture & Instruction Processing; Computers: Memory Access & Control;
Top of Notices Top of Notices   (229)  December 27, 2011 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1373 CNOG  970 

Compilers & Software Development; Arithmetic Processing/Calculating;
Interprogram/Interprocess Communications and Computer Task Management.

   TC 2400 - Networking, Multiplexing, Cable and Security: Wireless &
Wired Comm Networks, LANs, WANs, OFDMA, CDMA, TDMA, Routing & Switching,
Signaling, Network Mang., Flow Control, Congestion Control, Admission
Control, Quality of Service, Queuing Systems, Interworking, VoIP, Label
Switching, ATM, SONET, Mobile IP & 3G/4G Wireless Networks, computer
conferencing, data streaming, data routing, client/server, computer
conferencing, E-mail messaging, video distribution, remote data accessing,
data transfer speed regulating, computer handshaking, computer data routing,
Social Networks (Virtual Communities), Power Over Ethernet & Ethernet over
Power lines, Digital VideoBroadcasting Standards MPEG4, ATSC, different video
distribution on mobile devices, Internet Video distribution, New trends in
electronic program guide, peer-to-peer video distribution, video sharing via
cable distribution, wireless video distribution in home, HDMI, Biometric
Devices, Elliptical Curves, Quantum Cryptography, Anti Viruses, Denial
Services, AES - Advanced Encryption Standard, Social Network Security,
Peer-to-Peer Security, DRM - Digital Right Management.

   TC 2600 - Communications: Spread spectrum, signal modulation, telemetry,
electronic alarms, multiplexing, packet switching, optical communications,
telephone systems, advanced intelligence networks, wireless communications,
OFDMA, CDMA, TDMA, echo cancellation, MIMO, WiMax, 802.11, MPLS, SC-FDMA,
Mobile IP6, television, electronic imaging, digital cameras, electronic image
signal processing, video displays, pattern recognition, panoramic processing,
stereoscopic processing, MPEG, JPEG, Blu-Ray, DVD technology, image
compression, image enhancement, color space transformation, RFID, halftone
printing, speech signal processing, optical recording, dynamic information
storage, information storage disks, computer graphics processing, LCD
displays, plasma displays, basics of optics, DWDM essentials and networks,
SONET/SDH, optical transport networks, audio signal processing and
compression, noise cancellation, hearing aids, and loudspeakers.

   TC 2800 - Semiconductors, Electrical and Optical Systems and Components:
Mixed signal design and architecture, flexible displays, OLED display
technology, nitride semiconductors, compound semiconductors, nanodevices,
power converters, image sensors, motor controls, CMOS technology, quantum
electronics, analog to digital and digital to analog converters, organic
semiconductors, micro-opto-electromechanical systems, ASIC design,
spintronics and magnetic random access memory (MRAM), non-volatile memory
devices, semiconductor and electronic packaging technologies, solar cells,
digital logic circuits, laser and fiber optics, phase change memory,
photolithography, thin film deposition, light emitting diodes, digital
cameras, optical waveguides, antennas, printing technology, MEMs, multilevel
interconnections, LCDs, x-ray applications, photonic crystals, green power
generation technologies, and sensors.

   TC 3600 - Transportation, Construction, Electronic Commerce, Agriculture,
National Security, and License & Review: e-Commerce applications including:
Social networking, network management, wireless technologies/communications/
protocols, market optimization, demand forecasting, interactive visualization
and simulation, project and resource planning & scheduling, local search
optimization, decision analysis, supply chain optimization and management,
simulation and stochastic modeling, static & dynamic optimization, resource
allocation/calendar staffing and scheduling, optimization/coordination of
travel reservations/planning and specialized travel query processing,
determining/optimizing prices for goods/services, local and distributed
postage metering, shipping (e.g., route planning, special handling, package
tracking, RFID usage), transportation (e.g., fare, parking, tolls), utility
usage (e.g., metering, pricing for consumed quantities of a utility),
electronic trading, backend processing of financial trades, complex trading
strategies of hedge funds (e.g., desire/need for complex strategies and how
hedge funds utilize technology to carry out these complex strategies),
derivative trading (e.g., credit default swaps). Mechanical and electrical
applications including: Automobiles, transportation systems, building
Top of Notices Top of Notices   (229)  December 27, 2011 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1373 CNOG  971 

structures, firearms, aeronautics, material handling, radio and acoustic wave
communications, earth boring, animal husbandry, plant husbandry.

   TC 3700 - Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing and Products: Educational
games; electric amusement devices; boot and shoe making; special receptacle
or package; textiles; apparel; article carriers; tools; cutlery; metal
working; manufacturing of electrical semiconductor, superconductor and
nanotechnology; diagnostic medical imaging including MRI, X-Ray, ultrasound,
visible and infrared imaging, nuclear and microwave imaging, and optical
imaging; electronic controls for prosthetic devices (external prosthetics,
gait analysis, etc.); exercise equipment; cell and tissue engineering; lung
and heart-assist devices and fully implantable devices; internal combustion
engines; heat engines; solar energy; turbochargers; exhaust gas treatment;
catalytic converters; engine control systems; fluid power plants;
refrigeration; heating systems for structures; electrical heating devices;
valves and valve actuation; fluid handling; and pumps.

September 9, 2010                                           DAVID J. KAPPOS
                                            Under Secretary of Commerce for
                                  Intellectual Property and Director of the
                                  United States Patent and Trademark Office

                                 [1359 OG 117]