Monday’s edition of the Federal Register contains new rule from the Energy Department to streamline it’s process for guaranteeing loans for projects that employ new technologies and a proposal from the Patent and Trademark Office to adjust 205 patent different fees.
Loans: The Energy Department is proposing a rule to streamline the process for guaranteeing loans for projects that employ new or significantly improved technologies to reduce air pollution.
Changes under the proposed rule aim to clarify the circumstances in which potential applicants may communicate with the agency prior to submitting an application. The energy department said it’s trying to get more applications by increasing transparency.
The public will have 30 days to comment on the proposed rule.
Patent fees: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office wants to adjust 205 patent fees for large, small and micro entities.
In the rulemaking, the PTO said the proposed fee adjustments are needed to “provide the office with a sufficient amount of aggregate revenue to recover its aggregate cost of patent operations, while maintaining momentum towards achieving strategic goals.”
The public has 60 days to comment on the proposed rule.