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Blog Entries from June 2010

Secretary Locke, NASA Administrator Bolden Hold Town Hall Meeting on Space Coast Economy

Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke addresses business and industry leaders during a town hall meetingU.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr. are in Orlando, Fla., today for a town hall meeting to hear directly from local leaders working to strengthen and diversify the Space Coast economy. Locke discussed the Obama administration’s continued commitment to job creation and strengthening of the economy, as well as address the May jobs report released this morning indicating that the economy added 431,000 jobs last month

Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden speak to reporters during a town hall meetingThe Obama administration is committed to taking steps to help Florida's Space Coast adapt and thrive in the years ahead. President Obama recently launched the Presidential Task Force on Space Industry Work Force and Economic Development, a $40 million, multi-agency initiative for regional and economic growth to assist the Space Coast as the country's space exploration efforts expand and transform. The Task Force, co-chaired by Locke and Bolden, is leading the initiative to coordinate and implement a plan to grow the region’s economy and prepare its workers for the opportunities of tomorrow. The interagency effort will build on and complement ongoing local and federal economic and workforce development efforts. Remarks

NOAA Administrator Discusses NOAA Ship Research Mission to Spill Area

Alternate TextCmdr. Shepard Smith, commanding officer, Administrator Lubchenco and Larry Mayer at press conference.NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson, a 208-foot survey vessel, sailed from New Orleans today to conduct a 10-day mission in the vicinity of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Researchers will take water samples and test advanced methods for detecting submerged oil while gathering oceanographic data in the area's coastal waters.

NOAA Ship Thomas JeffersonDr. Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, Cmdr. Shepard Smith, commanding officer, NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson and Larry Mayer, professor and director, University of New Hampshire Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping held a news conference in New Orleans to discuss the research mission. Administrator Lubchenco offered more information on the NOAA effort on a live CNN segment earlier in the day.

Tracking the Spill
NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson dispatched to Gulf of Mexico
NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson ship information and background

USPTO Teams With Google to Provide Bulk Patent and Trademark Data to the Public

Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of Commerce's United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) David Kappos announced today that the USPTO has entered into a no-cost, two-year agreement with Google to make bulk electronic patent and trademark public data available to the public in bulk form. Under this agreement, the USPTO is providing Google with existing bulk, electronic files, which Google will host without modification for the public free of charge.  This bulk data can be accessed at http://www.google.com/googlebooks/uspto.html.

"The USPTO is committed to providing increased transparency as called for by the President’s Open Government Initiative. An important element of that transparency is making valuable public patent and trademark information more widely available in a bulk form so companies and researchers can download it for analysis and research,” said Under Secretary Kappos. “Because the USPTO does not currently have the technical capability to offer the data in bulk form from our own Web site, we have teamed with Google to provide the data in a way that is convenient and at no cost for those who desire it.”

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