The US Patent and Trademark Office has announced that as of 1 October 2011, their nationwide network of Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs) will become known as Patent and Trademark Resource Centers (PTRCs). From the press release:

The name change signifies a major shift in focus from the “paper depository” concept to an expansion of access to electronic information and specialized training to meet the information needs of 21st Century patent and trademark customers. …

“PTRCs serve as the face of the USPTO in local communities and promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship that ensures that potential filers have the local resources necessary to draw on for support as they begin their quest for commercial success with their intellectual property,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos.

In addition to offering free electronic services and resources designed to support the intellectual property needs of local and state patrons, PTRC’s employ USPTO-trained librarians to provide customer assistance on the use of the agency’s patent and trademark databases and public seminars on intellectual property topics for novice and experienced users.

These 80+ resource centers can be found using the online PTRC Library List.

Bloomberg LP, parent company of Bloomberg News, announced today its intention to acquire Bureau of National Affairs Inc. (BNA).

From the Bloomberg press release:

Bloomberg LP, the closely held news and financial information provider, agreed to buy BNA for about $990 million to add legal, tax and regulatory research and analysis. … BNA shareholders, who are current and former employees, will get $39.50 a share in cash in a transaction that is expected to be completed this year, New York-based Bloomberg said in a statement today. … The tender offer will begin by Sept. 8 and is subject to regulatory approval, Bloomberg said.

From the BNA press release:

BNA, which is wholly owned by current and former employees, provides important legal, tax and regulatory research and analysis and would become a stand-alone subsidiary of Bloomberg. … Together, Bloomberg and BNA would form a unique combination of premium content, deep subject matter expertise, proprietary data and world class technological capabilities to provide distinctive products and solutions for professionals and decision makers in law, government, business and finance. … “For more than eight decades, we have provided our subscribers with quality products that allow them to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently,” said Paul N. Wojcik, Chairman and CEO of BNA. “We believe this is the start of a new day, where we will join forces with Bloomberg to extend our premium content to an expanded audience.”

On 15 April 2011, the General Services Administration released the long-awaited (if you’re a researcher) or long-dreaded (if you’re a contractor) public view of the FAPIIS (Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System) database. The early reviews are in from open government groups and, unfortunately, they are not pretty:

• FAPIIS May be the Worst Government Website We’ve Ever Seen, from the Sunlight Foundation
• FAPIIS First Impressions (two thumbs down), from POGO.org

FAPIIS is intended to bring information about federal government contractors’ performance together in one place so that all agencies have access to the same data. It mandates the collection of new information as well. Public Law 110-417 required the development of the database for use by government contracting officers; later, Public Law 111-212 mandated that most of the data in FAPIIS be made available online for the public as well. The public version is required to exclude past contractor performance reports made before April 15, meaning that database is thin on content now but will grow.

Today, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) launched SaferProducts.gov, a website required by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), Public Law 110-314 [PDF].

SaferProducts.gov is intended to overcome the information delay inherent in the existing complaint process, in which consumer complaints filed with the CPSC are not made public during the time the CPSC investigates the complaint and negotiates with the manufacturer about a possible recall. The safety problem (or potential safety problem) is only publicized once a recall or other measure is announced. In the meantime, some injuries could occur while consumers are unaware that safety incidents have been reported to the CPSC.

Under the new process, posted public complaints will serve as more timely, but not immediate, notice: the CPSC will first review the complaints and then pass them on to the manufacturer, which has 10 days to respond to the complaint. The CPSC estimates that the process will take 15 days, so you will not see consumer complaints and business responses in the database for about two weeks after launch.

The CPSC has set up a Business Portal for manufacturers to register to fully and securely take part in the communications process. The site also has an FAQ for business. The database has been a controversial topic because of business concerns that unsubstantiated consumer complaints will unfairly harm their reputation. The About section of the site includes information on CPSC meetings with manufacturers, a copy of the final rule (75 Fed. Reg. 76832) issued on 9 December 2010, and other documents.

In the launch press release, CPSC Chairment Inez Tenenbaum states, “We will continue to accept written, phone and fax [consumer complaint] Reports, as we have for decades. What is new and significant today is that we are launching an up-to-date system for letting consumers review safety reports alongside manufacturer comments about those Reports.”

The Business.gov website content is being incorporated into the Small Business Administration (SBA) website. Business.gov has provided “small business owners with information and resources they need to comply with laws and regulations, and to take advantage of government programs and services to help them start, expand and run their businesses.” The site has aggregated state and local business information (how to register a business name, filings and licenses, etc.) along with federal government information on business assistance and compliance. It has also provided a search engine for state government websites related to business.

The Tax Foundation issued a report on 22 November 2010 on a timely topic: How Would Expiration of Bush-Era Tax Cuts Affect State and Local Budgets? (Special Report 187). The report includes a state-by-state chart of how states would be directly affected.

Stateline.org discusses the report in detail in their article Uncertainty of Bush-era tax cuts leaves states in budget limbo, 22 November 2010. From the article:

The Tax Foundation says that those state income tax systems that piggyback off federal income taxes will see an automatic uptick in revenue if the Bush tax cuts expire. But a handful of states that allow taxpayers to deduct for federal income taxes paid will likely see a revenue loss.

A new report analyzes the results of a survey of residents in five U.S. states about their priorities for government spending and saving. The Pew Center on the States and the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) present data from a survey of residents in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, and New York in Facing Facts: Public Attitudes and Fiscal Realities in Five Stressed States. The Pew Center’s summary page highlights similar attitudes across the states and provides a fiscal reality check for each. Stateline.org (run by the Pew Center) cites an example in their 6 October 2010 article Painful choices for incoming crop of state leaders:

The report…reveals that most citizens have only a vague idea of the trade-offs that will be necessary to balance budgets. For instance, a majority of poll respondents wants to maintain funding for K-12 education and for human services. But in most states, those two areas will have to be rolled back significantly to balance budgets unless taxes go up. There is little public awareness that K-12 and human services, including Medicaid, account for more than 40 percent of budgets in all five states [surveyed].

The full report presents detailed results from each of the five states.

The Commerce Department has announced that it will terminate its STAT-USA subscription online service on 30 September 2010, as previously blogged. As promised, STAT-USA has just posted an index to the sources of STAT-USA’s data. The Links to File Sources page is available at http://www.publicadministration.net/resources/a-historical-look-at-the-stat-usa-project/. Commerce does not state explicitly how long the Links page will be online, but the page does say, “be sure to bookmark your favorites before October 1, 2010.”

The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced that it is discontinuing its fee-based STAT-USA online service as of 30 September 2010. STAT-USA focused on providing international trade information and U.S. economic statistics. From the announcement:

After more than 25 years of operation, STAT-USA is closing its doors.
This was not an easy decision, but the world of access to government
information has evolved to the point that STAT-USA’s business model, as a
fee for service office, is no longer viable…

In this new atmosphere, STAT-USA/Internet’s historic role as a
straightforward storehouse of static government information releases has
become outdated. As we move on, we applaud and acknowledge these new
innovations, new tools for new needs, and a new world of government
data-sharing.

USA Trade Online will continue, provided by the Foreign Trade Division of the Census Bureau—a key source of STAT-USA data. All USA Trade Online subscription accounts will be handled directly by that agency, with no interruption to the customer.

STAT-USA/Internet (which includes all State of the Nation and GLOBUS & NTDB databases) and our syndication services will cease September 30, 2010.

[Thanks to GPO/LSCM for spreading the news!]

A new report from the congressional Joint Economic Committee provides an assessment of the economic climate in each of the 50 U.S. states. Understanding the Economy: State-by-State Snapshots [PDF] includes indicators such as  private sector job creation or job loss since the start of recession and condition of the housing sector. The profiles also show how a state compares to other states and to the nation as a whole.

[hat tip to bespacific.com]