Title 15

SECTION 15.12

15.12 Definitions.

§ 15.12 Definitions.

For the purpose of this subpart:

(a) Agency counsel means the chief legal officer (or his/her designee) of an agency within the Department of Commerce.

(b) Component means Office of the Secretary or an operating unit of the Department as defined in Department Organization Order 1-1.

(d) Department means the United States Department of Commerce and its constituent agencies.

(e) Document means any record, paper and other property held by the Department, including without limitation, official letters, telegrams, memoranda, reports, studies, calendar and diary entries, maps, graphs, pamphlets, notes, charts, tabulations, analyses, statistical or informational accumulations, any kind of summaries of meetings and conversations, film impressions, magnetic tapes and sound or mechanical reproductions.

(f) Employee means all current or former employees or officers of the Department, including commissioned officers of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and any other individual who has been appointed by, or subject to the supervision, jurisdiction or control of the Secretary of the Department of Commerce.

(g) General Counsel means the General Counsel of the Department or other Department employee to whom the General Counsel has delegated authority to act under this subpart.

(h) Legal proceeding means all pretrial, trial and post trial stages of all existing or reasonably anticipated judicial or administrative actions, hearings, investigations, or similar proceedings before courts, commissions, boards or other tribunals, foreign or domestic. This phrase includes all phases of discovery as well as responses to formal or informal requests by attorneys or others involved in legal proceedings.

(i) Official business means the authorized business of the Department.

(j) Secretary means the Secretary of the Department of Commerce.

(k) Solicitor means the Solicitor of the Patent and Trademark Office.

(l) Testimony means a statement in any form, including personal appearances before a court or other legal tribunal, interviews, depositions, telephonic, televised, or videotaped statements or any responses given during discovery or similar proceedings, which response would involve more than the production of documents.

(m) United States means the Federal Government, its departments and agencies, and individuals acting on behalf of the Federal Government.