House Judiciary Committee Statement

Thank you for this opportunity to describe the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO’s) role with respect to the renewal of the Havana Club trademark registration.
The USPTO is charged with carrying out the trademark registration process consistent with the law so as to provide a stable marketplace for the sale of goods or services identified by the registered mark for the benefit of both consumers and owners.  The USPTO receives more than 300,000 applications for trademark registration each year and administers a trademark register of more than 2 million active registrations. As a general matter, U.S. trademark law requires the submission of certain documents and payment of appropriate fees to maintain and renew a trademark registration.  The actions we took at the USPTO in this case were straight-forward and consistent with the law. In 1974, Cubaexport applied for registration of the Havana Club trademark.  The USPTO approved the registration in 1976 and renewed it in 1996.  The transactions were authorized under an existing general license pursuant to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations.  In October of 1998, however, Congress included section 211 as part of the Omnibus Appropriations Act which rendered that general license unavailable for transactions or payments for certain trademarks.

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Emerging Technology

Aalyria and Second Front Partner to Expedite Availability of Spacetime for Government Use

Business Wire | October 17, 2023

Aalyria, a dynamic startup commercializing advanced networking and communications technologies acquired from Google, has formed a strategic alliance with Second Front Systems. This collaboration paves the way for accelerated deployment of Aalyria’s Spacetime network orchestration platform within government sectors. The integration with Second Front's trusted Game Warden platform makes Spacetime accessible at Department of Defense Impact Levels 4 and 5 (IL4 and IL5). Embracing this modern risk management approach means the ability to focus on maintaining security and risk management frameworks without significantly impacting development teams or timelines – a leap from traditional authorization processes. Aalyria is also on track to extend Spacetime's reach to IL6 and Top Secret environments in the near future. Spacetime is an advanced software platform designed for orchestrating and managing complex networks of satellites, ground stations, aircraft, ships, urban meshes, and more. The software is being adopted across the public and private sector, including in partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit, Intelsat, Rivada Space Networks, Anduril, Leidos, the U.S. Navy, and others. “Working with Second Front enables us to quickly deploy to more secure environments and serve our growing customer base,” said Chris Taylor, CEO of Aalyria. “The demand for our Spacetime solution by an array of mission owners across the defense and intelligence spectrum made partnering with Second Front an easy choice – the team’s proficiency in this space and the speed at which they work is a great match for Aalyria.” “Aalyria is an absolute trailblazer in network orchestration and Second Front is thrilled to be collaborating,” said Tyler Sweatt, CEO at Second Front. “We share a passion for ensuring the most innovative solutions are made available to defense and national security end users, so this was a natural fit. Second Front is honored to play a role in enabling Aalyria to rapidly deploy their amazing solutions to the world’s most mission critical customer base.” The initial collaboration will bring Aalryia’s technologies to ILs 4 and 5 and is part of a broader plan to bring their solutions to a diverse combination of advanced networks in the near future. Aalyria and Second Front will focus on Aalryia’s TRL 9 Spacetime offering – a product validated with greater than 2 million hours of lights-out orchestration of aerospace nodes. It is designed to operate networks that include global scale dynamic physical link topologies and highly-directional steerable beams across land, sea, air, and space. About Second Front Systems Second Front Systems (2F) fast-tracks government access to disruptive, commercially-proven software as a service (SaaS) applications for national security missions. Leading software providers—ranging from publicly traded defense contractors to startups—and government agencies trust 2F’s Game Warden DevSecOps platform and secure cloud hosting environment to accelerate their delivery and harness the cloud revolution at scale. Founded by former U.S. Marines, this public benefit, venture-backed software company is driven by firsthand experience of the dangers outdated technology poses in combat. About Aalyria Aalyria is a global advanced networking and laser communications technologies company. It is revolutionizing connectivity on Earth and in Space. Its Tightbeam product – the world’s first atmospheric corrected coherent free space optics solution – and Spacetime – the only all-orbit, all-domain, software defined network orchestration platform – are helping commercial and government customers reimagine business and mission models to make their assets more effective, efficient, and profitable.

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Emerging Technology

Actsoft Achieves FedRAMP ‘In Process’ Designation for its Workforce Manager Platform

Business Wire | October 19, 2023

Actsoft, a leading provider of innovative workforce management solutions, proudly announces that its cutting-edge Workforce Manager for Gov platform has achieved the “In Process” designation as one of the critical steps in the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) authorization process. The FedRAMP “In Process” designation validates Actsoft's dedication to meeting the highest standards of security, privacy, and compliance required by federal agencies. This achievement underscores Actsoft's leadership in providing solutions that optimize workforce productivity, streamline operations, and ensure data integrity for government entities at the federal level. The availability of a FedRAMP Authorized workforce management platform from Actsoft will streamline operations and elevate the employee experience across U.S government agencies, said Tom Mitchell, CEO of Actsoft. The ‘In Process’ designation reflects Actsoft's unwavering commitment to supporting government agencies with secure, innovative solutions. Actsoft's Workforce Manager for Gov platform offers various capabilities, including real-time data collection, intelligent scheduling, resource tracking, compliance monitoring, and robust reporting. Having already received StateRAMP authorization, Actsoft will be able to extend these capabilities to federal agencies, contributing to their mission success and enhancing productivity and transparency by digitizing and automating office- and field-based operations. Visit the FedRAMP Marketplace website for more information. About Actsoft Founded in 1996, Actsoft, Inc. is a leading provider of workforce management solutions and headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Actsoft, Inc.’s technology helps companies manage their field- and office-based workforce by automating manual processes, digitizing workflows, and optimizing communications. Their workforce management platform includes key capabilities such as job dispatching, mobile timekeeping, digital forms, GPS tracking and geo-fencing of employees, vehicles, and assets. Actsoft, Inc. works with over 8,000 customers and over 138,000 users who rely on the company daily to run more productive and profitable operations. The company is also proud to be the exclusive provider of a white-labeled workforce management app for carriers around the globe. Actsoft, Inc.

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Cybersecurity

SentinelOne® Extends Power of the Singularity™ DataLake to Federal Agencies

Business Wire | October 10, 2023

Managing and analyzing security data is an overwhelming task - particularly for federal agencies where budgets are tight and cyber talent is in short supply. To help ease the burden, SentinelOne, a global leader in autonomous cybersecurity, is making Singularity™ DataLake, the industry’s most performant security data solution, and only FedRAMP-Authorized offering that unifies visibility, detection, and response across the entire security infrastructure, available through its FedRAMP Authorized platform. Federal Agencies can now easily access the one-of-a-kind cloud-native solution to gain a comprehensive view of their security data and quickly uncover and respond to threats in real-time. “The amount of data that federal agencies are required to collect, store, correlate, and analyze to defend against increasingly sophisticated and malicious attacks is massive and rapidly growing,” said Dale McCloskey, Federal Sales Vice President, SentinelOne. “The Singularity DataLake provides powerful cross-platform security analytics and intelligence they can use to gain the visibility needed to do it.” As the industry’s first and only unified, cloud delivered solution for OMB M-21-31 compliance, the SentinelOne Singularity DataLake combines SentinelOne and third-party security data visibility into a single console. Using the solution, federal cyber analysts can: Seamlessly ingest any data type, structured or unstructured, and fuse it with endpoint, cloud workload and user data to provide comprehensive visibility in a single, unified interface. Efficiently search, query and leverage AI-powered analytics to speed data-driven decisions. Reduce detection and response times to stop attacks faster. Achieve OMB M-21-31 compliance with cost-effective, long-term storage (up to 30 months) across endpoint detection and response (EDR) telemetry as well as other data sources. Retain existing SOC workflows through open, built-in security ecosystem integrations to deliver increased visibility and security context while reducing costs and operational resource burdens. “The future of cybersecurity for federal agencies will be driven by data and the power of analytics to extract actionable and intelligent security insights at scale and with SentinelOne Singularity DataLake, they can deliver it today,” said McCloskey. About SentinelOne SentinelOne is the leader in autonomous cybersecurity. SentinelOne’s Singularity™ Platform detects, prevents, and responds to cyber attacks at machine speed, empowering organizations to secure endpoints, cloud workloads, containers, identities, and mobile and network-connected devices with speed, accuracy and simplicity. Over 11,000 customers, including Fortune 10, Fortune 500, and Global 2000 companies, as well as prominent governments, trust SentinelOne to secure the future today.

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Emerging Technology

Mark43 is First Public Safety Technology Company to Achieve StateRAMP High Impact Level Authorization

Business Wire | October 12, 2023

Mark43, the leading cloud-native public safety software company, today announced that it has achieved State Risk and Authorization Management Program (StateRAMP) High Impact Level Authorization. Mark43 brings the most mature security controls to Computer-Aided Dispatch, Records Management System, and Analytics platforms delivered on Amazon Web Services (AWS) GovCloud to more than 200 public safety agencies and their communities. Mark43 is the first public safety technology company to achieve StateRAMP High Impact Level Authorization, certifying its commitment to protecting the privacy and security of its customers’ data, particularly for state, local and tribal governments. StateRAMP, the State Risk and Authorization Management Program, is a highly respected and recognized certification program for cloud cybersecurity excellence. It provides state and local governments assurance that the technology vendors they are working with meet rigorous cybersecurity standards through independent audits and ongoing continuous monitoring. It is inspired by and adapted from the FedRAMP standards and framework. By achieving StateRAMP High Impact Level Authorization and having achieved FedRAMP High In Process, Mark43 demonstrates its commitment to providing state and local government customers with the highest level of cybersecurity protection possible. “With more than 1,000 known attacks against U.S. public safety agencies and local governments since 2021, the stakes have never been higher,” said Mark43 Chief Executive Officer Robert Hughes. “According to IBM’s ‘Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023,’ the average cost of a cybersecurity breach is $4.45M million and in this current climate, state and local governments are under constant attack. Mark43 is the first public safety technology company to achieve StateRAMP High Impact Level Authorization – verification that Mark43 delivers the resilient, reliable and secure CAD and RMS that cities and states need. Law enforcement agencies simply cannot afford to partner with a technology provider that does not achieve this level of cybersecurity maturity.” “Government agencies, public safety agencies, and institutions of higher education are very real targets for hackers and cyberattacks,” said Mark43 Chief Information Security Officer Larry Zorio. “The ability of these entities to verify that their partners maintain the highest levels of cybersecurity controls is critical. This StateRAMP High Impact Level Authorization is proof that Mark43 offers best-in-class cybersecurity controls.” “Achieving StateRAMP High Impact Level Authorization now makes it even easier for state and local agencies to partner with Mark43, and we’re thrilled to help government partners deliver for the communities they serve,” said Mark43 Chief Revenue Officer Tim Merrigan. Built on Amazon Web Services (AWS) GovCloud, Mark43 will continue to provide industry-leading security controls available for public safety customers. This StateRAMP High Impact Level Authorization builds on Mark43’s existing security program which includes SOC 2 Type II and SOC 3 attestations, as well as recently achieving the FedRAMP High In Process Authorization. Mark43 is one of the few public safety technology companies to have attained the FedRAMP High In Process designation, and is expected to achieve formal FedRAMP High Authorization in the coming months. About Mark43 Mark43 is the leading cloud-native public safety technology company. By delivering a modern, intuitive and mobile-first Records Management System, Computer-Aided Dispatch and Analytics platform, Mark43 empowers governments and their communities to improve the safety and quality of life for all. Working with more than 200 local, state and federal public safety agencies, Mark43 is transforming how first responders use technology to respond, engage and serve the community. Mark43 provides the tools, resources, expertise, and security foundation that public safety needs today, tomorrow, and beyond. For more information or to request a demo, visit www.mark43.com. About StateRAMP StateRAMP promotes the adoption of secure cloud services across the U.S. state and local governments, public education institutions, and special districts. It provides a standardized approach to security and risk assessment and continuous monitoring for cloud technologies for use by government agencies. StateRAMP empowers agencies to use modern cloud products and services to fulfill their organizational objectives by providing independent verification and continuous monitoring against established cybersecurity standards.

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