U.S. Patent and Trademark OfficeU.S. Patent and Trademark OfficeUSPTO_302c0a2f-abd4-471f-8ca0-dafb54c55a57Leading the World in Intellectual Property Protection and Policy_05bbe05e-61a2-485f-a4b2-c14bbbb73fb3To foster innovation and competitiveness by: Providing high quality and timely examination of patent and trademark applications, guiding domestic and international intellectual property policy, and delivering intellectual property information and education worldwide._b00816fe-9301-422f-b780-3da3717d0411QualityQuality means accurate and consistent results in examination. It presumes improved inputs, better-focused examination, improved review processes, and consistent examination results.TimelinessTimeliness means processing, including review of applications, is completed without delay. It presumes that applicable laws, regulations, and policies work synergistically to eliminate frictions or uncertainties that lead to delays.Cost-EffectivenessCost-Effectiveness implies efficiency, accountability, and a focus on results. It requires leadership and commitment to ensure that activities and processes result in value. This means using resources in the most effective manner to deliver quality, timely USPTO services. It also means being responsible stewards of the public trust.TransparencyTransparency demands impartiality, fairness, accessibility, availability, and a public-service mentality. This includes our continuing commitment to opening the USPTO to the public by providing electronic filing, patent and trademark file contents, and as much training and research material as possible via our Web site. It requires discipline on the part of the public to use public means to influence change in USPTO practices and activities.PatentsOptimize Patent Quality and Timeliness_7f52a003-c1ca-4b04-91dc-b18342c0baf71INTRODUCTION The benefits of our patent system have been obvious to Americans since the founding of our country. More than 200 years ago, the need for a patent system was addressed in the Constitution, and a statutory system to examine and grant patents was put in place. Since that time, the ingenuity of American inventors, coupled with a patent system that encourages and rewards innovation, has transformed America into the world’s preeminent technological and economic nation. Today, economic success depends on intangible, information-based assets and industries, such as security and nanotechnology, which cut across our traditional economic sectors. As the clearinghouse for U.S. patent rights, the USPTO is an important catalyst for U.S. economic growth. Through the prompt granting of patents, the USPTO promotes the economic vitality of American business, paving the way for investment, research, scientific development, and the commercialization of new inventions. The USPTO also promotes economic vitality by ensuring that only valid patent applications are approved for issue, thus providing certainty that enhances competition in the marketplace. In order for Americans to reap the benefits of their innovations, they often rely on the legal rights associated with a patent. This means that the longer it takes for the USPTO to review a patent application, the longer it will take for an applicant to receive the patent rights that ultimately may be granted for the invention. Congress and the public have recognized this issue— referred to as "pendency," or the time an application remains with the USPTO until a final decision is made—as having a direct impact on American competitiveness. Implementing the types of changes needed to fully realize the outcomes of a more efficient and effective examination process requires a multifaceted approach. CHALLENGES/OPPORTUNITIES ● Confidence in patent quality continues to be a topic of debate. Determining the appropriate measures of patent quality and the related performance targets are of critical interest to both the USPTO and the patent community. ● The increasing number and technical complexity of patent applications, coupled with the challenge of hiring and training new patent examiners, continues to confront the USPTO. The patent application filing rate has increased beyond our ability to promptly examine new and pending patent applications. ● Operating in today’s wired world requires us to have full electronic processing that is safe, secure, and continually available to employees, applicants, and stakeholders. We must expand the use of IT to all phases of patent processing. ● A longer-term endeavor, critical to addressing quality and timeliness, is working with our stakeholders, the Administration, Congress, and our international partners to determine if there is some combination of examination alternatives that will better meet applicants’ needs while providing a more efficient use of USPTO examination resources. OUR STRATEGIC RESPONSE We will hire more patent examiners, train and retain them more effectively, and promote use of the patent hoteling program; build quality into every aspect of patent examination; fully leverage and expand the potentials of the electronic work environment; and explore the feasibility of offering alternatives to the current one-size-fits-all filing and examination system. PERFORMANCE MEASURES ● Patent Allowance Compliance Rate ● Patent In-Process Examination Compliance Rate ● Patent Average First Action Pendency ● Patent Average Total Pendency ● Patent Efficiency ● Patent Applications Filed Electronically ● Patent Applications Managed Electronically Examination QualityProvide high quality examination of patent applications._254928f1-6766-42f6-a810-cfee096aced51INITIATIVES ● Enhance recruitment to hire 1,200 new patent examiners a year for an extended period of time, including examiners with degrees and/or experience in areas of emerging technologies ● Expand telework and explore establishing regional USPTO offices ● Leverage the effectiveness of the Patent Training Academy to enhance training and create chief scientist positions to focus on technical training ● Explore partnerships with universities to offer IP courses to science and engineering students, develop an internship program, and train students in IP to create a ready pool of potential examiner candidates ● Utilize recruitment and retention incentives to hire and retain a highly qualified and motivated workforce ● Develop alternatives to the current performance and bonus systems ● Enhance search quality by improving examiners’ ability to retrieve the most relevant prior art in the examination process ● Enhance the skill sets of examiners authorized to train others by providing formal training to all personnel who are responsible for training new examiners and reviewing their work ● Design and implement a comprehensive quality system for patent examination that includes: – Collecting and analyzing all quality review information for consistency and to provide feedback and improved training – Offering a separate quality award that better recognizes the accomplishments of examiners who meet or exceed assigned quality expectations – Conducting targeted reviews in problem areas, which focus on examination processes or functions that show problematic trends – Encouraging submission of relevant prior art by participating with a consortium of patent users, applicants, attorneys, and members of the academic community to build a system to actively solicit prior art, especially with regard to software applications – Developing quality measures and performance targets in conjunction with external stakeholders – Obtaining an independent verification of patent quality using existing Office of Patent Quality Assurance (OPQA) measures in an effort to increase public confidence in the USPTO quality measures and targets ● Support reclassification efforts to improve search quality through increased use of classified searching ● Competitively source Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Chapter I applications, freeing examiners to focus on national cases ● Provide assistance to the open source community in their development of an open source database to provide examiners with potential prior art ● Explore examination reform through the rule making process to create better focused examination and enhance information exchange between applicant and examiner ● Enhance the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences’ (BPAI) flexibility and accountability by addressing projected jurisdictional expansion resulting from continuation reform, pre-appeal brief conferences, and potential post-grant legislation ● Enhance registered practitioner requirements by developing a program for Continuing Legal Education, implementing an annual registration fee, and reviewing qualifications to practice before the Office Electronic ProcessingImprove and integrate existing electronic systems to promote full electronic patent application processing; implement better/more secure systems._95860d0c-ac67-4346-a7da-7abc014019902INITIATIVES ● Modernize the electronic data processing infrastructure to include a robust text-based electronic patent application file management system ● Develop a system which allows applicants to modify their application data ● Initiate a search exploration project to redesign the patent search systems by exploring commercial and public search capabilities and identifying user requirements ● Increase e-filing through outreach efforts and increasing awareness of the electronic filing process Timeliness and QualityImprove the quality and timeliness of patent examination by exploring a range of approaches to examining applications._f51d8d10-f606-4602-91b9-4ecd626177f23INITIATIVE ● Explore the development of alternative approaches to examination in collaboration with stakeholders TrademarksOptimize Trademark Quality and Timeliness_138404c0-12eb-4608-919b-fad9b1e78fdc2INTRODUCTION Trademarks have served an important purpose throughout recorded history, as owners of goods and services put their names on their products. In the 21st century, trademarks represent valuable business properties, serving as the symbol of a company’s good will and the products and services it offers. By registering trademarks, we have a significant role in protecting consumers from confusion as well as providing important benefits to American businesses. A mark registered with the USPTO serves as prima facie evidence of ownership and the right to use the mark, and can provide access to the Federal court system. The registration can be recorded with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in order to stop the importation of infringing goods. Most importantly, the registration serves as notice to the world of the owner’s claim of right in the trademark. Today, a business developing a new mark to identify its goods or services can search and discover via the USPTO Web site more than two million marks in which others claim rights, and then subsequently file an application for registration. Our plan is to continually assess our process for improvements, to complete electronic processing and workflow to better manage operations, and to maximize the use of e-government for conducting business with applicants and registrants. In addition to our electronic filing and information systems, completion of an electronic file management system will: reduce cycle times; enhance the functionality and number of electronic filing options; provide increased access to pending applications and registered marks; and facilitate processing requests from U.S. applicants seeking protection of their mark in foreign countries, as well as requests for protection of marks from foreign applicants in the United States. CHALLENGES/OPPORTUNITIES ● We must clearly identify what constitutes quality and demonstrate, through statistically valid metrics, that the quality of our work is the highest possible. ● Operating in today’s domestic and international environment requires us to have full electronic processing that is safe, secure, and accessible to employees, registrants and stakeholders. Our robust trademark electronic workplace systems must be adaptable to continuous improvement. ● We must be able to provide certainty for first action pendency, regardless of fluctuations in filing and funding, by changing our practices for staffing and distributing work. This requires a collaborative management effort to improve application-filing projections, and provide more certainty to a budget process that begins 18 months prior to the start of the fiscal year. ● The integration of Trademark and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) systems must be an area of focus to provide a seamless interface for applicants and reliability of operations. – We are experiencing increased pendency for requests for reconsideration that are filed contemporaneously with the notices of appeal and must find ways to address this issue. – Currently, uncontrolled discovery, along with an excessive number of discovery and trial motions, are increasing the pendency of TTAB opposition proceedings and, ultimately, registration or disposal pendency. OUR STRATEGIC RESPONSE We will develop alternatives for predicting workloads, making process improvements, hiring and retaining a qualified workforce and assigning work; fully leverage and expand the potentials of the electronic work environment; and improve TTAB case processing. PERFORMANCE MEASURES ● Trademark First Action Compliance Rate ● Trademark Final Action Compliance Rate ● Trademark Average First Action Pendency ● Trademark Average Final Action Pendency ● Trademark Efficiency ● Trademark Applications Filed Electronically ● Trademark Applications Managed Electronically PendencyAchieve and maintain a three-month first action pendency, and reduce disposal pendency excluding suspended and inter partes cases._a1adb460-13a5-4263-ae84-da8bc33c417d1INITIATIVES ● Achieve and maintain first action pendency at three months by exploring ways to change how work is performed and assigned ● Improve disposal pendency by: – Consolidating or eliminating redundant levels ofreview of applications approved for publication – Changing the time frame for the Official Gazette legal review and Trademark Quality Review’s image review to optimize efficiency – Exploring timeline modifications for the OfficialGazette opposition and publication process– Completing process maps of the examination process and supporting the maps electronically ● Implement state-of-the-art remote training and meeting capabilities to further facilitate telework ● Expand telework opportunities to all eligible employees ● Streamline TTAB case resolution by: – Promulgating rules requiring parties in opposition and cancellation proceedings to participate in discovery conferences, make initial disclosure of information, and disclose potential witnesses – Promoting and expanding the use of "accelerated case resolution" whereby cases are decided based on summary judgment-type submissions stipulated by the parties Examination QualityImprove quality of examination by ensuring consistency and quality of searching and examination, and provide internal on-line tools._778b56c4-51d4-4b20-9062-6aad36157faa2INITIATIVE ● Continue quality improvements that began with the adoption of a new quality standard and quality review process in fiscal year 2003 by: – Increasing the use of quality review findings by analyzing and incorporating the results in training, examination guidelines and policies, and manuals – Creating comprehensive new employee training programs and procedures manuals for all examination-related positions – Revising the final office action metrics by measuring and reporting on the quality of all Trademark final work rather than just final refusals – Exploring the creation of web-based search tools, data mining, and automated preliminary searches so that examining attorneys can search more effectively E-File Management and WorkflowProvide electronic file management and workflow._88bec637-5d91-42b7-8930-7eb5608350533INITIATIVE ● Implement the Trademark Information System (TIS) as a truly electronic workflow environment to manage correspondence from pre-examination through post-examination, to provide more automated communications with internal and external customers, to permit real-time monitoring of applications, and to implement tighter integration among all supporting automation information systems On-Line FilingDevelop interactive on-line electronic filing capabilities and upgrade e-tools._9fd3eb6c-8f85-4f22-b21e-c1f0fffadd934INITIATIVE ● Expand/enhance trademark electronic filing by enhancing IT systems, expanding types of filings that will be accepted electronically, and offering incentives Intellectual PropertyImprove Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement Domestically and Abroad_4742b0a8-049d-4cb9-aa4a-4a1890861d603INTRODUCTION The USPTO is an important component in the Administration’s strategy to encourage American innovation and strengthen the nation’s ability to compete in the global economy. America’s economic strength and global leadership depend on continued innovation and the ability to protect investments in those innovations. To keep competitive in an increasingly globalized business environment, U.S. businesses need as much certainty as possible in the creation and protection of their IP, both here and abroad. Losses due to counterfeiting and piracy seriously undermine U.S. businesses’ ability to trade globally. Additionally, the costs and difficulties in obtaining IP protection globally, and preserving and enforcing these rights, is an impediment for many businesses. The Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP!), led by the White House, is the most comprehensive initiative ever advanced to fight global piracy where it starts, block bogus goods at America’s borders and help American businesses secure and enforce their rights around the world. The USPTO supports this program through GIPA, training and capacity building in various regions of the world, and staffing the STOP! hotline. CHALLENGES/OPPORTUNITIES ● There is a lack of simplified and harmonized international IP systems, which is making it difficult, slow, and expensive for innovators and businesses to obtain protection in global markets. ● Striking a balance between the rights of IP holders and cultural and socio-economic concerns continues to be a challenge for all countries. ● Achieving consensus among countries advocating effective IP protection is critical for counteracting countries concerned about efforts to enhance IP standards. ● We must continue to address counterfeiting, piracy, and failure to respect IP rights here and abroad. ● The Office must continue to craft and deliver an effective educational program about the benefits and effective use of IP, scam awareness, and careers in IP fields; and expand access to IP information. ● The USPTO must provide leadership by assisting the Solicitor General of the United States in cases before the Supreme Court, particularly as the Court considers the obviousness standard in patent law. OUR STRATEGIC RESPONSE We will advocate U.S. Government IP policy by increasing our presence and activities domestically and internationally; partner with international counterparts in pursuit of harmonization; and increase the certainty and effectiveness of IP rights through developments in decisional law. PERFORMANCE MEASURES Number of instances in which USPTO experts review IP policies/standards Improving worldwide IP expertise for U.S. Government interests Plans of action, mechanisms, and support programs initiated or implemented in developing countries IP ProtectionSupport efforts and initiatives aimed at strengthening IP protection and curbing theft of IP._a1bcfb8b-579d-4fdb-b10a-5351e74f8e721INITIATIVES ● Expand foreign postings of IP experts to advocate U.S. Government IP policy, interests, and initiatives; conduct training on IP rights matters; and assist U.S. businesses ● Expand the GIPA to raise awareness of IP theft worldwide and improve an understanding of IP rights ● Expand training and capacity building to help create an understanding of, and the infrastructure for, IP protection in various countries, thereby enabling Americans to increase their ability to market products abroad ● Negotiate and monitor implementation of the IP chapter of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in conjunction with the USTR, thereby ensuring IP protection at levels similar to those in the United States International StandardsContinue efforts to develop unified standards for international IP practice._55022961-2332-405d-a8e1-4e148f372b9d2INITIATIVES ● Advocate progress in IP-related norm-setting bodies (e.g., intergovernmental organizations such as WIPO) by promoting the harmonization of global IP systems and reducing duplication of efforts through bilateral, regional, and multilateral fora ● Develop guidance for electronic filing and processing by promoting the compatibility and interoperability of patent and trademark electronic filing and processing systems among IP offices, thereby enhancing efficiencies in the acquisition and maintenance of IP rights Domestic PolicyProvide policy guidance on domestic IP issues._1d114039-6ebe-40e8-9407-a17f0f2a72cb3INITIATIVES ● Develop domestic IP reform proposals that would promote and enhance the protection of IP in the United States by taking a comprehensive and participatory role in addressing issues through the establishment of reform focus groups, developing positions, and drafting legislation to implement IP treaties ● Maximize best practices from BPAI and TTAB decisions by increasing the impact of Board decisions in developing best practices for patent and trademark examination and allowance ● Support post-grant review legislation to ensure that the ultimate legislation comports as closely as possible with the Administration’s view of an effective system Innovation and CompetitivenessFoster innovation and competitiveness by delivering IP information and education worldwide._989e6b6c-b21f-4f51-9a4d-1c84ce20018f4INITIATIVE ● Promote the importance of IP by taking a coordinated approach in carrying out projects related to communication, education and support, and domestic and international public awareness, including a focus on the special needs of independent inventors and entrepreneurs Organizational ExcellenceAchieve Organizational Excellence_c1c894a5-a8bb-4b63-b297-00cc2f1676c84INTRODUCTION Fulfillment of the USPTO’s mission and accomplishment of our goals, objectives, and initiatives requires strong leadership and collaborative management, which begin with the senior executive team. While our strategic goals focus on our core mission, this management goal focuses on the organizational excellence that is a prerequisite for achieving those goals and objectives. Organizational excellence is a shared responsibility and is focused on sound resource management, solid workforce planning, and effective use of IT. Collectively, the leadership of the USPTO is responsible for core management activities that result in: ● Becoming an employer of choice with a culture of high performance through the implementation of the USPTO’s Strategic Human Capital Plan; ● Ensuring responsible management of fiscal resources; and ● Providing the IT expertise and systems to ensure that electronic processing is safe, secure, accurate, and continually available to employees, applicants, and stakeholders. CHALLENGES/OPPORTUNITIES ● The USPTO must continuously recruit a large number of highly qualified patent examiners in a growing economy. ● To quickly respond to changing workloads and deliver the services our applicants and others demand, the USPTO must use the most effective personnel practices, technologies, flexibilities, and management techniques to continually maintain and develop an appropriately sized, skilled, and diverse staff. ● It is critical to accurately project fee-paid inputs to ensure that fee collections cover the cost of operations, and enable us to implement a workforce-staffing plan capable of meeting future-year demands. ● To support core mission activities, the USPTO must simplify and standardize its systems and fully integrate them to operate better and more efficiently. ● Organizational health is directly related to effective communication—among employees and between employees and our external community. Our challenge is to enhance communications at every level of the organization. OUR STRATEGIC RESPONSE We will develop an enterprise-wide approach to providing reliable and consistent information for decision-making purposes; recruit, hire, develop, and retain employees with competencies for accomplishing our mission; enhance the capabilities of our corporate systems, processes, and services; and improve the quality, cost-effectiveness, timeliness, and user friendliness of IT solutions. PERFORMANCE MEASURES ● Closed competency/skills gaps for mission-critical occupations, on both capacity (numbers hired) and capability (quality) dimensions ● Ninety-five percent of supervisors, managers, and executives will have performance plans in place that link to agency mission, goals and/or outcomes ● Percentage availability of critical systems ● IT expense as a percentage of revenue ● Maximize and/or obtain new funding flexibilities ● Process cost as a percent of revenue (efficiency) ● Revenue actual versus plan and percent error in revenue forecasts (effectiveness) Intragency PartnershipsFunction as true business partners across the organization to achieve superior enterprise performance and provide strategic leadership._e84daf67-5783-4b18-af7e-fb81e14a77ef1INITIATIVES ● Implement the agency’s Strategic Human Capital Plan by: – Closing competency gaps (capacity and capability) in mission-critical occupations to meet current and future needs – Enhancing the performance management and reward system to effectively differentiate between high and low performance and link individual, team, and organizational goals – Ensuring that leaders and managers effectively (1) manage people, (2) maintain continuity of leadership, (3) sustain a learning environment, and (4) provide a means to share critical knowledge Operational ExcellenceEnsure operational excellence in enterprise-wide management processes._41d62f95-3213-4189-a73e-89d59d652d192INITIATIVES ● Enhance the capabilities of financial systems and processes by: – Establishing an enterprise-wide approach for financial management – Establishing methods for more accurate and timely predictions of application filings, workloads, and revenues – Providing an automated operating environment for conducting financial management business with the USPTO ● Improve human resource processes and services ● Improve the quality, cost-effectiveness, and timeliness of IT solutions by: – Simplifying IT systems and support infrastructure – Improving existing business area tools and capabilities On-Line Access to InformationDramatically simplify on-line access to, and availability of, USPTO information and data._0c1a32a8-ce4b-48a4-a2e2-d4d63e8a0d313INITIATIVE ● Improve accessibility to USPTO information by: – Expanding searchable information – Providing streamlined access to information – Increasing system capabilities for access to information – Implementing secure IP office information exchange – Improving search engine capabilities – Developing and deploying a "search aggregator" 2006-10-012012-08-302010-02-08http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/strat2007/stratplan2007-2012.pdfArthurColman (www.drybridge.com)colman@drybridge.com