The Honorable Sean O'Keefe
Deputy Director
Office of Management and Budget
Washington, D.C. 20503
Dear Mr. O'Keefe:
I am pleased to submit the
U. S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) third "Annual Report on Management
of Commercial Activities" for fiscal year 2001. This report has identified approximately
44 percent or 2,834 of our federal workforce as performing commercial type activities.
This is an increase of 10 percent over our fiscal year 2000 report.
The USPTO took a proactive
role again this year in conducting our inventory. From the start, our executives
were briefed and onboard regarding the FAIR Act requirements and the President's
initiative to ensure the accuracy of the inventory. The result of senior management
involvement enabled the cross-organizational team developing the inventory to
conduct a thorough analysis of all activities within the USPTO and compile a
comprehensive inventory. In fact, our fiscal year 2001 inventory will open even
more of our positions to competition with the private sector.
The USPTO has been a strong
advocate of using the private sector to support our core mission businesses.
Currently, the USPTO has over 2,800 contract personnel working either onsite
at our facilities or offsite at contractor facilities. This work is in addition
to potential commercial activities identified in our fiscal year 2001 inventory.
Over the last 10 years, the USPTO has experienced around a 229 percent increase
in patent and trademark filings. Service contracts, in particular, have presented
an excellent opportunity to help us with this additional workload. During the
last five years alone, spending for service contracts has tripled. I have enclosed
a listing of the current services that the USPTO receives from commercial or
other government sources for your information.
We are proud of our accomplishments
and activities with regard to the FAIR Act and look forward to receiving feedback
from OMB on our fiscal year 2001 inventory. Please direct any questions that
may arise to Frances M. Michalkewicz, Director, Office of Corporate Planning,
at (703) 305-8350.
Sincerely,
Clarence C. Crawford
Enclosures