Introducing the Trademarks Dashboard

Guest Blog by Commissioner for Trademarks Deborah Cohn

The USPTO launched its first Data Visualization Center Dashboard in October to provide access to patent application and pendency. This month, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Trademarks Dashboard, which has been modeled on the Patent Dashboard’s success and format.
 
An important part of the USPTO’s mission is to increase awareness and understanding of intellectual property. One of the many ways we can do that is to create a better understanding of the most critical metrics that contribute to examining and issuing patents and registering trademarks -- pendency and quality -- as well as making those measures more transparent to the public. 

Trademark pendency has reached historically low levels as measured by the time from filing to first action; and, at disposal or total pendency, the average time from filing to registration, notice of allowance or abandonment of the application. Our challenge now is to maintain consistent monthly first action pendency within a 2.5 to 3.5 month range with disposal pendency at 12.5 months or less as filings increase and fluctuate on a monthly basis. The dashboard provides greater visibility by showing both pendency metrics based on the method of filing.

Trademark quality is a critical measure for improving quality by evaluating and developing training guides and reporting metrics based on the results of a review of examination quality. We continue to refine and improve the measurement of quality as evidenced by the new “excellent Office action” quality measure that was introduced this year to define excellence of the initial search strategy, decision making, and writing. This measure is an added dimension of the first and final Office action compliance measures.

This tool will give everyone access to measures presenting trademark pendency, quality, application filings, registrations, and an assessment of inventory for pending applications as well as new applications awaiting the examining attorney’s first Office action. This information will help the entire IP community to better understand our processes, and enable applicants to make more informed decisions about their applications. The new addition to the USPTO Data Visualization Center will be updated quarterly, and will also track the past three years of performance metrics to show trends as well as targets where appropriate. We intend to further refine the dashboard and welcome your input about ways we can improve it.  A dedicated mailbox has been set up for your comments.

We hope you’ll find the new Trademarks Dashboards to be a valuable resource and we welcome any feedback you have on how we can make these resources even better.

Posted at 02:16PM May 11, 2011 in trademarks  |  Comments[0]

Introducing the Office of Policy and External Affairs Dashboard

Guest Blog by Administrator for Policy and External Affairs Albert Tramposch

The Office of Policy and External Affairs assists the USPTO Director in advising the President, through the Secretary of Commerce, and other federal agencies on domestic and international intellectual property policy. “External Affairs” or “EA,” as the office is commonly referred to, also promotes the development of intellectual property systems, nationally and internationally, and advocates improvements in training and protecting intellectual property throughout the world.

We are pleased to be launching the first External Affairs dashboard today, and to be providing data each quarter on the following metrics. 

(1) Number of Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) and Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)-PPH and cases filed in the USPTO

(2) Number of educational programs

(3) Number of attendees trained and the countries they represent

(4) Number of countries trained

The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a framework in which an application whose claims have been determined to be patentable in one country's patent office, called the Office of First Filing (OFF), is eligible to go through an accelerated examination in another country's patent office, called the Office of Second Filing (OSF), with a simple procedure upon an applicant’s request. The PPH, through the use of the search and examination-related information produced by the first office, supports applicants in their efforts to obtain stable patent rights efficiently around the world, reduces the search/examination burden of the second office and improves the quality of the examination of the major patent offices in the world.

Under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), applicants may obtain search/examination results from an accredited "PCT authority." The USPTO has established agreements with several PCT authorities (OFF) to permit applicants to request PPH handling of their applications based on positive results from the PCT search  and examination. Called PCT-PPH, this enables patent applicants to request a fast-track examination procedure in participating offices (OSF) where patent examiners can make use of the work products from the other offices. By requesting that their applications be processed under this procedure, applicants can generally obtain patents more quickly before participating offices. Currently, the USPTO has PPH and PCT-PPH arrangements with 14 other offices.

The Office of Policy and External Affairs dashboard  shows the number of PPH cases filed with the USPTO.

In 2006, the USPTO established the Global Intellectual Property Academy (GIPA), and in 2007, USPTO completed construction of a permanent space for GIPA at the Alexandria, Va., campus.   GIPA offers capacity building programs in the United States and around the world on intellectual property protection, enforcement, and capitalization. Capacity-building programs are offered to patent, trademark and copyright officials, judges, prosecutors, police, customs officials, foreign policy makers, examiners and rights owners. In delivering capacity building programs, GIPA works closely with other United States government agencies, trading partners and international organizations. GIPA provides both multilateral programs and country specific programs. Some programs are developed to address specific legal issues, administrative issues and specific intellectual property areas. USPTO’s GIPA is instrumental in achieving the objectives of halting intellectual property theft and advancing international intellectual property policies.

The dashboard shows the number of educational programs, the number of  attendees  trained by GIPA and the number of countries that they represent.

We hope you’ll find the new USPTO Data Visualization Center  Office of Policy and External Affairs dashboard to be a valuable resource and we welcome any feedback you have on how we can make it even better.

Posted at 02:04PM Apr 28, 2011 in USPTO  |  Comments[1]

An Update on the USPTO's FY 2011 Budget

As you may know, the FY 2011 budget was enacted on April 15, 2011 and contains the USPTO’s appropriation through the end of this fiscal year, September 30, 2011. With the enactment of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011, our total spending authority for FY 2011 has been limited to $2.09 billion.

Given this level of spending authority, USPTO will have to make significant reductions for the current fiscal year.

We have not come by these decisions lightly; I recognize that these measures will create new challenges for our ability to carry out our agency’s mission, but we will continue seeking innovative ways to do more with less.

Effective immediately and until further notice:

• Track One of the Three-Track program, which offers expedited patent examination and was scheduled to go into effect on May 4, 2011, is postponed;

• The opening of the planned Nationwide Workforce satellite office in Detroit, as well as consideration of other possible satellite office locations, is postponed;

• Hiring—both for new positions and backfills—is frozen;
  
• IT projects will be scaled back;
  
• Funding for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) outsourcing will be substantially reduced;

• Employee training will be reduced;

• All overtime is suspended.

In addition, business units will be required to reduce all other non-compensation-related expenses, including travel, conferences and contracts.

Trademarks is unaffected and will maintain normal operations. 

I would like to thank our entire team for their continuing cooperation and patience, and for their dedication and service during this challenging time.

Posted at 09:08AM Apr 22, 2011 in USPTO  |  Comments[5]

March Dashboard Overview

Special Guest Blog by USPTO Commissioner for Patents Bob Stoll

The dashboard for the month of March has been released and is ready to be viewed on our website. Despite the uncertainties associated with this year’s funding, we continue to make steady progress toward our goals.

Traditional First Action Pendency increased to an average of 25.3 months in March. This uptick, from 24.5 last month, was expected since we are working to clear up the oldest applications from the backlog. The increase will continue until these cases are removed through our Clearing the Oldest Patent Applications (COPA) initiative. You can expect to hear more about COPA pretty regularly. We continue to see great progress on the number of first actions on cases older than 16 months. At the end of March there were 197,583 such cases. Meanwhile, Traditional Total Pendency decreased from 34.0 months in February to 33.9 months in March.

The Preliminary UPR filing data through March shows that 248,209 applications have been received this fiscal year. Last year at this time 232,468 applications had been received and current projections predict a 4.9% increase in filings this fiscal year over FY 2010. Meanwhile, the backlog of applications awaiting first office action by examiners decreased this month to 708,912. Finally, the allowance rate increased to 46.2% in March, which is 2% higher than this time last year. 

Thanks, as always, for your support and I look forward to your feedback.

Posted at 10:52AM Apr 15, 2011 in patents  |  Comments[1]

Update on the Patent Examiner Technical Training Program (PETTP)

One of our top priorities at USPTO is to ensure that we have a well-trained workforce. Our Patent Examiner Technical Training Program (PETTP) provides patent examiners with direct access to experts who are able to share their technical knowledge on prior art and industry standards in areas of emerging technologies and established technologies. 

This program provides an excellent opportunity for communication between patent examiners and the experts who work in the various technologies that are examined throughout USPTO.

In the past, we have had success with patent examiner technical training through technology fairs and informal training sessions for the patent corps. The PETTP program is building on that success and implementing a coordinated process to attract industry experts to the USPTO to provide examiner training.

We believe that putting patent examiners together with innovators and experts in an educational environment where the experts can discuss advances in the state of the art, emerging trends, and recent innovations in their fields will result in better informed examiners and higher quality final dispositions.  So far the program has generated considerable interest in the patent community. We have trained more than 1,200 examiners and hosted upwards of 20 organizations including Facebook, Apple, VISA, UPS, Hitachi, SAS and St. Jude Medical.

To learn more about the program I encourage you to visit the Patent Examiner Technical Training Program website. There you will find background on the program, a link to the Federal Register Notice, and a list of the types of technical training needs by Technology Center.

In an effort to allow for more flexibility in delivering training for those who elect not to travel, training can be delivered using webinars in this program

Interested participants should contact the USPTO and identify their area of expertise by filling out this online form or by sending an email to Examiner_Technical_Training@uspto.gov.

The PETTP program provides a great opportunity to enhance the quality of our patent examination.  This initiative is the latest illustration of our desire to collaborate with the stakeholder community to improve the patent system. 

We believe this kind of training provides a great opportunity to enhance the quality of our patent examination and this initiative is the latest illustration of our desire to collaborate with the stakeholder community to improve the patent system.

As always, I look forward to your feedback.

Posted at 02:29PM Apr 08, 2011 in patents  | 

Automating Petitions Handling to Improve Efficiency

I’d like to discuss patent petitions in general, and in particular, petition decisions. We’ve heard the complaints that it takes too long to get a decision from the Petitions Office.

To address this issue, we’ve just announced that we’re we're automating the filing and decision process for eight (8) patent petition types. These eight petition types cover approximately one-third of the work of the Petitions Office. They will join the two current types of petitions that can be decided electronically (petitions to make special on the basis of age and petitions to accept unintentionally delayed payment of the maintenance fee).

However, what we are initiating for the eight newly automated petitions is a departure from the established way to get a decision. We're automating the process using USPTO's new e-Petition system. With e-Petition, the petitions data is input through a secure web interface and at the push of a button the petition is decided. We are using webforms and an automated workflow to accomplish the task of deciding petitions filed using ePetition. This means that for these eight types of petitions when filed using ePetition, there will be no waiting for the petition to be docketed, no waiting for someone to decide the petition, and no waiting for the decision to be uploaded into Public PAIR.

The eight (8) petition types are as follows:

1. WITHDRAWAL OF ATTORNEY (37 CFR 1.36)

2. WITHDRAW FROM ISSUE AFTER PAYMENT OF ISSUE FEE

3. WITHDRAW FROM ISSUE AFTER PAYMENT OF ISSUE FEE (37 CFR 1.313(c))

4. WITHDRAW FROM ISSUE AFTER PAYMENT OF ISSUE FEE (37 CFR 1.313(c)(1) OR (2)) WITH ASSIGNED PATENT NUMBER

5. WITHDRAW FROM ISSUE UNDER 37 CFR 1.313(c)(3). APPLICATION IS EXPRESSLY ABANDONED.

6. PETITION TO ACCEPT LATE PAYMENT OF ISSUE FEE - UNINTENTIONAL LATE PAYMENT (37 CFR 1.155(c) OR 37 CFR 1.316)

7. PETITIONS UNDER 37 CFR 1.137(f)

8. PETITION TO REVIVE ABANDONED APPLICATION FOR CONTINUITY PURPOSES ONLY

I hope applicants will use the e-Petition system. By using e-Petition, petitioners will also now have more control over when their petitions are filed and answered. This is especially advantageous for critical petitions, such as petitions to withdraw from issue. And deciding petitions electronically will decrease the need for renewed petitions, since petitioners will know instantly whether all technical requirements have been met. Moreover, petitions processed and decided electronically will not add to the inventory of petitions awaiting decision, freeing up the resources currently used to decide these eight types of petitions.

So, processing and issuing more petition decisions electronically should provide an improvement in service to patent applicants, and help improve efficiency of the USPTO. For more specific details on e-Petitions, please see the FAQ’s at http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/ePetition-FAQs.jsp. The ePetition system is a step forward in the journey of improving the patent system. In this regard, as always, your input on improving the ePetition system is important to us. Please give us your feedback.

Posted at 05:07PM Apr 01, 2011 in patents  | 

Impressions from SXSW

I had the great pleasure of being in Austin, Texas last weekend for something new and special—not only for me but for the USPTO. The SXSW (South by Southwest) Interactive Conference has been a major destination for technologists for a number of years now and a hotbed destination for many of this country’s prime innovators and entrepreneurs. I spoke at two SXSW Interactive sessions, a great opportunity for us to connect with some new audiences.

At each session we were able to meet and speak with some of the sharpest minds of a young, hipster and entrepreneurial set. Smart, enthusiastic, dedicated—this is both the face of the future of American innovation, and in many notable cases its present face. Like our employees at USPTO, the US innovation community is changing, and we are finding new ways to keep pace with them, on their terms.

We are of course committed to informing and encouraging all of those working in the field of IP. Not only do we have to help support and nurture the cutting edge ideas coming from seasoned professionals, but we must also be there for young people in their teens and twenties, many of whom are creating startups that may employ tens or even thousands within just a couple of years.

We're also aware that even in the growing world of open source, inventive ideas are still property for those who wish to treat them that way by seeking patent protection. Moreover, the open source model itself is highly dependent on the copyright laws as the vehicle for securing the contractual commitments that underpin the open source development model.

And another point that bears remembering: Patent infringement, piracy, copyright infringement and the like steal from our nation’s creators and go-getters. Significantly, they also steal jobs from the US economy. No legitimate business model condones stealing.

Being in Austin surrounded by thousands of innovators and entrepreneurs was inspiring. The USPTO stands ready to assist these innovators as they pursue their dreams. In fact we're not waiting—we're reaching out to them every chance we get!

Posted at 10:46AM Mar 16, 2011 in USPTO  |  Comments[4]

New Quality Measure Added to February Dashboard

Special Guest Blog by USPTO Commissioner for Patents Bob Stoll

The dashboard for the month of February has been released and is on our website. We have added a new quality measure, “Quality Index Report (QIR).”  QIR, one of the factors making up the new composite quality metric that was recently announced, tracks the actions taken by examiners during prosecution of patent applications.  The QIR is a statistical analysis of quality-related events in the prosecution, such as the reopening of final rejections and second non-final actions.  Identifying quality issues prior to final action allows for corrective actions to be taken via coaching/mentoring and training. 

The new quality composite greatly expands the previous procedures for measurement of examination quality.  The effort is the result of collaboration between the USPTO, the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) Quality Task Force and the patent community.  The dashboard continues to show the two historical quality measures of Final Disposition Compliance Rate and the In-Process Compliance Rate; these continue to be on target.

Traditional first action pendency increased only slightly to an average of 24.5 months for February up from 24.2 months in January, while traditional total pendency decreased from 34.5 months in January to 34.0 months in February.  The USPTO continues to focus on reducing the backlog and first action pendency in order to achieve overall pendency and backlog goals.  

Our Clearing Oldest Patent Applications (COPA) initiative continues to see great progress as the number of First Actions on cases older than 16 months chips away at the “tail.”   This month there were 233,780 cases remaining in the tail.  The preliminary UPR filing data through February shows that 202,456 applications have been received by the office to date this fiscal year, versus 186,065 over the same time last year.  The backlog of applications awaiting first office action by examiners decreased this month to 715,461. 

We think these metrics show some great progress.  And, on a related note, I want to personally thank everyone worked so hard to ensure the passage of S. 23, the America Invents Act of 2011.  The bill will provide the USPTO the needed resources to improve patent quality and reduce pendency, which will help innovators bring their products to market, build businesses and create much-needed new jobs.  Our hope is that the House will quickly act on patent reform as well.

Thanks for your ongoing support and I look forward to your feedback.

Posted at 04:44PM Mar 11, 2011 in ip  |  Comments[3]

USPTO Symposium March 11 to Bring Together Women Inventors and Entrepreneurs

In honor of Women’s History Month, I’d like to take a moment to talk about women’s contributions to our country’s innovation economy.  Throughout history, women have played a critical role as innovators, inventors, and entrepreneurs.  Take, for example, women inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame: Stephanie Kwolek, the inventor of Kevlar™; Elizabeth Hazen and Rachel Brown, the inventors of the antifungal antibiotic, Nystatin™; and Patsy Sherman, the inventor of Scotchgard™.  These breakthrough inventions are still in use today and have improved our world substantially.  These women and countless others set the example for women of all ages who are working diligently to bring their ideas, innovations, and inventions to the marketplace.
 
To help celebrate Women’s History Month and to bring attention to identifying opportunities that support and encourage women to become entrepreneurs and innovators, the USPTO and the United States Women's Chamber of Commerce (USWCC) are hosting a women’s entrepreneurship symposium on Friday, March 11, here at the USPTO.  Given that women-owned businesses make a significant impact on the U.S. economy, this event will focus on women entrepreneurs, the importance of intellectual property protection for their innovations, and how to leverage economic opportunities for women-owned businesses.   I am excited to welcome U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.), chair of the Senate’s Small Business Committee, who will serve as the symposium’s keynote speaker.  Our newly appointed USPTO Deputy Director Terry Rea will provide opening remarks, and additional speakers will include leaders in business, law and government who will provide useful information on topics such as intellectual property protection, accessing financial resources, building business relationships and more.
 
According to the Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA), 7.8 million firms were owned by women in 2007, accounting for almost 30 percent of all non-farm, privately held U.S. firms.  Women-owned firms also had total receipts of $1.2 trillion in 2007, and employed 7.6 million workers. While these numbers reflect a very positive picture for women and one that continues to reflect growth, women inventors and entrepreneurs still face additional challenges to their success and remain behind men in earning power both in the corporate world and as business owners. According to the United States Women’s Chamber of Commerce (USWCC), women-owned firms make $0.75 for every $1 earned by firms owned by men.
 
I hope that both women and men will join together at the USPTO for this unique event.  The symposium will be held from 9:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. at the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Va. Registration for this one-day event is $41.00 and includes all conference sessions and materials, light refreshments, a keynote luncheon and a networking reception. For more information, contact the USPTO at 571-272-8850.  To view the full agenda and register, go to: http://www.uswcc.org/meetings/womens-entrepreneurship-symposium-presented-by-the.html

As always, your comments and input are welcomed. I look forward to your feedback.

Posted at 04:29PM Mar 07, 2011 in USPTO  |  Comments[1]

Patent Reform: Good for Innovation. Good for Small Business. Good for America

Today I thought I would offer my thinking on a topic that is getting a lot of attention these days—patent reform. The 21st century, an undoubtedly technological one, demands a strong, clear and expedient patent system to ensure American competitiveness. Presently, that system is in immediate need of attention. That is why President Obama, Secretary Locke and I support Senate passage of S.23, the America Invents Act of 2011.

As outlined in our official Statement of Administration Policy released this week, the legislation updates our patent system by offering greater certainty about patent rights, lower fees for independent inventors and micro-entities and faster alternatives to expensive litigation. Moreover, it enables a financially stable USPTO that promotes growth for innovators in all industries and of all sizes.

I speak regularly with successful inventors, and they tell me exactly what they need to succeed: secure patent rights in order to access capital, hire employees, and build their companies. This demands a swift and efficient system that doesn't leave intellectual property clogged in the pipelines. S.23 would enable the USPTO to set its fees and recover the actual cost of the services we provide to inventors without costing the taxpayer a dime. By providing our Agency with adequate resources, delays will be minimized and high-quality examinations will be completed in a shorter amount of time. This will help to clear the patent backlog and allow innovators to move ideas to the marketplace more quickly.

By moving the United States to a First-Inventor-to-File (FITF) system, the bill establishes greater speed and certainty about property rights in the innovation marketplace, while also leveling the playing field for anyone seeking to participate in global commerce. While I recognize some have concerns about this switch, the reality is that the current First-to-Invent system is fraught with peril.  Under the current system, a host of objections can be raised in litigation that undermine a patentee’s rights. Such litigation is expensive and time consuming.

Passage of this legislation will also reduce the prohibitive cost of challenging issued patents by creating an in-house post-grant review process which will provide a faster and much cheaper alternative to costly and drawn-out litigation.

Enabling growth for industries of all sizes optimizes our ability to spur innovation, create new jobs, carve out new industries and enable new services to address social needs. 

In the past 50 years we have seen more technological advancements than at any point in history but with no comprehensive patent reform to keep up with the times. In this century, we can’t expect tomorrow’s economy to take root using yesterday’s infrastructure. In order to bring ideas to market—in order to get ideas to capture funding—we must adopt a system that is more efficient for all who use it.

By enacting this bill, we’ll be able to revitalize our economy, unleash American creativity and win the future by catalyzing new industries that keep us competitive for generations to come.

Thanks for your continued support of the USPTO.  As always, I’m interested to know what you think—in this case, about patent reform.

Posted at 02:17PM Mar 02, 2011 in patents  |  Comments[9]

January Patents Dashboard Changes and COPA

Special Guest Blog by USPTO Commissioner for Patents Bob Stoll

The USPTO Data Visualization Center – otherwise known as “The Dashboard”—continues to be positively received by our stakeholders.  Just recently, I received feedback from stakeholders I met with at the ABA-IPL Mid-Winter Leadership Conference and the AIPLA Mid-Winter Institute who told me that they appreciate the transparency the dashboard provides.   In the interest of further transparency, we have just added first action and traditional total pendency data by technology center to the dashboard. 

We’re pleased to report the total backlog of applications awaiting first office action by examiners decreased this month to 718,857 from last month’s 721,831.  We are already making a dent in the backlog as shown by the decline of traditional first action pendency to an average of 24.2 months for January from 24.6 months in December.  In addition, traditional total pendency also decreased from 34.9 months in December to 34.5 months in January.  To date, the USPTO has received 160,962 applications versus 149,438 over the same time last year. Filings continue a strong upward trend with 11,542 more applications received so far this year compared to  this time last year.   We anticipate this trend to continue as the economy makes a slow growth toward full recovery.  The USPTO is working hard to do our part to help the recovery and to be fully prepared for the future.

The USPTO must work at the highest level of efficiency to achieve our goal of 10 months to first action pendency by 2014.  As we looked for strategies to meet this goal, we analyzed our application distribution in relationship to our available resources.  We found a high variability in workload volume as compared to resources in a few technology areas; and we found an unacceptable number of old cases still awaiting examination in our backlog.  One step we are taking is to eliminate the backlog of applications through an initiative known as “Clearing the Oldest Patent Applications” (COPA).  Through this initiative, we are carefully looking at our old case backlogs, and rebalancing workloads by sharing resources both within and across Technology Centers.   

In an effort to be more transparent, we have added a new measure to the dashboard to help track the COPA initiative.   For this fiscal year, our preliminary numbers indicate that we have completed first office actions in many COPA backlog applications.  We are currently focusing on reducing first action pendency in order to achieve overall pendency and backlog goals, and recent results have already reflected this focus.  While these results have reflected our focus on pendency reduction it should be noted that initially the COPA initiative is expected to temporarily increase first action pendency due to the examiner’s focus being on the oldest applications.  However, this is expected to be a temporary increase and then first action pendency will decrease as we continue to reduce the number of older applications in our backlog.

Thanks, as always, for your support and I look forward to your feedback.

Posted at 05:20PM Feb 14, 2011 in patents  | 

A New Model for Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs)

Many independent inventors and small businesses have discovered that there is a free resource in their state, possibly even their own city, to assist them on their quest to successfully protect and market their inventions.  The USPTO partners with over 80 libraries in 45 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, to provide access to and training on U.S. patent and trademark information via the Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program (PTDLP).

One of my goals this year is to both revitalize and rebrand the program to reflect the 21^st century focus on electronic information dissemination and training.   As part of this initiative, the USPTO is conducting a public roundtable to obtain input from organizations and individuals on current use of the PTDLs as well as how we can make them more useful, and a more substantial resource, in the future.  The roundtable will be held on February 15, 2011, from 1:30-3:00p.m. (ET) at the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia and will also be webcast. 

PTDLs are the face of USPTO in local communities – promoting a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.  Specially trained staff show you how to perform a preliminary patent or trademark search using the search tools on the USPTO website.  Staff cannot provide legal advice, but will show you how to locate legal practitioners to meet your needs.  PTDLs also have access to a public version of the Web Based Examiner’s Search Tool (PubWEST), and staff can teach you how to use its powerful search features.  These are some of the current services being offered at PTDLs.  We would like your input on additional services you would find helpful.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the meeting. Limited seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis in the Madison Auditorium on the concourse level of the Madison Building, which is located at 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314.  To access the webcast, visit: https://uspto.connectsolutions.com/ptdlp021511/

Written comments may also be sent via e-mail to PTDL_comments@uspto.gov.

Thank you for your comments and for your continuing interest in improving the USPTO and our services to America's innovation community.

Posted at 01:49PM Feb 07, 2011 in ip  |  Comments[1]

The Patent Cooperation Treaty and the USPTO

We were recently honored to have EPO President Benoît Battistelli address the staff of the USPTO.  In his address, President Battistelli mentioned the importance of the PCT and applauded USPTO's efforts to make improvements under the PCT.  As such, I thought I’d take the opportunity to update you on what we’ve been doing with regard to PCT processing here at the USPTO.

The PCT Task Force, created in the fall of 2009 and comprised of individuals from Patent Operations, PCT Legal Administration, PCT Operations and External Affairs, held a public meeting in February 2010 to hear comments on how the USPTO could improve its performance as a Receiving Office (RO), an International Searching Authority (ISA), an International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) and as a national Office.  The feedback we  received indicated that we needed to improve the timeliness of our processing and the quality of our work products so that  more reliance can be given in national phase applications (35 U.S.C. 371 applications) to the search reports, written opinions and international preliminary examination reports prepared by the USPTO.

The Task Force has indeed focused on addressing the input we received from the IP community: improving timeliness of processing and quality of work products to maximize re-use potential.  I’m extremely happy with the progress so far and am pleased to report on some of our achievements.  In fiscal year 2010, the U.S. Receiving Office averaged just 13 days for processing new international applications compared to 60 days in FY2008.  As an ISA, we mailed 82% of our search reports and written opinions within 16 months from priority and 91% within 18 months in FY2010.  That is a huge improvement over the 23% and 37%, respectively, from 2008.  Further, the national phase processing division of PCT Operations improved their pre-exam processing time for 35 U.S.C. 371 applications by 33% in FY2010.  As to quality, we made modifications to PCT outsourcing contracts to improve the quality of our contractor-prepared search reports and written opinions, provided our contractors with training on classification, claim interpretation, and search strategy, and are now making a detailed search history of record in international applications along with the search report and written opinion.

Although these improvements are significant, we still have work to do.  To start, we will continue to work with our contractors to improve the quality of the international searches and written opinions.  Also, since the timeliness of our international preliminary examination reports under Chapter II of the PCT is not satisfactory, we are in the process of remapping our entire Chapter II process to find areas where we can make improvements.  We are also further automating a number of processes, including the retrieval of PCT documents from the International Bureau for construction of 35 U.S.C. 371 applications and the transmittal of search copies of international applications to foreign International Searching Authorities.

We will also continue partnering with other IP Offices.  Within the Trilateral context, we are doing a study on ISR re-use in national phase applications and will be working closely with the EPO and JPO to develop metrics to understand the extent of re-use and ways to enhance re-use potential in the future.  Additionally, the USPTO, EPO and KIPO have recently concluded a Collaborative International Search and Examination pilot in which examiners from our Offices worked together to produce international  search reports and written opinions.  This pilot tested the feasibility of collaborative international searches and provided a general assessment of quality. A second larger phase of this pilot is planned for 2011 to build upon the lessons learned from the first phase and to provide a quantitative assessment of collaborative international search and examination.

So, my thanks for the great job done by our USPTO PCT Task Force.  We’ve made really fine progress to date thanks to your diligent, thoughtful work.  And I look forward to announcing more PCT achievements in 2011.

Posted at 05:10PM Jan 31, 2011 in patents  | 

USPTO Gets Agile

Since my first days at the USPTO, I’ve been committed to modernizing our outdated IT infrastructure. Modern tools are a cornerstone of our strategic direction to leverage 21st century technology to make your work easier, faster, and better. To deliver on that promise, and to rapidly transform our systems to achieve the agency’s goals, it’s essential that the USPTO learn to be more nimble in our approach to modernizing our systems.
 
Last May, John Owens, our CIO, directed a top to bottom review and enhancement of our procedure for developing IT products to embrace the “agile” development methodology. Traditionally, the USPTO utilized a “waterfall”’ development methodology that was characterized by several serial phases that resulted in long, drawn out delivery cycles.  As a result, users had to wait many months and often years, to receive new functionality and tools with no guarantee that the delivered product would satisfy their needs.  By contrast, agile is an iterative development methodology commonly used outside of the federal arena and is embraced at many successful technology companies. Agile emphasizes rapid delivery and user involvement from the beginning, to ensure successful delivery of tools that the users want and need. 
 
In December, Vivek Kundra, the U.S. Chief Information Officer, unveiled an ambitious 25 point plan to reform federal information technology management. Included in this plan are agile techniques. Namely to take smaller steps, tweak them based on feedback from our stakeholders and current business needs, and end up with systems that deliver higher value and increased user satisfaction.

Agile does three fundamental things that are different from traditional methods. First, agile embraces change as a constant. Change is expected, constantly planned for, and prioritized in real-time as business needs change. Second, agile time-boxes risk into 30-90 day “sprints.” This “if you’re going to fail, fail early” risks only 30-90 days’ worth of project time instead of finding issues or quality concerns late in a multi-month or multi-year project. Finally, agile techniques allow us to incrementally deliver higher quality products with improved features that are based on our users’ needs.
 
Agile requires cultural change to be successful. The project teams contain users who interact and test throughout the sprint. The user can work with and exercise the results of the sprint and provide valuable feedback that can be quickly integrated into future iterations. Users can therefore see results and improvements in months rather than years! 
 
We’ve made substantial progress in USPTO’s understanding of agile and are beginning to pilot several smaller initiatives using this new methodology. We hope to have a better understanding and more established processes for working in this environment in the coming months so that we can leverage this experience for marquee programs like “Patent End to End” and “Trademarks Next Generation.” Additionally we are launching extensive training for IT staff and users in agile and we are hiring program managers with deep agile.
 
As with all cultural changes, this one does come with some risks. As I mentioned, agile embraces, expects, and plans for changes, and to some extent failures, but due to the limited nature of the sprints, the risk and costs of such failures are small. Now it’s up to us to educate ourselves, stakeholders, users, customers and support the CIO that this is all part of the process and ultimately results in a much better product for the end users.
 
I applaud the hard working staff of the CIO’s office and other business units for undertaking this transition.  I know embracing change can be difficult, but as we mature our understanding and acceptance of the principles of rapid development and delivery, we will all benefit by the delivery of modern and improved tools and technologies used in industry for over a decade to deliver high-value business functions faster.

Posted at 02:38PM Jan 24, 2011 in USPTO  |  Comments[1]

Reengineering the MPEP: Part 3

If you’ve been following along with my blog for a while, you already know we’ve been looking at ways to reengineer the MPEP and TMEP.  In Part 2 of this series we reported that one important part of the new MPEP/TMEP philosophy would be continuous outreach and collaboration with the IP community to ensure the documents are accurate and current and maximally effective.  There was broad consensus that there should be a tool that allows for outside contributions to the content of these manuals while ensuring that the USPTO is the keeper of the official versions of the documents.

I’m thrilled to announce to our readers that we have now put out what we believe is a radically new way for us to work in collaboration with colleagues and stakeholders in getting this important job done. The vehicle we chose to bring that philosophy to action is the Internet, more specifically an online discussion tool. Now for the first time in history, the IP world can work with the USPTO, together and collaboratively make the MPEP and TMEP into state-of-the-art practice documents.

Now what we're looking for is the IP community to get involved.  Go to the MPEP or the TMEP discussion websites.  Check them out.  Join the discussion.  Contribute to improve the MPEP and TMEP.

We'll be featuring a few chapters from each document on a rolling basis, so the opportunities to have a positive impact will be indefinite in duration.

Posted at 05:50PM Jan 14, 2011 in USPTO  |