United States Patent and Trademark Office

United States Patent and Trademark Ofce

2010

–

2015 Strategic Plan

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010

Table of Contents

Message From the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property

and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) 1

INTRODUCTION 2

USPTO Vision 3

USPTO Mission 3

Challenges to Accomplishing the USPTO’s Vision and Mission 4

USPTO Strategic Goals 5

External Factors 6

STRATEGIC GOALS 7

Goal I: Optimize Patent Quality and Timeliness 8

Goal II: Optimize Trademark Quality and Timeliness 21

Goal III: Provide Domestic and Global Leadership to Improve Intellectual Property Policy,

Protection and Enforcement Worldwide 28

Management Goal: Achieve Organizational Excellence 33

ACCOMPANYING INFORMATION 43

Strategic Planning Process 44

Balanced Scorecard 46

ithout question, innovation

has become the principal

driver of our modern

economy. America’s innovators stimulate

economic growth and create high-paying

jobs. We at the USPTO embrace the

opportunity to serve America’s innova-

tors. A patent and trademark system

provides our innovators with the ability

to secure investment capital and to bring

their products and services to

the marketplace.

A well-run USPTO is critical to the nation’s continued economic

prosperity. The USPTO 2010-2015 Strategic Plan is designed

to strengthen the capacity of the USPTO, to improve the quality

of patents and trademarks that are issued, as well as to shorten

the time it takes to obtain a patent.

The USPTO 2010-2015 Strategic Plan outlines a focused,

specific set of goals and the steps we must take to reach those

goals. A cornerstone of our plan is reducing patent pendency

and optimizing patent and trademark quality. But, like any

enterprise, the USPTO must address challenges as varied as our

funding model, communication with our stakeholders, our

information technology system, and cooperation with global

intellectual property (IP) offices. We intend to meet these chal-

lenges head on.

We will use the USPTO 2010-2015

Strategic Plan as a management tool to

help us track our progress in meeting

each element of the plan. The plan

includes a Balanced Scorecard—a detailed

chart showing how each of our various

initiatives supports a strategic goal.

Each initiative in the Balanced Scorecard

has at least one performance metric.

This data will be reported to me and

senior management on a regular basis.

The USPTO management team will use

this data to manage each of our business

units to achieve a higher level of performance.

I want to thank our employees and stakeholders for their

support and thoughtful comments provided in the formulation

of this strategic plan, and I look forward to working with the

USPTO team and the IP community as we move to implement

it. By working together, we can implement a plan that will

strengthen the USPTO, enhance the world’s IP systems, and

help drive innovation, job creation, and economic growth for

years to come.

David J. Kappos

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and

Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office

Message from the Under Secretary of Commerce

for Intellectual Property and Director of the

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 1

2 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

s we move into the second decade of the 21st Century, it has become increasingly

clear that innovation is the key driver of long-term economic growth and a sustain-

able source of competitive advantage for United States (U.S.) businesses. Strong

domestic and international intellectual property (IP) protection and policies encourage

creativity, and incentivize inventors, university research laboratories, and businesses to

invest knowledge, time, and money into the creation of inventions and brands.

Technological innovation is linked to three-quarters of America’s post-WW II growth rate.

Two innovation-linked factors—capital investment and increased efficiency—represent

2.5 percentage points of the 3.4 percent average annual growth rate achieved since the

1940’s.

Invention, innovation, and diffusion benefit consumers not only through new

products and processes that promote efficiency and improve health and lifestyle, but also

by providing better, higher-paying jobs. Since 1990, the average compensation per employee

in innovation-intensive sectors increased 50 percent–nearly two and one-half times the

national average.

Promoting innovation and creativity, stimulating economic growth, and creating high-paying

jobs are key priorities of the Obama Administration. By providing IP protection in the form

of patents and trademarks, the USPTO plays a key role in fostering the innovation that

drives job creation, investment in new technology and economic recovery, and in promoting

and supporting the administration’s priorities.

As a world economic and technological leader, the United States remains the benchmark

by which other nations define their growth and success. Yet, while we stand on a strong

foundation, our Nation’s “innovation edge” is at risk.

Strong, robust, international markets are of increasing significance to America’s global

competitiveness. This trend has coupled with a growing importance of IP to the world

economy. During the last decade, patent and trademark filings have increased significantly

in the United States and indeed throughout most of the world. Because patent and

trademark applicants target the important U.S. market for IP protection, the upsurge in

filings has resulted in increased demand for USPTO services. This in turn has put consider-

able strain on the USPTO’s workforce, workloads, information technology (IT) infrastruc-

ture, and management—all of which jeopardizes the USPTO’s ability to review and issue

timely, high-quality patents and trademarks.

Timely-prosecuted, high-quality patents and trademarks support innovation and promote

creativity. Delay, uncertainty, poor quality, and costly litigation are obstacles to innovation

and creativity. A well-run USPTO is critical to our nation’s continued economic prosperity.

The USPTO 2010-2015 Strategic Plan is designed to strengthen the capacity of the USPTO,

United States Department of Commerce (2010). Patent Reform: Unleashing Innovation,

Promoting Economic Growth & Producing High-Paying Jobs.

Id.

2 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

Introduction

improve the quality of patents and trademarks issued, and

shorten the time it takes to get a patent. The performance

metrics that will ensure the successful implementation of this

strategic plan are set forth in the accompanying Balanced

Scorecard—a key driver for the plan’s execution.

USPTO Vision

Leading the Nation and the World in

Intellectual Property Protection and Policy

The incentives and rewards associated with strong protection

of ideas, creativity, and innovation stimulate further innovation

and creativity in the form of new products, services, and tech-

nology. Simply put, IP rights are a stimulus to innovation and

are critical to long-term economic growth.

The United States is a global leader in promoting laws and

policies that foster innovation and IP rights—and in encour-

aging economic investment in the arts, innovation, and

creativity. The USPTO must continue to encourage legal and

regulatory policies that protect IP, inform the public of the

critical role of IP, and nurture a world in which IP rights are

valued and enforced.

USPTO Mission

Fostering innovation, competitiveness and economic

growth, domestically and abroad by delivering 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, with a

highly skilled, diverse workforce.

The USPTO’s mission is anchored in Article I, Section 8, Clause

8, of the U.S. Constitution: “to promote the progress of science

and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and

inventors the exclusive right to their respective writing and

discoveries”; as well as the Commerce Clause of the

U.S. Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3) supporting the

federal registration of trademarks.

For most of the last century, the United States has been the

clear leader in developing new technologies, products, and

entire industries that provide high-value jobs for Americans,

enabling us to maintain our economic and technological lead-

ership. Successful execution of the USPTO’s mission can foster

decades of continued U.S. leadership.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 3

INTRODUCTION

The USPTO is committed to continuing a broad multilateral

dialog aimed at improving coordination among the IP systems

of all countries, thereby enabling innovators to secure IP

protection more efficiently and at lower cost. The USPTO will

participate, and lead as appropriate, in advancing that dialog

for patents, trademarks, copyrights, and other forms of

IP protection.

As an agency within the Department of Commerce (DOC), the

USPTO is uniquely situated to support the accomplishment of

the DOC’s mission to create the conditions for economic growth

and opportunity by promoting innovation, entrepreneurship,

competitiveness, and stewardship.

Challenges to Accomplishing

the USPTO’s Vision and

Mission

The distance between innovation and the marketplace is

shrinking. Said another way, innovation is moving more

quickly from creation to manufacture and distribution. IP is

often a necessary instrument for innovators and businesses to

capture value as ideas move to market. In performing its

mission, the USPTO faces significant challenges. These

challenges include:

Funding authority to support agency performance

●●

objectives.

The volume of applications.

●●

Rapid advances in technologies.

●●

Necessity for global cooperation and protection.

●●

Antiquated and decaying IT infrastructure.

●●

Hiring, retaining, and training examiners.

●●

Balancing competing objectives.

●●

The need for greater transparency in defining accountability

●●

metrics for agency objectives and performance.

Whereas prior USPTO strategic plans have demonstrated

knowledge and insight of the agency’s challenges, the USPTO

2010-2015 Strategic Plan sets forth specific initiatives and

detailed performance metrics necessary to fully execute,

implement, and deliver on the goals set forth in this plan.

Success is critical to our country’s continued economic pros-

perity. The USPTO must focus, build, manage, adapt,

and execute.

The USPTO must harness the expertise, skill, and technology

necessary to focus on its goals and engage in the initiatives

required to accomplish them. Those activities that keep us

on the road to accomplishing our goals must be enhanced

and continued, while those that do not must be modified

or eliminated. The USPTO must focus on establishing

appropriate metrics—those that are meaningful and actually

measure the activities necessary to determine progress and

achieve success.

The USPTO cannot accomplish these aggressive goals alone.

We must build stronger working relationships with our

workforce, applicants, attorneys, agents, the international

community, owners of patents and trademarks, Congress, and

the public. The USPTO must build a high-quality, efficient,

cost-effective, end-to-end electronic IT process that provides

examiners with the tools needed to efficiently and effectively

perform their jobs, and provides applicants and the user

community with access to information and data. We must

establish a sustainable funding model that provides the USPTO

with fee-setting authority and the ability to build an operating

reserve to manage patent and trademark revenue fluctuations.

We must collaborate and build relationships with our interna-

tional counterparts to foster seamless and cost-effective exami-

Under Secretary David Kappos and Deputy Under Secretary

Sharon Barner greet Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke during

his visit to the USPTO campus October 6, 2010.

4 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

INTRODUCTION

nation and issuance of IP rights on a global basis, and to ensure

global competitiveness for American innovators and businesses.

Only through building these solid partnerships—where we

work together to achieve our goals—will the USPTO be fully

successful.

The success of the USPTO 2010-2015 Strategic Plan will be

dependent on our ability to manage, adapt, and execute.

USPTO leadership must use this strategic plan as a manage-

ment tool—a roadmap to stay focused on the important objec-

tives and initiatives that must be accomplished.

USPTO management must be transparent, adopting metrics

that actually measure relevant data and publishing that data to

keep itself and the public adequately informed of progress.

The USPTO must adapt to changing circumstances and condi-

tions, while at the same time executing on the initiatives

necessary to accomplish its critical objectives. Simply put, the

USPTO—at all levels—must lead.

USPTO Strategic Goals

To achieve its mission and vision, the USPTO has laid out four

goals: three mission-focused goals and one management-

focused goal. The management goal and its objectives are

considered enabling and cross-cutting in that they are essential

to achieving each of the three mission-focused goals.

Mission-Focused Strategic Goals

Goal I:

●●

Optimize Patent Quality and Timeliness

Goal II:

●●

Optimize Trademark Quality and Timeliness

Goal III:

●●

Provide Domestic and Global Leadership to

Improve IP Policy, Protection and Enforcement Worldwide

Management-Focused Strategic Goal

Management Goal:

●●

Achieve Organizational Excellence

In order to accomplish the above four goals, the USPTO has

prepared this five-year strategic plan. Provided that the USPTO

receives the funding and statutory changes necessary for imple-

mentation, this plan as implemented will strengthen and

enhance innovation to transform America’s economy, foster

competitiveness, and drive the creation and growth of U.S.

businesses. The USPTO’s mission-focused goals will be accom-

plished when:

Patent pendency time is optimized, allowing a final action

●●

on the merits within one year of filing for any applicant

who requests it, with overall patent pendency time reduced

to 10 months for a first office action and 20 months total

pendency, by 2014 and 2015 respectively.

The number of patent applications awaiting examiner action

●●

is reduced by almost 50 percent, to slightly less than

10 months of inventory.

Issued patents are of higher quality, and the stakeholder

●●

community has a clear understanding of the meaning of

a “quality” patent.

The world’s IP offices enjoy increased efficiency as a result

●●

of collaboration in areas including automation, global patent

classification, search results and work sharing.

USPTO staffing is stabilized by lower attrition levels and a

●●

workforce that can be recruited from and stationed across

the United States.

Trademark pendency times remain between 2.5 and 3.5

●●

months, on average, to first office action, and 13 months to

final disposition.

Trademark quality is enhanced via input from stakeholders

●●

and new metrics are focused on excellence for the entire

office action.

The USPTO will also be making major contributions to improved

U.S. global competitiveness and domestic job growth, while

protecting American security through strengthened IP rights

and more consistent enforcement worldwide.

Our organization—the United States Patent and Trademark

Office—will take its place as our nation’s “Innovation Agency”

and serve as a model for IP offices around the world. The USPTO’s

management-focused goal will be accomplished when:

Accelerated processing time and increased efficiency occurs

●●

via electronic, end-to-end processing for patent

applications.

A sustainable funding model allows the USPTO, in

●●

conjunction with stakeholders, to set its fees to reflect the

cost of providing the services and products requested by

businesses and innovators.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 5

INTRODUCTION

The public has greater insight into – and confidence in – the

●●

operations and progress of the USPTO due to more

transparent and meaningful performance metrics.

External Factors

The following are key factors, external to the USPTO, which

may significantly affect achievement of its mission and goals.

The USPTO must monitor and respond to:

Economic volatility that affects quantities of filings, fee

●●

collections, and the ability to hire and retain high

quality staff.

Court decisions that affect USPTO practices and

●●

procedures.

Completion of pending legislation, particularly patent reform

●●

provisions that address USPTO funding and fee-setting

authority, and enhance post-grant review proceedings.

Outcomes of international discussions on topics affecting

●●

USPTO operations. These include discussions within the

World Intellectual Property Organizations (WIPO), Group

B+ (a working group established to focus on patent law

harmonization), the Trilateral Offices (the European Patent

Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office ( JPO) and the USPTO),

and the IP5 (made up of the Trilateral Offices and the

Korean and Chinese IP offices), as well as bilateral

negotiations that may determine the extent to which the

USPTO is able to realize operational efficiencies through

work sharing and harmonization.

Deputy Under Secretary Sharon Barner shakes hands with

India’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion official

Ajay Shankur after signing a Memorandum of Understanding on

Bilateral Cooperation on IP rights that would facilitate compre-

hensive bilateral cooperation on a range of IP rights issues

focusing on capacity building, human resource development and

raising public awareness of the importance of IP rights.

6 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

INTRODUCTION

Strategic Goals

sound and effective IP system is essential to technological innovation. Strong and

enforceable IP laws work to secure the rapid introduction of competing technolo-

gies that expand market options. American innovators and businesses rely on the

legal rights associated with patents in order to reap the benefits of their innovations. This

means that the longer it takes for the USPTO to review a patent application, the longer it

will take for the benefit of patent protection to accrue. Congress and the public have

recognized that patent pendency has a direct impact on America’s competitiveness.

The USPTO must adopt private sector business practices and market-driven services for

patent application processing. The traditional “one-size-fits-all” examination timing does

not match applicants’ real-world needs. While seeking an optimal pendency time that is

efficient for applicants generally, the USPTO will seek to provide applicants greater control

over the timing of examination, thereby allowing the USPTO to deploy resources in a

manner that better meets the needs of innovators.

The USPTO must also improve the quality of application review. Without well-defined

claims, the value of a patent is uncertain. Uncertainty means risk that a patent is invalid;

risk that a patent does not protect the patentee’s product; and risk that a good faith compet-

itor cannot determine a patent’s scope to responsibly avoid infringement. Low quality

patents exact a high cost by decreasing public confidence in the IP system. On the other

hand, the economic value of a patent increases when its metes and bounds are clearly

defined and consistently interpreted under the law. Clarity leads to certainty, which enables

efficient and confident determination of value. This in turn creates high value for high

quality patents, and bolsters public confidence.

It is critical that we strengthen the examination capacity of the USPTO, improve the quality

of patents issued, and provide optimal timing for obtaining a patent. Enhancing quality for

all, and allowing faster examination for those applicants who need it, will increase value

for the entire IP system and for America.

The USPTO must identify and implement the efficiencies, tools, and policies necessary to

increase the number of applications it is capable of examining, while also improving

quality. The USPTO has identified a twofold basis to attack the capacity challenge:

increasing examination capacity and improving efficiency. Increasing examination

capacity is achieved by increased strategic hiring, coupled with decreased attrition.

Improving efficiency is achieved by removing unnecessary barriers to efficient and more

streamlined examination and by providing better IT systems and tools in the patent exami-

nation process. In meeting our capacity challenge, this strategic plan recognizes that while

examiner hiring is a significant contributor to pendency/backlog reduction, the USPTO

must also focus on efficiency improvements generated by re-engineering many systems and

processes, including its IT systems.

8 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

Strategic Goal I: Optimize Patent

Quality And Timeliness

However, increased speed must not come at the expense of

quality. The challenges of determining the appropriate

measures of patent quality and the related performance targets

are critical. To that end, in this strategic plan the USPTO will

also undertake to improve quality and re-engineer its patent

quality measurement and management program.

Finally, globally integrated economies and companies, along

with increased electronic processing capability, require us to

have full electronic processing that is safe, secure, and continually

available to employees, applicants, and stakeholders. While

significant challenges to interoperability and standards exist, the

USPTO’s strategic plan includes developing an IT system

incorporating an operating platform that enables the transition

of the patent application process to one in which applications

are submitted, handled, and prosecuted electronically using

fully machine-readable formats and open standards.

The USPTO is committed to full transparency with respect to

pendency, backlog, and quality. To that end, we are creating—

and will post on our Web site—various “dashboards” providing

data and other key metrics, such as pendency and quality.

We intend to update these dashboards regularly so that the

public can have access to important information about how the

USPTO is doing its job.

This plan also acknowledges and embraces the necessity of

efficiency improvements brought about by re-engineering

many USPTO management and operational processes. Efforts

to optimize examination capacity, implement compact prosecu-

tion initiatives, overhaul the patent examiner production system,

prioritize work, and increase international work sharing will

yield efficiency gains to achieve these goals.

The USPTO will achieve optimal quality and reduce patent

pendency to 10 months for first office action and 20 months

total by 2014 and 2015, respectively, by focusing on the

following six objectives:

Objective 1: Re-Engineer

Patent Process to Increase

Efficiencies and Strengthen

Effectiveness

Initiatives to Achieve Strategic Goal I, Objective 1

Re-engineer the Patent Examiner Production

●●

(Count) System

Prioritize Work: Green Technology Acceleration, Project

●●

Exchange, Multi-Track Customized Examination

Institutionalize Compact Prosecution Initiatives

●●

Re-engineer the Patent Classification System

●●

Re-engineer the Manual of Patent Examining

●●

Procedure (MPEP)

Re-engineer the Patent Examination Process

●●

The USPTO must implement major process improvements in its

patent examination workflow. Efforts to optimize examination

capacity, implement compact prosecution initiatives, overhaul

the patent examiner production system, prioritize incoming

work, and increase international work sharing will yield

efficiency gains to achieve USPTO goals.

A. Re-Engineer the Patent Examiner Production (Count)

System

In fiscal year (FY) 2010, the USPTO adopted significant revisions

to the patent examiner production (count) system. The new

Under Secretary David Kappos, Commissioner for Patents Robert

Stoll, Deputy Under Secretary Sharon Barner and Deputy

Commissioner for Patents Margaret Focarino commemorate Ollie

Person’s career milestone of 50 years of federal service with the

USPTO.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 9

STRATEGIC GOAL I

count system sets the foundation for long-term pendency

improvements by encouraging early identification of patent-

able subject matter, helping examiners resolve issues more

quickly, and rebalancing incentives both internally and exter-

nally to decrease re-work. It is also expected to produce

quality gains as a result of giving examiners more time to do a

thorough search and examination.

The revised count system provides incentives encouraging

examiners to provide a high-quality first action, and shifts

resources from a focus on examiner recertification to front-end

quality improvements. This change in incentives encourages

examiners to dispose of applications more efficiently.

The revised count system also gives examiners more time

overall, more time for a first action on the merits, and time for

examiner-initiated interviews, while decreasing credits on

requests for continued examination (RCEs) and providing

consistent credits for transferred or inherited amendments.

These changes increase work-credit certainty for examiners,

increase fairness to applicants, and balance the load on

IT systems.

We will monitor the revised count system closely to ensure it

is producing the desired results. We will measure the effects

of the changes, gathering internal and public feedback, and

meeting on a regular basis to monitor progress and consider

additional improvements.

B. Prioritize Work: Green Technology Acceleration,

Project Exchange, Multi-Track Customized Examination

The USPTO is moving from a “one-size-fits-all” patent examina-

tion process to a multi-track process by adopting procedures

and initiatives that incentivize abandoning applications that are

not important to applicants, accelerating critical technologies,

permitting applicants to accelerate important applications,

and exploring other incentives and accelerated examination

options. These initiatives are a continuation of USPTO’s efforts

to provide more examination options that enable applicants to

prioritize their applications, and the USPTO’s workload, to

meet the needs and demands of the marketplace. To date,

these initiatives have included:

Green Technology acceleration, which allows inventors to

●●

accelerate applications in certain technologies. Pending

patent applications in green technologies are eligible to be

accorded special status and given expedited examination.

The Green Technology Pilot Program will accelerate the

development and deployment of green technology, create

green jobs and promote U.S. competitiveness in this

vital sector.

Project Exchange, which allows advancement of an

●●

application in exchange for express withdrawal of another

application, and enables applicants to focus USPTO

resources on what is important, rather than having examiners

review applications that are no longer important to

their owners.

10 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

STRATEGIC GOAL I

Customized Examination Tracks, providing applicants

●●

greater control over the speed with which their applications

are examined and promoting greater efficiency in the patent

examination process. The program aims both to provide

applicants with the timing of examination they need and to

reduce pendency of patent applications.

C. Institutionalize Compact Prosecution Initiatives

Encourage the practice of finding the core issues with patent

applications and resolving them – conducting a complete initial

search, issuing a complete first office action, and identifying

allowable subject matter so as to expedite prosecution.

To facilitate this, we will:

Implement specific training programs (interview, negotiation

●●

authority, etc.).

Improve after-final practices and final rejections – use

●●

quality review data to identify outliers and trends, and

emphasize proper after-final practices during training.

Develop and deploy Interview Training to improve

●●

communications by examiners, encourage examiners to

hold interviews earlier in prosecution so that issues and

potentially allowable subject matter can be identified early

in the examination process, and also encourage interviews

later in prosecution to prevent unnecessary RCEs.

Expand the First Action Interview Pilot Program, which

●●

provides manager-examiner communication and training,

and examiner-applicant communication training, to promote

examiner-applicant communication early in the process.

This enhanced communication improves quality and

decreases pendency.

D. Re-Engineer the Patent Classification System

Re-engineering the Patent Classification System is necessary to

address the effective assignment of applications for examina-

tion, and to improve the system used for locating prior art

relevant to determining patentability. The re-engineering

efforts will be based on learning from and building upon best

practices of our partners in foreign IP offices, as well as lever-

aging modern thinking and technology from related fields.

This initiative will improve pendency and patent quality and

reduce cost by putting the best prior art in the hands of

examiners efficiently, and by partnering with our international

counterparts to leverage resources.

E. Re-Engineer the Manual of Patent Examining

Procedure (MPEP)

In addition to expediting updates to the MPEP, the USPTO will

establish a more collaborative process involving contributions

by our stakeholders, provide more examples and greater inte-

gration of guidelines, and include links to related USPTO

on-line examiner education materials and case law. The new,

dynamic MPEP will enable practitioners and examiners to find

information quickly, get accurate and complete guidance, and

ensure that the examination and prosecution of all patent

applications complies with the laws and regulations governing

the patent system.

F. Re-Engineer the Patent Examination Process

The USPTO has begun an effort to re-engineer the entire patent

examination process from the time an application is filed all

the way through to the granting of a patent. This effort is a

necessary companion to upgrading and redesigning the IT

infrastructure, and allowing innovative redesign of the exami-

nation process supported by state-of-the-art automated work

flow capabilities. This re-engineering effort will be enhanced

by the new electronic processing capabilities of the USPTO’s

end-to-end IT system which is concurrently being designed for

patent processes.

The effort will be undertaken by allowing employees (examiners

and technical support) and first-line supervisors to be the

drivers of the re-engineering process. The project due dates

will be linked to those of the end-to-end IT initiative such that

the IT system is built to implement the functionality of the

re-engineered process.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 11

STRATEGIC GOAL I

Objective 2: Increase Patent

Application Examination

Capacity

Initiatives to Achieve Strategic Goal I, Objective 2

Hire Approximately 1,000 Examiners in Both FY 2011

●●

and FY 2012

Use a Hiring Model that Focuses on Experienced IP

●●

Professionals

Target Overtime to High Backlog Technology Areas

●●

Develop and Implement a Nationwide Workforce

●●

Reduce Attrition by Developing Mentoring, Best

●●

Practices, and Retention Strategies

Contract for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Searching

●●

The USPTO continues to balance the need to address the

growth of patent pendency and the backlog, while improving

patent quality. The USPTO must address the dual challenges

of heavy workloads and a shift of applications to more complex

technologies. To address these challenges, the USPTO must

hire, train, and retain highly skilled, diverse examiners,

employing different hiring and development models than it has

in the past.

A. Hire Approximately 1,000 Examiners in Both

FY 2011 and FY 2012

The USPTO is embarking on an ambitious effort to hire approx-

imately 1,000 examiners in both FY 2011 and FY 2012.

The USPTO will recruit candidates from its traditional applicant

pools, such as recent graduates from science and engineering

colleges, as well as new sources of applicants, discussed below

with regard to experienced IP professionals.

B. Use a Hiring Model that Focuses on Experienced IP

Professionals

While continuing to draw candidates from our traditional

sources, the USPTO expects that hiring experienced IP profes-

sionals will assist in developing a balanced workforce, a lower

attrition rate, and a faster transition to productivity for new

hires. Recruiting candidates with significant IP experience will

lead to a reduced training burden and increased ability to

examine applications much sooner than an inexperienced new

hire. In addition to being more productive sooner, examiners

in higher grades have higher production goals, which results in

increased production output.

In FY 2010, the USPTO initiated a new hiring model, supported

by strong publicity and expanded “nationwide” recruitment, to

encourage individuals with previous IP experience to apply for

positions as patent examiners. Whereas USPTO’s previous

hiring has been focused on scientific background and experi-

ence, this new model places more emphasis on recruiting

candidates with significant IP experience, such as registered

patent attorneys and patent agents, former examiners, as well

as skilled technologists having experience with the USPTO

as inventors.

C. Target Overtime to High Backlog Technology Areas

Overtime is a critical element of our plan to reduce the backlog

of pending patent applications and to achieve our pendency

goals. Because each overtime hour worked is directly tied to

production output, overtime has proven to be more efficient on

a per-hour basis than equivalent regular time hours. Its inherent

flexibility allows the agency to more easily expand its produc-

tion capacity while maintaining optimal staffing levels. Based

on funding availability, the USPTO plans to prioritize the use

of overtime by targeting technology areas with highest backlogs

12 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

STRATEGIC GOAL I

first, while permitting other examiners to work overtime in the

targeted areas, and to work overtime in other areas as

resources permit.

D. Develop and Implement a Nationwide Workforce

The USPTO will develop a nationwide workforce using telework

or other appropriate measures that will allow us to hire expe-

rienced IP professionals interested in joining the USPTO, but

who do not want to relocate to the Washington, D.C. region.

It is expected that this different hiring demographic will provide

a more productive and balanced workforce, lower attrition, and

faster transition to productivity for new hires. Additional

benefits include:

Minimizing real estate costs associated with workforce

●●

expansion.

Expanding our employment candidate pool.

●●

E. Reduce Attrition by Developing Mentoring, Best

Practices, and Retention Strategies

The USPTO’s mission requires the recruitment and retention of

highly skilled individuals in a highly competitive employment

market. As a result, the USPTO must continually improve and

enhance its recruitment and retention strategies to make our

agency an employer of choice.

The USPTO analyzes patent examiner hiring and attrition down

to the smallest working group. As part of this analysis, the

USPTO has instituted bi-weekly meetings to focus on devel-

oping better methods to manage and stem attrition and identi-

fying ways to retain our highly skilled examiner workforce.

Utilizing employee exit data and employee satisfaction surveys,

the USPTO is addressing specific areas of job satisfaction

concerns. Based on this information, the USPTO has developed

and enhanced “best practices” for retaining examiners and

Supervisory Patent Examiners (SPE) which includes active

front-line management, mentoring, detail appointments, an

improved compensation structure, and other proactive manage-

ment efforts. Patent examiner attrition is tracked on a monthly

basis to allow Patents’ Technology Centers (TCs) to address

retention and set measurable retention targets.

F. Contract for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)

Searching

The USPTO—as an International Searching Authority (ISA)

under Chapter I of the PCT—receives international applications

that require the performance of an international search to

discover relevant prior art. This international search is made

on the basis of the application’s claims and includes the prepa-

ration of an international search report (ISR). The substance of

a search report consists of the most pertinent prior art cited

against the claims of the application according to PCT. A written

opinion (WO) is prepared at the same time as the ISR and

provides a detailed indication of whether or not the claims

have novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability in view

of the prior art cited in the ISR. The WO additionally indicates

whether the application complies with other requirements of

the PCT and its enabling regulations. Chapter I applications

filed with the USPTO are initially reviewed and processed in

PCT Operations. Following completion of the initial processing,

each application is reviewed and analyzed, and the appropriate

action is taken. For a Chapter I application, a complete and

comprehensive search of pertinent art is conducted, and an ISR

and WO are prepared. The ISR and WO are reviewed for

completeness and quality after which they are mailed to the

applicant and the International Bureau.

Commissioner for Patents Robert Stoll delivers congratulatory

remarks to the 2010 Patent Hoteling Program (PHP) graduate

class.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 13

STRATEGIC GOAL I

By USPTO contracting for searching on PCT international

applications, our examiners have more time to conduct the

examination process on U.S. national applications. Contracting

for this function allows vendors, instead of USPTO patent

examiners, to provide an ISR and a WO of the ISA under the

provisions of the PCT. We estimate that continued contracting

will allow our examiners to examine an additional 17,000 utility,

plant, and reissue applications, which will reduce the backlog

of U.S. national applications. Furthermore, patent examination

capacity will be gained in related national applications through

the re-use of contractor-prepared ISRs and WOs. The USPTO

has instituted quality review and other measures to ensure the

resulting product provided by contractors is consistent with our

own quality metrics applicable to USPTO work product.

Objective 3: Improve Patent

Pendency and Quality by

Increasing International

Cooperation and Work Sharing

Initiatives to Achieve Strategic Goal I, Objective 3

Make More Effective Use of the PCT

●●

Increase Use of the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)

●●

Explore Strategic Handling of Applications for Rapid

●●

Examination (SHARE)

Work with Trilateral Offices and IP5 to Create New

●●

Efficiencies

Patent rights, like other IP rights, are territorial and thus subject

to enforcement only in the territory in which the right was

granted. Thus, given the global nature of trade, many innova-

tors seek patent rights in multiple countries. The need to

obtain protection in multiple countries creates tremendous

duplication of work. Each office performs the same basic

search and examination on the same invention for the same or

corresponding applications. As a result, backlog and pendency

have grown in all of the major patent offices around

the world.

These problems are only going to get worse. As our economies

emerge from recession, filings are likely to rise again. For large

markets like the United States, many of these applications will

also have been filed in other countries. Already, the United

States faces a situation where about 50 percent of the applica-

tions it receives have foreign inventors and assignees.

This percentage has been rising steadily in the last few decades.

Duplication of effort, and the resulting delay in ascertaining

patent rights, has a significant negative global economic impact.

Unless addressed, duplication of work will continue to grow

and impede efforts to reduce the backlog.

In view of this growing duplication of work and the impact it

is having on processing times and backlogs, the USPTO is

implementing several international initiatives aimed at managing

its workload. The USPTO has identified work sharing as a key

priority. Work sharing is a cooperative approach to workload

management under which one country’s office leverages the

search and examination work previously completed by another

country’s office on a corresponding application to the maximum

extent possible.

The USPTO’s experience with work sharing shows that it

significantly increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the

second office’s own search and examination. We believe that

work sharing, if taken to scale, can have a significant impact

on backlog.

EPO, Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), USPTO officials

participate in the PCT Collaborative Search and Examination

Workshop to discuss the IP5 search and examination pilot.

14 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

STRATEGIC GOAL I

Each international patent office, including the USPTO, is ulti-

mately responsible for granting patents in accordance with

the laws applicable in that particular jurisdiction. The principle

of sovereignty places certain restrictions on the degree to

which one office may leverage work done by another.

Therefore, work sharing implies the leveraging, or “reutiliza-

tion of work to the maximum extent reasonable,” rather than

“mutual recognition.”

Work sharing reinforces the importance of greater procedural

and substantive harmonization of patent laws across countries.

The more our laws are harmonized, the easier it will be to

reuse work from other countries. We are thus continuing our

efforts to harmonize substantive patent laws to facilitate

work sharing.

A. Make More Effective Use of the PCT

The PCT is an international filing system that makes it possible

to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in

multiple countries by filing an “international” patent application.

An international application under the PCT is subject to an

international search by an ISA. The ISA then prepares an ISR

listing the prior art discovered that may have some effect on

the patentability of the application and prepares a WO on the

novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability of the claimed

invention.

The PCT is often considered the original international work

sharing mechanism. However, for a variety of reasons, the

substantive results of the search and patentability opinions

prepared at the international stage have not been re-used in

the national stage to the extent originally envisioned.

With over 150,000 international applications filed annually

under the PCT, and almost half a million resulting national

stage entries, it is now imperative to make full use of the work

done at the international stage in order to reduce duplication

of effort at the national stage. With this in mind, the USPTO is

committed to providing world-class products and services

under the PCT in order to maximize the re-use potential of the

international search and patentability opinions and reports

prepared during the international stage.

Our PCT initiatives include:

Maximizing the potential for re-use of PCT work in the

●●

national stage by improving the quality and timeliness of

ISR, WO and international preliminary examination reports

issued by the USPTO. As part of this effort,

We will raise the quality required by our PCT search

●■

contracts to be substantially consistent with that required

of our examiners, provide training to our PCT contractors,

and make a detailed search recordation document of

record in international applications in which we perform

the international search.

Supporting and assisting with improvements to the PCT

●●

process articulated in the PCT Roadmap. This will focus

on:

Assisting with and support the creation of a third-party

●■

observation system within the PCT and participate in a

collaborative international search pilot.

Providing additional training to PCT users in order to

●●

improve the form and content of new international

applications and the prosecution of international applications

at the international stage. Such improvements will lead to

Under Secretary David Kappos and the heads of the five major

intellectual property offices (the IP5) pose after announcing the

expansion of their existing bilateral PPH agreement to include

international search reports with written opinions, and inter-

national preliminary examination reports developed within the

framework of the international PCT. From Left: Under Secretary

David Kappos, former Commissioner of the JPO Tetsuhiro

Hosono, Commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office

of the People’s Republic of China Tian Lipu, former President of

the EPO Alison Brimelow, and former Commissioner of the KIPO

Jung-Sik Koh.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 15

STRATEGIC GOAL I

higher quality applications at the national stage and enhance

the likelihood that the international search and WO on

patentability will lead to a focused and compact prosecution

at the national stage.

B. Increase Use of the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)

Under the PPH program, if an application filed in an Office of

First Filing (OFF) receives an indication that at least one claim

is patentable, then a corresponding application with corre-

sponding claims filed in the USPTO as the Office of Second

Filing may be advanced in the queue for examination. To have

the request for participation in the PPH accepted in the USPTO,

an applicant must make available to the USPTO the relevant

work of the OFF as well as any necessary translations. PPH

applications have proven to take significantly less time to

prosecute on average than non-PPH applications. Using the

PPH process also increases the sharing and re-use of informa-

tion (primarily search and examination results) between the

USPTO and its partner offices. Improving the PPH framework

to make it more user-friendly, thereby encouraging greater

participation by applicants, will support the USPTO’s goal to

optimize both the quality and timeliness of patents. Expanding

the PPH to include search results and patentability opinions

from the PCT international examination phase demonstrates

the compatibility of the PPH and PCT mechanisms.

Our PPH initiatives include:

Increasing examiner awareness of PPH and providing

●●

training in the reuse of foreign office work products.

Doubling the number of PPH applications filed annually in

●●

2010, 2011, and 2012 through increased awareness of PPH,

increased knowledge of the PPH process, and expansion of

the PPH network.

C. Explore Strategic Handling of Applications for

Rapid Examination (SHARE)

One difficulty with achieving optimal work sharing involves

timing. Work sharing is optimal if the second office does not

begin its own search and examination before the first office has

at least completed an initial search and examination of the

corresponding application. The reason is straightforward—if

the second office examination has already begun, it is difficult

to reutilize the first office results effectively after the fact.

According to a concept introduced by the USPTO called SHARE,

when applications are filed in multiple offices, the office where

an application is first filed would balance and manage workloads

to make its workproduct available in a timely fashion to the

other offices in which corresponding applications are pending.

Additionally, offices of second filing would wait for the results

from offices of first filing before they begin their work. This

initiative enables the office where an application is first filed to

make available search and examination results for use in the

other offices where a corresponding case is filed.

The USPTO has established a SHARE pilot with Korea, and

depending on results, will decide whether to take the program

to a larger scale. SHARE may also become a component of

multi-track examination. The USPTO is also planning to launch

a pilot program called First-Look Application Sharing with the

EPO and the JPO—this pilot program will test the feasibility of

certain aspects of SHARE. In addition, the USPTO is exploring

other options to test the SHARE concept and to determine

whether to expand the program.

D. Work with Trilateral Offices and IP5 to Create New

Efficiencies

The Trilateral Offices consist of the EPO, the JPO, and the

USPTO. The IP5 consists of the Trilateral Offices plus the KIPO

and China’s State Intellectual Property Office. The IP5 account

for 75 percent of all patent applications filed worldwide and 93

percent of all work carried out under the PCT.

The vision of the Trilateral Offices and the IP5 is global coop-

eration, the elimination of unnecessary work among the IP5,

the enhancement of patent examination efficiency and quality,

and the guarantee of stable patent rights.

The Trilateral Offices and IP5 strive to contribute to an efficient

worldwide patent system through:

Improving the quality of examination processes and

●●

reducing the processing time of patent applications.

Improving the quality of incoming applications.

●●

Developing common infrastructure and compatible data for

●●

electronic business systems and search tools.

Exploiting the full potential of work performed by the other

●●

IP5 Offices and Trilateral Offices in search, examination,

documentation, and electronic tools.

16 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

STRATEGIC GOAL I

The IP5 have been engaged in ten collaborative projects known

as the Foundation Projects. These projects are designed to

harmonize the search and examination environment of each

office and to standardize the information-sharing process. The

projects are expected to facilitate work sharing initiatives by

enhancing the quality of patent searches and examinations and

by building mutual trust in each other’s work.

The USPTO has recommended proposals to accelerate some of

the projects as part of this strategic plan, taking full consider-

ation of available resources. Additionally, given the parallel

missions of the Trilateral Offices and the IP5, the USPTO will

coordinate the projects conducted within each group.

Objective 4: Measure and

Improve Patent Quality

Initiatives to Achieve Strategic Goal I, Objective 4

Initiate 21st Century Analysis, Measurement and

●●

Tracking of Patent Quality

Improve and Provide More Effective Training

●●

Reformulate Performance Appraisal Plans (PAPs)

●●

Implement and Monitor Revisions to Patent Examiner

●●

Production (Count) System

The USPTO is re-engineering its patent quality management

program from top to bottom in order to improve the process

for obtaining the best prior art, as well as improving the quality

of the initial application and the subsequent examination

process, and importantly the quality of the final examination

result. The USPTO has sought comments from the public on

methods to enhance the quality of issued patents, to identify

appropriate indicia of quality, and to establish metrics for the

measurement of those indicia. Along with the Patent Public

Advisory Committee (PPAC), we have engaged our stakeholders

in roundtable discussions on the best ways to address patent

process inefficiencies, while also improving patent quality and

reducing overall application pendency.

In addition, a number of training efforts have been designed to

enhance patent examination fundamentals, communication,

and cooperation between the examiner and applicant.

A. Initiate 21st Century Quality Analysis, Measurement

and Tracking of Patent Quality

The USPTO is working collaboratively with the PPAC to

indentify quality measurements at each major step in prosecu-

tion and examination. Public comment was sought for six

proposed new metrics of patent quality:

Final disposition error rate.

●●

In-process review error rate.

●●

Complete application process review scoring.

●●

Quality index review scoring.

●●

Customer survey data.

●●

Examiner survey data.

●●

B. Improve and Provide More Effective Training

Provide a Leadership Development Program (LDP) and

●●

additional training for examiners and SPEs. Patent managers

and supervisors are participating in a newly developed,

state-of-the-art LDP. The program is designed to foster the

development of all employees and to help managers and

supervisors hone their skills so they can enable all employees

to reach their full potential.

The USPTO is training all of its patent examiners in efficient

●●

interview techniques, compact prosecution, and negotiations.

This training is targeted to streamline the examination

process by working with applicants to identify and correctly

resolve issues early in the process, thereby reducing patent

application backlog and pendency.

The Office of Patent Training (OPT) has developed a

●●

catalog of refresher training courses for patent examiners to

enhance the quality of examination. In FY 2010, over 1,600

requests for refresher training have been registered in the

Commerce Learning Center. OPT will continue to enhance

and expand the courses being offered.

We will continue to revamp and measure the effectiveness

●●

of the ISO-9001 (International Organization for

Standardization) certified New Examiner Training program.

The New Examiner Training Program has been re-engineered

to serve two different groups of new hires. The Experienced

IP Program is a four-week, accelerated training program that

is being piloted with examiners who have prior IP experience.

We will monitor and improve this program as needed.

The eight-month new examiner training program has been

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 17

STRATEGIC GOAL I

redesigned into a one-year program that consists of a four-

month curriculum in the Patent Training Academy followed

by an eight-month, on-the-job training program in the TCs.

C. Reformulate Performance Appraisal Plans (PAPS)

Continuously review and revise the Senior Executive Service

●●

(SES) PAPs to ensure they are aligned with the strategic plan

goals and objectives, and flexible enough to adapt to

changing conditions.

Establish an SES PAP Task Force to evaluate the SES

●●

performance management system. This Task Force will

conduct a comprehensive review and analysis of the system,

including assessing organizational performance, goal

alignment, performance accountability, measurable results,

and 360-degree leadership assessments.

Provide framework for new Patent Examiner PAPs that focus

●●

on quality and pendency reduction. The new Patent Examiner

PAP will ensure transparency, educate employees on their

responsibilities, and enable managers to set clear expectations

and objectives for the achievement of organizational goals.

The PAP will be aligned with organizational goals and the

strategic plan at all levels. A strong emphasis will be placed

on clearly defining objective measures that will be universally

applied during the performance appraisal process. In doing

so, we will improve the USPTO’s management and employee

development capabilities.

D. Implement and Monitor Revisions to Patent

Examiner Production (Count) System

Implement and monitor revisions to patent examiner

●●

production (count) system.

Rebalance internal and external incentives.

●●

Evaluate key metrics of the Count System and make

●●

appropriate changes.

Objective 5: Improve Appeal

and Post-Grant Processes

Initiatives to Achieve Strategic Goal I, Objective 5

Develop and Implement Process Efficiency

●●

Recommendations

Streamline the Appeal Process and Reduce Appeal

●●

Pendency

Review the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

●●

(BPAI) Rules to Amend, Simplify and Optimize Process

Increase BPAI Capacity through Additional Hires and

●●

New Chambers Organization

Maintain High Quality BPAI Decisions

●●

The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences is an adminis-

trative board within the USPTO whose two main functions are:

(1) to review an examiner’s decision where a patent applicant

or owner seeks an appeal of a rejection, and (2) to determine

“priority” in interference proceedings where two or more

individuals claim to be the first inventor. A major challenge

facing the BPAI is a backlog of over 10,000 appeals.

Members of the Patent Office Professional Association (POPA)

labor union and Patent Management team established a joint

task force to develop recommendations to move the Agency signif-

icantly forward towards a new examiner count system which is

properly aligned to achieve both efficient and high-quality exam-

ination. From Left: POPA Secretary Kathleen Duda, Technology

Center (TC) 3600 Director Kathy Matecki, Deputy Commissioner

for Patent Operations Margaret Focarino, POPA President Robert

Budens, Under Secretary and Director David Kappos, Assistant

Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations Andrew Faile,

POPA Assistant Secretary Pamela Schwartz, POPA Vice President

Howard Locker, and TC 2100 Director Wendy Garber.

18 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

STRATEGIC GOAL I

A. Develop and Implement Process Efficiency

Recommendations

Optimize BPAI workflow by streamlining the entire process

●●

from notice of appeal to mailing of final decision, and

producing timely decisions in docketed appeals.

Increase BPAI capacity through new hires and other

●●

strategies.

Increase BPAI productivity by determining and defining

●●

new productivity goals, metrics, and PAPs for Administrative

Patent Judges (APJs) and their Patent Attorneys.

B. Streamline the Appeal Process and Reduce Appeal

Pendency

Conduct a process analysis and implement new streamlined

●●

procedures for review of briefs filed in both regular appeals

and reexamination appeals.

Post aids on the USPTO Web site to assist applicants in

●●

avoiding the common mistakes that result in defective briefs

and delays.

C. Review the Board of Patent Appeals and

Interferences (BPAI) Rules to Amend, Simplify and

Optimize Process

The regulations governing the appeals process can be

●●

further simplified and streamlined so as to provide the BPAI

with adequate information to decide ex parte appeals, while

at the same time not unduly burdening appellants or

examiners. The BPAI will engage with PPAC and the public

on further recommended changes.

D. Increase BPAI Capacity Through Additional Hires

and New Chambers Organization

Hire additional APJs and Patent Attorneys, with the goal of

●●

having each APJ supported by a Patent Attorney in a

“chamber”-type organizational structure.

E. Maintain High Quality BPAI Decisions

Ensure, through hiring criteria and PAPs, that decisions

●●

rendered by the BPAI continue to reflect the expert technical

and legal skills of the BPAI.

Provide training to new hires, including both APJs and their

●●

Patent Attorneys.

Objective 6: Develop and

Implement the Patent

End-to-End Processing System

Initiatives to Achieve Strategic Goal I, Objective 6

Develop and Implement eXtensible Markup Language

●●

(XML) for all Data from Application to Publication

Build Infrastructure for Patents’ End-to-End Processing

●●

System

Redesign and Re-architect Patent IT Systems to Provide

●●

End-to-End Electronic Processing

USPTO legacy IT systems are based on obsolete technologies

that are difficult to maintain, leaving the USPTO highly vulner-

able to disruptions in patent operations. Patent databases are

among the world’s largest, and continue to grow at multiple

terabytes per year, further raising the possibility of failure.

Automation of many manual business functions has been

deferred because of the limitations of legacy systems. A new

generation of patent IT systems is needed, built upon modern

data formats to provide “end-to-end” electronic processing.

A. Develop and Implement eXtensible Markup

Language (XML) for all Data from Application to

Publication

Develop XML-based electronic filing and processing solutions

by identifying the next generation of detailed architecture and

requirements, and working with commercial vendors to build

appropriate XML templates. To do so, the USPTO must:

Establish standards for user interfaces.

●●

Establish standards for international exchange and

●●

publication of patent data.

Gather and implement requirements to enhance the system

●●

capabilities and support the needs of internal and external

users.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 19

STRATEGIC GOAL I

B. Build Infrastructure for Patents’ End-to-End

Processing System

Establish a “Cloud” Computing infrastructure in consolidated

●●

data centers that will serve “virtual” patent systems.

Identify a host infrastructure for patents’ systems within

●●

consolidated “Cloud” data center(s).

Establish environments to support prototyping, development,

●●

testing, production, and back-up of new patent systems.

C. Redesign and Re-Architect Patent IT Systems to

provide End-to-End Electronic Processing

Fill gaps in legacy patent IT systems that now require patent

employees and external stakeholders to perform labor-inten-

sive, manual business processes. The USPTO plans to:

Deploy a new graphical user interface that eliminates the

●●

need to learn multiple systems and improves the sharing of

data among various business functions.

Provide the patent examiner with improved search tools

●●

and docket management systems.

Improve the current Web site with Web 2.0 assistance

●●

technologies.

Provide the USPTO patent examiner search systems

●●

to the public via a Web 2.0 interface.

20 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

STRATEGIC GOAL I

rademarks have served an important purpose throughout recorded history, as owners

of goods and services have historically affixed their names on their products.

Trademarks perform a valuable function by identifying the source of products and

services and being an indicator of safety and quality to the consumer. In the 21st Century,

trademarks represent highly valuable business assets, serving as symbols of a company’s

goodwill and helping to cement customer loyalty. By registering trademarks, the USPTO

plays 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. It can provide access to the Federal court system and, when regis-

tered with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, can be used to stop the importation of

infringing goods.

For the last four years, the Trademark Organization has met or exceeded its performance

targets (ranging above 95 percent accuracy in recent years). The challenge, therefore, is to

continue to maintain the timeliness and quality standards that users of the U.S. trademark

system have come to expect. In order to achieve this goal, the Trademark Organization

will focus on the excellence of all aspects of the office action by creating a new quality

standard: “comprehensive excellence”. This new standard expands upon the existing first

and final action standards for correct decision making. The Trademark Organization

continues to seek input from various IP interest groups to determine what they consider to

be measures of “excellent quality” in order to further define and enhance quality standards.

The Trademark Organization will also evaluate incentives for examining attorneys who

meet and/or exceed these new measures.

Maintaining pendency at current levels requires a balance between forecasted new filings

and workloads, existing inventories, and examination capacity. This balancing calls for

dynamic resource allocation, appropriate staffing, and enhanced management tools.

The new challenges that the Trademark Organization will face as part of this strategic plan

are creating a modern, high-performance and cost-effective IT infrastructure that is reliable,

flexible, scalable, and secure. This infrastructure will be focused on providing additional

services to the internal and external users of Trademark computer-based resources (CBRs).

We solicited our stakeholders who have told us about the kinds of services they would like

to find on our Web site. These services would enable stakeholders to save time and money

during the process of registering and maintaining their trademark rights—time and money

that could be better invested to grow the economy.

The Trademark Organization will separate its current IT systems and create a virtual envi-

ronment to support Trademarks’ Next Generation CBRs. The transition will require judicious

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 21

Strategic Goal II: Optimize Trademark

Quality and Timeliness

maintenance of legacy systems and legacy system improve-

ments while migrating to a virtual architecture. Trademarks’ Next

Generation CBRs will address current business requirements

while anticipating and designing future ones. The USPTO will

prepare an investment plan and assess the costs and benefits

of the next generation IT system.

The Trademark Organization has a robust interaction with

trade associations and trademark owners, seeking input on

Trademarks’ Next Generation CBRs. Literally hundreds of

ideas have been collected from internal and external

stakeholders.

The goal to optimize trademark quality and timeliness will be

accomplished by focusing on the following objectives:

Objective 1: Maintain

Trademark First Action

Pendency on Average Between

2.5 – 3.5 Months with

13 Months Final Pendency

Initiatives to Achieve Strategic Goal II, Objective 1

Align Examination Capacity with Incoming Workloads

●●

A. Align Examination Capacity with Incoming

Workloads

Trademark filings exhibit large variability and reflect the state

of the economy and business confidence. Economic uncer-

tainty generates even greater uncertainty in filings and fee

collections. To maintain first action pendency at 2.5 to 3.5

months and final pendency at 13 months, the Trademark

Organization needs to dynamically align examination capacity

with incoming workloads by maintaining appropriate staffing

levels, sustaining high productivity, and judiciously adjusting

production incentives and overtime usage to boost production

when needed.

The 2.5 to 3.5-month first action pendency target was estab-

lished with the assistance of both internal Trademark employees

and various interest groups and stakeholders. This range

allows the Trademark Organization to react to economic uncer-

tainties mentioned previously. Any rise above the 3.5-month

level enables Trademarks to boost production with incentives

and overtime while a decrease below the 2.5 level provides an

opportunity to allocate more resources to non-production

activities. Stability is thereby maintained no matter what

economic fluctuations may occur.

The 13-month final pendency target will be achieved through

increasing incentives for settling matters by phone or electronic

mail, improving functionality of existing systems, and stream-

lining automation processes.

22 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

STRATEGIC GOAL II

Objective 2: Continuously

Monitor and Improve

Trademark Quality

Initiatives to Achieve Strategic Goal II, Objective 2

Enhance Examination Quality by Establishing a New

●●

Quality Measure

A. Enhance Examination Quality by Establishing a

New Quality Measure

Input from trademark user groups will be incorporated in order

to validate standards for measuring comprehensive excellent

quality. In the recent past, the Trademark Organization’s quality

numbers have been outstanding (at or above 95 percent).

This figure was initially determined through internal review,

but has recently been confirmed by external IP groups that

have reviewed and rated individual Office actions of examining

attorneys.

However, the previous quality percentages measured only the

correctness of the decision-making of the examining attorneys

regarding substantive issues. The new standard to be “estab-

lished by Trademarks will account for all aspects of the office

action including the search, proper use of form paragraph

language, clarity and accuracy of writing, and proper handling

of procedural and substantive issues. Particular emphasis will

be placed on phone and/or informal electronic mail communi-

cations with applicants in order to increase understanding and

resolve obstacles to approval of their marks.

Incentives in the form of bonuses for examining attorneys who

meet or exceed these standards will be implemented and

evaluated to determine overall effectiveness. Input from both

internal personnel and external stakeholders will be used to

make this determination.

Commissioner for Trademarks Lynne Beresford, Combined

Federal Campaign (CFC) chair Gwen Stokols, USPTO employees

and characters attended the Zumba®-thon and Wellness Charity

Fair supporting the CFC.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 23

STRATEGIC GOAL II

Objective 3: Ensure Accuracy

of Identifications of Goods

and Services in Trademark

Applications and Registrations

Initiatives to Achieve Strategic Goal II, Objective 3

Determine What Actions, if any, are Needed to Ensure

●●

Accuracy of Identified Goods and Services

A. Determine What Actions, if any, are Needed to

Ensure Accuracy of Identified Goods and Services

In order to register a trademark with the USPTO, an applicant

must prove that he or she has used the mark in interstate

commerce within the United States. The applicant may file an

application to register the mark on the basis of either (1) current

use of the mark in commerce, or (2) a bona fide intent to use

the mark in commerce in the future. The registration can be

cancelled, however, if the applicant obtained the registration

fraudulently—that is, by knowingly making a false, material

representation with the intent to deceive the USPTO.

In re Bose Corp., 580 F.3d 1240 (Fed. Cir. 2009).

The USPTO will work with the applicant community to

determine what actions, if any, are needed to ensure that marks

being registered or renewed are actually in use on all claimed

goods and services at the time a declaration is filed for

use-based registrations, and to ensure that there is a bona fide

intent to use all claimed goods and services at the time a decla-

ration is filed for registrations issued upon an intent to use.

Objective 4: Enhance

Operations of Trademark Trial

and Appeal Board (TTAB)

Initiatives to Achieve Strategic Goal II, Objective 4

Maintain TTAB Workload and Pendency Metrics Within

●●

Acceptable Limits

Develop Additional Accelerated Case Resolution (ACR)

●●

and Other Streamlining Options for Inter Partes Cases

Improve TTAB Involvement in Parties’ Settlement

●●

Negotiations

Maintain Quality of Orders and Opinions

●●

Develop Law through Issuance of Precedential Decisions

●●

The TTAB is an administrative board within the USPTO which

hears and decides adversarial proceedings between parties,

namely, oppositions (when a party opposes a mark after publi-

cation in the Official Gazette) and cancellations (when a party

seeks to cancel an existing registration). The TTAB also handles

interference and concurrent use proceedings, as well as appeals

of final refusals issued by USPTO examining attorneys in the

course of application prosecution.

A. Maintain TTAB Workload and Pendency Metrics

Within Acceptable Limits

The TTAB will face challenges moving forward, because of

expected retirements of Administrative Trademark Judges

(ATJs). In facing these challenges, the TTAB will monitor filing

levels to maintain appropriate staffing and will work closely

with stakeholders to reassess performance goals relating to

24 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

STRATEGIC GOAL II

pendency. This will include reexamination of the traditional

focus on measuring pendency of contested motions and final

decisions from the time motions and cases are “ready for

decision.” The TTAB will actively engage stakeholders in

developing appropriate measures for overall pendency of

ex parte and inter partes cases, from commencement to dispo-

sition, and in developing appropriate measures for disposition

of contested motions and issuance of final decisions on

the merits.

B. Develop Additional Accelerated Case Resolution (ACR)

and other Streamlining Options for

Inter Partes

Cases

The TTAB will promote and facilitate the use of ACR and other

options for streamlining inter partes cases. ACR is a stream-

lined alternative to traditional discovery and trial, and the TTAB

will actively engage stakeholders to continue the development

of numerous alternatives that parties will be able to select as

more efficient and economical means for trying issues in inter

partes cases.

C. Improve TTAB Involvement in Parties’ Settlement

Negotiations

The TTAB will engage stakeholders to determine how best to

utilize TTAB judges and attorneys to facilitate settlement nego-

tiations in inter partes cases. While TTAB attorneys now partic-

ipate in settlement and discovery planning conferences, they

do so only on the request of either party to a case.

Moving forward, the TTAB will assess the desirability and feasi-

bility of routinely having judges participate in settlement discus-

sions of parties to inter partes cases, at various points in

proceedings, to aid in negotiated resolution of disputes.

TTAB personnel will receive additional training, as necessary,

to facilitate their involvement in settlement negotiations.

D. Maintain Quality of Orders and Opinions

Analyze the results of the TTAB’s established peer review

program for monitoring and assessing the quality of work done

by ATJs to assess the need for any additional training. Continue

assessment of the quality of orders by Interlocutory Attorneys

on contested motions, first begun in FY 2009, and assess need

for any additional training. Conclude a pilot project running

from FY 2010 into FY 2011 involving quality review of orders

prepared by paralegals, and utilize the results of the pilot to

deploy a standardized quality review program for paralegal

and customer service team members’ work in FY 2011 or early

FY 2012.

E. Develop Law Through Issuance of Precedential

Decisions

The TTAB will continue to discuss with stakeholders the

substantive and procedural legal issues that require develop-

ment through the issuance of precedential decisions. The TTAB

will complete the revision of the TTAB’s Manual of Procedure

(TBMP), to reflect changes in the Trademark Act and Trademark

Rules, and the many precedential decisions issued in recent

years. The TTAB will also ensure that the revised manual is

released and posted on the TTAB’s web page early in FY 2011,

in a form that will be easily searched by users and easily

updated in the future.

Commissioner for Trademarks Lynne Beresford and President of

the NTEU 245 union Howard Friedman sign the Geographical

Pilot Expansion for the Trademark Examiners.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 25

STRATEGIC GOAL II

Objective 5: Modernize IT

System by Developing and

Implementing the Trademark

Next Generation IT System

Initiatives to Achieve Strategic Goal II, Objective 5

Address Trademark Business Needs with a Re-Architected,

●●

Virtualized and Service-Driven Solution

Separate Trademark CBRs from Other USPTO CBRs

●●

Move to Cloud Computing Based on a Sound

●●

Business Case

Add Functionality to Meet the Needs of Users

●●

A. Address Trademark Business Needs with a

Re-Architected, Virtualized and Service-Driven Solution

A new generation of Trademark IT systems will address

business needs with a re-architected, virtualized, and service-

oriented solution:

Physically separate Trademark CBRs from other

●●

USPTO CBRs.

Lower IT costs.

●●

Incorporate collaboration tools.

●●

Minimize failure points.

●●

Reduce reliance on contractors and develop institutional

●●

knowledge and capacity.

Increase availability of CBRs.

●●

B. Separate Trademark CBRs from other USPTO CBRs

Develop and implement the next generation Trademark IT

system in a multi-year program:

Separate CBRs and maintain these legacy systems to support

●●

on-going operations.

Virtualize Trademark computer-based resources.

●●

Comply with Federal mandates aimed at making trademark

●●

CBRs capable of running in a Cloud Computing environment.

Migrate trademark CBRs to a virtual architecture.

●●

C. Move to Cloud Computing Based on a Sound

Business Case

Move to Cloud Computing, which provides scalable, reliable,

●●

and flexible features that allow CBR workloads to be spread

across multiple servers. Once the Cloud environment is

available, the USPTO will start to move its virtualized

trademark CBRs to the Cloud.

D. Add Functionality to Meet the Needs of Users

Close interaction with internal and external subject matter

experts and user groups will help define current user require-

ments and anticipate future needs. These business require-

ments will then be translated into technical requirements which

will allow the USPTO to estimate funding needs and assess the

cost-benefits of associated investments.

The Trademark Organization continues to automate its

processes and encourage electronic filings with user-friendly

forms and a novel generic Trademark Electronic Application

System (TEAS) form. Electronic filings help guide the applicant

and speed up the examination process.

A modern IT infrastructure is a key enabler to build a flexible

high performance organization. It helps us attract and retain a

talented workforce via our telework program. It also brings us

closer to an environmentally-friendly paperless organization.

26 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

STRATEGIC GOAL II

Objective 6: Develop a New

Generation of Trademark

Leaders

Initiatives to Achieve Strategic Goal II, Objective 6

Improve and Provide Effective Training

●●

Revamp PAPs to Include Leadership Skills Development

●●

Develop an Effective Human Capital Succession Plan

●●

A. Improve and Provide Effective Training

A LDP is designed for all USPTO managers, and the Trademark

Organization will ensure all current and aspiring managers

participate in the newly developed program. In addition to the

agency-wide LDP, on-site and off-site training will be provided

for Trademark managing attorneys, supervisors and senior

attorneys. The program will be designed to allow managers

and supervisors to hone their skills and enable all employees

to reach their full potential. The training will be designed to

achieve the following:

Allow front-line managers and supervisors to effectively

●●

manage in a virtual workplace with a diverse, nationwide

workforce.

Provide comprehensive training to all managers on

●●

techniques that will help motivate and inspire others and

build more effective working relationships with employees

and stakeholders.

B. Revamp PAPS to Include Leadership Skills

Development

Implement a PAP for front-line and senior managers that

●●

evaluates them, in part, based on their skills and achievements

in managing, leading, mentoring and coaching their

employees.

C. Develop an Effective Human Capital Succession Plan

The USPTO’s Office of Human Resources (OHR) will develop

a Strategic Human Capital Plan (SHCP) that will set forth the

USPTO’s overarching policies and practices relating to human

capital management. One of the key elements of the SHCP is

“Leadership and Knowledge Management,” whose goal is to

preserve and pass down knowledge critical to each business

unit. Knowledge management is especially important as senior

employees retire from the agency.

The Trademark Assistance Center (TAC) received the Trademark

Customer Service Award and was recognized by the Under

Secretary David Kappos and Commissioner for Trademarks

Lynne Beresford for going above and beyond the responsibilities

of their jobs in the level of service that they provide to their

customers.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 27

STRATEGIC GOAL II

y law, the USPTO Director serves as policy advisor to the President (via the Secretary

of Commerce) on IP matters. Given the demonstrated importance of high-quality IP

to innovation and competitiveness, the USPTO is a key component of the administra-

tion’s strategy to encourage American innovation and global competitiveness.

Historically, the United States has been at the forefront of creating the infrastructure—

including public research funding, appropriate laws, and robust capital markets—that

generates groundbreaking research, supports the transformation of research into innova-

tion, and then translates innovation into economic growth and jobs. Growing international

competition, however, makes continued leadership far from certain.

The administration’s Strategy for American Innovation white paper, published by the

President’s National Economic Council in September 2009, demonstrated a strong commit-

ment to retaining U.S. innovation leadership. This white paper noted that the importance of

high-quality, timely patents to innovation creates an urgent need for adequate funding of the

USPTO. The paper left open, for the USPTO to develop, the specific mechanisms and overall

impact that IP plays in fostering innovation.

As the Strategy for American Innovation continues to evolve, the USPTO will lead in

ensuring that the overall Innovation Strategy encompasses a comprehensive National IP

Strategy. This National IP Strategy, in turn, will reflect the growing body of research demon-

strating the importance of high-quality IP to innovation.

To fulfill its responsibility in promoting innovation and competitiveness, the USPTO must

also work to ensure that IP laws in the United States continually adapt to new technological

advances; that foreign IP offices similarly adapt and improve their IP systems; that efforts

to adapt and improve IP systems are based on the best available data; and that the IP rights

of United States’ businesses are protected at home and abroad.

The USPTO must work to raise awareness, both domestically and internationally, of the

value of IP and the positive economic, social, and cultural impact it has. The USPTO must

promote and support coordinated policies that improve the protection of IP rights afforded

by both domestic and international laws and agreements. The USPTO supports the devel-

opment of U.S. policies that reflect the vital importance of IP rights in ensuring the continued

competitiveness of U.S. industry.

The challenges to maintaining effective IP rights include: gathering data on how IP rights

function in the marketplace; deepening the dialogue on global IP policy; facilitating technical

cooperation with foreign countries; optimizing the interaction of the IP system with other

28 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

Strategic Goal

III:

Provide Domestic and Global

Leadership to Improve Intellectual Property

Policy, Protection and Enforcement Worldwide

legal regimes; arriving at agreement on standards for IP protec-

tion; and improving IP enforcement.

The USPTO’s goal to provide domestic and global IP leadership

will be accomplished by focusing on the following

two objectives:

Objective 1: Provide Domestic

Leadership on IP Policy Issues

and Development of a

National IP Strategy

Initiatives to Achieve Strategic Goal III, Objective 1

Provide Policy Formulation in All Fields of IP Protection

●●

and Enforcement

Provide Ongoing Policy Guidance on Key IP Issues

●●

Provide Domestic Education Outreach, Knowledge

●●

Enhancement and Capacity Building

Engage other U.S. Government Agencies and Congress

●●

on Legislation that Improves the IP System

Countries that excel in innovation will be the economic powers

of the 21st Century. Our major global competitors have recog-

nized this and have developed national innovation strategies.

Many of our competitors have also recognized that, because IP

is a key driver of innovation, a sophisticated, well-crafted IP

strategy is critical to a National Innovation Strategy. Similarly,

the USPTO must develop A National IP Strategy for the 21st

Century that is a central component of the administration’s

evolving Strategy for American Innovation.

The National IP Strategy will ensure that policy developments

and implementation take place in a coordinated manner within

a national framework that allows all national stakeholders to

work together to create, own, and exploit research results,

innovations, new technologies, and works of creativity.

Both within and outside the administration’s Strategy for

American Innovation implementation process, the USPTO

must fulfill its mission of advising the President and Executive

Branch on key IP issues, and must continually review the

adequacy of our laws in the face of scientific and technological

change.

We must build public awareness, both domestically and

internationally, of the link between IP protection, innovation,

exports, and economic growth. To provide the empirical basis

for building this awareness, the USPTO has established an

Office of the Chief Economist. The Chief Economist will

investigate and document the interplay of ideas and economic

growth to establish a framework for analyzing the growth of an

economy increasingly dominated by IP-based products.

Moreover, in conjunction with other federal agencies and the

White House Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement

Coordinator, we must also work to increase awareness of the

health, safety, and economic impact of counterfeit and pirated

goods. Further, we must ensure that enforcement policies,

strong interagency coordination, and public education are

strengthened to combat this problem.

A. Provide Policy Formulation in all Fields of IP

Protection and Enforcement

Develop a White Paper on “U.S. Innovation and Creativity:

●●

A National IP Strategy for the 21st Century.”

Develop the commitment in the administration’s “Strategy

●●

for American Innovation” to sound IP policy as a driver of

innovation by developing a “National IP Strategy.”

Under Secretary David Kappos and Patent Office Professional

Association (POPA) President Robert Budens testify before the

House of Representatives Oversight Committee on May 5, 2010.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 29

STRATEGIC GOAL III

Staff the Office of the Chief Economist to formulate data

●●

sets for use in developing the U.S. National IP Strategy.

Promote transparency, to the greatest extent possible, of

●●

both data sets formulated by the Chief Economist and other

USPTO data sets.

Develop data showing the contributions of high-quality

●●

patents to entrepreneurship, jobs, and economic growth.

Study economic implications of using fees and other

●●

mechanisms to create different tracks for examination of

patent applications.

Improve data on the economic effects of patent backlog.

●●

Develop novel criteria for assessing both ultimate patent

●●

quality and quality of the search and examination process.

Hold symposia, conferences, and roundtables on the

●●

contribution of IP to innovation and economic growth,

intersection of patent policy and competition policy, digital

responsibility issues.

B. Provide Ongoing Policy Guidance on Key IP Issues

The USPTO will monitor and provide policy guidance in cases

before the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals for the Federal

Circuit, other federal courts, BPAI, and TTAB; provide legal and

technical support to legislative, regulatory, and judicial

initiatives; and ensure domestic implementation of

treaty obligations.

C. Provide Domestic Education Outreach, Knowledge

Enhancement and Capacity Building

In collaboration with other educational initiatives, the USPTO

will provide education outreach via the Global Intellectual

Property Academy (GIPA) including: public speaking and

seminars; Native American artists and crafts persons outreach

within Interior’s Indian Arts & Crafts Board; Minority Business

Development Agency memorandum of understanding for

IP training; and education outreach to U.S. businesses on

IP rights, protection, and enforcement abroad.

Evaluate GIPA-based training as well as other training

●●

through use of a professional survey tool.

Further, the USPTO will support government-wide efforts to

promote educational initiatives for elementary, middle school,

high school, and university students including teacher lesson

plans and careers in science, technology, engineering and

math fields.

Provide consolidated management, oversight, and assessment

●●

of all USPTO education and outreach programs.

D. Engage U.S. Government Agencies and Congress

on Legislation that Improves the IP System

Provide information and technical assistance to the Congress

●●

on agency initiatives and proposed IP legislation, including

patent reform legislation and related issues.

Engage other U.S. Government agencies and stakeholders to

●●

discuss pending legislation and other potential legislative

proposals consistent with administration views.

The USPTO hosted an examination workshop with examiners

from the KIPO. The workshop was an interactive component of

the ongoing SHARE pilot program between the USPTO and KIPO

that began in September 2009. The objective of the program is to

have an open dialogue between both offices to address differ-

ences in each other’s patent systems and to discuss the effective-

ness of the searches completed by each office. (Front Row) Keun

Young Park, Khiem Nguyen, Seema Rao; (Back row) Kwang

Han, John Cabeca, Tom Thomas and Dah Wei-Yuan.

30 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

STRATEGIC GOAL III

Objective 2: Provide

Leadership on International

Policies for Improving the

Protection and Enforcement

of IP Rights

Initiatives to Achieve Strategic Goal III, Objective 2

Lead Efforts at the World Intellectual Property

●●

Organization (WIPO) and Other International Fora

to Improve IP Protection and Enforcement

Prioritize Countries of Interest for Purposes of Improved

●●

IP Protection and Enforcement, Capacity Building,

Legislative Reform, Including Creation of Country/

Region Strategic Plans and Specific Action Plans

Improve Efficiency and Cooperation in Global IP System

●●

Provide International IP Policy Advice and Expertise

●●

to Other U.S. Government Agencies

Provide Technical Expertise in the Negotiation and

●●

Implementation of Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements

that Improve IP Rights Protection and Enforcement

Create USPTO and Attaché Integrated Action Plans

●●

that Focus on Country-Specific Needs and

Interagency Cooperation

The USPTO will work with the business community and other

government agencies to secure improved international

protection of IP rights, including use of bilateral relationships

to encourage improvements in the laws and policies of other

countries as well as in the implementation of effective

enforcement regimes. The USPTO will also work to strengthen

multilateral arrangements regarding IP rights.

The USPTO will leverage its relationships in international fora

to strengthen international IP systems and protection and to

create efficiencies in the patent and trademark areas.

A. Lead Efforts at the World Intellectual Property

Organization (WIPO) and Other International Fora

to Improve IP Protection and Enforcement

Participate as a member of the WIPO Committee on

●●

Development and IP in implementing the recommendations

of the WIPO Development Agenda in a manner that

improves and strengthens overall IP protection and

enforcement.

Actively promote improvements in the PCT process

●●

articulated in the WIPO PCT Roadmap, including

improvements in PCT search quality in the U.S. and other

patent offices.

Reduce redundancy of work projects in Trilateral and IP5,

●●

with the ultimate goal of folding Trilateral into IP5.

Lead in forming international consensus around the U.S.

●●

strategy for promoting access to copyrighted works by the

visually impaired.

B. Prioritize Countries of Interest for Purposes of

Improved IP Protection and Enforcement, Capacity

Building, Legislative Reform, Including Creation of

Country/Region Strategic Plans and Specific Action Plans

Prioritized Countries/Regions include: China, Brazil/Latin

●●

America, Russia, India, Association of Southeast Asian

Nations, Middle East/North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa.

Minster for Commerce Mrs. Portiva Nakasai and the Thai

delegation visit the USPTO May 6, 2010.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 31

STRATEGIC GOAL III

Develop a plan identifying strategic IP priorities and issues

●●

for each priority country/region.

For each prioritized country/region, each revision of our

●●

action plan should rank order the efficacy, since the prior

revision, of mechanisms utilized for improving laws and/or

enforcement.

Use quarterly calls to ensure that IP Attachés in prioritized

●●

regions have adequate support.

Focus resources on prioritized countries, and evaluate

●●

efficacy of training through standardized survey instrument.

C. Improve Efficiency and Cooperation in Global IP

System

Engage with international IP offices on bilateral and

●●

plurilateral policy activities.

Provide policy leadership in developing mechanisms for

●●

maximizing work sharing by identifying additional countries

to engage and sign bilateral PPH agreements.

Drive development of an internationally harmonized list of

●●

trademark identifications and classifications of goods and

services by seeking out additional countries to join the

Trademark Trilateral Identification of Goods and Services

Project.

Promote Madrid System improvements to streamline

●●

processes and increase use of the System for Trademark

registrations, including identifying Madrid System

inefficiencies and advancing potential solutions through the

WIPO Madrid Working Group and bilateral consultations.

D. Provide International IP Policy Advice and Expertise

to Other U.S. Government Agencies

Advise United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Special

●●

301 Activities, Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property

Rights Council, World Trade Organizations (WTO) Accessions,

and WTO Trade Policy Reviews.

Advise USTR, Office of Science and Technology Policy, and

●●

other agencies on international science and technology

agreements.

E. Provide Technical Expertise in the Negotiation and

Implementation of Bilateral and Multilateral Agree-

ments that Improve IP Rights Protection and

Enforcement

Compile all partner agreements, memoranda of

●●

understanding, work plans and determine whether

agreements are viable/functional, and identify gaps

(e.g., funding).

F. Create USPTO and Attaché Integrated Action Plans

that Focus on Country-Specific Needs and Interagency

Cooperation

Develop training plan, hiring and succession plan and

●●

performance metrics for attaché positions.

Subject to resources, place additional IP attachés in countries

●●

(or regions) where the U.S. has a significant economic

relationship and/or significant enforcement challenges.

32 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

STRATEGIC GOAL III

ulfilling the USPTO’s mission will require strong leadership and collaborative manage-

ment. While the three strategic goals focus on our core mission, our overarching

management goal focuses on the shared responsibility that is a prerequisite for achieving

success, namely: sound resource management, solid workforce planning, corporate support

services, and effective use of IT. These priorities are particularly important as the USPTO

grows and modernizes.

The USPTO’s management goal to achieve organizational excellence will be accomplished

by focusing on the following three objectives:

Objective 1: Improve IT Infrastructure and Tools

Initiatives to Achieve Management Goal, Objective 1

Establish Cost-Effective, Transparent Operations and Processes

●●

Improve the User Experience

●●

Upgrade IT Infrastructure

●●

Develop and Implement the Next Generation Fee Processing System (FPNG)

●●

IT is a mission-critical enabler for every USPTO business function. The productivity of

patent and trademark operations is directly correlated to the performance of their IT systems,

which are in dire need of modernization. To accomplish its performance-based strategies,

the USPTO must engage in an aggressive multi-year effort to upgrade its IT infrastructure

by updating our IT processes, stabilizing our aging data centers and networks, and evolving

to web-based virtualized computing technologies.

A. Establish Cost-Effective, Transparent Operations and Processes

Make USPTO data easily accessible to USPTO customers, partners, industry,

●●

and the public.

Expand access to USPTO data and knowledge through the world wide web.

●●

Migrate to XML.

●●

Establish partnerships with customers, industry and other IP Offices.

●●

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 33

Management Goal: Achieve

Organizational Excellence

B. Improve the User Experience

Simplify user interfaces to USPTO systems, and expand the

●●

technologies used to collaborate within and with the USPTO.

Improve USPTO Web site with Web 2.0 assistance

●●

technologies.

Expand Collaboration Tools.

●●

Expand e-Learning.

●●

C. Upgrade IT Infrastructure

Replace the aging IT infrastructure with expandable,

●●

reliable, secure technologies.

Stabilize and consolidate Data Centers.

●●

Expand the Network.

●●

Expand Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

●●

capabilities.

Stabilize Desktops.

●●

Improve Cyber-security.

●●

D. Develop and Implement the Next Generation Fee

Processing System

Develop the FPNG and interfaces to other USPTO financial

●●

management systems in a virtualized environment.

Develop interfaces between FPNG and other USPTO systems.

●●

Retire legacy systems.

●●

Objective 2: Implement a

Sustainable Funding Model

for Operations

Initiatives to Achieve Management Goal, Objective 2

Obtain and Implement Interim Funding Authority

●●

Obtain and Implement Fee Setting Authority

●●

Reformulate the Fee Structure

●●

Obtain and Implement Private Sector Business Tools

●●

Present Requirements-Based Budgets

●●

Strengthen Financial and Non-Financial Internal Controls

●●

The USPTO’s strategic goals cannot be achieved without a

reliable and sustainable source of funding. To accomplish this

multi-year plan, the USPTO must have the authority to set the

fees necessary to recover the cost of operations, spend fees

collected on requirements-based operations, and adapt and

manage its funding requirements as changes occur in internal

and external conditions.

The USPTO operating structure is like a business in that it

receives requests for services—applications for patents and

trademark registrations—and charges fees projected to cover

the cost of performing the services it provides. However, the

34 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

MANAGEMENT GOAL

USPTO does not have as much flexibility to adjust its fees or

spending if filings and revenues change unexpectedly.

The USPTO must secure a funding model that facilitates

long-term planning and is adaptable to fluctuations. Such

planning will sustain operation of our nation’s IP system over

an extended period of time. The USPTO will achieve the

following financial initiatives as a means to deliver on its

pendency, quality, IT, and international strategic priorities.

Each of the USPTO’s six initiatives to achieve a sustainable

funding model can be placed into one of three categories:

Authority to spend and manage resources.

●●

Multi-year planning and management tools.

●●

Transparency of financial and non-financial operations.

●●

The table below demonstrates that achieving any one of these

initiatives does not alone constitute a sustainable funding

model. The six initiatives work together.

The necessary initiatives for the USPTO to implement a sustain-

able funding model for operations are set forth below.

B. Obtain and Implement Fee Setting Authority

To operate in a truly businesslike fashion, the USPTO must

have the means to ensure a sufficient and predictable year-

over-year revenue stream. A temporary interim fee increase

will not accomplish that goal. Without fee setting authority,

any change to statutory fees requires legislation. This limits the

USPTO’s ability to proactively adjust its fees in response to

changes in demand for services, processing costs, or other

factors. To ensure a sustainable funding model for long-term

operations, the USPTO needs authority to set and adjust fees

by regulation, so that it can properly establish and align fees in

a timely, fair, and consistent manner to recover the actual costs

of USPTO operating requirements without the inherent time

impediments experienced today.

Sustainable Funding Model Objectives Authority Multi-year Tools Transparency

Obtain and Implement Interim Funding Authority

Obtain and Implement Fee Setting Authority

Reformulate the Fee Structure

Obtain and Implement Private Sector Business Tools

Present Requirements-Based Budgets

Strengthen Financial and Non-Financial Internal Controls

A. Obtain and Implement Interim Funding Authority

The USPTO does not have sufficient resources to reduce the

patent application backlog and achieve our stated pendency

goals without an increase in funding. We will seek legislative

authority to implement an interim increase in patent fees to

recover the cost of operations as defined in our requirements-

based budget requests. The interim fee increase is a bridge

to provide the required resources until the USPTO obtains

fee-setting authority and develops a fee structure in

cooperation with our stakeholders that will provide sufficient

financial resources to support multi-year performance goals

and objectives.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 35

MANAGEMENT GOAL

C. Reformulate the Fee Structure

The current patent fee structure sets application filing fees at a

rate much lower than the cost to perform application

examination activities. Once a patent is allowed or a trademark

is registered, an applicant will pay additional fees for issuing

and maintaining a patent in force or renewing a trademark

registration. These fees are paid later in the life of a patent or

trademark by those who are successful in obtaining rights and

who wish to maintain those rights.

Fee setting authority and routine evaluation of the fee structure

will permit the USPTO to compare the cost of activities with

fees to ensure that rates are set at appropriate levels and that

the fee structure is achieving a rational result. An optimal fee

structure will:

Align fees with the full aggregate cost to achieve the

●●

USPTO’s mission.

Facilitate the effective administration of patent and trademark

●●

processes.

Offer stakeholders application processing options.

●●

We will use historical cost information as a framework for

comparing the cost of products and services to current fee

rates and prospective, multi-year production and cost estimates

to ensure fee rates are set to recover the aggregate estimated

cost of USPTO requirements for achieving its strategic priorities.

The USPTO will engage stakeholders in discussions to obtain

input, and use a variety of communication tools including

roundtables, Federal Register notices and speeches, to provide

notice to the public, public advisory committees, and Congress

for review and comment.

D. Obtain and Implement Private Sector Business Tools

The USPTO will establish and fund an operating reserve that

permits adjustment for unexpected revenue changes without

putting the agency at operational risk. This will allow the

USPTO to undertake long-term strategies for improvement in a

financially sensible way.

Specifically, an operating reserve will provide three main

benefits. First, it will be used for operational purposes to

manage the balance between the timing of fee collections and

expenditures. Second, it will be used to manage fee collections

as part of a plan to implement multi-year strategies. Third, it

will be used to provide reasonable cash reserves for large,

unplanned contingency items such as significant damage to

capital assets, legal damages or other contingent liabilities, and

precipitous drops in operating funds due to unforeseen

circumstances.

To assure proper oversight of an operating reserve, the USPTO

would assess the reserve fund’s balance annually as a part of

preparing a requirements-based budget plan and reevaluating

the fee structure. The fund balance would be evaluated against

the USPTO’s needs, and operating risk plans made for any

fee-setting measures or spending plan adjustments required to

right-size the balance.

We will continue to investigate other businesslike tools that will

improve financial operations and provide benefit to our

stakeholders.

E. Present Requirements-Based Budgets

The USPTO recognizes the complexity of its financial and

operational model. To improve transparency, we will prepare

an annual requirements-based budget that identifies the cost to

meet annual performance targets aligned with our strategic

goals. The requirements-based budget will outline the cost of

day-to-day activities, improvements to those activities, and how

resources will be used to meet performance targets for providing

quality and timely patent and trademark examination, global,

and domestic IP policy leadership, as well as global IP protection

and enforcement capacity building.

F. Strengthen Financial and Non-Financial Internal

Controls

The USPTO recognizes the importance of safeguarding our

financial resources and ensuring external oversight. We will

continue to maintain our track record of 17 consecutive

unqualified financial statement audit opinions. We will also

review and test both financial and non-financial internal

controls to ensure the management processes we employ will

achieve the intended result and can be relied upon to accurately

identify the full cost of providing our products and services.

Identifying areas for improvement will allow us to continually

strengthen the internal management controls to maximize

program efficiency, ensure compliance with statutes and

regulations, and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse of stakeholder

resources.

36 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

MANAGEMENT GOAL

Objective 3: Improve Employee

and Stakeholder Relations

Initiatives to Achieve Management Goal, Objective 3

Recruit, Develop, Train, and Retain a Highly-Skilled,

●●

Diverse Workforce

Enhance Current and Future Agency Leadership by

●●

Focusing on Leadership Development, Accountability,

and Succession Planning

Optimize Effectiveness of Patents Ombudsman Program

●●

Enhance the Independent Inventors Program

●●

Provide Information and Communication Channels for

●●

Employees and the Public

Ensure Transparency of USPTO Information and Materials

●●

by Increasing the Availability of Public Information

Strengthen Relationships with DOC, Office of

●●

Management and Budget (OMB), and Congress

A. Recruit, Develop, Train, and Retain a Highly Skilled

Diverse Workforce

The USPTO has worked across its business units to develop a

multi-year human capital plan aligned with the strategic plan.

The SHCP contains the following elements: (1) Talent

Management, which includes hiring and retention initiatives;

(2) Results-Oriented Performance Culture, which includes

awards, task forces and performance initiatives; and

(3) Leadership and Knowledge Management, which includes

leadership development and succession planning.

These categories cover the human capital programs and activi-

ties within the over-arching Management Goal of Achieving

Organizational Excellence.

In implementing the SHCP, the USPTO will:

Identify agency best practices for improving employee

●●

retention, for application throughout all business units.

Use a joint labor and management team to update the

●●

patent examiner PAP, improve processes for addressing

performance and conduct issues, and align the patent

examiner PAP to organizational goals and ensure strategies

at all levels.

Implement and monitor reform of the examiner count system.

●●

Use a SPE PAP Award Task Force to revamp the PAP and

●●

award program for SPEs. The new SPE PAP will reflect key

priorities of the Patents Organization: enhanced examination

quality, reduced application pendency, improved stakeholder

responsiveness, and increased recognition of key SPE

activities in developing their employees while also

recognizing the importance of contributions to TC and

corps-wide initiatives.

Develop a USPTO-wide mentoring framework based on

●●

best practices derived from existing agency programs.

Provide technical training to patent examiners by developing

●●

a formal Patent Examiner Technical Training Program.

The program will provide opportunities for scientists and

attorneys to directly convey their knowledge of prior art

and industry standards to patent examiners in-house and

through “field trips” to research and industrial sites applicable

to all of the USPTO’s art units. The program will be a

valuable tool in providing patent examiners with training by

experts working in the entire range of technologies handled

by the Patent Organization. The USPTO will cooperate with

stakeholders as a resource for expert lecturers and field

trip sites.

Frederick Person assists USPTO employees at the OHR on Wheels

event held across the USPTO campus. OHR on Wheels consists of

a cross-functional team of OHR specialists that answer employees’

questions on human resources-related topics.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 37

MANAGEMENT GOAL

Provide a solid foundation for newly hired Patent Examiners.

●●

Using a university-style model, the Patent Training Academy

will continue to provide a robust training program for newly

hired Patent Examiners. The curriculum (both for IP

Experienced and 2-Phase, 12-Month Programs) will provide

intensive patent examining training in lecture and laboratory

format, as well as “soft-skill” courses. Upon graduation, the

Patent Examining Corps will continue to receive new Patent

Examiners who are better equipped to attain proficiency

quickly and with greater technical competency.

B. Enhance Current and Future Agency Leadership by

Focusing on Leadership Development, Accountability,

and Succession Planning

The SES Council was established to develop USPTO senior

leaders to their maximum potential. Leadership development

efforts are most successful when senior leaders set the example

for others by engaging in their own development. The SES

Council continues to maximize the capabilities, contributions

and potential of senior executives by bringing them together to

regularly network, discuss agency strategic priorities, collaborate

by sharing knowledge and resources across business units,

focus on results, recognize others’ performance and contributions

and share best practices for helping subordinate leaders lead

more effectively.

The LDP is a USPTO program designed to develop leaders who:

Earn respect through a balance of technical competence

●●

and demonstrated organizational effectiveness.

Optimize performance through employee engagement in

●●

achieving agency strategic objectives and priorities.

Inspire dedication by building trust, developing others, and

●●

demonstrating integrity and commitment to the growth of

the national and global economy.

The USPTO will invest resources to support and enhance the

LDP which is designed to close leadership and management

competency gaps. Current managers, supervisors, executives,

and employees aspiring to become organizational leaders, can

benefit from a variety of learning opportunities. Opportunities

include online and classroom training, 180-degree and

360-degree leadership assessments and targeted LDPs. The LDP

includes a Leadership in Action Program which highlights best

practices and allows employees to recognize supervisors and

managers who model superior leadership skills.

C. Optimize Effectiveness of Patents Ombudsman

Program

The Patents Ombudsman program is intended to provide patent

applicants, attorneys, and agents assistance with application-

specific issues including concerns related to prosecution

advancement.

38 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

MANAGEMENT GOAL

The program is running across all of our TCs, using Ombudsman

representatives who are SPEs and Quality Assurance Specialists

prepared to field questions and concerns from the public and

work with the appropriate USPTO employees to facilitate

responses. Ombudsman representatives help to ensure that

applicants’ issues are addressed quickly–usually within five

business days. The Ombudsman representative will also ensure

confidentiality when requested by the applicant or applicant’s

representative.

D. Enhance the Independent Inventors Program

The patent and trademark process can be complicated for

independent inventors, and small and medium entities. As part

of the USPTO’s stakeholder outreach, we have numerous

assistance programs. We will continue to provide resources for

this important group of inventors including:

Inventors Eye Newsletter

●●

, the USPTO’s electronic,

bimonthly publication for the independent inventor

community. http://www.uspto.gov/inventorseye/index.htm.

Independent Inventors Roundtables

●●

, held periodically

to address current issues of concern to the independent and

small entity inventor community.

Training and Education

●●

will be provided by the USPTO

to facilitate the dissemination of training materials and best

practices in collaboration with our stakeholders, and

includes:

Creating and posting computer training modules on the

●■

USPTO Web site.

Hosting educational conferences where inventors can

●■

learn about the importance of IP protection.

Webcasting presentations to university business and

●■

entrepreneurship classes.

Creating training and educational programs concerning

●■

international filings.

Pro bono IP Legal Services

●●

provided by nonprofit

organizations and law schools/universities will be explored

as a means for providing independent inventors with help

applying for patents and trademarks.

Pilot Program to Accelerate the Patent Process for

●●

Small Entity Inventors, which allows applicants having

multiple applications currently pending before the USPTO

to have greater control over the priority with which their

applications are examined while also stimulating a reduction

of the backlog of unexamined patent applications. The

pilot began as a program for small entities, and was recently

expanded to all patent filers.

E. Provide Information and Communication Channels

for Employees and the Public

The USPTO Web site is the official source for Office news and

information. The Web site serves as the public’s single point

of access for a host of useful information, including emergency

notices, DOC and USPTO press releases, testimony and

speeches, Federal Register notices, upcoming training and

events, and independent inventor programs. Visit the USPTO

Web site at: www.uspto.gov.

In addition to the USPTO Web site, the USPTO offers a variety

of mechanisms for stakeholders to submit feedback on USPTO

programs, including:

Feedback Channels

●●

that allow the public to comment on

USPTO initiatives and activities. Information on USPTO

programs will be posted for feedback on a regular basis.

Under Secretary David Kappos and Deputy Under Secretary

Sharon Barner led a roundtable on BPAI ex parte rules at the

USPTO’s Alexandria, VA headquarters.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 39

MANAGEMENT GOAL

USPTO Director’s Forum Blog

●●

that allows the public to

provide comments on agency initiatives via the Director’s

Forum blog (www.uspto.gov/blog).

Roundtables

●●

where the USPTO actively solicits and gathers

opinions and suggestions from the public. For major

roundtables, we establish a “feedback loop” that includes

communication with stakeholders, posting summaries of

comments, and providing summaries of resulting actions.

Past Roundtables have addressed:

International Work Sharing and the PCT.

●■

BPAI Rules of Practice and Procedure.

●■

Patent Quality.

●■

Bose

●■

Fraud on the Trademark Office.

Joint workshop with Department of Justice and the

●■

Federal Trade Commission on the Intersection of Patent

Policy and Competition Policy.

Joint workshop with National Telecommunications and

●■

Information Administration on Digital Copyright.

Three-track proposal.

●■

Facebook

●●

, which will be used to engage the public and the

IP community directly and provide real-time information.

The USPTO’s page on Facebook will offer regular updates

from the Agency on a range of issues, and give Facebook

users the chance to comment on, discuss, and offer feedback

to the USPTO on our announcements and initiatives.

The page can be found at www.facebook.com/uspto.gov.

Labor Management Council

●●

, which will continue to allow

USPTO management to work with the unions to promote

the exchange of ideas and collaborative problem solving.

F. Ensure Transparency of USPTO Information and

Materials by Increasing the Availability of Public

Information

The USPTO is committed to providing increased transparency

as called for by the President’s Open Government Initiative.

An important element of this transparency initiative is making

valuable public patent and trademark information widely

available in bulk form so companies and researchers can

download it for analysis and research.

The USPTO has entered into a no-cost, two-year agreement

with Google to make bulk electronic patent and trademark

public data available to the public in bulk form. Under this

agreement, the USPTO is providing Google with existing bulk

electronic files, which Google will host without modification

for the public free of charge. This bulk data can be accessed

at http://www.google.com/googlebooks/uspto.html.

This arrangement is to serve as a bridge while the USPTO

develops an acquisition strategy toward a contract to distribute

USPTO patent and trademark bulk public data to the public.

The USPTO estimates that nearly ten terabytes of information

will be made available through the above-described

arrangement. Examples of the types of data that will be made

available include:

Patent grants and published applications.

●●

Trademark applications.

●●

TTAB proceedings, files, and decisions.

●●

BPAI decisions.

●●

Patent classification information.

●●

Patent maintenance fee events.

●●

Patent and Trademark assignment data.

●●

Petition decisions.

●●

The United States Marine Drum & Bugle Corps performs the

National Anthem at the 2010 USPTO Community Day event held

at the agency’s Alexandria, VA campus.

40 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

MANAGEMENT GOAL

The USPTO also regularly updates its Web site to include

monthly activities conducted by the agency, recent press

coverage, speeches provided by USPTO officials, and many

other noteworthy items including on-line “dashboards” that will

provide pendency metrics.

G. Strengthen Relationships with DOC, Office of

Management and Budget (OMB), and Congress

To help achieve its goals and objectives, the USPTO must

coordinate and maintain a close and robust relationship with

DOC, OMB, and Congress. The USPTO will continue to engage

these stakeholders by:

Providing technical assistance on proposed legislation,

●●

education on issues related to obtaining and enforcing IP

rights, and clear messages on the USPTO’s strategic priorities

and their effect on the U.S. economy.

Proactively briefing and providing timely input and

●●

coordination on budget, policy, and operational issues.

Inviting participation at roundtables and other relevant

●●

stakeholder-oriented events.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 41

MANAGEMENT GOAL

42 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

MANAGEMENT GOAL

Accompanying Information

he USPTO launched a bottom-up, collaborative process to formulate this

new plan, which consisted of:

Input from Interested Parties

USPTO Employees.

●●

Patent Office Professional Association.

●●

National Treasury Employees Union.

●●

Director’s blog.

●●

USPTO Weekly (employee newsletter).

●●

Patent and Trademark Office Society.

●●

PPAC and Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC) meetings.

●●

Outreach to external stakeholders.

●●

Strategy Development

Executives validated and updated the USPTO goals that drove the strategic

●●

planning process.

USPTO Deputy Director Sharon Barner personally met with the Heads of the Business

●●

Units, as well as each of the TC Directors, to discuss objectives the USPTO should

achieve over the next five years and to develop metrics to evaluate progress in meeting

these goals.

Business heads identified high-level strategies/means, objectives, and performance

●●

measures for accomplishing the goals.

Supporting plans were developed to complement the strategic plan, such as the SHCP.

●●

44 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

Strategic Planning Process

Budget and Performance

Integration

The

●●

USPTO 2010-2015 Strategic Plan and FY 2011 budget

are in alignment.

Performance accountability cascades from the strategic plan

●●

to the yearly performance agreements between the Secretary

of Commerce and the Commissioners for Patents and

Trademarks, respectively, to senior executives, office

directors, managers and supervisors.

The attached Balanced Scorecard aligns the DOC themes,

●●

USPTO goals and objectives with the associated performance

measures linked to action plans that will provide meaningful

information on the status and performance of every objective

in this plan.

Evaluations

USPTO Executives reviewed recently issued reports and

evaluations and took these findings and suggestions into

consideration as they formulated the strategic goals, objectives,

and initiatives that comprise this plan.

Future Evaluations

Consistent and timely program evaluation is critical to making

informed decisions based on analysis of how the USPTO is

carrying out its activities to examine patent and trademark

applications, to guide international IP policy, and to deliver IP

information.

To ensure that the USPTO successfully implements changes to

patent laws and rules, makes changes to internal processes that

provide benefits and increased efficiency, and makes sound

investment decisions, initiatives documented in this plan may

be tested on a pilot basis and subjected to evaluation.

Evaluation plans will incorporate, where appropriate,

measurable objectives, critical measures of success, baseline

data, and conditions for full implementation.

Consultation Process

A draft

●●

2010-2015 Strategic Plan was posted on the USPTO

Web site on July 9, 2010 and comments were solicited from

both employees and stakeholders. A dedicated email

address was created for the purpose of obtaining comments

([email protected]).

USPTO Deputy Director Sharon Barner conducted three

●●

employee sessions on July 20-22 to present the draft strategic

plan and to solicit employee feedback.

Individual letters encouraging review of the draft plan and

●●

feedback were sent to various key stakeholder groups.

A draft strategic plan was sent to TPAC and PPAC for

●●

comment.

The proposed strategic plan was shared with DOC,

●●

OMB and Congress.

Communications

In conjunction with the development of this strategic plan, the

USPTO is committed to making strategic thinking and execution

of the strategic plan an express responsibility of USPTO execu-

tives, with monitoring implementation of the plan, and keeping

employees, stakeholders, and the public informed of progress,

one of their express tasks.

Deputy Under Secretary Sharon Barner and Deputy Commissioner

for Patents Margaret A. Focarino meet with USPTO employees at

the international tea presentation. The program launched the

executive advisors program, which partners agency affinity

groups with an executive level advisor.

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 45

ACCOMPANYING INFORMATION

United States Patent and Trademark Office

BALANCED SCORECARD

Theme Goals Objectives/Initiatives Performance Measures

Work Plan

Linkages

ECONOMIC GROWTH

Advance economic

prosperity founded on

cutting-edge science

and technology, a

competitive business

environment, and

unsurpassed informa-

tion availability

GOAL I: OPTIMIZE

PATENT QUALITY AND

TIMELINESS

Determine and

implement the effi-

ciencies, tools and

policies necessary to

reduce patent

pendency for first

action and for final

action from current

levels of 26.8 and

37.3 months respec-

tively and increase

quality of issued

patents critical to

protecting innova-

tion, fostering U.S.

competitiveness, and

driving the develop-

ment of new

businesses

1. Re-engineer Patent Process to increase efficiencies and strengthen effectiveness

A. Re-engineer the patent

examiner production

(count) system

Decrease in actions per disposal

●●

Decrease in backlog

●●

Decrease first action patent pendency

●●

Decrease total patent pendency

●●

Decrease in RCEs

●●

Examiner Count

Task Force

B. Prioritize work: Green

Technology

Acceleration, Project

Exchange, multi-track

customized examination

Number of petitions filed

●●

Number of days to decision

●●

Pendency of applications in the programs

●●

Number of applications in program

●●

Project

Greentech

Project

Exchange

C. Institutionalize compact

prosecution initiatives

Increase in quality metrics performance

●●

Decrease in actions per disposal

●●

Number of first action allowance

●●

Decrease in second non-final actions

●●

Decrease in RCEs

●●

Increase in interview time

●●

Compact

Prosecution

First Action

Interview

D. Re-engineer the Patent

Classification System

Number of class/subclasses updated

●●

Classification

Plan

E. Re-engineer the Manual

of Patent Examining

Procedure (MPEP)

Reduction of time to update MPEP

●●

MPEP Plan

F. Re-engineer the Patent

Examination Process

Decrease in actions per disposal

●●

Reduction in processing time for major

●●

process segments (e.g., pre-exam, clerical

processing time, printer rush)

Reengineering

Plan

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL I: OPTIMIZE

PATENT QUALITY AND

TIMELINESS

2. Increase patent application examination capacity

A. Hire approximately

1,000 examiners in both

FY 2011 and FY 2012

Number of examiners hired

●●

Patents Human

Capital Plan

B. Use a hiring model that

focuses on experienced

IP professionals

Number of experienced IP hires

●●

Production level of experienced IP hires

●●

Training results

●●

Quality of Office Actions

●●

Reduced attrition rate

●●

OHR Work Plan

IP Experienced

Training Task

Force

C. Target overtime to high

backlog technology

areas

Overtime (OT) hours in high backlog

●●

areas

OT usage in all TCs

●●

OT Work Plan

D. Develop and implement

a nationwide workforce

Number of experienced hires

●●

Attrition rate at the nationwide workforce

●●

(NWF) location

Production level at the NWF location

●●

Cost comparison between NWF location

●●

and headquarters

Nationwide

Training Task

Force and Plan

(continued)

46 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

ACCOMPANYING INFORMATION

United States Patent and Trademark Office

BALANCED SCORECARD (continued)

Theme Goals Objectives/Initiatives Performance Measures

Work Plan

Linkages

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL I: OPTIMIZE

PATENT QUALITY AND

TIMELINESS

2. Increase patent application examination capacity

(continued)

E. Reduce attrition by

developing mentoring,

best practices and

retention strategies

Reduced attrition rate

●●

Number of employees achieving less than

●●

fully successful rating

High

Performance

Team

Contract for

Patent

Cooperation Treaty

(PCT) searching

Overall quality and timeliness of mailing

●●

of international search report and written

opinion within 16 months from priority

PCT Contracting

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL I: OPTIMIZE

PATENT QUALITY AND

TIMELINESS

3. Improve patent pendency and quality by increasing international

cooperation and work sharing

A. Make more effective

use of the PCT

Quality and timeliness of ISR

●●

Quality and timeliness of WO

●●

PCT Work Plan

B. Increase use of the

Patent Prosecution

Highway (PPH)

Number PPH Petitions

●●

Number PPH patents issued

●●

Additional Country Participants in PPH

●●

Actions per disposal in PPH cases

●●

Allowable rate in PPH compared to

●●

general allowance rate

PPH Work Plan

and

Presentations

C. Explore Strategic

Handling of

Applications for Rapid

Examination (SHARE)

Number of SHARE Petitions

●●

Actions per disposal

●●

SHARE Work

Plan

D. Work with Trilateral

Offices and IP5 to

create new efficiencies

Progress of IP5 Foundation Projects

●●

Compatible infrastructure and data for

●●

electronic business systems

Trilateral Work

Plan

IP5 Work Plan

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL I: OPTIMIZE

PATENT QUALITY AND

TIMELINESS

4. Measure and improve patent quality

A. Initiate 21st Century

analysis, measurement

and tracking of patent

quality

Current Metrics:*

Allowance/Final Compliance Rate

●●

Non-final In-Process Compliance Rate

●●

*Quality roundtables in order to establish

new metrics

Patent Quality

Metrics

B. Improve and provide

more effective training

Number of training courses given

●●

Patents Human

Capital Plan

C. Reformulate perfor-

mance appraisal plans

(PAPs)

Percent of work units achieving PAP

●●

quality targets

Patents Human

Capital Plan

D. Implement and monitor

revisions to patent

examiner production

(count) system

Decrease in actions per disposal

●●

Attrition rate

●●

Increase in quality metrics performance

●●

Balanced disposals/examiner

●●

Decrease in RCEs

●●

Examiner Count

Plan

(continued)

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 47

ACCOMPANYING INFORMATION

United States Patent and Trademark Office

BALANCED SCORECARD (continued)

Theme Goals Objectives/Initiatives Performance Measures

Work Plan

Linkages

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL I: OPTIMIZE

PATENT QUALITY AND

TIMELINESS

5. Improve appeal and post-grant processes

A. Develop and implement

process efficiency

recommendations

Reduced number of non-compliant briefs

●●

Reduced number of remands/returns

●●

Appeal pendency from notice of appeal

●●

to final decision

BPAI Plan

B. Streamline the appeal

process and reduce

appeal pendency

Appeal pendency from notice of appeal

●●

to final decision

BPAI Plan

C. Review the Board of

Patent Appeals and

Interferences (BPAI)

rules to amend, simplify

and optimize process

Appeal pendency from notice of appeal

●●

to docketing

BPAI Rules

Taskforce

D. Increase BPAI capacity

through additional hires

and new chambers

organization

Number of decisions per APJ

●●

Appeal pendency from docketing to

●●

decision

BPAI Plan

E. Maintain high quality

BPAI decisions

APJ quality rating (PAP)

●●

BPAI Plan

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL I: OPTIMIZE

PATENT QUALITY AND

TIMELINESS

6. Develop and implement the Patent end-to-end processing system

A. Develop and implement

eXtensible markup

language (XML) for all

data from application to

publication

Establish standards for user interface

●●

Gather and Implement requirements

●●

Patents

End-to-End

B. Build infrastructure for

Patents’ end-to-end

processing system

Establish a Cloud Computing

●●

infrastructure

Patents

End-to-End

C. Redesign and re-archi-

tect Patent IT systems

to provide end-to-end

electronic processing

Deploy a new graphical user interface

●●

Provide search system to public via Web

●●

2.0 interface

Patents

End-to-End

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL II: OPTIMIZE

TRADEMARK QUALITY

AND TIMELINESS

Determine and

implement the effi-

ciencies, tools and

policies necessary to

sustain first action

and total pendency

and increase quality

of issued trademarks

1. Maintain Trademark first action pendency on average between

2.5-3.5 months with 13 months final pendency

A. Align examination

capacity with incoming

workloads

Trademark average first action pendency

●●

Trademark average total pendency

●●

Trademark

Pendency Plan

(continued)

48 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

ACCOMPANYING INFORMATION

United States Patent and Trademark Office

BALANCED SCORECARD (continued)

Theme Goals Objectives/Initiatives Performance Measures

Work Plan

Linkages

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL II: OPTIMIZE

TRADEMARK QUALITY

AND TIMELINESS

2. Continuously monitor and improve Trademark quality

A. Enhance examination

quality by establishing a

new quality measure

Trademark current first action compliance

●●

rate

Trademark allowance/final compliance

●●

rate

Excellent office action

●●

Quality review from bar association and

●●

other group templates

Trademark

Quality Plan

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL II: OPTIMIZE

TRADEMARK QUALITY

AND TIMELINESS

3. Ensure accuracy of identifications of goods and services in trademark

applications and registrations

A. Determine what actions,

if any, are needed to

ensure accuracy of

identified goods and

services

Conduct outreach and roundtables to

●●

determine how the Bose decision affects

identifications (ID) practice

Monitor identifications of goods and

●●

services to determine impact on ID

practice

With the concurrence of the TPAC, run a

●●

pilot in Post Registration to measure

accuracy of ID’s

Bose Roundtable

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL II: OPTIMIZE

TRADEMARK QUALITY

AND TIMELINESS

4. Enhance operations of Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB)

A. Maintain TTAB

workload and pendency

metrics within

acceptable limits

Average time to issue decisions on

●●

contested motions from ready for

decision date

Average time to issuance of final

●●

decisions from ready for decision date

Conduct outreach or roundtables to

●●

assess utility of these existing measures

and possible use of additional measures

TTAB Plan

B. Develop additional

accelerated case resolu-

tion (ACR) and other

streamlining options for

inter partes cases

Review and assess ACR options suggested

●●

by stakeholders in response to TPAC call

for comments

Conduct outreach to gather additional

●●

options

Review and post on TTAB web page

●●

most promising options for realizing

efficiencies and savings

TTAB Plan

C. Improve TTAB involve-

ment in parties’ settle-

ment negotiations

Conduct outreach or roundtables to

●●

develop best methods for involving TTAB

Administrative Trademark Judges in

settlement negotiations for inter partes

cases

TTAB Plan

D. Maintain quality of

orders and opinions

Analyze results from established quality

●●

review procedures for ATJs and

Interlocutory Attorneys

Assess results of quality review pilot

●●

project for paralegals and develop

collection of standard operating

procedures

TTAB Plan

(continued)

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 49

ACCOMPANYING INFORMATION

United States Patent and Trademark Office

BALANCED SCORECARD (continued)

Theme Goals Objectives/Initiatives Performance Measures

Work Plan

Linkages

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL II: OPTIMIZE

TRADEMARK QUALITY

AND TIMELINESS

4. Enhance operations of Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB)

(continued)

E. Develop law through

issuance of precedential

decisions

Complete revision of TBMP; issue timely

●●

and helpful precedential decisions

Revise TBMP on regular basis, as needed

●●

TTAB Plan

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL II: OPTIMIZE

TRADEMARK QUALITY

AND TIMELINESS

5. Modernize IT system by developing and implementing the

Trademark Next Generation IT system

A. Address Trademark

business needs with a

re-architected, virtual-

ized and service-driven

solution

Lower IT costs

●●

Reduced failure points

●●

Increased CBRs

●●

Reduced reliance on contractors

●●

Trademarks

Next Gen

B. Separate Trademark

CBRs from other

USPTO CBRs

Making CBRs capable of running on a

●●

Cloud Computing environment

Trademarks

Next Gen

C. Move to Cloud

Computing based on a

sound business case

Migrate trademark CBR to Cloud

●●

Trademarks

Next Gen

D. Add functionality to

meet the needs of users

Electronic filings

●●

Trademarks

Next Gen

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL II: OPTIMIZE

TRADEMARK QUALITY

AND TIMELINESS

6. Develop a new generation of Trademark Leaders

A. Improve and provide

effective training

Number of training courses given

●●

Trademark

Human Capital

Plan

B. Revamp PAPs to include

leadership skill

development

New PAP

●●

Trademark

Human Capital

Plan

C. Develop an effective

human capital succes-

sion plan

New succession plan

●●

Trademark

Human Capital

Plan

(continued)

50 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

ACCOMPANYING INFORMATION

United States Patent and Trademark Office

BALANCED SCORECARD (continued)

Theme Goals Objectives/Initiatives Performance Measures

Work Plan

Linkages

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL III: PROVIDE

DOMESTIC AND

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP

TO IMPROVE

INTELLECTUAL

PROPERTY POLICY,

PROTECTION AND

ENFORCEMENT

WORLDWIDE

Ensure that IP laws

in the United States

continually adapt to

new technological

advances, that

foreign IP offices

similarly adapt and

improve their IP

systems, and that the

IP rights of U.S.

businesses are

protected at home

and abroad

1. Provide domestic leadership on IP policy issues and development of a

national IP strategy

A. Provide policy formula-

tion in all fields of IP

protection and

enforcement

White paper on U.S. Innovation

●●

National IP Strategy is central component

●●

of Administration’s “Strategy for American

Innovation”

Define “intellectual property intensive”

●●

studies

White paper on patent and standards

●●

issues

White paper on digital copyright issues

●●

Economist

Action Plan

B. Provide ongoing policy

guidance on key IP

issues

Amicus participation in IP cases

●●

Consultations on BPAI and TTAB

●●

decisions prior to issuance

Courts Action

Plan

Patent Law

Treaty (PLT)

Hague Action

Plan

Patent Reform

Action Plan

C. Provide domestic

education outreach,

knowledge enhance-

ment and capacity

building

Number of events conducted

●●

Number of web-based seminars created

●●

Number of STOP Hotline support calls

●●

and STOPFakes.gov materials

Survey tools for GIPA-based training

●●

Number of country toolkits

●●

Public

Awareness

Action Plan

GIPA Action

Plan

Template for

Country toolkits

D. Engage other U.S.

Government agencies

and Congress on legis-

lation that improves the

IP system

Number of issues on which IP guidance

●●

was provided to other agencies or to

Congress

Alteration of language or amendment of

●●

legislation

Governmental

Affairs Action

Plan

(continued)

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 51

ACCOMPANYING INFORMATION

United States Patent and Trademark Office

BALANCED SCORECARD (continued)

Theme Goals Objectives/Initiatives Performance Measures

Work Plan

Linkages

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL III: PROVIDE

DOMESTIC AND

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP

TO IMPROVE

INTELLECTUAL

PROPERTY POLICY,

PROTECTION AND

ENFORCEMENT

WORLDWIDE

2. Provide leadership on international policies for improving the protection

and enforcement of IP rights

A. Lead efforts at the

World Intellectual

Property Organization

(WIPO) and other inter-

national fora to improve

IP protection and

enforcement

Adopt PCT third party observation system

●●

Run collaborative search and examination

●●

pilot

Adopt Common Citation Document and

●●

Common Application format

Ensure that U.S. PCT searches capture all

●●

relevant prior art references

Accelerate certain IP5 Foundation Projects

●●

Joint Resolution at WIPO Standing

●●

Committee on Copyright and Related

Rights (SCCR) on access to copyrighted

works by the visually impaired

WIPO Action

Plan

IP &

Development

Action Plan

WIPO SCCR

Action Plan

Organisation

for Economic

Co-operation

and

Development

(OECD) Action

Plan

United Nations

Educational,

Scientific and

Cultural

Organisation

(UNESCO)

Action Plan

WTO Action

Plan

Geographical

Indications (GI)

Action Plan

Compulsory

Licensing Action

Plan

(continued)

52 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

ACCOMPANYING INFORMATION

United States Patent and Trademark Office

BALANCED SCORECARD (continued)

Theme Goals Objectives/Initiatives Performance Measures

Work Plan

Linkages

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL III: PROVIDE

DOMESTIC AND

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP

TO IMPROVE

INTELLECTUAL

PROPERTY POLICY,

PROTECTION AND

ENFORCEMENT

WORLDWIDE

2. Provide leadership on international policies for improving the

protection and enforcement of IP rights

(continued)

B. Prioritize countries of

interest for purposes of

improved IP protection

and enforcement,

capacity building, legis-

lative reform including

creation of country/

region strategic plans

and specific action

plans

Develop country-specific action plans to

●●

monitor each country’s progress along

following dimensions:

Institutional improvements of IP office 1.

administration for advancing IP rights

Institutional improvements of IP 2.

enforcement entities

Improvements in IP laws and 3.

regulations

Establishment of government-to-4.

government cooperative mechanisms

Brazil/Latin

America Action

Plan

China Action

Plan

India Action

Plan

Russia Action

Plan

ASEAN Action

Plan

Middle East/

North

Africa Action

Plan

C. Improve efficiency and

cooperation in global IP

system

MOU agreements that further work

●●

sharing efforts

Additional countries in bilateral PPH

●●

agreements

Additional countries joined Trademark

●●

Trilateral Identification of Goods and

Services Project

Identify Madrid System inefficiencies and

●●

advance potential solutions through the

WIPO Madrid Working Group and

bilateral consultations

Harmonization

Action Plan

Patent

Harmonization

Action Plan

IP5 Action Plan

PPH Action Plan

D. Provide international IP

policy advice and

expertise to other U.S.

Government agencies

Input on Special 301 Reviews

●●

Input on Trade Policy Reviews

●●

Consultations on WTO accessions

●●

Number of Science and Technology

●●

Agreements reviewed

Trade Team

Action Plan

WTO Action

Plan

E. Provide technical

expertise in the negoti-

ation and implementa-

tion of bilateral and

multilateral agreements

that improve IP rights

protection and

enforcement

Progress of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade

●●

Agreement (ACTA) negotiation

Enforcement

Action Plan

(continued)

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 53

ACCOMPANYING INFORMATION

United States Patent and Trademark Office

BALANCED SCORECARD (continued)

Theme Goals Objectives/Initiatives Performance Measures

Work Plan

Linkages

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOAL III: PROVIDE

DOMESTIC AND

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP

TO IMPROVE

INTELLECTUAL

PROPERTY POLICY,

PROTECTION AND

ENFORCEMENT

WORLDWIDE

2. Provide leadership on international policies for improving the

protection and enforcement of IP rights

(continued)

F. Create USPTO and

Attaché integrated

action plans that focus

on country-specific

needs and interagency

cooperation

Integrated work plans for each country

●●

USPTO selection, succession, training and

●●

support of IP attaché

Quality and thoroughness of integrated

●●

IP agenda and work plan for each

country

Number of laws reviewed for each

●●

country/region

Number of Officials trained from each

●●

country/region

Number of capacity building programs

●●

carried out in each country/region

IP Attaché

Program Action

Plan

Country-specific

Action Plans

WORKFORCE

EXCELLENCE

MANAGEMENT GOAL:

ACHIEVE

ORGANIZATIONAL

EXCELLENCE

Ensure sound

resource manage-

ment, solid

workforce planning,

corporate services,

and effective use of

information

technology

1. Improve IT infrastructure and tools

A. Establish cost-effective,

transparent operations

and processes

Text-searchable file histories

●●

Migrate data to XML

●●

Establish internal mechanisms for tracking

●●

and reporting earned value measurement

(combines measurements of scope,

schedule, and cost for objective project

performance measurement for agile

development projects)

Patents

End-to-End

Trademarks

Next Gen

B. Improve the user

experience

Provide examiners with 2 of the 4 Gbps

●●

improvements in bandwidth expansion to

improve internal and nationwide support

Complete 80% deployment of a unified

●●

laptop solution leveraging improved

processors, increased Random-Access

Memory (RAM) and Windows 7/Office

2010

Patents

End-to-End

Trademarks

Next Gen

C. Upgrade IT

infrastructure

10% of modernization completed by Q1

●●

FY 2013

25% of modernization completed by Q2

●●

FY 2013

50% of modernization completed by Q3

●●

FY 2013

100% of modernization completed by Q4

●●

FY 2013

Patents

End-to-End

Trademarks

Next Gen

D. Develop and implement

the next generation fee

processing system

(FPNG)

Develop and implement a plan that will

●●

support the long term goals and

objectives of Patents end-to-end and

Trademarks Next Gen

Fee Processing

Next Gen

(continued)

54 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

ACCOMPANYING INFORMATION

United States Patent and Trademark Office

BALANCED SCORECARD (continued)

Theme Goals Objectives/Initiatives Performance Measures

Work Plan

Linkages

WORKFORCE

EXCELLENCE

MANAGEMENT GOAL:

ACHIEVE

ORGANIZATIONAL

EXCELLENCE

2. Implement a sustainable funding model for operations

A. Obtain and implement

interim funding

authority

Enacted legislation

●●

Sustainable

Funding Model

Action Plan

B. Obtain and implement

fee setting authority

Enacted legislation

●●

Sustainable

Funding Model

Action Plan

C. Reformulate the fee

structure

New fee structure in place

●●

Sustainable

Funding Model

Action Plan

D. Obtain and implement

private sector business

tools

Operating reserve established with

●●

supporting policy

Policy decision on other business tools

●●

Sustainable

Funding Model

Action Plan

E. Present requirements-

based budgets

Congress, OMB Acceptance of Budget

●●

Format

FY 2012 Budget

Formulation

Plan

F. Strengthen financial and

non-financial internal

controls

Maintain unqualified financial statement

●●

audit opinions

Chief Financial

Officer

WORKFORCE

EXCELLENCE

MANAGEMENT GOAL:

ACHIEVE

ORGANIZATIONAL

EXCELLENCE

3. Improve employee and stakeholder relations

A. Recruit, develop, train,

and retain a highly-

skilled, diverse

workforce

New examiner PAP deployed

●●

New SPE PAP deployed

●●

Patents Human

Capital Plan

B. Enhance current and

future agency leader-

ship by focusing on

leadership develop-

ment, accountability,

and succession

planning

Percent of employees participating in and

●●

completing the LDP for each business

unit

Recognition for supervisors who are

●●

nominated and approved as

demonstrating great leadership in action

Strategic Human

Capital Plan

LDP

SES Council

C. Optimize effectiveness

of Patents Ombudsman

Program

Response rate of Ombudsman program

●●

Number of uses of Ombudsman program

●●

Ombudsman

Work Plan

D. Enhance the

Independent Inventors’

Program

Independent inventors programs

●●

Pilot program to accelerate the patent

●●

process for small inventors

Independent

Inventors Work

Plan

E. Provide information and

communication

channels for employees

and the public

Newsletter

●●

Roundtables

●●

Training and education

●●

Facebook

●●

Director’s Forum (blog)

●●

Communications

Plan

(continued)

www.uspto.gov/strategicplan2010 55

ACCOMPANYING INFORMATION

United States Patent and Trademark Office

BALANCED SCORECARD (continued)

Theme Goals Objectives/Initiatives Performance Measures

Work Plan

Linkages

WORKFORCE

EXCELLENCE

MANAGEMENT GOAL:

ACHIEVE

ORGANIZATIONAL

EXCELLENCE

3. Improve employee and stakeholder relations

(continued)

F. Ensure transparency of

USPTO information and

materials by increasing

the availability of public

information

Percent of all public patent data

●●

(applications, petition decisions, file

histories) available and searchable on

www.uspto.gov

Number and timeliness of key pendency

●●

metrics published on www.uspto.gov

Communications

Plan

Patents

End-to-End

G. Strengthen relationships

with DOC, Office of

Management and

Budget (OMB), and

Congress

Technical assistance on legislation and

●●

policy

Governmental

Affairs Action

Plan

56 USPTO STRATEGIC PLAN 2010-2015

ACCOMPANYING INFORMATION

Glossary of Acronyms

and Abbreviation List

ACR Accelerated Case Resolution

ACTA Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

APJs Administrative Patent Judges

ATJs Administrative Trademark Judges

BPAI Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

CBRs Computer-Based Resources

CFC Combined Federal Campaign

DOC Department of Commerce

EPO European Patent Ofﬁce

FPNG Next Generation Fee Processing System

FY Fiscal Year

GI Geographical Indications

GIPA Global Intellectual Property Academy

ID Identiﬁcations of Goods and Services

IP Intellectual Property

IP5 The Five IP Ofﬁces

ISA International Searching Authority

ISO International Organization for Standardization

ISR International Search Report

IT Information Technology

JPO Japan Patent Ofﬁce

KIPO Korean Intellectual Property Ofﬁce

LDP Leadership Development Program

MPEP Manual of Patent Examining Procedure

NWF Nationwide Workforce

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

Development

OFF Ofﬁce of First Filing

OHR Ofﬁce of Human Resources

OMB Ofﬁce of Management and Budget

OPT Ofﬁce of Patent Training

OT Overtime

PAPs Performance Appraisal Plans

PCT Patent Cooperation Treaty

PLT Patent Law Treaty

POPA Patent Ofﬁce Professional Association

PPAC Patent Public Advisory Committee

PPH Patent Prosecution Highway

RAM Random-Access Memory

RCEs Requests for Continued Examination

SCCR Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights

SES Senior Executive Service

SHARE Strategic Handling of Applications for Rapid

Examination

SHCP Strategic Human Capital Plan

SPE Supervisory Patent Examiners

TBMP TTAB’s Manual of Procedure

TCs Technology Centers

TEAS Trademark Electronic Application System

TPAC Trademark Public Advisory Committee

Trilateral European Patent Ofﬁce, Japan Patent Ofﬁce, USPTO

TTAB Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

U.S. United States

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientiﬁc and Cultural

Organisation

USPTO United States Patent and Trademark Ofﬁce

USTR United States Trade Representative

WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization

WO Written Opinion

WTO World Trade Organization

XML eXtensible Markup Language

United States Patent and Trademark Ofce

600 Dulany Street

Alexandria, Virginia 22314