Department of Commerce

For our final report on the audit of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) efforts to improve the accuracy of the trademark register, our audit objective was to determine whether USPTO’s trademark registration process is effective in preventing fraudulent or inaccurate...

For our final report on the evaluation of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) and Patent Term Extension (PTE) processes, our objectives were to determine whether USPTO (1) calculates and awards PTA and PTE in compliance with relevant statutes...

For our evaluation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, also known as NOAA Fisheries) plan for the implementation of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) funding, our objective was to determine whether...

This report summarizes work that we initiated and completed during this semiannual period on a number of critical Departmental activities. Over the past 6 months—in addition to issuing our annual Top Management and Performance Challenges Facing the Department of Commerce—our office issued 20...

For our final report on the evaluation of NOAA OMAO’s Ship Fleet Recapitalization Program, our overall objective was to determine the extent to which NOAA OMAO’s acquisition fleet lifecycle processes were followed throughout the development, operation, maintenance, and sustainment of the program to...

For our final report on FY 2020 improper payment reporting, our review objective was to determine the Department’s compliance with the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA). To determine FY 2020 compliance, we reviewed the “Payment Integrity” section of the Department’s FY 2020 Agency...

For our evaluation of USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) operations, the objectives were to (1) assess PTAB’s processes; (2) identify risk areas within PTAB; and (3) identify any internal and external challenges PTAB faces, and the significance and impacts of these challenges. We...

For our audit of NIST’s Working Capital Fund for fiscal year ended September 30, 2019, our objective was to determine whether budgetary controls over the fund were adequate. Specifically, the audit focused on determining whether the fund was (1) recovering the full cost of reimbursable services; (2)...

This is a management alert on the Business Applications Solution (BAS) program’s approach to business process reengineering, which requires immediate attention, given that the program is in a crucial design phase of the overall effort. The BAS program seeks to modernize the U.S. Department of...

For our evaluation of the International Trade Administration’s (ITA’s) U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service’s (US&FCS’s) officer promotion process, our objective was to determine whether US&FCS adhered to applicable laws, regulations, and policies when conducting the 2018 officer promotion process. We...