USPTO Must Improve Acquisition Planning to Ensure Efficient and Competitive Procurements

The objective of our audit was to determine whether USPTO’s processes and activities for acquisition planning are effective and consistent with established practices, procedures, and regulations. Overall, we found that USPTO’s processes and activities for acquisition planning were ineffective and not consistent with established regulations, policies, and procedures. Specifically, we found the following:I. USPTO’s policies and procedures did not provide sufficient guidance on the use of its Patent and Trademark Office Acquisition Guidelines acquisition procedures. II. USPTO did not retain key documents, and documents developed during acquisition planning were insufficient and not supported. III. USPTO did not adhere to federal regulations relating to the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) Business Development program (the 8(a) Program).