For our evaluation of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s (the Department’s) ethics oversight of USPTO patent examiners, our evaluation objective was to determine whether USPTO and the Department effectively administered ethics rules to prevent financial conflicts of interest by USPTO patent examiners. Overall, we found that USPTO and the Department did not effectively administer the Department’s ethics program to protect against potential conflicts of interest by patent examiners. Specifically, we found that I. USPTO and the Department did not ensure examiners filed confidential financial disclosure reports (CFDRs) as required; II. The Department did not identify or resolve potential financial conflicts in CFDRs; and III. USPTO and the Department did not provide specialized training or guidance to examiners on potential ethics conflicts.
Open Recommendations
| Recommendation Number | Significant Recommendation | Recommended Questioned Costs | Recommended Funds for Better Use | Additional Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yes | $0 | $0 | ||
| 1. We recommend that the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office direct the Chief Administrative Officer to strengthen controls to ensure that human resource officials identify examiner appointments to positions requiring financial disclosure and notify ELPO in a timely manner. | |||||
| 2 | Yes | $0 | $0 | ||
| 2. We recommend that the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office direct the Chief Administrative Officer to implement processes to ensure that all examiners with filing obligations are captured in the FD Online system and examiners submit DFDRs as required. | |||||
| 4 | Yes | $0 | $0 | ||
| 4. We recommend that the Department's General Counsel direct the Chief of the Ethics Law and Programs Office to ensure ELPO leverages subject-matter expertise from USPTO to carry out reviews of CFDRs that comply with regulations and internal policies. | |||||
| 7 | Yes | $0 | $0 | ||
| 7. We recommend that the Department's General Counsel direct the Chief of the Ethics Law and Programs Office to ensure patent examiners receive clear and accurate guidance in response to CFDR filings and specific requests. | |||||
| 8 | Yes | $0 | $0 | ||
| 8. We recommend that the Department's General Counsel direct the Chief of the Ethics Law and Programs Office to develop and implement a written process to identify and track conflict-of-interest risks and ensure risk assessment results are used to inform ethics training and guidance given. | |||||
