For our final report on the evaluation of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) patent examination process, our objectives were to (I) assess whether patents are examined in compliance with applicable statutes, regulations, and case law; (2) identify deficiencies within the examination process impacting the quality of patents granted; and (3) identify areas for improvement within the examination process to increase its effectiveness and efficiency. We contracted with The MITRE Corporation (MITRE)—an independent firm—to perform this evaluation. Our office oversaw the progress of this evaluation to ensure that MITRE performed the evaluation in accordance with the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency’s Quality Standards for Inspection and Evaluation (December 2020) and contract terms. However, MITRE is solely responsible for the attached report and conclusions expressed in it.
Report File
Date Issued
Submitting OIG
Department of Commerce OIG
Other Participating OIGs
Department of Commerce OIG
Agencies Reviewed/Investigated
Department of Commerce
Components
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Report Number
OIG-22-010-I
Report Description
Report Type
Inspection / Evaluation
Agency Wide
Yes
Number of Recommendations
7
Questioned Costs
$0
Funds for Better Use
$0
Open Recommendations
This report has 1 open recommendations.
| Recommendation Number | Significant Recommendation | Recommended Questioned Costs | Recommended Funds for Better Use | Additional Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| MITRE recommended that the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office direct the Commissioner for Patents to establish regular monitoring of consistency in examination decisions, including trainees' decisions, by randomly selecting applications for parallel examination. | |||||
