Posts Tagged: "telework"

New Year, New Models: How the Pandemic May Forever Change Practice at the USPTO

Last year brought unprecedented changes as to how the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) conducts business. Prior to the pandemic, the USPTO was already a trailblazer with employees teleworking. As of 2018, 8,824 patent positions, roughly 94% of the total positions eligible for telework, already worked from home. On March 15, 2020, however, the USPTO closed all of its offices to the public, and subsequently transitioned its entire workforce of roughly 13,000 people (which includes patent examiners, trademark examiners, and other staff), to full telework, practically overnight. Since the majority of these positions were already teleworking, the transition was almost seamless.

Matthew Chavez

January 22, 2021

USPTO Releases 2018-2022 Strategic Plan to Optimize Timeliness and Quality

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently released its 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, setting various goals to ensure high quality services for the agency’s customers and stakeholders aligned with the Department of Commerce’s strategic objective to strengthen intellectual property protection… “We are confident in attaining the goals set out in this plan and look forward to the continued engagement and feedback from our stakeholders and employees,” Director Andrei Iancu is quoted as saying in a press release issued by the USPTO upon the release of the new strategic plan. “Together we celebrate innovation and entrepreneurship—we are very proud of the men and women who stand behind a well-balanced American intellectual property system.”

Steve Brachmann

December 26, 2018

Statement by USPTO on Alleged Patent Examiner Time and Attendance Abuse

In a statement released late afternoon on Thursday, USPTO Chief Communications Office Todd Elmer explained that the USPTO “takes very seriously even one incidence of time and attendance abuse, such as by this particular employee, who is no longer with the agency.” Elmer went on to explain the initiatives put in place over the last year since this abuse occurred, which include a new agency wide policy for full-time teleworkers and supervisors.

U.S.P.T.O.

August 20, 2015

USPTO pays patent examiner for 730 hours fraudulently not worked

According to the IG report, “Examiner A committed at least 730 hours of time and attendance abuse, resulting in the payment of approximately $25,500 for hours not worked in FY 2014 alone. The examiner in question also received extraordinarily low performance evaluations, receiving a reprimand for poor quality on nine (9) separate occasions. Rather than cooperate with the IG’s investigation Examiner A resigned and declined the opportunity to review and comment on the investigation findings. But this begs the essential question: Why was Examiner A still working for the Patent Office after nine (9) reprimands for unacceptably poor quality? It seems the USPTO is not equipped to identify abuse unless a whistleblower identifies a particular problem.

Gene Quinn

August 20, 2015

Patent Hoteling Program Succeeding as a Business Strategy

The telework program affords employees the ability to work from home from 1 to 5 days a week, and the largest of these telework programs — the Patent Hoteling Program (PHP) — had 2,600 patent examiners participating at the end of fiscal year 2011. With so many patent examiners working from home does the “brain drain” affect the learning curve of new patent examiners who have fewer people around to help and mentor. The Inspector General’s report does not address the issue of “brain drain,” but does quite clearly demonstrate that those examiners that work from home are more productive than examiners who report to work on campus at the USPTO.

Gene Quinn

March 15, 2012