Intellectual Property: USPTO Has Made Progress in Hiring Examiners, but Challenges to Retention Remain Page: 3 of 55
This report is part of the collection entitled: Government Accountability Office Reports and was provided to UNT Digital Library by the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Contents
Letter 1
Results in Brief 3
Background 6
USPTO Has Made Greater Progress on Strategic Plan Initiatives That
Enhance the Agency's Capability Rather Than Productivity and
Agility 9
USPTO Has Taken Steps to Help Attract and Retain a Qualified
Patent Examiner Workforce, but Long-Term Success Is
Uncertain 16
USPTO Faces Long-standing Human Capital Challenges That Could
Undermine Its Recruiting and Retention Efforts 24
Conclusions 32
Recommendations for Executive Action 32
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 32
Appendixes
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology 34
Appendix II: Comments from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 36
Appendix III: Progress on Strategic Plan Initiatives 40
Appendix IV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 50
Tables Table 1: USPTO Average Patent Pendency by Technology Center,
2004 8
Table 2: Status of Capability Initiatives to Improve Workforce
Skills 10
Table 3: Status of Capability Initiatives to Enhance Quality
Assurance 11
Table 4: Status of Capability Initiatives to Change Legislation and
Rules 12
Table 5: Status of Productivity Initiatives 13
Table 6: Status of Agility Initiatives 14
Table 7: USPTO Patent Examiner Hiring Data, Fiscal Years 2000-
2004 22
Table 8: USPTO Capability Initiatives 40
Table 9: USPTO Productivity Initiatives 45
Table 10: USPTO Agility Initiatives 47Figures
Figure 1: USPTO's 2004 Brand Image
GAO-05-720 Intellectual Property
Page i
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This report can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Report.
United States. Government Accountability Office. Intellectual Property: USPTO Has Made Progress in Hiring Examiners, but Challenges to Retention Remain, report, June 17, 2005; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc296506/m1/3/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.