The Trademark Organization - What's Ahead
The Trademark organization will continue to move aggressively in the next year to continue to build upon the successes of the USPTO’s 21st Century Strategic Plan and move forward with the revision of the next five-year Strategic Plan by working with its constituencies to ensure the goals and objectives are aligned with their needs. Trademark's intends to continue to assess the efficiency of its operations as it proceeds with the incremental redesign of operations, which rely on e-government as the primary means of doing business with applicants and registrants, and, as the means for processing work inside the examining operation. In the next year Trademark's plans to:
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Continue to develop new forms and enhance existing TEAS forms to add functionality for the applicant and improve the efficiency of the process.
- Continue the enhancement and development of electronic systems and functionality to complete the incremental redesign of the trademark process.
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Continue to conduct assessments of the workflow and production process to identify options for improvements in how work is performed, reduce cycle time, and develop requirements to complete the electronic workflow process.
- Continue the development of training materials and documentation to address changes in process and practice; ensure all employees have the tools they need to perform their jobs.
The Trademark organization has achieved considerable success in implementing its business process re-engineering plan to move from primarily doing business with paper to doing business in an electronic environment. Completion of an electronic file management system, in addition to the currently available electronic filing and information systems permits:
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Reduction in cycle times by consolidating separate processes and eliminating the potential for lost or missing papers that create additional delays and poor service.
- Enhancements in the functionality and number of electronic filing options.
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The ability to offer a totally electronic filing and receiving process to handle applications from U.S. applicants seeking protection of their mark in foreign countries, and requests for protection of marks from foreign countries in the United States.
As paper records disappear from internal processes, the cost for handling applications and related materials, along with the reliance on increasing numbers of employees or contractors to handle increases in filings, will continue to be reduced. Data quality has improved as data is captured electronically to support examination and to publish documents and registrations. Electronic file management presents an opportunity for the USPTO to offer multiple options for filing that allow applicants to select the method of filing that best suits their business needs.
