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Thursday Apr 18, 2013

Introducing Our Latest Performance Dashboard

Guest blog by Chief Administrative Trademark Judge Gerard Rogers

The USPTO has added more color to its Data Visualization Center with the addition of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) Dashboard. In the spirit of open government, the TTAB dashboard is yet another way we are embracing transparency, by offering the public and TTAB users a new perspective on our operations. This inaugural TTAB dashboard provides critical information necessary for a true understanding of the various matters pending before the board, while assisting the public in assessing our performance.

The dashboard provides easy access to a variety of measures. Those include the average pendency of contested motions; the average pendency of appeal and trial cases being decided on the merits; and additional data that tracks new filings and inventory. We will update the data every quarter and provide comparisons with prior quarters. Pendency, filing, and inventory trends should be readily apparent. 

The graphics and data are presented in three main sections. First, there are key pendency measures, information on new filings with the board, and pending inventory. Second, there is information about the docket of ex parte appeals, which is the source of approximately three quarters of the final decisions on the merits issued each year by the board. Third, there is information on oppositions and cancellations, the Board’s trial cases, including the contested motions that often arise in these cases.

Users can identify trends by looking at quarterly changes in pending matters maturing to become ready for decision, files waiting in inventory, and the age of proceedings. Other helpful statistics include the number and age of contested motions becoming ready for decision during a quarter, as well as those that are in inventory at the end of each quarter. Of particular note is the breakdown, by age, of various types of motions, including motions to compel, dismiss, or seek summary judgment.

While our current pendency and inventory of both contested motions and final decisions are slightly higher than we’d like them to be, we are instituting new initiatives to improve our performance. We anticipate improvement in the near future as our newly hired judges and interlocutory attorneys continue to become acclimated to their new roles. We believe the new TTAB dashboard will prove to be a valuable resource, and we welcome any feedback on how we can make this tool even more useful. Please email any comments to our dedicated mailbox, TTABdashboard@uspto.gov. We look forward to keeping up efforts to provide additional data and maintain transparency into the future.

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