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Thursday May 01, 2014

Trademark Performance Update

Guest blog by Commissioner for Trademarks Deborah Cohn

The results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2014 demonstrate continued high performance by our Trademark team in meeting our strategic performance goal targets. I invite you to take a look at our updated performance, filing, and registration data that are now available on the Trademark dashboard.

The office has made great progress towards setting and achieving high quality standards. Quality results are evidence that the specialized training, online tools, and enhanced communication efforts we’re using are proving effective. The results for our newest quality standard for assessing efforts that go beyond procedural and statutory correctness continue to exceed our expectations. They demonstrate ‘exceptional’ results preparing a first action.

First action pendency—the time from filing to the initial examination—has been consistently maintained within the target range to issue a first action between 2.5 and 3.5 months from filing. Pendency to registration continues to remain at historically low levels. Disposal pendency—the time from when an application is filed until a trademark is registered or abandoned or a notice of allowance is issued for applications that are not in use—averaged 10.2 months, under the 12-month target. These results are due in part to the progress made from greater acceptance of electronic filing and in particular use of TEAS Plus applications which now make up 40 percent of new filings and more than 36 percent of new classes. Electronic filing and communications promotes more efficient and cost effective processing now comprises 80 percent of all applications processed to disposal.

Trademark application filings continued an upward trend, increasing by more than 4 percent compared to a year ago. New applications are expected to increase by nearly 5 percent this fiscal year to 455,000 classes.

We welcome any feedback you have on how we can improve the information presented through the Trademark Dashboard. Simply email a comment to our dedicated mailbox. We look forward to hearing from you.

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