Performance and Accountability Report Fiscal Year 2007
Management's Discussion and Analysis

USPTO Strategic Plan

In FY 2006, the USPTO launched a comprehensive strategic planning process by soliciting input from interested parties, including the Patent Public Advisory Committee, the Trademark Public Advisory Committee, members of the public, stakeholders, and employees. A draft plan was posted on the USPTO Web site, and a notice announcing its availability for review and comment was published in the Federal Register. The USPTO established e-mail boxes and held special forums for the public and employees to provide input. Finally, a draft of the plan was shared with Congress.

The end result was the 2007-2012 Strategic Plan that was formally released in March of 2007. The 2007-2012 Strategic Plan, along with an annual performance plan and report that are integrated with the annual budget request, meet the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). These documents can be found at www.uspto.gov.

In support of the DOC’s strategic objective to “protect intellectual property and improve the patent and trademark systems,” the USPTO established three strategic goals and a management goal to guide its policies and operations over the next five years. Together they accomplish the mission of fostering innovation and competitiveness. These goals and the related objectives, initiatives, and performance measures were established with a focus on four guiding principles:

QUALITY—accurate and consistent results in examination
TIMELINESS—processing applications without undue delay
COST-EFFECTIVENESS—efficiency, accountability, and a focus on results
TRANSPARENCY—impartiality, fairness, accessibility, availability, and a public-service mentality

The 2007-2012 Strategic Plan is an ever-changing document with the USPTO continually reviewing, refining, and updating it to adjust to changing conditions, and to incorporate the best thinking of the IP community and beyond. The USPTO’s budget and performance plan, submitted to the Congress each year, also documents key measurements and yearly milestones to justify the funding for the USPTO to achieve its strategic goals.

Information related to achieving the Agency’s objectives for each of the goals is described in the following sections of this report. Detailed information about the performance measures for each of the three strategic goals, including data verification and validation, is included in “Accompanying Information on USPTO Performance” section of this report.

2007-2012 USPTO Strategic Plan
Mission
To foster innovation and competitiveness by: Providing high quality and timely examination of patent and trademark applications Guiding domestic and international intellectual property policy Delivering intellectual property information and education worldwide
Vision
USPTO: Leading the World in Intellectual Property Protection and Policy
Strategic Goal #1	Strategic Goal #2	Strategic Goal #3	Management Goal
Optimize Patent Quality and Timeliness	Optimize Trademark Quality and Timeliness	Improve Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement Domestically and Abroad	Achieve Organizational Excellence
Objectives	Objectives	Objectives	Objectives
Provide high quality examination of patent applications Improve and integrate existing electronic systems to promote full electronic patent application processing; implement better/more secure systems Improve the quality and timeliness of patent examination by exploring a range of approaches to examining applications	Achieve and maintain three-month first action pendency, and reduce disposal pendency excluding suspended and inter partes cases Improve quality of examination by ensuring consistency and quality of searching and examination, and provide internal on-line tools Provide electronic file management and workflow Develop interactive on-line electronic filing capabilities and upgrade e-tools	Support efforts and initiatives aimed at strengthening IP protection and curbing theft of IP Continue efforts to develop unified standards for international IP practice Provide policy guidance on domestic IP issues Foster innovation and competitiveness by delivering IP information and education worldwide	Function as true business partners across the organization to achieve superior enterprise performance and provide strategic leadership Ensure operational excellence in enterprise-wide management processes Dramatically simplify on-line access to, and availability of, USPTO information and data

Performance Measures by Goal
Goal #1 Measures	Goal #2 Measures	Goal #3 Measures
Patent allowance compliance rate Patent in-process examination compliance rate Patent average first action pendency Patent average total pendency Patent efficiency Patent applications filed electronically Patent applications managed electronically	Trademark first action compliance rate Trademark final action compliance rate Trademark average first action pendency Trademark average final action pendency Trademark efficiency Trademark applications filed electronically Trademark applications managed electronically	Number of instances in which USPTO experts review IP policies/standards Improving worldwide IP expertise for U.S. Government interests Plans of action, mechanisms, and support programs initiated or implemented in developing countries

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