Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)

A key element of the President’s Management Agenda is the effort to determine whether or not federal programs are achieving desired results at an acceptable cost to taxpayers. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) uses the PART to evaluate programs across a set of performance-related criteria, including program design, strategic planning, program management, and results. Programs are assessed and assigned numeric scores, which correspond to qualitative ratings of Effective, Moderately Effective, Adequate, Ineffective, and Results Not Demonstrated. PART scores and findings are used to inform the budget process and drive improvements.

Since 2003, the USPTO and OMB have used the PART to review two of its programs. In 2008, the USPTO and OMB collaborated on one new PART review, Intellectual Property Protection Activities, and one PART reassessment, Patents. The Patent and Trademark programs are both rated Moderately Effective, while the Intellectual Property Protection Activities program is Adequate.

A complete list of USPTO’s PART assessments, scores and ratings, as well as information on PART improvement plans, are available at www.ExpectMore.gov.

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