Audit of USPTO’s Management of Trademark Pendency

The Inspector General at the Department of Commerce has initiated an audit of the USPTO’s management of trademark pendency.  You can see the audit letter, which is dated October 10, 2023, here.

Here is what the Inspector General says:

We are initiating an audit of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) management of trademark pendency. Our objective is to determine whether USPTO exercised effective oversight and management of trademark pendency.

We plan to begin this work immediately. We will contact your audit liaisons to schedule an entrance conference, at which time we will discuss in further detail the specific nature of our audit—including our objective and scope, time frames, and any potential requests for data.

The letter is addressed to the Director of the USPTO, Kathi Vidal, with copies to several other people at the USPTO including Commissioner for Trademarks, David Gooder.