In a previous blog article I recounted some of the many times that the patent community has sent letters to the USPTO leadership about Patent Center that have gone unanswered, and has sent emails to the USPTO leadership about Patent Center that have gone without response, and has left telephone messages to the USPTO leadership about Patent Center that were never returned. What happens next, I asked. Here are three things that have happened since then, to try to bring about some change at the USPTO about Patent Center:
- A first letter got sent on September 29, 2023 from One Hundred Seventy-Eight Members of the Patent Center Listserv to the Inspector General at the Department of Commerce. This became the Inspector General’s complaint number 23-0900. The Inspector General wrote:
The IG has requested that management officials at the USPTO conduct a thorough and independent inquiry and provide a response to the IG, including a detailed explanation of their review process and any corrective action, if any, they take as a result.
- A letter got sent on October 9, 2023 from 137 intellectual property professionals to the Office of Management and Budget, invoking OMB’s responsibility to oversee the data-collection aspects of Patent Center. It is discussed here.
- A second letter got sent on October 15, 2023 from PTAARMIGAN to the Inspector General at the Department of Commerce. This became the Inspector General’s complaint number 24-0055. The Inspector General wrote:
After careful consideration, we decided to refer your allegations(s) [sic] to management officials at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and requested that they merge this complaint with another related matter. We have requested that they conduct a thorough and independent inquiry and provide a response to us, including a detailed explanation of their review process and any corrective action, if any, they take as a result.
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