In summarizing two earlier reports the Government
Accountability Office has again called for
improvements to the management of Patent Office
automation and to address workforce challenges.
It said annual applications have grown from about
185,000 to over 350,000 over ten years and are
expected to top 450,000 by 2009.
Compounding the problem is a backlog of about 750,000
applications and difficulty attracting and retaining
qualified staff to process applications, according to
GAO-05-1008T.
It said that after spending over $1 billion on its
efforts from 1983 through 2004 the agency has yet
deliver a fully integrated electronic patent process,
and “when and how it will achieve this process is
uncertain.”
Further, GAO said key systems the agency is relying on
to reach this goal such as an electronic application
filing system and a document imaging system, “have not
provided capabilities that are essential to operating
in a fully electronic environment.”
“Contributing to this situation is the agency’s ineffective
planning for and management of its patent automation
initiatives, due in large measure to enterprise-level,
systemic weaknesses in its IT investment management
processes,” said GAO.
It said that although the agency has started putting an
enterprise architecture framework in place, it has yet to
finalize a capital planning and investment control process
or link the process to its architecture, something needed
to guide IT development and implementation.
