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The PTO has not followed its own standards in making performance-based cash awards to its patent examiners and has not fully documented them, according to an IG audit that said such lack of control “risks undetected errors in award payments of millions of dollars.”
The agency lacks a standard process for calculating awards and did not validate the accuracy of reported hours worked in making its calculations, said the report, which called on agency management to submit an action plan to address its recommendations.
It said that patent examiners are eligible for three types of awards based on productivity and performance ratings. In reviewing awards made in fiscal 2016—when some 7,000 examiners received nearly 34,000 awards totaling more than $48 million—the IG found that agency personnel responsible for approving and processing awards “did not demonstrate a clear understanding of the process or the calculation methodology.”
It said that in a sampling of 78 examiners, it found errors involving 40 of them including issues such as credit for reported hours that were not validated, and failure to prorate awards for examiners who did not meet requirements for a full award.