81_FR_16200 81 FR 16142 - Patent Quality Metrics for Fiscal Year 2017 and Request for Comments on Improving Patent Quality Measurement

81 FR 16142 - Patent Quality Metrics for Fiscal Year 2017 and Request for Comments on Improving Patent Quality Measurement

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 58 (March 25, 2016)

Page Range16142-16145
FR Document2016-06851

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is revising its patent quality metrics to better identify quality-related issues and more clearly communicate its quality measurements to the public. The new patent quality metrics are part of the USPTO's Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative (EPQI), which was launched in 2015 to engage patent stakeholders in enhancing patent quality. As part of the Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative, the prior patent quality metrics have been reassessed, and new patent quality metrics are now being designed for adoption for fiscal year 2017. The new patent quality metrics for use in fiscal year 2017 are planned to focus on the correctness and clarity of Office actions and will be applied through a newly unified review process using a standardized review form that will permit data from a significantly larger number of finished product quality reviews conducted at the agency to be aggregated and mined for information. The USPTO will also mine data on transactions during patent prosecution (e.g., the types of actions taken by the applicant and the USPTO) to assess examination processes and identify potential quality issues requiring further study. The review process will apply the new quality metrics and standardized form to increase the accuracy, consistency, transparency, clarity, and simplicity of USPTO quality review procedures. The USPTO is seeking comment from its stakeholders on further improvements to the changes proposed herein.

Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 58 (Friday, March 25, 2016)
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 58 (Friday, March 25, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16142-16145]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-06851]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office

[Docket No.: PTO-P-2016-0006]


Patent Quality Metrics for Fiscal Year 2017 and Request for 
Comments on Improving Patent Quality Measurement

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.

ACTION: Request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is 
revising its patent quality metrics to better identify quality-related 
issues and more clearly communicate its quality measurements to the 
public. The new patent quality metrics are part of the USPTO's Enhanced 
Patent Quality Initiative (EPQI), which was launched in 2015 to engage 
patent stakeholders in enhancing patent quality. As part of the 
Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative, the prior patent quality metrics 
have been reassessed, and new patent quality metrics are now being 
designed for adoption for fiscal year 2017. The new patent quality 
metrics for use in fiscal year 2017 are planned to focus on the 
correctness and clarity of Office actions and will be applied through a 
newly unified review process using a standardized review form that will 
permit data from a significantly larger number of finished product 
quality reviews conducted at the agency to be aggregated and mined for 
information. The USPTO will also mine data on transactions during 
patent prosecution (e.g., the types of actions taken by the applicant 
and the USPTO) to assess examination processes and identify potential 
quality issues requiring further study. The review process will apply 
the new quality metrics and standardized form to increase the accuracy, 
consistency, transparency, clarity, and simplicity of USPTO quality 
review procedures. The USPTO is seeking comment from its stakeholders 
on further improvements to the changes proposed herein.

DATES: Comment Deadline Date: To be ensured of consideration in the 
development of the next iteration of metrics, written comments must be 
received on or before May 24, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent by electronic mail message over the 
Internet addressed to: [email protected]. Comments may also 
be submitted by postal mail addressed to: Mail Stop Comments--Patents, 
Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA, 22313-1450, 
marked to the attention of Michael Cygan, Senior Legal Advisor, Office 
of Patent Legal Administration, Office of the Deputy Commissioner for 
Patent Examination Policy.
    Although comments may be submitted by postal mail, the Office 
prefers to receive comments by electronic mail message over the 
Internet because sharing comments with the public is more easily 
accomplished. Electronic comments are preferred to be submitted in 
plain text, but also may be submitted in ADOBE[supreg] portable 
document format or MICROSOFT WORD[supreg] format. Comments not 
submitted electronically should be submitted on paper in a format that 
facilitates convenient digital scanning into ADOBE[supreg] portable 
document format.
    Timely filed comments will be available for public inspection at 
the Office of the Commissioner for Patents, currently located in 
Madison East, Tenth Floor, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia 
22314. Comments also will be available for viewing via the Office's 
Internet Web site (http://www.uspto.gov/patent/laws-and-regulations/comments-public/comments-improving-patent-quality-measurement). Because 
comments will be made available for public inspection, information that 
the submitter does not desire to make public, such as an address or 
phone number, should not be included in the comments. It would be 
helpful to the USPTO if comments included information about: (1) The 
name and affiliation of the individual responding; and (2) an 
indication of whether the comments represent views of the respondent's 
organization or are the respondent's personal views.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael T. Cygan, Senior Legal 
Advisor, at (571) 272-7700. Inquiries regarding this notice may be 
directed to the Office of Patent Legal Administration, by telephone at 
(571) 272-7701, or by electronic mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Prior to fiscal year 2005, the USPTO quality metric was solely 
directed to the correctness of the final output of the examination 
process that would result in a patent: An allowed application. During 
fiscal years 2005 through 2009, the USPTO expanded its review efforts, 
employing two official metrics of examination quality: (1) The 
correctness of the examiner's determination of allowance of an 
application; and (2) the quality of the actions taken during the

[[Page 16143]]

course of examination. In fiscal year 2010, the first metric was 
modified to include final Office actions, and the second metric was 
modified to focus on the quality of non-final Office actions during 
prosecution. All quality analysis was performed by random selection of 
actions for review by a dedicated Office of Patent Quality Assurance 
(OPQA) team of reviewers, which reviewed each selected action to 
determine whether all required claim rejections were properly made in 
compliance with the patent statutes.
    In 2011, based on stakeholder input, the USPTO adopted a new 
``Composite Quality Metric'' for fiscal years 2011-2015 to track 
performance of those aspects that affect quality and provide a single 
comprehensive metric representing the overall state of patent 
examination quality. The Composite Quality Metric was composed of seven 
total factors: (1) The final disposition review, (2) the in-process 
review, (3) the first action on the merits (FAOM) search review, (4) 
the complete FAOM review, (5) the external quality survey, (6) the 
internal quality survey, and (7) an aggregation of five factors from 
the USPTO's Quality Index Report (QIR). The first four factors 
continued the USPTO's focus on the statutory compliance of work 
product; i.e., the correctness of the Office actions. The first four 
factors were derived from the results of reviews of randomly selected 
Office actions that were conducted by OPQA. These reviews continued the 
USPTO's focus on the statutory compliance of work product; i.e., the 
correctness of the Office actions, with only a basic assessment of 
whether the examiner had sufficiently set forth his or her position for 
any claim rejections. The next two factors were derived from surveys 
that assessed both internal and external stakeholder views on USPTO 
quality. The final factor was based on the USPTO's QIR, which measures 
the degree to which actions in the prosecution of patent applications 
reveal trends indicative of quality concerns and uses a statistical 
analysis of occurrences of certain types of events (e.g., reopening 
after final Office actions, consecutive non-final Office actions, 
consecutive restriction requirements) based on data available through 
the USPTO's Patent Application Locating and Monitoring (PALM) system. 
Performance in the overall Composite Quality Metric and in each of the 
component metric factors has been published on the USPTO dashboard Web 
site on a quarterly basis. The information from the Composite Quality 
Metric has been used to identify trends and areas of concern and to 
target those areas in need of increased training and/or resources.
    On February 5, 2015, the USPTO launched the Enhanced Patent Quality 
Initiative to improve the quality of patents issued by the USPTO. This 
initiative began with a request for public comments on a set of six 
proposals outlined in a Federal Register Notice. See Request for 
Comments on Enhancing Patent Quality, 80 FR 6475 (Feb. 5, 2015). The 
USPTO also held a two-day ``Quality Summit'' on March 25 and 26, 2015, 
at the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, to discuss the 
quality concerns of patent stakeholders and to receive feedback on the 
USPTO's proposals. Following the Quality Summit, the USPTO has 
continued its engagement with the public through numerous roadshows, 
events, and stakeholder meetings to further refine the steps that may 
be taken to improve quality.
    The Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative targets three pillars of 
patent quality: (1) Excellence in work products; (2) excellence in 
measuring patent quality; and (3) excellence in customer service. In 
furtherance of the second pillar of patent quality, the USPTO is 
focusing on improving the internal metrics used to evaluate patent 
examination quality and on improving the communication of its patent 
examination quality measurements to the public. Through this 
initiative, the USPTO has received numerous comments on establishing 
appropriate quality metrics. The USPTO has considered all of the 
comments received through the Summit, the Federal Register Notice, and 
numerous quality outreach events. Based on the information received to 
date, the USPTO has identified key aspects of quality measurement 
essential to developing more effective quality metrics.
    First, the clarity of the examiner's determinations and the 
rationale underlying the decisions made in Office actions is an 
important part of overall patent examination quality and should be 
emphasized in reviews of USPTO work product. Second, individual metrics 
that clearly reflect individual aspects of USPTO work product would 
better communicate patent quality than a single quality composite 
number that combines scores from unrelated sources such as surveys, 
procedural efficiency statistics, and substantive patentability 
compliance reviews. Third, improving the granularity of work product 
quality measurement to monitor compliance with each statutory provision 
and enable meaningful data at the work group and art unit level is 
highly desirable for providing targeted training resulting in greater 
consistency. Fourth, monitoring the process of examination, i.e., the 
type and number of actions taken during prosecution as reflected in the 
QIR, remains a high priority that is best used to spot unusual trends 
or occurrences that deserve further attention. Lastly, capturing a 
larger number of finished product quality reviews conducted at the 
agency and using a standardized review form will lead to a 
significantly greater number of data points, which will allow for 
greater consistency in the review of application quality within the 
Patents Organization. More information on the public comments received 
on the metrics, and how those are being used to identify improvements 
to the metrics, is available at http://www.uspto.gov/patent/initiatives/quality-metrics. In view of these guideposts, a new set of 
metrics is now being proposed to incorporate these and other 
improvements to the collection of data and reporting of metrics.

II. Improving Measurement of Patent Examination Quality

    As the next step in advancing the second pillar of the Enhanced 
Patent Quality Initiative, the proposed fiscal year 2017 patent quality 
metrics refocus the USPTO's measurement of the quality of the work 
products produced from first Office action through final disposition. 
The proposed metrics continue to assess the correctness of an 
examiner's determinations in a given Office action with increased 
attention on assessing whether the examiner clearly set forth his or 
her reasoning in a given Office action. In addition, the Office will 
continue to review the transactions taken during patent prosecution 
through the QIR, but this information will be used to identify the need 
for further investigation rather than being measured against a goal. 
Additionally, the USPTO is changing its reporting of the quality 
metrics to provide simpler and clearer communication of results to the 
public.

A. Measurement of Statutory Compliance and Clarity in Work Products

    The patent quality metrics of work product proposed here for fiscal 
year 2017 provide a tighter focus on measuring two foundational 
characteristics of patent examination: Statutory compliance and clarity 
of decision making in Office actions. These proposed patent quality 
metrics continue to measure correctness of actions in terms of their 
compliance

[[Page 16144]]

with each of the statutory requirements for issuance of a patent. To 
this end, a sampling of Office actions will continue to be reviewed 
both for improperly made rejections and for failure to make rejections 
where required by statute. The substantive review items will also 
include other items, for example, the propriety of the examiner's 
search, any interpretation of claim language under 35 U.S.C 112(f), any 
determination that an action is made final, any restriction or election 
of species requirement.
    Furthermore, the new metrics greatly enhance the review of the 
clarity of the components of Office actions by including new clarity 
review items specifically designed for each of the substantive 
patentability determinations made in Office actions. For example, when 
reviewing an Office action containing an obviousness rejection under 35 
U.S.C. 103, the review items consider not only whether the obviousness 
rejection was proper, but also whether the statement of the rejection 
mapped the elements identified in the prior art to the claim 
limitations, and whether the statement of the rejection explained the 
reasons for the rejection in a clear manner. The new clarity review 
items will also include, for example, items directed to the sufficiency 
of the recordation of any interview and the propriety of any reasons 
for allowance of an application.
    For fiscal year 2017, the USPTO is proposing to capture the 
correctness and clarity review items with a single standardized review 
form as a repository for all of the review items, replacing the review-
specific forms used in the 2011-2015 Composite Quality Metric. The 
review questions on such a standardized form, colloquially referred to 
as the ``Master Review Form,'' is planned to be used by all USPTO 
reviewers for finished product quality reviews of actions at every 
stage of prosecution. This Master Review Form will contain the above-
described criteria for recording correctness for each of the 
substantive patentability requirements and for recording the clarity of 
each of those decisions and the supporting rationales set forth in the 
Office action under review. The full list of correctness and clarity 
items in the draft proposed version of the Master Review Form is 
available for viewing at http://www.uspto.gov/patentquality. The USPTO 
welcomes and appreciates feedback on the elements of this form through 
this notice, and will use the input to help finalize the Master Review 
Form that will be deployed throughout the USPTO in fiscal year 2017.
    This draft proposed ``Master Review Form'' was developed as part of 
the Clarity and Correctness Data Capture program, which is part of the 
USPTO's Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative. The Clarity and Correctness 
Data Capture Program has been instituted to better capture the data 
produced through the different types of reviews within the Patents 
Organization. Historically, reviews have been performed not only by the 
quality assurance team, but also by other Technology Center personnel, 
with each reviewing area setting its own reviewing criteria. Moreover, 
the only work product reviews recorded for identification of trends 
were those undertaken by the Office of Patent Quality Assurance. The 
Master Review Form is designed to provide standardized reviewing 
criteria for quality reviews of finished work product. Through 
application of standardized reviewing criteria, the USPTO can better 
leverage the results from the many levels of review conducted at the 
agency. The improvements to the data capture process will enable 
meaningful data analysis at a more granular level than previously 
possible, permitting valid inferences to be drawn at the workgroup and 
art unit levels. Through this process, the USPTO and the stakeholders 
in the patent system will be able to gain a greater understanding of 
the state of patent prosecution and to work better together towards its 
improvement.

B. Measurement of Transactions During Patent Prosecution

    A further aspect of the new patent quality metrics will be the 
leveraging of the data representing the thousands of transactions made 
by the USPTO during prosecution to reveal information on the quality of 
the patent prosecution process itself. Transactions during prosecution, 
such as restrictions, first Office actions, and allowances, are 
monitored through the USPTO's PALM system. The USPTO monitors many of 
these transactions through its QIR. Since 2011, the USPTO has included 
some of these transactions, such as the number of occurrences of 
consecutive non-final rejections, as part of its reported quality data. 
For the proposed 2017 quality metrics, transactional data from the QIR 
will be used to identify information that can be used to prevent 
reopening of prosecution, reduce rework, and improve the consistency of 
decision making throughout the USPTO. Key indicators of the efficiency 
of prosecution will be instances of reopening of prosecution and 
repeated non-final Office actions, as well as other instances of rework 
(e.g., consecutive final Office actions, consecutive restrictions). 
These indicators do not, by themselves, provide a numerical measure of 
quality. Rather, these indicators will reveal trends and outlier 
behavior that will draw attention to potential quality concerns.

C. Clearer Reporting of the Metrics

    In presenting the results of the quality data, the USPTO will seek 
to further improve the usefulness and transparency of our quality 
reporting and to communicate the results in a clear and simple manner. 
The 2011-2015 Composite Quality Metric, which combined seven different 
quality variables into a single composite number, will be discontinued. 
The Quality Index Report will be used to identify potential areas of 
concern, rather than as providing a single, reportable number. While 
internal and external surveys will still be performed, the results will 
not be part of the quality metric, but instead will serve as 
independent checks on the quality metrics.

D. Refinement of Proposed Quality Metrics in FY 2016

    Fiscal year 2016 will represent a transitional period for the 
quality metrics, emphasizing the fine-tuning of the fiscal year 2017 
patent quality metrics. The USPTO will test and refine its proposed 
Master Review Form. This Master Review Form will contain new items, 
such as additional clarity review items, that will require a period of 
data collection to create numerical baselines for these items. The 
Master Review Form will initially be used in targeted reviews to 
determine the effectiveness of each individual clarity and correctness 
review item. The transactional data from the QIR will also be reviewed 
during 2016 to optimize the data analysis therein. Stakeholder comments 
on the Master Review Form in response to this notice will also form an 
important part of the process of optimizing the components of the 
patent quality metrics. During this transitional period, the 
information gleaned during fiscal year 2016 will be used to produce a 
finalized set of quality metrics for fiscal year 2017 that will 
represent the next phase of quality measurement, analysis, tracking, 
and reporting at the USPTO.

III. Feedback Sought on Improving Metrics of Patent Examination Quality

    The USPTO seeks input and comments from the public through this 
notice and through public outreach on the following:
    (1) Is the USPTO moving in the right direction by choosing to focus 
on two

[[Page 16145]]

core metrics: A work product metric representing correctness of 
actions, and a clarity metric that more thoroughly explores the 
sufficiency of the examiner's reasoning in an Office action, thus 
moving away from the prior goal-based quality ``score'' that reflected 
not only quality of work product but also results of surveys, used to 
discover both internal and external stakeholder opinions, and QIR 
process indicators? Which of the proposed clarity and correctness 
review items in the proposed standardized ``Master Review Form,'' 
available at http://www.uspto.gov/patentquality, should be used as the 
key drivers of patent examination quality metrics?
    (2) How can patent metrics best provide objective, rather than 
subjective, measurements of quality-related features in clarity and 
correctness reviews?
    In addition to the three questions posed above, the USPTO welcomes 
comments on any and all areas of quality measurement. Suggestions for 
rephrased or additional quality metrics review items, especially 
clarity indicators, are welcomed. The USPTO will consider all submitted 
comments as it develops the next iteration of quality metrics.
    For the most current information on this and other patent quality 
initiatives, please visit the Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative micro 
site at http://www.uspto.gov/patentquality.

    Dated: March 22, 2016.
Michelle K. Lee,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of 
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2016-06851 Filed 3-24-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P



                                                    16142                           Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 58 / Friday, March 25, 2016 / Notices

                                                       The Southeast Permits Office                         DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE                                22313–1450, marked to the attention of
                                                    proposes to collect additional                                                                                Michael Cygan, Senior Legal Advisor,
                                                    information on five applications for                    United States Patent and Trademark                    Office of Patent Legal Administration,
                                                    economic analysis and for purposes of                   Office                                                Office of the Deputy Commissioner for
                                                    notifying respondents. These data                                                                             Patent Examination Policy.
                                                                                                            [Docket No.: PTO–P–2016–0006]
                                                    include race, sex, and business type and                                                                         Although comments may be
                                                    ownership information, as well as email                 Patent Quality Metrics for Fiscal Year                submitted by postal mail, the Office
                                                    addresses and the option to provide                     2017 and Request for Comments on                      prefers to receive comments by
                                                    cellular contact information for digital                Improving Patent Quality Measurement                  electronic mail message over the
                                                    notifications. The revision will also                                                                         Internet because sharing comments with
                                                    include a small business certification                  AGENCY:  United States Patent and                     the public is more easily accomplished.
                                                    section, so NMFS can determine if the                   Trademark Office, Commerce.                           Electronic comments are preferred to be
                                                    respondent is a small or large business                 ACTION: Request for comments.                         submitted in plain text, but also may be
                                                    according to standards established by                                                                         submitted in ADOBE® portable
                                                    the Small Business Administration.                      SUMMARY:    The United States Patent and              document format or MICROSOFT
                                                    These proposed revisions will not                       Trademark Office (USPTO) is revising                  WORD® format. Comments not
                                                    change the current cost burden but will                 its patent quality metrics to better                  submitted electronically should be
                                                    increase the annual time burden for                     identify quality-related issues and more              submitted on paper in a format that
                                                    respondents.                                            clearly communicate its quality                       facilitates convenient digital scanning
                                                       Currently, NMFS requires fishermen                   measurements to the public. The new                   into ADOBE® portable document
                                                    (respondents) to display one adhesive                   patent quality metrics are part of the                format.
                                                    decal on their vessel indicating that they              USPTO’s Enhanced Patent Quality                          Timely filed comments will be
                                                    have a Federal fishing permit in at least               Initiative (EPQI), which was launched                 available for public inspection at the
                                                    one of two Gulf fisheries; the applicable               in 2015 to engage patent stakeholders in              Office of the Commissioner for Patents,
                                                    permits are the Charter Vessel/Headboat                 enhancing patent quality. As part of the              currently located in Madison East,
                                                    Permit for Gulf Reef Fish, the Charter                  Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative, the               Tenth Floor, 600 Dulany Street,
                                                    Vessel/Headboat Permit for Gulf Coastal                 prior patent quality metrics have been                Alexandria, Virginia 22314. Comments
                                                    Migratory Pelagic fish, and their                       reassessed, and new patent quality                    also will be available for viewing via the
                                                    respective Historical Captain                           metrics are now being designed for                    Office’s Internet Web site (http://www.
                                                    endorsements. NMFS proposes to revise                   adoption for fiscal year 2017. The new                uspto.gov/patent/laws-and-regulations/
                                                    OMB Control Number 0648–0205 to                         patent quality metrics for use in fiscal              comments-public/comments-improving-
                                                    split the single decal covering both                    year 2017 are planned to focus on the                 patent-quality-measurement). Because
                                                    fisheries into two decals, with one decal               correctness and clarity of Office actions             comments will be made available for
                                                    administered with each specific fishery                 and will be applied through a newly                   public inspection, information that the
                                                    permit or endorsement. In addition, this                unified review process using a                        submitter does not desire to make
                                                    revision also addresses a new fee of $10                standardized review form that will                    public, such as an address or phone
                                                    per decal to cover administrative costs,                permit data from a significantly larger               number, should not be included in the
                                                    as required by NOAA Finance                             number of finished product quality                    comments. It would be helpful to the
                                                    Handbook, Exhibit 9–1. The Federal                      reviews conducted at the agency to be                 USPTO if comments included
                                                    Permit Application for Vessels Fishing                  aggregated and mined for information.                 information about: (1) The name and
                                                    in the Exclusive Economic Zone would                    The USPTO will also mine data on                      affiliation of the individual responding;
                                                    also be revised to reflect the new fee.                 transactions during patent prosecution                and (2) an indication of whether the
                                                    The decal is currently issued at no cost                (e.g., the types of actions taken by the              comments represent views of the
                                                    to permit applicants. These decals allow                applicant and the USPTO) to assess                    respondent’s organization or are the
                                                    individuals and law enforcement                         examination processes and identify                    respondent’s personal views.
                                                    officials to easily identify vessels that               potential quality issues requiring further            FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
                                                    have Federal permits.                                   study. The review process will apply                  Michael T. Cygan, Senior Legal Advisor,
                                                       Affected Public: Business or other for-              the new quality metrics and                           at (571) 272–7700. Inquiries regarding
                                                    profit organizations.                                   standardized form to increase the                     this notice may be directed to the Office
                                                                                                            accuracy, consistency, transparency,                  of Patent Legal Administration, by
                                                       Frequency: Annually and on occasion.
                                                                                                            clarity, and simplicity of USPTO quality              telephone at (571) 272–7701, or by
                                                       Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory.
                                                                                                            review procedures. The USPTO is                       electronic mail at PatentPractice@
                                                       This information collection request                  seeking comment from its stakeholders
                                                    may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow                                                                          uspto.gov.
                                                                                                            on further improvements to the changes
                                                    the instructions to view Department of                                                                        SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                                                                                                            proposed herein.
                                                    Commerce collections currently under                                                                          I. Background
                                                                                                            DATES: Comment Deadline Date: To be
                                                    review by OMB.
                                                                                                            ensured of consideration in the                          Prior to fiscal year 2005, the USPTO
                                                       Written comments and
                                                                                                            development of the next iteration of                  quality metric was solely directed to the
                                                    recommendations for the proposed
                                                                                                            metrics, written comments must be                     correctness of the final output of the
                                                    information collection should be sent
                                                                                                            received on or before May 24, 2016.                   examination process that would result
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                    within 30 days of publication of this
                                                    notice to OIRA_Submission@                              ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent                    in a patent: An allowed application.
                                                    omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806.                   by electronic mail message over the                   During fiscal years 2005 through 2009,
                                                                                                            Internet addressed to:                                the USPTO expanded its review efforts,
                                                      Dated: March 22, 2016.                                QualityMetrics2017@uspto.gov.                         employing two official metrics of
                                                    Sarah Brabson,                                          Comments may also be submitted by                     examination quality: (1) The correctness
                                                    NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.                             postal mail addressed to: Mail Stop                   of the examiner’s determination of
                                                    [FR Doc. 2016–06803 Filed 3–24–16; 8:45 am]             Comments—Patents, Commissioner for                    allowance of an application; and (2) the
                                                    BILLING CODE 3510–22–P                                  Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA,               quality of the actions taken during the


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                                                                                    Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 58 / Friday, March 25, 2016 / Notices                                          16143

                                                    course of examination. In fiscal year                   and areas of concern and to target those              group and art unit level is highly
                                                    2010, the first metric was modified to                  areas in need of increased training and/              desirable for providing targeted training
                                                    include final Office actions, and the                   or resources.                                         resulting in greater consistency. Fourth,
                                                    second metric was modified to focus on                     On February 5, 2015, the USPTO                     monitoring the process of examination,
                                                    the quality of non-final Office actions                 launched the Enhanced Patent Quality                  i.e., the type and number of actions
                                                    during prosecution. All quality analysis                Initiative to improve the quality of                  taken during prosecution as reflected in
                                                    was performed by random selection of                    patents issued by the USPTO. This                     the QIR, remains a high priority that is
                                                    actions for review by a dedicated Office                initiative began with a request for public            best used to spot unusual trends or
                                                    of Patent Quality Assurance (OPQA)                      comments on a set of six proposals                    occurrences that deserve further
                                                    team of reviewers, which reviewed each                  outlined in a Federal Register Notice.                attention. Lastly, capturing a larger
                                                    selected action to determine whether all                See Request for Comments on                           number of finished product quality
                                                    required claim rejections were properly                 Enhancing Patent Quality, 80 FR 6475                  reviews conducted at the agency and
                                                    made in compliance with the patent                      (Feb. 5, 2015). The USPTO also held a                 using a standardized review form will
                                                    statutes.                                               two-day ‘‘Quality Summit’’ on March 25                lead to a significantly greater number of
                                                       In 2011, based on stakeholder input,                 and 26, 2015, at the USPTO                            data points, which will allow for greater
                                                    the USPTO adopted a new ‘‘Composite                     headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, to              consistency in the review of application
                                                    Quality Metric’’ for fiscal years 2011–                 discuss the quality concerns of patent                quality within the Patents Organization.
                                                    2015 to track performance of those                      stakeholders and to receive feedback on               More information on the public
                                                                                                            the USPTO’s proposals. Following the                  comments received on the metrics, and
                                                    aspects that affect quality and provide a
                                                                                                            Quality Summit, the USPTO has                         how those are being used to identify
                                                    single comprehensive metric
                                                                                                            continued its engagement with the                     improvements to the metrics, is
                                                    representing the overall state of patent
                                                                                                            public through numerous roadshows,                    available at http://www.uspto.gov/
                                                    examination quality. The Composite
                                                                                                            events, and stakeholder meetings to                   patent/initiatives/quality-metrics. In
                                                    Quality Metric was composed of seven
                                                                                                            further refine the steps that may be                  view of these guideposts, a new set of
                                                    total factors: (1) The final disposition
                                                                                                            taken to improve quality.                             metrics is now being proposed to
                                                    review, (2) the in-process review, (3) the                 The Enhanced Patent Quality                        incorporate these and other
                                                    first action on the merits (FAOM) search                Initiative targets three pillars of patent            improvements to the collection of data
                                                    review, (4) the complete FAOM review,                   quality: (1) Excellence in work products;             and reporting of metrics.
                                                    (5) the external quality survey, (6) the                (2) excellence in measuring patent
                                                    internal quality survey, and (7) an                     quality; and (3) excellence in customer               II. Improving Measurement of Patent
                                                    aggregation of five factors from the                    service. In furtherance of the second                 Examination Quality
                                                    USPTO’s Quality Index Report (QIR).                     pillar of patent quality, the USPTO is                   As the next step in advancing the
                                                    The first four factors continued the                    focusing on improving the internal                    second pillar of the Enhanced Patent
                                                    USPTO’s focus on the statutory                          metrics used to evaluate patent                       Quality Initiative, the proposed fiscal
                                                    compliance of work product; i.e., the                   examination quality and on improving                  year 2017 patent quality metrics refocus
                                                    correctness of the Office actions. The                  the communication of its patent                       the USPTO’s measurement of the
                                                    first four factors were derived from the                examination quality measurements to                   quality of the work products produced
                                                    results of reviews of randomly selected                 the public. Through this initiative, the              from first Office action through final
                                                    Office actions that were conducted by                   USPTO has received numerous                           disposition. The proposed metrics
                                                    OPQA. These reviews continued the                       comments on establishing appropriate                  continue to assess the correctness of an
                                                    USPTO’s focus on the statutory                          quality metrics. The USPTO has                        examiner’s determinations in a given
                                                    compliance of work product; i.e., the                   considered all of the comments received               Office action with increased attention
                                                    correctness of the Office actions, with                 through the Summit, the Federal                       on assessing whether the examiner
                                                    only a basic assessment of whether the                  Register Notice, and numerous quality                 clearly set forth his or her reasoning in
                                                    examiner had sufficiently set forth his                 outreach events. Based on the                         a given Office action. In addition, the
                                                    or her position for any claim rejections.               information received to date, the                     Office will continue to review the
                                                    The next two factors were derived from                  USPTO has identified key aspects of                   transactions taken during patent
                                                    surveys that assessed both internal and                 quality measurement essential to                      prosecution through the QIR, but this
                                                    external stakeholder views on USPTO                     developing more effective quality                     information will be used to identify the
                                                    quality. The final factor was based on                  metrics.                                              need for further investigation rather
                                                    the USPTO’s QIR, which measures the                        First, the clarity of the examiner’s               than being measured against a goal.
                                                    degree to which actions in the                          determinations and the rationale                      Additionally, the USPTO is changing its
                                                    prosecution of patent applications                      underlying the decisions made in Office               reporting of the quality metrics to
                                                    reveal trends indicative of quality                     actions is an important part of overall               provide simpler and clearer
                                                    concerns and uses a statistical analysis                patent examination quality and should                 communication of results to the public.
                                                    of occurrences of certain types of events               be emphasized in reviews of USPTO
                                                    (e.g., reopening after final Office actions,            work product. Second, individual                      A. Measurement of Statutory
                                                    consecutive non-final Office actions,                   metrics that clearly reflect individual               Compliance and Clarity in Work
                                                    consecutive restriction requirements)                   aspects of USPTO work product would                   Products
                                                    based on data available through the                     better communicate patent quality than                  The patent quality metrics of work
                                                    USPTO’s Patent Application Locating                     a single quality composite number that                product proposed here for fiscal year
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                                                    and Monitoring (PALM) system.                           combines scores from unrelated sources                2017 provide a tighter focus on
                                                    Performance in the overall Composite                    such as surveys, procedural efficiency                measuring two foundational
                                                    Quality Metric and in each of the                       statistics, and substantive patentability             characteristics of patent examination:
                                                    component metric factors has been                       compliance reviews. Third, improving                  Statutory compliance and clarity of
                                                    published on the USPTO dashboard                        the granularity of work product quality               decision making in Office actions. These
                                                    Web site on a quarterly basis. The                      measurement to monitor compliance                     proposed patent quality metrics
                                                    information from the Composite Quality                  with each statutory provision and                     continue to measure correctness of
                                                    Metric has been used to identify trends                 enable meaningful data at the work                    actions in terms of their compliance


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                                                    16144                           Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 58 / Friday, March 25, 2016 / Notices

                                                    with each of the statutory requirements                 Clarity and Correctness Data Capture                  restrictions). These indicators do not, by
                                                    for issuance of a patent. To this end, a                program, which is part of the USPTO’s                 themselves, provide a numerical
                                                    sampling of Office actions will continue                Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative. The               measure of quality. Rather, these
                                                    to be reviewed both for improperly                      Clarity and Correctness Data Capture                  indicators will reveal trends and outlier
                                                    made rejections and for failure to make                 Program has been instituted to better                 behavior that will draw attention to
                                                    rejections where required by statute.                   capture the data produced through the                 potential quality concerns.
                                                    The substantive review items will also                  different types of reviews within the
                                                                                                                                                                  C. Clearer Reporting of the Metrics
                                                    include other items, for example, the                   Patents Organization. Historically,
                                                    propriety of the examiner’s search, any                 reviews have been performed not only                     In presenting the results of the quality
                                                    interpretation of claim language under                  by the quality assurance team, but also               data, the USPTO will seek to further
                                                    35 U.S.C 112(f), any determination that                 by other Technology Center personnel,                 improve the usefulness and
                                                    an action is made final, any restriction                with each reviewing area setting its own              transparency of our quality reporting
                                                    or election of species requirement.                     reviewing criteria. Moreover, the only                and to communicate the results in a
                                                       Furthermore, the new metrics greatly                 work product reviews recorded for                     clear and simple manner. The 2011–
                                                    enhance the review of the clarity of the                identification of trends were those                   2015 Composite Quality Metric, which
                                                    components of Office actions by                         undertaken by the Office of Patent                    combined seven different quality
                                                    including new clarity review items                      Quality Assurance. The Master Review                  variables into a single composite
                                                    specifically designed for each of the                   Form is designed to provide                           number, will be discontinued. The
                                                    substantive patentability determinations                standardized reviewing criteria for                   Quality Index Report will be used to
                                                    made in Office actions. For example,                    quality reviews of finished work                      identify potential areas of concern,
                                                    when reviewing an Office action                         product. Through application of                       rather than as providing a single,
                                                    containing an obviousness rejection                     standardized reviewing criteria, the                  reportable number. While internal and
                                                    under 35 U.S.C. 103, the review items                   USPTO can better leverage the results                 external surveys will still be performed,
                                                    consider not only whether the                           from the many levels of review                        the results will not be part of the quality
                                                    obviousness rejection was proper, but                   conducted at the agency. The                          metric, but instead will serve as
                                                    also whether the statement of the                       improvements to the data capture                      independent checks on the quality
                                                    rejection mapped the elements                           process will enable meaningful data                   metrics.
                                                    identified in the prior art to the claim                analysis at a more granular level than                D. Refinement of Proposed Quality
                                                    limitations, and whether the statement                  previously possible, permitting valid                 Metrics in FY 2016
                                                    of the rejection explained the reasons                  inferences to be drawn at the workgroup
                                                    for the rejection in a clear manner. The                and art unit levels. Through this                        Fiscal year 2016 will represent a
                                                    new clarity review items will also                      process, the USPTO and the                            transitional period for the quality
                                                    include, for example, items directed to                 stakeholders in the patent system will                metrics, emphasizing the fine-tuning of
                                                    the sufficiency of the recordation of any               be able to gain a greater understanding               the fiscal year 2017 patent quality
                                                    interview and the propriety of any                      of the state of patent prosecution and to             metrics. The USPTO will test and refine
                                                    reasons for allowance of an application.                work better together towards its                      its proposed Master Review Form. This
                                                       For fiscal year 2017, the USPTO is                   improvement.                                          Master Review Form will contain new
                                                    proposing to capture the correctness and                                                                      items, such as additional clarity review
                                                    clarity review items with a single                      B. Measurement of Transactions During                 items, that will require a period of data
                                                    standardized review form as a                           Patent Prosecution                                    collection to create numerical baselines
                                                    repository for all of the review items,                    A further aspect of the new patent                 for these items. The Master Review
                                                    replacing the review-specific forms used                quality metrics will be the leveraging of             Form will initially be used in targeted
                                                    in the 2011–2015 Composite Quality                      the data representing the thousands of                reviews to determine the effectiveness
                                                    Metric. The review questions on such a                  transactions made by the USPTO during                 of each individual clarity and
                                                    standardized form, colloquially referred                prosecution to reveal information on the              correctness review item. The
                                                    to as the ‘‘Master Review Form,’’ is                    quality of the patent prosecution                     transactional data from the QIR will also
                                                    planned to be used by all USPTO                         process itself. Transactions during                   be reviewed during 2016 to optimize the
                                                    reviewers for finished product quality                  prosecution, such as restrictions, first              data analysis therein. Stakeholder
                                                    reviews of actions at every stage of                    Office actions, and allowances, are                   comments on the Master Review Form
                                                    prosecution. This Master Review Form                    monitored through the USPTO’s PALM                    in response to this notice will also form
                                                    will contain the above-described criteria               system. The USPTO monitors many of                    an important part of the process of
                                                    for recording correctness for each of the               these transactions through its QIR. Since             optimizing the components of the patent
                                                    substantive patentability requirements                  2011, the USPTO has included some of                  quality metrics. During this transitional
                                                    and for recording the clarity of each of                these transactions, such as the number                period, the information gleaned during
                                                    those decisions and the supporting                      of occurrences of consecutive non-final               fiscal year 2016 will be used to produce
                                                    rationales set forth in the Office action               rejections, as part of its reported quality           a finalized set of quality metrics for
                                                    under review. The full list of correctness              data. For the proposed 2017 quality                   fiscal year 2017 that will represent the
                                                    and clarity items in the draft proposed                 metrics, transactional data from the QIR              next phase of quality measurement,
                                                    version of the Master Review Form is                    will be used to identify information that             analysis, tracking, and reporting at the
                                                    available for viewing at http://www.                    can be used to prevent reopening of                   USPTO.
                                                    uspto.gov/patentquality. The USPTO                      prosecution, reduce rework, and
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                                                    welcomes and appreciates feedback on                    improve the consistency of decision                   III. Feedback Sought on Improving
                                                    the elements of this form through this                  making throughout the USPTO. Key                      Metrics of Patent Examination Quality
                                                    notice, and will use the input to help                  indicators of the efficiency of                          The USPTO seeks input and
                                                    finalize the Master Review Form that                    prosecution will be instances of                      comments from the public through this
                                                    will be deployed throughout the USPTO                   reopening of prosecution and repeated                 notice and through public outreach on
                                                    in fiscal year 2017.                                    non-final Office actions, as well as other            the following:
                                                       This draft proposed ‘‘Master Review                  instances of rework (e.g., consecutive                   (1) Is the USPTO moving in the right
                                                    Form’’ was developed as part of the                     final Office actions, consecutive                     direction by choosing to focus on two


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                                                                                    Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 58 / Friday, March 25, 2016 / Notices                                          16145

                                                    core metrics: A work product metric                     FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:                      COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM
                                                    representing correctness of actions, and                Barry S. Lineback, Telephone: (703)                   PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR
                                                    a clarity metric that more thoroughly                   603–7740, Fax: (703) 603–0655, or email               SEVERELY DISABLED
                                                    explores the sufficiency of the                         CMTEFedReg@AbilityOne.gov.
                                                    examiner’s reasoning in an Office                                                                             Procurement List Proposed Additions
                                                    action, thus moving away from the prior                 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:                            and Deletions
                                                    goal-based quality ‘‘score’’ that reflected             Deletions                                             AGENCY:  Committee for Purchase From
                                                    not only quality of work product but
                                                                                                                                                                  People Who Are Blind or Severely
                                                    also results of surveys, used to discover                  On 2/19/2016 (81 FR 8486), the
                                                                                                                                                                  Disabled.
                                                    both internal and external stakeholder                  Committee for Purchase From People
                                                    opinions, and QIR process indicators?                                                                         ACTION: Proposed Additions to and
                                                                                                            Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled
                                                    Which of the proposed clarity and                                                                             Deletions from the Procurement List.
                                                                                                            published notice of proposed deletions
                                                    correctness review items in the                         from the Procurement List.                            SUMMARY:   The Committee is proposing
                                                    proposed standardized ‘‘Master Review                                                                         to add products to the Procurement List
                                                    Form,’’ available at http://www.uspto.                     After consideration of the relevant
                                                                                                            matter presented, the Committee has                   that will be furnished by a nonprofit
                                                    gov/patentquality, should be used as the                                                                      agency employing persons who are
                                                    key drivers of patent examination                       determined that the products listed
                                                                                                            below are no longer suitable for                      blind or have other severe disabilities
                                                    quality metrics?                                                                                              and, deletes services previously
                                                       (2) How can patent metrics best                      procurement by the Federal Government
                                                                                                                                                                  furnished by such agencies.
                                                    provide objective, rather than                          under 41 U.S.C. 8501–8506 and 41 CFR
                                                                                                                                                                    Comments Must be Received on Or
                                                    subjective, measurements of quality-                    51–2.4.                                               Before: 4/24/2016.
                                                    related features in clarity and
                                                                                                            Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification              ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase
                                                    correctness reviews?
                                                       In addition to the three questions                                                                         From People Who Are Blind or Severely
                                                                                                               I certify that the following action will           Disabled, 1401 S. Clark Street, Suite
                                                    posed above, the USPTO welcomes                         not have a significant impact on a
                                                    comments on any and all areas of                                                                              715, Arlington, Virginia 22202–4149.
                                                                                                            substantial number of small entities.                 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO SUBMIT
                                                    quality measurement. Suggestions for
                                                                                                            The major factors considered for this                 COMMENTS CONTACT: Barry S. Lineback,
                                                    rephrased or additional quality metrics
                                                                                                            certification were:                                   Telephone: (703) 603–7740, Fax: (703)
                                                    review items, especially clarity
                                                    indicators, are welcomed. The USPTO                        1. The action will not result in                   603–0655, or email CMTEFedReg@
                                                    will consider all submitted comments as                 additional reporting, recordkeeping or                AbilityOne.gov.
                                                    it develops the next iteration of quality               other compliance requirements for small               SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
                                                    metrics.                                                entities.                                             notice is published pursuant to 41
                                                       For the most current information on                     2. The action may result in                        U.S.C. 8503 (a)(2) and 41 CFR 51–2.3. Its
                                                    this and other patent quality initiatives,                                                                    purpose is to provide interested persons
                                                                                                            authorizing small entities to furnish the
                                                    please visit the Enhanced Patent Quality                                                                      an opportunity to submit comments on
                                                                                                            products to the Government.
                                                    Initiative micro site at http://www.                                                                          the proposed actions.
                                                    uspto.gov/patentquality.                                   3. There are no known regulatory
                                                                                                            alternatives which would accomplish                   Additions
                                                      Dated: March 22, 2016.
                                                    Michelle K. Lee,
                                                                                                            the objectives of the Javits-Wagner-                     If the Committee approves the
                                                    Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual
                                                                                                            O’Day Act (41 U.S.C. 8501–8506) in                    proposed additions, the entities of the
                                                    Property and Director of the United States              connection with the products deleted                  Federal Government identified in this
                                                    Patent and Trademark Office.                            from the Procurement List.                            notice will be required to procure the
                                                    [FR Doc. 2016–06851 Filed 3–24–16; 8:45 am]                                                                   products listed below from the
                                                                                                            End of Certification                                  nonprofit agency employing persons
                                                    BILLING CODE 3510–16–P
                                                                                                              Accordingly, the following products                 who are blind or have other severe
                                                                                                            are deleted from the Procurement List:                disabilities.
                                                                                                                                                                     The following products are proposed
                                                    COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM
                                                                                                            Products                                              for addition to the Procurement List for
                                                    PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR
                                                                                                                                                                  production by the nonprofit agency
                                                    SEVERELY DISABLED                                       NSN(s)—Product Name(s):                               listed:
                                                    Procurement List; Deletions                               7530–00–160–8475—Index Sheet Set,                   NSN(s)—Product Name(s)
                                                                                                                Alphabetical, 8 1⁄2″ x 11″, Buff
                                                    AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From                                                                            7220–00–NSH–0022—Mat, Floor, Chair,
                                                    People Who Are Blind or Severely                          7530–00–160–8477—Index Sheet Set,                      45″ x 53″ x 0.110″, w/20″ x 12″ Lip
                                                    Disabled.                                                   Alphabetical, 11″ x 8 1⁄2″, Buff                   7220–00–NSH–0023—Mat, Floor, Chair,
                                                                                                                                                                     45″ x 53″ x 0.110″, w/25″ x 12″ Lip
                                                    ACTION: Deletions from the Procurement                  Mandatory Source of Supply:                            7220–00–NSH–0024—Mat, Floor, Chair,
                                                    List.                                                       Life’sWork of Western PA,                            46″ x 60″ x 0.110″, w/25″ x 12″ Lip
                                                                                                                Pittsburgh, PA                                     7220–00–NSH–0025—Mat, Floor, Chair,
                                                    SUMMARY:  This action deletes products                                                                           46″ x 60″ x 0.110″, Without Lip
                                                    from the Procurement List that were                     Contracting Activity: General Services
                                                                                                                                                                   7220–00–NSH–0026—Mat, Floor, Chair,
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                    previously furnished by a nonprofit                         Administration, New York, NY                         60″ x 60″ x 0.110″, Without Lip
                                                    agency employing persons who are                        Barry S. Lineback,                                     7220–00–NSH–0030—Mat, Floor, Chair,
                                                    blind or have other severe disabilities.                                                                         36″ x 48″ x 0.150″, w/20″ x 12″ Lip
                                                                                                            Director, Business Operations.                         7220–00–NSH–0031—Mat, Floor, Chair,
                                                    DATES: Effective: April 24, 2016.
                                                                                                            [FR Doc. 2016–06827 Filed 3–24–16; 8:45 am]              45″ x 53″ x 0.150″, w/25″ x 12″ Lip
                                                    ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase                                                                              7220–00–NSH–0032—Mat, Floor, Chair,
                                                                                                            BILLING CODE 6353–01–P
                                                    From People Who Are Blind or Severely                                                                            45″ x 53″ x 0.150″, w/20″ x 12″ Lip
                                                    Disabled, 1401 S. Clark Street, Suite                                                                          7220–00–NSH–0033—Mat, Floor, Chair,
                                                    715, Arlington, Virginia 22202–4149.                                                                             45″ x 53″ x .220″, w/20″ x 12″ Lip



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Document Created: 2018-02-02 15:17:26
Document Modified: 2018-02-02 15:17:26
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionNotices
ActionRequest for comments.
DatesComment Deadline Date: To be ensured of consideration in the development of the next iteration of metrics, written comments must be received on or before May 24, 2016.
ContactMichael T. Cygan, Senior Legal Advisor, at (571) 272-7700. Inquiries regarding this notice may be directed to the Office of Patent Legal Administration, by telephone at (571) 272-7701, or by electronic mail at [email protected]
FR Citation81 FR 16142 

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