USPTO Performance and Accountability Report - U.S. Patent and ...

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Message from the
Chief Financial Officer
This past fiscal year was remarkable,
with many challenges and
even more opportunities. In spite
of the magnitude of change and
advancements, I am pleased to report
that this fiscal year marks our 20th
anniversary for receiving unqualified
opinions on the agency’s financial
statements. Along with the unqualified
opinion, this year the auditors
reported no material weaknesses
in the design and operation of the
USPTO’s system of internal control over
financial reporting. Also, the auditors
reported that our financial system complies with
federal financial systems requirements. In addition,
the Association of Government Accountants
awarded the USPTO the Certificate of Excellence
in Accountability Reporting for the 10th consecutive
year for our Fiscal Year 2011 Performance and
Accountability Report, as well as the Certificate of
Excellence in Citizen-Centric Reporting for our first
ever Citizen-Centric Report, clearly demonstrating
the USPTO’s excellence in integrating performance
and accountability reporting.
In our 2010 – 2015 Strategic Plan, the USPTO set forth
the ambitious goal of establishing a sustainable
funding model. This funding model is designed to
be agile and employ a tolerance for variables and
the inherent uncertainty associated with forecasting
workload demand, operations requirements, and
PERFORMANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT: FISCAL YEAR 2012
resulting revenue estimates, while also
providing the resources necessary to
execute on the performance goals
and plans.
We continue to make considerable
progress towards achieving a sustainable
funding model. The AIA, which
was enacted at the end of FY 2011,
granted the USPTO the authority to set
its fees by rule. The AIA also authorized
the USPTO to implement a
15 percent surcharge on most patent
fees as an interim step to provide a
bridge for necessary resources until the agency
exercises its fee setting authority and develops a
new fee structure that better aligns USPTO’s revenue
with the cost of operations over the long term.
Using our new fee setting authority, the USPTO has
developed a revised patent fee structure, scheduled
to be implement in spring of 2013. This updated fee
structure has been designed to ensure that the
agency generates sufficient patent revenue to
recover our patent operating costs, as well as to
further key policy considerations, such as fostering
innovation and offering patent prosecution options
to our stakeholders.
Throughout the fee setting process, the USPTO has
demonstrated its commitment to transparency.
The GAO has commended the agency on its fee