Initiative #3: Data Visualization Center

Give the public access to traditional measures of pendency as well as several new pendency tracking measures for both patents and trademarks.

Other Information:

Overview: The USPTO Data Visualization Center found on the USPTO Web site is a tool which gives the public access to traditional measures of pendency as well as several new pendency tracking measures for both patents and trademarks. USPTO operations information is displayed in a convenient dashboard format. The patents dashboard provides pendency information as well as other critical performance indicators such as the number of applications in the backlog, production, actions per disposal and our staffing levels. Similar information is available regarding the Trademark Operations. This information helps the entire Intellectual Property (IP) community to better understand our processes, and enable applicants to make more informed decisions about their applications, especially as more opportunities are developed for applicants to control the timing at which their applications are examined. The new dashboard, which is updated monthly for patents and quarterly for trademarks and policy and external affairs, issued internally by the USPTO to analyze and improve our processes and to track the effectiveness of our improvement efforts. The dashboard information can be found at www.uspto.gov/dashboards. For those who really want to dive into the numbers, a more detailed spreadsheet is available for each patent and trademark measure with additional data. Stakeholders and customers are encouraged to watch our progress as the programs and initiatives started over the past year begin to show results. For instance, currently the number of actions per disposal is dropping, indicating improved patent examination efficiency. Challenges: The USPTO intends to further refine the dashboard and welcomes stakeholder and customer input about ways to improve it. A dedicated mailbox has been set up for comments. Featured Actions: The USPTO Data Visualization Center was unveiled in September 2010. In May 2011 the USPTO added measures from both Trademarks and the Office of Policy and External Affairs to the Visualization Center.

Stakeholder(s):

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office


• Intellectual Property Community: Key Customer Groups: The entire Intellectual Property community and the general public.


• General Public

Objective(s):

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