USPTO modernizing its trademarking process with $80M IT contract
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office plans to modernize the IT for its trademarking process under an $80 million contract requiring developers to update applications across 20 systems.
REI Systems received the seven-year contract to improve the agency’s technology for reviewing and approving trademark applications. The agreement is part of USPTO‘s larger effort to consolidate IT projects from more than 150 to just 30 and allow staff to pick their teams, before filling gaps with contractors.
“This opens the door to what is possible through app modernization and emerging technologies” at USPTO, said Samidha Manu, senior director of REI, in a statement.
USPTO refers to its trademark and patent registration processes as separate “products,” given that the general public interacts with them in the same way it might use commercial services. Each product consists of systems and applications supporting every step in the trademark or patent process: application submission, attorney review, registration and continued use.
REI says its developers will use principles from behavioral psychology as well as change management techniques as they modernize USPTO systems.
USPTO used the General Services Administration‘s Alliant 2 governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC), a best-in-class vehicle, to work with REI Systems.
