Update on Trademark Performance From our Third Quarter Dashboard
Guest blog by Commissioner for Trademarks Deborah Cohn
This month marks another record performance by our Trademarks team. Our goal to issue a first action between 2.5 and 3.5 months from filing has been met every month for six consecutive years now. This record is the result of a number of factors including greater use of the systems, tools, and resources necessary to manage new application filings electronically and the increased participation by applicants in filing and communicating electronically throughout the process. You can see this data on the Trademark dashboard, which has been updated with third quarter performance metrics. The following are some of the highlights we’ve identified.
Trademark application filings continue to set new record highs in terms of volume and usage of the Trademarks Electronic Application System (TEAS). More than 99 percent of new applications are filed electronically and filings are on track to exceed the highest level set last year.
The office has made great progress towards achieving and maintaining high quality standards. The specialized training, online tools, and enhanced communication efforts we’ve deployed over recent years are bearing fruit. Exceptional office action continues to exceed our expectations and first action quality is trending above our target level. Actual results were 33.5 percent better than the target of 23 percent. Final action compliance is showing positive improvement. Our final numbers for the fiscal year should reflect expectations.
Despite inherent uncertainty and variability of filings, the office proudly met or exceeded its pendency targets, including the ones for statements of use (SOU) and Post Registration renewals. First action pendency is at the mid-point of the target at three months. Pendency targets are managed through overtime and production incentives, in addition to continued use of electronic filing and processing.
We want to thank all our stakeholders for their positive engagement and their constructive comments and suggestions. We look forward to hearing from you. Share your thoughts with me at [email protected].
Posted at 10:54AM Aug 22, 2013 in trademarks |