USPTO’s agile course ignites change

When you mention government agencies, most people think of organizations that are slow, cumbersome, and enmeshed in miles of administrative bureaucracy. That is not the case with the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), established by Congressional act in 1790 and headed by a commission that included then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. It was officially classified as an office in 1802.

Because the USPTO is funded 100% from the fees it receives for examining applications, granting patents, and registering trademarks, the agency must operate like a corporation.

In fact, the USPTO has an enviable client base that has issued over 11 million patents since its inception. It employs more than 12,000 people, including engineers, lawyers, analysts and computer specialists. Though the agency most likely started with the stroke of a pen, it relies heavily on technology to keep its engine running. It also uses data analytics, AI, and other tools to provide its people with business intelligence to keep up with the constant deluge of design and trademark applications and applications for the next generation of mousetraps that may be just around the corner.

To learn more about why the USPTO goes against the popular perception of most government agencies and how it pushes the limits with its innovative strategies, click on the podcast players below to listen to Part 2 of the CIO Executive Council future forward Podcast interview with CIO Jamie Holcombe and Deputy CIO Debbie Stephens. The following are excerpts from that conversation.

Tim Scannell: You’ve said many times that one of your goals with the USPTO is to make it one of the best damn agencies in the US government. What are you doing to achieve this goal?

Jamie Holcombe: We have a mission, and that mission is to issue patents and register trademarks. That’s it. If you can’t figure out how your job fits into this mission, then there’s a problem. One of the first things we did was make sure everyone had this common mission and purpose, and with that purpose, the spirit of why you go to work every day. Of course, sometimes you just have to get your pants kicked to realize you’re doing something really great.

Of course you also have to do CIO things. To make sure the servers and everything is up and running and how to apply these tools and new technologies to the auditors and to the general public

How does the culture of the USPTO’s technology staff differ from that of other government agencies? What tactics do you use to change perceptions and build an innovative culture?

Debbie Stephens: We’re always trying to deliver better, cheaper and faster, so that’s a requirement. But we also started new ways of working when the process sometimes got in the way of delivery. Our mission was to remove these roadblocks and get rid of the non-value-added work, so we aligned our technical experts with the product teams and business to develop the tools we need for both patent and patent delivery and mission brands need. Along the way, we also became a learning organization, allowing people to spend more time with the lines of business to understand and appreciate their journey.

Empowering individuals to proactively engage and do their best is important, but as a leader you also need to take responsibility, make decisions and give direction. How difficult is that in these uncertain times?

Stephen: As with anything, you start with the goal and need to communicate with your business units and operations managers to make sure they know where to go. However, the first plan you unfold may not be the endgame, so you must be willing to adapt that plan. So we strongly adhere to an agile school of thought to plan, execute, review and then adjust the model.

The USPTO has created a separate IT/business team that focuses specifically on evaluating new technologies and innovations, and also acts as a prototyping and testing unit before things are handed off to product development. Are people lining up to join this elite, up-and-coming tech “A-Team”?

Holcombe: You will find people looking for these really challenging positions, which is great. However, the structure we have created involves accountability and authority. What you do with emerging and immature technologies is try them and see where they fit so you can navigate that gulf of despair – the point where all the hype is over and everyone says it’s a terrible technology . We weigh the pros and cons first and then take the technical leaders who are proponents and actually put them to use DevSecOps Teams, because now they are in charge.

In this way you live by the sword and die by the sword. You get real students and people who believe in it and can make it work on the O&M side, because if it can’t work on the O&M side, why should we?