USPTO Makes The Paperless Office A Reality
Arlington, VA, August 24, 2000 – Software Performance Systems, Inc. (SPS) reported that its landmark deployment of version 1.5 of the PCT Operations Workflow and Electronic Review (POWER) system for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) makes the paperless office a reality. POWER is one of USPTO’s first fully automated electronic review, routing, and tracking system used to process international patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
The Patent Cooperation Treaty allows an individual to simultaneously seek patent protection for an invention in each of the 100-plus member countries. In 1999, the U.S. Receiving Office at USPTO processed more than 29,000 applications filed under the Treaty. The POWER system combines imaging and workflow technologies, database management systems, and scanning of incoming documents to eliminate the movement of hardcopies through the U.S. Receiving Office.
SPS’s team of 16 developers in close coordination with USPTO designed and deployed POWER in just 20 months. The POWER system integrates COOL:Gen 5.0-generated Oracle database services (HP Unix), Visual Basic client applications, and the Eastman Software’s commercial-off-the-shelf Workflow package.
POWER streamlines and standardizes the application review workflow process by including window-based checklists, worksheets, and forms that incorporate PCT regulations. POWER extracts electronic patent application data from diskettes generated by the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) PCT-Easy application in Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) format. POWER also interfaces with the USPTO Patent Application Capture and Review (PACR) system to make scanned images of paper applications available to the user.
SPS designed POWER with the flexibility to respond to changing business and workflow rules as well as standard system data values that can be modified through POWER’s security-controlled System Administration module. As a direct result of moving to the new electronic workflow process, the U.S. Receiving Office is benefiting from a reduction of data entry errors and from allowing multiple reviewers to work with an application in parallel.
The POWER system exploits Component-Based Development (CBD) technologies and features a total of seven components. One of the seven components, known as Interested Party, was developed by SPS as part of the POWER effort and has since been reused in other PTO systems. The Interested Party component manages data on individuals associated with an application, such as inventors, applicants, and attorneys.
SPS President Greg Dorsett said that future POWER releases will work with SGML/XML (Extensible Markup Language) tagged documents rather than images, support applications filed over the Internet, and allow for document exchange between the USPTO, WIPO, and other national and regional patent offices.
About SPS
Software Performance Systems, Inc. (SPS), a small business based in Maryland, is
a privately held information technology services provider.
Established in 1995, SPS specializes in the design and integration of large
Web-based solutions for State and Local Governments and commercial
clients. SPS has been honored with many national awards, including:
#10 ranking in the Computerworld Top 100 Best Places to Work in IT, Deloitte's
Virginia Technology Fast 50 and North America Technology Fast 500, and as a SBA
Exporter of the Year. More importantly, SPS solutions helped our clients win
prestigious awards, including the Grace Hopper Federal Government Technology
Leadership Award, the E-Gov Pioneer Award, the Excellence.gov Grand Prize
Award, and the Government IT Agency Award for Excellence in Government.
SPS...proven over time.
Contact Information
Software Performance Systems, Inc.
Sid Chowdhary, VP State and Local Government Solutions Division
240-949-8825 / 1-866-734-6777
SChowdhary@goSPS.com
www.goSPS.com
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