On Wednesday, Jon Dudas, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, testified as to the progress the USPTO has made over the last couple of years. According to the USPTO (link below), the testimony, provided to the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, focused on a number of “hot topics” within the USPTO, including “patent and trademark quality and timeliness; hiring, retention and work-life offerings such as the USPTO’s award-winning telework program; global policy and enforcement initiatives; and the pending patent modernization legislation.” Specific accomplishments were also discussed, including a recent increase in patent and trademark production (21% and 41%, respectively), the increased levels of electronic patent and trademark applications, and reduced attrition of first-year patent examiners. During the hearing, Dudas stated that “[b]oth fiscal years 2006 and 2007 were record-breaking years for the USPTO,” and “[w]e have met or broken records for production, quality, hiring, teleworking, electronic processing and more.” Additional details regarding the testimony, including comments on the proposed patent modernization legislation, are provided at the link below.

USPTO Announcement: LINK