U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Office of Inspector General
PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
Efforts to Protect U.S. Intellectual Property
Rights Overseas Should Be Strengthened
Final Audit Report No. BTD-11747/August 2000
Office of Audits, Business and Trade Audits Division
PUBLIC
RELEASE
U.S. Department of Commerce
Final Report BTD-11747
Office of Inspector General
August 2000
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
OBJECTIVES, SCOPE, AND METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
I.
OLIA’s International Training Efforts Need Improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
A.
System for Documenting and Prioritizing
Requests for Training Is Needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
B.
OLIA Should Consider Adding Alternative Training Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
C.
Interagency Coordination of Enforcement Training Needs Improvement . . . . . . 11
D.
Performance Measures Compliant with GPRA Are Needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
E.
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
F.
PTO Response and OIG Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
II.
Improvements Are Needed in Controls Over
Federal Agencies’ Requests for Advice and Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .