When Patent and Trademark Office executives met with industry partners in February to discuss opportunities and challenges and take the next step in its IT modernization journey, the coronavirus pandemic was on the horizon, but not yet driving the conversation.
Six months later, and with many federal employees still on mandatory telework, USPTO’s IT leadership hasn’t slowed down the momentum of spinning up new services or replacing the agency’s legacy capabilities.
USPTO Chief Information Jamie Holcombe chalks up some of that success to “serendipity.” The agency, for example, has a workforce that took advantage of the agency’s flexible telework policy long before the pandemic.