Pre-Search Project

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Office of Patent Information Management (OPIM), has a requirement for a fully automated prior art searching solution that will use existing unexamined patent applications as search query inputs and provide relevant search results. USPTO is exempt from the Competition in Contracting Act under the Patent and Trademark Office Efficiency Act, 35 U.S.C. 2(b)(4)(A) and the subject requirement is being procured using the Alternative Competition Method as described in the Patent and Trademark Office Acquisition Guidelines (PTAG). In accordance with the PTAG, the USPTO publicized this requirement on June 22, 2015 using a Request for Information (RFI) notice posted at www.fbo.gov . Of those who responded to the RFI, several were selected to provide a demonstration of their product's capabilities. The results of the RFI, as well as the demonstrations, indicated that only a limited number of vendors are most likely to successfully meet the agency's needs under the stated scope of objectives. The base period of performance is date of award through March 7, 2017. This notice is not a request for competitive proposals.