The interior of the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2019. (Antony-22 / Wikimedia Commons)
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said this week that it intends to award an estimated $70 million contract to Accenture Federal Services for its Patent Search Artificial Intelligence capabilities.
The notice of intent described the need for a contractor to provide a “full system development effort” to continue maintenance for PSAI capabilities, and “provide new enhancements” for the component. USPTO anticipates negotiating and awarding this responsibility to AFS by April 1.
The office currently has an AI-based search tool for its Patents End-to-End (PE2E) suite to leverage AI for “prior art” searches, a tool that examiners use to assess the novelty of an invention, of which PSAI is a component.
Advertisement
“In an effort to modernize the Patents Automated Information Systems, the USPTO launched PE2E, a single web-based system that provides examiners with a unified and robust set of tools to use in the examination process,” the USPTO statement about PE2E states. “PE2E Search is a system within PE2E that presents a modern interface design and introduces new tools and features, such as AI search capabilities.”
USPTO in August announced that it was seeking information concerning AI deployment capabilities to “improve searches for ‘prior art’ during the patent process,” FedScoop previously reported.
USPTO did not respond to a request for comment. AFS declined to comment.
Caroline Nihill is a Scoop News Group editorial fellow.
