Status of Office of Public Records Services

   The Office of Public Records (OPR) processes and fills orders for both
certified and uncertified copies of Patent and Trademark Office documents
and records assignments and other documents related to title. This is an
update of actual processing times during the month of December 2000:

Document Services                               Goal             Actual
                                                                 Processing
                                                                 Time

Certified Documents

Patent Application-As-Filed,
   Expedited                                  7 days              5 days
Patent Application-As-Filed,
   Regular                                   17 days             12 days
Patent Related File Wrapper                  25 days             43 days*
Patent Copy                                  10 days              7 days
Patent Assignments                           10 days              6 days
Trademark Application-As-Filed,
   Expedited                                  7 days              5 days
Trademark Application-As-Filed,
   Regular                                   17 days             11 days
Trademark Related File Wrapper               25 days             37 days*
Trademark Assignments                        10 days              7 days
Trademark Registration,
   Expedited                                  5 days              4 days
Trademark Registration,
   Regular                                   14 days              7 days

Uncertified Documents

Expedited Patent Copies                       1 day               1 day
Regular Patent Copies                         5 days              3 days
Plant Patents                                 5 days             19 days***
Patent Assignments                           10 days              0 days**
Patent Related File Wrapper                  25 days             24 days*
Expedited Trademark Copies                    1 day               1 day
Regular Trademark Copies                      5 days              1 day
Trademark Assignments                        10 days              0 days**
Trademark Related File Wrappers              25 days             17 days*

* Includes turnaround times for files on Official Search and File
Reconstruction.
** No orders for these products were filled this month.
*** Includes three plant patent orders which required reprinting.

Note: Goals for Uncertified Regular Patent Copies, Plant Patent Copies and
Regular Trademark Copies have been recalibrated from  business days to
calendar days. The change does not affect the level of service. All goals
and actual processing times for all products are now  shown in calendar
days.

During the month of December 2000, a total of 17,199 public orders (27,574
copies) were filled and closed, or 3,402 orders more (10,982 copies less)
than the FY-01 planning number of 13,797 orders (38,556 copies) to be
closed for this month. The average turnaround times for products remain in
expected ranges.

Due to varying availability of media, customers will not be advised when
orders are not delivered within the published goal periods. However,
customers will be advised if any unexpected delay in their order has been
identified. Customers should use the above actual days to mail for each
product as a guide as to when they can expect their orders. In determining
expected delivery times, the day an order is received in the Office is c
alculated as "day zero." The next business day is "day one."

Customers are encouraged to fax orders for copies directly to the Document
Services Division at (703) 308-9759 and to pay by PTO Deposit Account,
MasterCard, Visa, American Express or Discover. Copy orders may also be
placed through the Internet by accessing the PTO home page at www.uspto.gov
and selecting the "Order Copies" option. Information on the status of
pending orders may be obtained by calling (703) 308-9726 or 1 (800)
972-6382 (outside the Washington, DC Metro area), or via E-mail:
dsd@uspto.gov.

Assignment Services

The Assignment Division is currently mailing recordation notices for
documents received in the Office of Public Records on November 5, 2000.
The cycle time to process, record, and mail notices is 55 calendar days.

January 10, 2001                                   PATRICK ROWE, Director
                                                   Office of Public Records