RFI Final.pdf

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

for

ELECTRONIC BUSINESS CENTER (EBC) RFI-PTO-26-01

THIS RFI IS BEING RELEASED

PURSUANT TO FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION (FAR) PART 10:

MARKET RESEARCH.

This RFI is issued solely for informational, market research, and planning purposes only. It does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondents are advised that the United States (U.S) Government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the responding party’s expense. Please be advised that all submissions become U.S. Government property and will not be returned. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S Government to form a binding contract. It is the responsibility of the interested parties to monitor the Federal Business Opportunities (www.fbo.gov) site for additional information pertaining to this RFI.

The U.S. Government does not intend to award a contract based on this RFI or to otherwise pay for the information solicited. Although the term “offeror” is used in this RFI, your response will be treated as informational only and shall not be used as a proposal.

Background:

The incumbent is Epsilon Inc. The current effort is being performed under Call Order 1333BJ24F0014001, which is issued against GSA Schedule Contract #GS-35F-0340Y. Call Order 1333BJ24F0014001 falls under USPTO Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) 1333BJ20A00280019, which consists of a base year, with one (1) twelve-month option period.

The Call Order estimated total amount is $9,718,639.75.

Within the Patents business unit, the Office of Patents Stakeholder Experience’s (OPSE) mission is to assist external stakeholders as they journey through the U.S. patent system and patent application processes. OPSE works with Patents external stakeholders to ensure they find it clear, consistent, and intuitive to do business with Patents, and for Patents personnel to be empowered and equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to meet stakeholders' needs.

OPSE’s work emphasizes reducing barriers and burdens so that all innovators have the knowledge, understanding and resources needed to navigate the Patents system and processes with ease.

The Patent Electronic Business Center (EBC) provides comprehensive technical support and electronic filing assistance to external stakeholders utilizing the USPTO's electronic patent systems, platforms, and tools. This support covers submitting and reviewing electronic patent applications via Patent Center, along with managing applications that have already been filed.

The EBC proudly serves the Intellectual Property (IP) community with extended hours of operation during which it provides technical assistance on a wide range of support topics related to these systems and tools.

A large team of representatives mans the call center for incoming calls, while a smaller group manages testing duties.

1.1 RFI OBJECTIVE:

OPSE requires support for the Electronic Business Center (EBC) processing activities. The OPSE EBC provides technical support services to external Patent Stakeholders who file or access patent information electronically or use other EBC website features and external Trademark Stakeholders using the Trademark Filing system for identity (ID) verification. The objective of this RFI is to conduct market research to explore small businesses capability across the socioeconomic statuses to meet the requirements described in the Draft Performance Work Statement (PWS), Attachment 1, to this RFI for an upcoming recompete for the Electronic Business Center (EBC) contract.

2.1 SEEKING FEEDBACK FROM INDUSTRY:

Respond to the Questions detailing your recent and relevant experience, including the dates of performance, the name of the client, the annual contract value, a description of the services performed, and your company’s role (prime or sub). Please also provide any feedback/comments on the Draft PWS, Draft Performance Metrics, and Draft Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan.

Your response to the question below, can include but are not limited to the following areas:

• Draft PWS and Draft Performance Metrics (Attachment 1)

• Draft Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (Attachment 2)

QUESTIONS

Describe your experience within the last three years performing as the prime contractor or a subcontractor on commercial and/or government requirements with a value of at least $200,000 per year as a prime contractor or $200,000 or less as a subcontractor and indicate experience:

2.1.1 Providing technical support services to (Government or commercial) stakeholders in a contact center environment regarding usage of intellectual property electronic filing systems and platforms similar in size and complexity to the draft requirement. Please provide examples.

2.1.2 Providing a customer technical support model involving the demonstration of functionality to external users, including gathering, managing, and responding to technical questions to improve overall customer experience.

2.1.3 Monitoring, identifying and resolving defects that occur in functionality of intellectual property filing systems and platforms using agile methodology to assist users with navigating those intellectual property filing systems and platforms.

2.1.4 Drafting and testing new developments and functionality associated with business requirements to improve functionality and stability of intellectual property filing systems and platforms.

2.2 HOW TO SUBMIT A RFI RESPONSE:

The format for the RFI responses is described below:

2.2.1 The cover page shall contain (1) Company name, (2) Primary and Alternate Points of Contact, (3) Phone Numbers and Email Addresses, (4) DUNS Number, (5) Socioeconomic Statuses, (6) Business Size (NAICS Code 54151S), and (7) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) or other GWAC Contract Number, if applicable.

2.2.2 Introduction: Provide a brief description of existing capability to meet the requirements contained herein.

2.2.3 Technical Capability: Offerors are encouraged to demonstrate the capability to perform the services described in Attachments 1 and 2.

Responses must be submitted electronically to the e-mail addresses below:

EMAIL: ; cc

SUBJECT: RFI-PTO-26-01

Offerors must submit their responses via email in .pdf format no later than Friday, December 19, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. EST. The response should be no more than 10 pages in length, excluding the coversheet and no larger than 5 megabytes and should use font size 12 or larger.

Proprietary information submitted in response to this RFI will be protected from unauthorized disclosure as required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). All proprietary markings should be clearly delineated. The respondent shall identify where data is restricted by proprietary or other rights and mark it accordingly.

mailto:Kelly.Gustafson@USPTO.gov

2.3 CLARIFICATION OF RFI RESPONSES

To fully comprehend the information contained within a response to this RFI, there may be a need to seek further clarification from those respondent(s) identified as capable. This clarification will be in the form of electronic communication; or a request for a presentation of the response to a specific USPTO group or groups. The USPTO reserves the right to seek additional information from those offerors identified with unique solutions that are determined to be beneficial to the USPTO.