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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
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ASSISTANT SECRETARY AND COMMISSIONER
"r.tn:li of"'" OF PATENTS AND TRADEMARKS
Washington, D.C. 20231
To: Patent Reengineering Lab Participant
From: Frederick R. Schmidt, Admini~!ltft~~F--~ ~~---·
Search and Information Resources Admi
Date: December 13, 1999
Subject: Silver Medal Award for the Patent Reengineering Lab
On December 7, 1999, the Patent Reengineering Lab received a Silver Medal at the Department
of Commerce Honor Awards Program. This was one of only three silver medals awarded to the
Patent and Trademark Office at this year's award ceremony. While I was honored to accept the
award on behalf ofthe Patent Reengineering Lab, this Medal, and the recognition it bestows,
belong to each of you.
Silver Medals are the second highest award given by the Department of Commerce and are
granted by the Secretary ofCommerce for exceptional performance characterized by noteworthy
or superlative contributions that have a direct and lasting impact within the Department. The
formal testimonial describing your achievement reads:
"This team is recognized for the conceptualization, development, and implementation ofthe Patent
Reengineering Lab. The Lab was established to explore new roles and responsibilities for patent
examiners and technical support staff in streamlining and improving patent processes. The team's
efforts have resulted in an enhanced sense of patent application ownership, resulting in improved
quality, cycle time, and customer and employee satisfaction."
Each of you richly deserves this recognition. When you applied to participate in the Lab, you
demonstrated courage in helping the PTO face our tremendous business challenges. When you
helped to design the Lab procedures, you showed creativity in shaping the PTO of the future.
And when you worked through the challenges of new processes in this unique environment, you
showed commitment to jointly solve problems as equal members of a team. It is for these reasons
that I was proud to represent you in accepting the award on your behalf
While the Lab ran for one year, the contribution and example that each of you made for the PTO
will stand over time. As I have stated in the past, I truly appreciated the efforts and personal
investment you made in the Reengineering Lab. Congratulations on your achievements and the
formal tribute represented by the Department of Commerce Silver Medal.
Addressees:
Adrienne Johnstone Danton DeMille Joseph McKane Michelle Mosley Chris Fiorilla
Barbara Campbell David Bryant Jyothsna Venkat Nathanya Ferguson Wael Fahmy
Barry Nicholson David Ruddy Kenneth Peterson Paul Ip Wan Laymon
Brian Casler Jack Lavinder Luanne Dinpan Richard Lee Yvonne Abbott
Sebastian Passaniti Jeff Jastrzab Marianne Morgan Ryan Carter Richard Seidel
Angela Sykes Mindy Fleisher Jarnes Groody Bo Bounkong Bruce Kisliuk