Patent Data Capture Request for Information (RFI)

The RFI is hereby modified to remove the following; all other information in notice remains unchanged from original posting: - weekly printing (including precision color reproduction of plant patent drawings), assembly of the patent grants and preparing the grants for mailing The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has a continuing requirement for Patent Data Capture for the Office of Patent Processing Services (OPPS). The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Office of Procurement, is conducting a Request for Information (RFI) to help determine the availability and technical capability of sources for Patent Data Capture. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 511199 (All Other Publishers), proposed Federal Supply Code (FSC) is 7690 (Miscellaneous Printed Matter), and Small Business Size Standard is 500 employees. Estimated ceiling amount is $554 million. The USPTO is currently developing the Patents End-to-End (PE2E) system involving new replacement tools to be used in the patent examination process. PE2E will enable a new way of processing patent applications, providing a single place to manage examination activities, and supporting the work done now outside or across existing systems. The overall vision for PE2E weaves together activities that are currently done in separate systems. These systems include work management, application document viewing, searching, Office Actions, and saving reference information and electronic notes for easy retrieval. Integral to PE2E are the Patent Data Capture (PDC) products produced in the performance of the PDC contract. Detailed requirements for the final integration of PE2E, including patent data capture products, are not finalized and further programmatic changes are anticipated by January 1, 2018. The final integration plan for PE2E notwithstanding, PDC is a continuing vital agency need which requires substantial upfront capital outlays for any contractor providing PDC products with exacting quality standards. Therefore, the purpose of this RFI is to determine the availability and capability of vendors that can provide such continued PDC requirements for a "bridge" period. Due to the short timeframe for transitioning such a requirement to another contractor who would not have the adequate timeframe to recoup anticipated upfront capital costs, interested parties are advised that the period of performance of any potential requirement that is awarded could be equal to or less than three (3) years after any award is made. Interested parties are encouraged to consider any capital start-up or infrastructure costs when reviewing this RFI and submitting a capability statement that demonstrates resources, ability, and experience to produce patent data products. It is anticipated that at this time, a bridge contract is the best solution to maintain PDC requirements. The Government may choose to do a bridge contract for one (1) base year, with up to two (2) option years for a potential period of performance of January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017. Only the minimum of base year of January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015 would be guaranteed on any contract, if award is contemplated by the Government. Contractors are advised that the two (2) option years are at the Government's discretion based on factors such as continued need for patent data capture products and services, any other programmatic changes, acceleration of PE2E implementation, Contractor performance, and available funds for that fiscal year. The USPTO is seeking information from a contractor(s) capable of furnishing Patent Data Capture products. PDC products enable the USPTO to meet its statutory requirement of publishing patent applications and granting issued patents weekly in standardized formats. The requirements include, but are not limited to, the following: - conversion and quality review of incoming and outgoing documents - high quality conversion of electronic patent application data into standardized formats for publication and issuance - after-allowance document processing - review of patent applications to ensure compliance with applicable statutes and rules - data capture services to support the issuance of Certificates of Corrections (C of C), including printing of the C of C and preparing them for mailing This RFI is not a request for proposals/quotes and the USPTO is not committed to awarding a contract pursuant to this announcement. Contractors are hereby notified that as a result of USPTO's exemption from the Competition in Contracting Act, the subject requirement may be procured using the Alternative Competition Method in accordance with the Patent and Trademark Office Acquisition Guidelines (PTAG) and the Patent and Trademark Office Efficiency Act, 35 U.S.C. 2(b)(4)(A). If the PTAG Alternative Competition Method is used, the solicitation may only be issued to those determined to be capable of providing the required services or products. This determination will be made based on USPTO's market research, including the responses to this RFI. The information from this RFI is for planning purposes only and will assist the USPTO in planning its acquisition strategy. This is strictly market research and the USPTO will not pay for any costs incurred in the preparation of information for responding to this RFI. SUBMITTAL OF CAPABILITY STATEMENT: Please submit capability statement electronically in your own format to include Name of Organization, DUNS Number, Address, Point of Contact (POC), POC E-mail Address, and POC Phone Number. Please ensure responses do not exceed 20 pages and are submitted in a single document, preferably Portable Document Format (.pdf). Responses shall be in sufficient detail to allow the USPTO to assess the capability/interest of your organization to meet requirements for Patent Data Capture, including: - Relevant and recent experience in the past three (3) years - Whether or not organization would team as Prime Contractor or Subcontractor if such a solicitation were issued - Organizational and corporate resources available to meet PDC requirements - Which type of business, if applicable, your organization is, as registered and validated at the System for Award Management (SAM) at https://www.sam.gov Small Business (SB) [if not one of the categories listed below] 8(a) Small Business (8A) HUBZONE Small Business (HUB) Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB) Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) Large Business (LB) - GSA Federal Supply Schedule Contract Number if your organization has one - Whether or not organization could provide the following capabilities: ?Ability to meet production volume based on relevant experience (see B.3. Historical Production Volumes for estimated volumes) ?Ability to provide and/or experience with transition planning ?Typical timeframe taken, based on transition experience, to transition work from incumbent contractor to your organization ?Ability to provide automated solutions ?Ability to provide and/or experience with hiring/training plans for similar effort as described within draft SOW ?Ability to meet all, or a portion of, the requirements as described in the draft SOW If your organization can only fulfill a portion of the requirements outlined above, please identify the requirements you can fulfill. The due date for submission of this information is 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on February 28, 2014. All submissions shall be submitted electronically to Doug Reed, Contract Specialist, at douglas.reed@uspto.gov, with cc to Hope Smith, Contracting Officer, at hope.smith@uspto.gov. On subject line of e-mail, please indicate Capability Statement - Patent Data Capture. No phone calls please. No evaluation letters or responses to technical questions will be issued to organizations submitting capability statements. Responses marked "Proprietary" will be handled accordingly. This notice is not a request for competitive proposals.