Cheryl Hardy

Cheryl Hardy serves as Industry Day Liaison for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), facilitating direct engagement between the agency and industry stakeholders to align procurement strategy with technological innovation goals. In this role, she orchestrates industry days, pre-solicitation outreach, and market research initiatives that inform the acquisition planning process for digital infrastructure and intellectual property systems. Her work ensures that contractor capabilities are clearly understood prior to solicitation, enhancing competition and reducing post-award risks. Hardy primarily supports acquisitions related to software development, data management platforms, and cybersecurity solutions critical to modernizing the USPTO’s patent and trademark examination systems. Her contractor relationships are concentrated with specialized technology firms, notably IP.COM I, LLC and INNOVATIVE TRANSDUCER IMPLEMENTATION, LLC, both of which provide advanced intellectual property analytics and digital transformation services. These partnerships reflect a preference for niche vendors with deep domain expertise in patent data structuring, natural language processing, and secure information systems. Hardy fosters collaborative, transparent engagement with contractors through structured pre-proposal dialogues, ensuring requirements are technically sound and achievable. Hardy’s procurement portfolio reflects a consistent preference for full and open competition, with 100% of her acquisitions classified as “No Set-Aside.” While she does not prioritize socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, her approach emphasizes technical merit and vendor capability over socioeconomic categorization, aligning with the USPTO’s mission-critical need for high-assurance systems. Her primary procurement focus is on NAICS 519190—Other Information Services—encompassing custom software development, data analytics platforms, and AI-enabled tools for patent classification and trademark screening. She specializes in acquiring solutions that enhance the efficiency, security, and accessibility of the USPTO’s digital infrastructure, requiring deep technical fluency in intellectual property data architectures and federal IT modernization standards.