Erica E. Fetter

Erica E. Fetter serves as a Contracting Officer for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), where she manages the acquisition of critical technology services essential to modernizing the nation’s intellectual property infrastructure. In her role, she oversees the full lifecycle of contracts supporting digital examination systems, cybersecurity enhancements, and public-facing patent and trademark portals. Her procurement portfolio centers on complex, mission-critical IT services that enable efficient patent and trademark processing, data integrity, and scalable digital access for inventors and businesses nationwide. She specializes in performance-based acquisitions under fixed-price and time-and-materials contract types, ensuring alignment with federal IT modernization goals and cybersecurity compliance standards. Erica maintains strategic relationships with a focused set of contractors, primarily IP.COM I, LLC and Innovative Transducer Implementation, LLC, both of which provide specialized software development, systems integration, and data analytics services tailored to USPTO’s unique intellectual property workflows. Her contracting approach emphasizes long-term vendor partnerships grounded in technical expertise, past performance, and consistent delivery of high-integrity digital solutions. She prioritizes contractors with proven experience in federal IP systems and demonstrates a preference for firms capable of supporting agile development, legacy system modernization, and secure cloud migration initiatives. Erica’s procurement activity reflects a 100% non-set-aside profile, indicating a focus on full and open competition for technical services requiring specialized expertise not typically available within small business pools. While she does not currently utilize socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB, her approach aligns with the USPTO’s need for highly specialized IT capabilities that demand deep domain knowledge in intellectual property systems. Her primary procurement focus lies within NAICS 541512 (Computer Systems Design Services) and 541519 (Other Computer Related Services), reflecting her specialization in custom software development, systems architecture, and enterprise-level IT support. She consistently acquires services related to patent examination automation, database modernization, user experience design for public portals, and secure data interoperability between federal and external stakeholder systems.