[E-trademarks] Trademark Employee Exodus? Today's Update
Ken Boone
boondogles at hotmail.com
Wed Oct 8 12:24:36 UTC 2025
By today's checks, I only see one trademark business area employee difference since October 1st, namely one less employee for the TRADEMARK TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD (which decreased from 70 to 69).
>> Ken, maybe some of your former colleagues will be joining you on the outside looking in.
I strongly doubt any of my former colleagues (or former OCIO contacts or former contractor contacts) will be joining this E-trademarks discussion group.
Happy Trademarking,
Ken Boone
BTW, there are only 903,596 pending trademarks today via the LD:true NOT (SN:89* RN:*) search. Pendency hasn't been that low since July 29, 2021.
________________________________
From: Alex Butterman <abutterman at dbllawyers.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 1, 2025 11:43 PM
To: For trademark practitioners. This is not for laypersons to seek legal advice. <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
Cc: Ken Boone <boondogles at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: Trademark Employee Exodus? Today's Update
I saw a TTAB Judge that we’re friends with at our Yom Kippur services tonight and she confirmed that about 150 USPTO employees were RIF’d today. She said they were non-legal, non-examination support staff like Public Relations personnel, Office of Civil Rights or EEO staff and IT staff. I’m not sure I follow why the IT personnel had to go unless USPTO Management thinks they can improve the IT help by depending upon contractors who perhaps are better at designing and beta testing new and updated software.
Ken, maybe some of your former colleagues will be joining you on the outside looking in.
Alex Butterman
Partner
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From: E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com> On Behalf Of Ken Boone via E-trademarks
Sent: Wednesday, October 1, 2025 5:54 PM
To: For trademark practitioners. This is not for laypersons to seek legal advice. <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
Cc: Ken Boone <boondogles at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [E-trademarks] Trademark Employee Exodus? Today's Update
Two months later (and with some concerns of RIFs during the federal shutdown), it seemed appropriate to recheck the employee counts for the various trademark work areas. I used the August 1st counts as the baseline. (I felt obliged to highlight something, but I expect you'll find this update to be pretty boring.)
Office
1-Aug
1-Oct
Change
Office Description
T/AESO
8
8
ADMINISTRATIVE AND EXECUTIVE SUPPORT OFFICE
T/APIJD
7
7
ADVANCED PROJECTS, INNOVATION & JOINT DEVELOPMENT
T/BPED
4
4
BUDGET PLANNING AND EXECUTION DIVISION
T/BRAD
8
8
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS & ANALYSIS DIVISION
T/COM
21
22
1
OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR TRADEMARKS
T/CPP
10
10
TRADEMARK CLASSIFICATION POLICY & PRACTICE
T/DAIMD
5
4
-1
DATA, ANALYTICS AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT DIVISON
T/DQMSD
8
8
DATA QUALITY MGMT & SYSTEM SUSTAINMENT DIVISION
T/EFPWS
23
21
-2
ELECTRONIC FILING & PUBLIC WEB SERVICES
T/ESU201
5
5
EXAM SUPPORT UNIT 201
T/ESU202
1
1
EXAM SUPPORT UNIT 202
T/IPMT
4
4
IT PRODUCT MANAGEMENT TEAM
T/IRDAVS
5
5
INFORMATION RESOURCES DESKTOP AND A/V SUPPORT
T/ITU
10
10
OFFICE OF INTENT TO USE
T/KMSPD
3
3
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND STRATEGIC PLANNING DIVISION
T/LL
15
10
-5
TRADEMARK LAW LIBRARY
T/LO
877
871
-6
TRADEMARK LAW OFFICES
T/LP
11
11
LEGAL POLICY OFFICE
T/MP
7
7
MADRID PROCESSING
T/PEXAM
7
6
-1
OFFICE OF PRE-EXAMINATION
T/PO
27
27
LIAISON & PETITIONS OFFICE
T/PR
39
39
OFFICE OF POST REGISTRATION
T/TAC
18
18
TRADEMARK ASSISTANCE CENTER
T/TMS
18
18
OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR FOR TRADEMARK SERVICES
T/TOSD
9
9
TESTING & OPERATIONAL SUPPORT DIVISION
T/TQR
31
31
OFFICE OF TRADEMARK QUALITY AND TRAINING
U/TTAB
71
70
-1
TRADEMARK TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
TOTAL
1252
1237
-15
Total Trademark Employees
Well, boring is good, right?
_____________________
Ken Boone
________________________________
From: E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com<mailto:e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com>> on behalf of Ken Boone via E-trademarks <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com<mailto:e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>>
Sent: Friday, August 1, 2025 4:19 PM
To: For trademark practitioners. This is not for laypersons to seek legal advice. <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com<mailto:e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>>
Cc: Ken Boone <boondogles at hotmail.com<mailto:boondogles at hotmail.com>>
Subject: Re: [E-trademarks] Trademark Employee Exodus? Today's Update
Well, I decided to recheck the employee counts for the various trademark work units again, but there were lots of changes since February 19th, including some changes to office designations.
Three law offices, namely LO134 (16 employees), LO 135 (14 employees), and LO136 (14 employees) were added.
Three law offices, namely LO301 (17 employees), LO303 (17 employees) and LO304 (17 employees) were eliminated.
Considering that, I just merged all the individual law offices into a single T/LO group. Hope that makes sense, plus it reduces the number of offices (or work areas) significantly.
The bad news: the total number of trademark business area employees dropped from 1,345 on February 19th to 1252 today, a loss of 93 employees. Almost every trademark work unit has fewer employees since February 19th.
Office
19-Feb
1-Aug
Change
Office Description
T/AESO
9
8
-1
ADMINISTRATIVE AND EXECUTIVE SUPPORT OFFICE
T/APIJD
7
7
0
ADVANCED PROJECTS, INNOVATION & JOINT DEVELOPMENT
T/BPED
6
4
-2
BUDGET PLANNING AND EXECUTION DIVISION
T/BRAD
11
8
-3
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS & ANALYSIS DIVISION
T/COM
30
21
-9
OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR TRADEMARKS
T/CPP
12
10
-2
TRADEMARK CLASSIFICATION POLICY & PRACTICE
T/DAIMD
8
5
-3
DATA, ANALYTICS AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT DIVISON
T/DQMSD
10
8
-2
DATA QUALITY MGMT & SYSTEM SUSTAINMENT DIVISION
T/EFPWS
26
23
-3
ELECTRONIC FILING & PUBLIC WEB SERVICES
T/ESU201
3
5
2
EXAM SUPPORT UNIT 201
T/ESU202
1
1
0
EXAM SUPPORT UNIT 202
T/IPMT
5
4
-1
IT PRODUCT MANAGEMENT TEAM
T/IRDAVS
5
5
0
INFORMATION RESOURCES DESKTOP AND A/V SUPPORT
T/ITU
10
10
0
OFFICE OF INTENT TO USE
T/KMSPD
3
3
0
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND STRATEGIC PLANNING DIVISION
T/LL
16
15
-1
TRADEMARK LAW LIBRARY
T/LO
893
877
-16
TRADEMARK LAW OFFICES
T/LP
14
11
-3
LEGAL POLICY OFFICE
T/MP
9
7
-2
MADRID PROCESSING
T/PEXAM
10
7
-3
OFFICE OF PRE-EXAMINATION
T/PO
31
27
-4
LIAISON & PETITIONS OFFICE
T/PR
41
39
-2
OFFICE OF POST REGISTRATION
T/TAC
28
18
-10
TRADEMARK ASSISTANCE CENTER
T/TMS
23
18
-5
OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR FOR TRADEMARK SERVICES
T/TOSD
10
9
-1
TESTING & OPERATIONAL SUPPORT DIVISION
T/TQR
42
31
-11
OFFICE OF TRADEMARK QUALITY AND TRAINING
U/TTAB
82
71
-11
TRADEMARK TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
TOTAL
1345
1252
-93
Total Trademark Employees
Well, maybe the loss of 93 trademark business area employees explains the significantly lower number of registrations issued for the past two weeks?
Happy Weekend!
Ken Boone
PS - For your amusement: I noticed a new € (Euro symbol) application, namely 99296660 - BEYOND SHAD€W OPS (& Design).
[Image for 99296660, select for more details]
Why did the applicant choose € for the 5th letter of SHAD€W in the literal element? I anticipate Pre-Exam will revise the wordmark to BEYOND SHADOW OPS, or do you see a € symbol embedded in that eye design element?
________________________________
From: E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com<mailto:e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com>> on behalf of Ken Boone via E-trademarks <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com<mailto:e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>>
Sent: Wednesday, March 5, 2025 8:08 AM
To: For trademark practitioners. This is not for laypersons to seek legal advice. <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com<mailto:e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>>
Cc: Ken Boone <boondogles at hotmail.com<mailto:boondogles at hotmail.com>>
Subject: [E-trademarks] Trademark Employee Exodus? Today's Update
Checking the counts of employees for the various Trademark offices today via the Employee Locator, the following changes were noticed.
Office
19-Feb
5-Mar
Change
Office Description
T/AESO
9
8
-1
ADMINISTRATIVE AND EXECUTIVE SUPPORT OFFICE
T/BPED
6
5
-1
BUDGET PLANNING AND EXECUTION DIVISION
T/BRAD
11
10
-1
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS & ANALYSIS DIVISION
T/COM
30
28
-2
OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR TRADEMARKS
T/DAIMD
8
7
-1
DATA, ANALYTICS AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT DIVISON
T/IPMT
5
4
-1
IT PRODUCT MANAGEMENT TEAM
T/LO104
27
26
-1
LAW OFFICE 104
T/LO105
25
26
1
LAW OFFICE 105
T/LO114
25
24
-1
LAW OFFICE 114
T/LO115
28
27
-1
LAW OFFICE 115
T/LO120
29
28
-1
LAW OFFICE 120
T/LO125
30
29
-1
LAW OFFICE 125
T/LO126
29
30
1
LAW OFFICE 126
T/LP
14
13
-1
LEGAL POLICY OFFICE
T/MP
9
8
-1
MADRID PROCESSING
T/TAC
28
23
-5
TRADEMARK ASSISTANCE CENTER
T/TMS
23
22
-1
OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR FOR TRADEMARK SERVICES
T/TOSD
10
9
-1
TESTING & OPERATIONAL SUPPORT DIVISION
T/TQR
42
39
-3
OFFICE OF TRADEMARK QUALITY AND TRAINING
U/TTAB
82
80
-2
TRADEMARK TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
If the employee count for a particular office did not change, I didn't list the office.
The net change? There were 1,345 trademark employees on 19 Feb versus 1,321 trademark employees today, a net loss of 24 employees (1.78%). TAC had the largest change. Law Offices 105 and 126 both gained 1 employee.
Neither Udupa Vaishali nor David Gooder are listed on the Employee Locator today.
Other than U/TTAB, I ignored office codes that did not begin with T/ as the first two letters.
Happy Trademarking,
Ken Boone
________________________________
From: E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com<mailto:e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com>> on behalf of Ken Boone via E-trademarks <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com<mailto:e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>>
Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2025 2:09 PM
To: For trademark practitioners. This is not for laypersons to seek legal advice. <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com<mailto:e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>>
Cc: Ken Boone <boondogles at hotmail.com<mailto:boondogles at hotmail.com>>
Subject: [E-trademarks] Trademark Employee Exodus? No Evidence So Far
Pardon me for reviving (briefly) an ugly topic, but ...
On 29 Jan, I exported from the USPTO's employee locator all the L offices (which were primarily the Trademark Law Offices). Today, I understand the Fork in the Road is closed - that federal employees can no longer accept the deferred retirement proposed by the new administration, so I repeated the export performed on 29 Jan. Below is a summary of current L office employee counts. Only a few changes are noted, but who knows what a similar check performed next week might show? (A positive change means an increase of employees; a negative change means a decrease of employees. Protecting privacy, I'm not interested in checking actual names for changes.)
Good news so far, as I see only a net loss of 1 employee for all trademark L offices (that is, so far, there is no evidence of mass exits by the deferred retirement offer among the Trademark Law Offices, but this is an early look at the data).
2/13 Counts
Office
Office Description
Change
16
T/LL
TRADEMARK LAW LIBRARY
30
T/LO101
LAW OFFICE 101
15
T/LO102
LAW OFFICE 102
29
T/LO103
LAW OFFICE 103
27
T/LO104
LAW OFFICE 104
26
T/LO105
LAW OFFICE 105
1
29
T/LO106
LAW OFFICE 106
28
T/LO107
LAW OFFICE 107
29
T/LO108
LAW OFFICE 108
31
T/LO109
LAW OFFICE 109
29
T/LO110
LAW OFFICE 110
25
T/LO111
LAW OFFICE 111
29
T/LO112
LAW OFFICE 112
23
T/LO113
LAW OFFICE 113
25
T/LO114
LAW OFFICE 114
27
T/LO115
LAW OFFICE 115
-1
29
T/LO116
LAW OFFICE 116
27
T/LO117
LAW OFFICE 117
15
T/LO118
LAW OFFICE 118
15
T/LO119
LAW OFFICE 119
28
T/LO120
LAW OFFICE 120
26
T/LO121
LAW OFFICE 121
24
T/LO122
LAW OFFICE 122
27
T/LO123
LAW OFFICE 123
14
T/LO124
LAW OFFICE 124
29
T/LO125
LAW OFFICE 125
-1
30
T/LO126
LAW OFFICE 126
1
27
T/LO127
LAW OFFICE 127
30
T/LO128
LAW OFFICE 128
28
T/LO129
LAW OFFICE 129
17
T/LO130
LAW OFFICE 130
15
T/LO131
LAW OFFICE 131
14
T/LO132
LAW OFFICE 132
16
T/LO133
LAW OFFICE 133
2
T/LO300
LAW OFFICE 300
17
T/LO301
LAW OFFICE 301
16
T/LO302
LAW OFFICE 302
17
T/LO303
LAW OFFICE 303
17
T/LO304
LAW OFFICE 304
10
T/LO800
LAW OFFICE 800
13
T/LP
LEGAL POLICY OFFICE
-1
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%,
Ken Boone
PS - UDUPA VAISHALI is still shown as COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS.
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