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Holcombe changed the way USPTO viewed IT

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1 week ago

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When Jamie Holcombe arrived at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2019, he had a simple goal: Focus the technology on the mission and get out of day-to-day.

Holcombe, who recently left after spending almost seven years as the USPTO’s chief information officer, drove technology changes to modernize the patent and trademark systems.

Holcombe said the technology of the Patent and Trademark Office is more mission driven than ever before.

Jamie Holcombe was the CIO for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for almost seven years.

“Why were we involved in networking or data centers or really anything? We should not be because that does not have any core differentiation to our business model. So if we can outsource that and then use the most advanced tools every three to five years, replacing those tools with new tools, our examiners will have a much better chance at keeping up with the backlog,” Holcombe said on Ask the CIO. “Our biggest issue was we receive 600,000 patent applications every year. We were developing a backlog such that the examiners are inundated with all of this information and data. They have an obligation to sort through it and filter through it. So we needed to give them the tools and the ability, the capabilities, the potential, to overcome that backlog and keep up with the current application process. That’s what we set out to do.”

USPTO changed its approach to technology modernization over the last six years to focus on mission first and only while also securing its data.

Holcombe, who joined USAI as a vice president in August, said he spent the first several years at the agency just getting out of managing the infrastructure, which was mostly on-premise data centers, relying on mainframes and legacy relational databases.

“Every time we made a change in the relational database, we had to make sure that the system of record on the mainframe was updated. That really weighs you down. It’s like an anchor around your neck, having to duplicate all actions in two different places. That is insanity when you’re trying to move fast,” he said. “So eliminating that mainframe was a fantastic thing. We were so proud to get it done. We also have gotten rid of all of our old IBM WebSphere, as well as a lot of the other batch processing that was done at night. That was 25 years of old systems that were overtaken by modernized architectures and infrastructure.”

In Holcombe’s first year, USPTO spent about $43 million to stabilize its current infrastructure and then another $150 million over the next four years to modernize systems and applications.

In addition to the basic modernization efforts, Holcombe said he also changed the way the USPTO viewed technology as an asset. He said the idea was to constantly modernize, but also stop programs that weren’t making progress or weren’t meeting mission goals.

“The other business units in your agency or bureau need to have skin in the game, and in order to do that, you have to have people that are representatives of the business unit that are actually making decisions on budget and priorities, not necessarily the IP or technical specifications. Of course, they come up with the requirements. What we’re talking about is having two people in charge of a product. Those two people are your business unit head and your technical architect or your technical lead, and those two are responsible for running the product team,” he said. “Then what you do every 90 days as review before the Quarterly Review Board. We actually had all the deputy business unit heads decide on what was going to be funded in the next quarter and what was going to be adapted or killed in the next quarter. So every 90 days, you had your pulse on what is going on, and that sense of urgency began to creep up.”

Holcombe said this approach make sure the “dog was wagging the tail” and not “the tail wagging the dog” when it came to mission-focused IT modernization.

The modernization efforts over the last several years let USPTO invest heavily in artificial intelligence capabilities. Its employees have access to several tools to review documents and reduce the burden on examiners for administrative and clerical tasks. And before Holcombe left, the agency issued a request for information seeking technology that could improve the efficiency in the patent and trademark examining processes. Some examples the agency highlighted in the RFI are those around IT improvements, robotic process automation (RPA) bot development/usage, and new code or ideas to improve current processes.

Additionally, USPTO is using generative AI and artificial intelligence for code assistance, refactoring its code and translating old code to work in the cloud.

Holcombe said the agency started this effort in 2024 and initial pilots demonstrated it could accurately translate about 80% of the old code and the other 20% needed experts to figure it out and optimize it.

Holcombe said two big remaining priorities for acting CIO Deborah Stephens include the continued implementation of a zero trust architecture and relying on GenAI tools to modernize legacy code faster, from three weeks to three days.

“That is the biggest promise right now of code assist AI, that it can go through all of the testing, because you can actually produce test scripts from your AI, and you get this done to the point where requirements are done, and you can have this accelerated cycle,” he said. “You need to go with a sense of urgency. And that’s what I left the organization with, a sense of urgency to get her done.”

The post Holcombe changed the way USPTO viewed IT first appeared on Federal News Network.

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Politics

President Trump Taps Dr. Ben Carson for New Role — A HUGE Win for America First Agenda

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23 hours ago

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September 25, 2025

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Dr. Ben Carson is the newest member of the Trump administration.

On Wednesday, former Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, was sworn in as the national adviser for nutrition, health, and housing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins shared that Carson’s role will be to oversee Trump’s new Big Beautiful Bill law, which aims to ensure Americans’ quality of life, from nutrition to stable housing.

After being sworn in, Carson shared, “Today, too many Americans are suffering from the effects of poor nutrition. Through common-sense policymaking, we have an opportunity to give our most vulnerable families the tools they need to flourish.”

Table of Contents

WATCH:

Per USDA:

Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced that Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D., was sworn in as the National Advisor for Nutrition, Health, and Housing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“There is no one more qualified than Dr. Carson to advise on policies that improve Americans’ everyday quality of life, from nutrition to healthcare quality to ensuring families have access to safe and stable housing,” said Secretary Rollins.

“With six in ten Americans living with at least one chronic disease, and rural communities facing unique challenges with respect to adequate housing, Dr. Carson’s insight and experience is critical. Dr. Carson will be crucial to implementing the rural health investment provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill and advise on America First polices related to nutrition, health, and housing.

“As the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the first Trump Administration, Dr. Carson worked to expand opportunity and strengthen communities, and we are honored to welcome him to the second Trump Administration to help lead our efforts here at USDA to Make America Healthy Again and ensure rural America continues to prosper.”

“Today, too many Americans are suffering from the effects of poor nutrition. Through common-sense policymaking, we have an opportunity to give our most vulnerable families the tools they need to flourish,” said Dr. Ben Carson. “I am honored to work with Secretary Rollins on these important initiatives to help fulfill President Trump’s vision for a healthier, stronger America.”

On Sunday, Dr. Carson was one of the many speakers at the memorial service of the late TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk.

During the memorial service, Carson highlighted that Kirk was shot at 12:24 p.m. and then continued to share the Bible verse John 12:24, which reads, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

WATCH:

The post President Trump Taps Dr. Ben Carson for New Role — A HUGE Win for America First Agenda appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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LEAKED MEMO: Deep State Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia Claim There Isn’t Enough Evidence to Convict Comey Amid Reports of Imminent Indictment

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23 hours ago

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September 25, 2025

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On Wednesday evening, disgruntled officials in the Eastern District of Virginia leaked contents of a memo explaining why charges should not be brought against James Comey.

As reported earlier, former FBI Director James Comey is expected to be indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia in the next few days.

Comey will reportedly be charged for lying to Congress in a 2020 testimony about whether he authorized leaks to the media.

Officials in the Eastern District of Virginia are still fighting to stop Comey from being charged after Trump fired US Attorney Erik Siebert.

President Trump last week fired Erik Siebert as the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia because he refused to bring charges against Letitia James, Comey, Schiff and others.

On Saturday evening, President Trump announced that he had appointed Lindsey Halligan – his personal attorney who defended him against the Mar-a-Lago raid – as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Now, with just days to go before the statute of limitations runs out to charge Comey for lying during a September 30, 2020 testimony, Lindsey Halligan is reportedly gearing up to indict Comey.

Prosecutors reportedly gave newly sworn-in Halligan a memo defending James Comey and explaining why charges should not brought against the fired FBI Director.

Per MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian:

Two sources familiar with the matter tell me prosecutors in the EDVA US attorney‘s office presented newly sworn US attorney Lindsey Halligan with a memo explaining why charges should not be brought against James Comey, because there isn’t enough evidence to establish probable cause a crime was committed, let alone enough to convince a jury to convict him.

Justice Department guidelines say a case should not be brought unless prosecutors believe it’s more likely than not that they can win a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.

The post LEAKED MEMO: Deep State Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia Claim There Isn’t Enough Evidence to Convict Comey Amid Reports of Imminent Indictment appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Nearly 8 in 10 Voters Say the United States is in Political Crisis After the Assassination of Charlie Kirk

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23 hours ago

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September 25, 2025

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Nearly eight in ten voters believe that the United States is in a political crisis in the wake of the assassination of conservative icon Charlie Kirk.

According to a Quinnipiac University national poll of registered voters released on Wednesday, a massive 93 percent of Democrats, 84 percent of independents, and 60 percent of Republicans said the nation is in a political crisis.

“The Kirk assassination lays bare raw, bipartisan concerns about where the country is headed,” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said of the poll results.

Quinnipiac reports:

Seventy-one percent of voters think politically motivated violence in the United States today is a very serious problem, 22 percent think it is a somewhat serious problem, 3 percent think it is a not so serious problem, and 1 percent think it is not a problem at all.

This is a jump from Quinnipiac University’s June 26 poll when 54 percent thought politically motivated violence in the United States today was a very serious problem, 37 percent thought it was a somewhat serious problem, 6 percent thought it was a not so serious problem, and 2 percent thought it was not a problem at all.

Nearly 6 in 10 voters (58 percent) think it will not be possible to lower the temperature on political rhetoric and speech in the United States, while 34 percent think it will be possible.

Over half, 54 percent, of voters believe the US will see increased political violence over the next few years. Another 27 percent said they think it will stay “about the same,” while just 14 percent believe it will ease.

A 53 percent majority also said they are “pessimistic about freedom of speech being protected in the United States.”

Surprisingly, a 53 percent majority also believes the current system of democracy is not working.

“From a perceived assault on freedom of speech to the fragility of the democracy, a shudder of concern and pessimism rattles a broad swath of the electorate. Nearly 80 percent of registered voters feel they are witnessing a political crisis, seven in ten say political violence is a very serious problem, and a majority say this discord won’t go away anytime soon,” Malloy added.

The vast majority, 82 percent, said the way that people discuss politics is contributing to the violence.

“When asked if political discourse is contributing to violence, a rare meeting of the minds…Republicans, Democrats, and independents in equal numbers say yes, it is,” Malloy said.

The survey was conducted from September 18 to 21 among 1,276 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.3 percentage points.

The post Nearly 8 in 10 Voters Say the United States is in Political Crisis After the Assassination of Charlie Kirk appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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