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Washington, D.C.-The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today filed a grievance against the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on behalf of as many as 500 present and former trademark examiners forced to work unpaid overtime, during both scheduled and unscheduled workdays, to meet high production standards and stringent docket management requirements. The grievance covers a period going back six years.

NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said some 375 current examiners, all of whom are attorneys represented by NTEU in the Trademark Division of USPTO's Crystal City, Va., headquarters, are "induced, encouraged or expected" to work the unpaid overtime in violation of the Federal Employees Pay Act (FEPA).

These substantial unpaid hours, Kelley said, "result from employee efforts to fulfill the unreasonable performance standards by which they are evaluated, to manage heavy workloads and rigorous deadlines, and to satisfy management pressure to produce at accelerated goals."

The job of examiners is to research trademark applications and to make decisions as to the registrability of these applications. The work of employees is measured against a performance standard which generates "points" for completed steps in the trademark application and registration process. "The only way to reach the level of production expected by front-line and other managers," Kelley said, "is to work uncompensated hours well beyond the work week, and in violation of FEPA."

The production problems in USPTO's Trademark Division are made worse, she noted, by the amount of time and effort trademark attorneys need to spend in taking steps like correcting errors, undertaking other administrative duties, issuing non-final letters, and gathering information in connection with applications. These efforts are not counted as "actions" and, thus, do not generate points under the performance standards.

"Not only is the system unfair," Kelley said, "but it operates like a Catch-22. The object of this grievance is to right a clear wrong." The NTEU grievance seeks back pay and interest.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 25 agencies and departments, including, in total, some 2,300 in two chapters at PTO.