USPTO awards data capture contract

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officials have awarded an $876 million data capture contract to Reed Technology and Information Services (RTIS) Inc., company officials announced today.

The contract, called Patent Data Capture, or PaDaCap2, starts Jan. 1, 2005, and runs for seven years, with three one-year options.

Under the new contract, the company will convert scientific and technical information into searchable Extensible Markup Language and image databases. The data will include chemical structures, mathematical equations, DNA sequences and other meticulously detailed information.

RTIS will scan and index more than 75 million pages of information in 2005 alone, company officials said. The contract supports USPTO's 21st Century Strategic Plan, which is intended to bring new technologies to bear on the agency's operations.

RTIS has worked for USPTO under various contracts for almost 35 years, company officials said. They hope this latest deal will lead to more federal business.

"Our track record with USPTO speaks to our reputation in the field and our commitment to quality and customer service," said Sam Hardman, the company's president, in a statement. "We look forward to our expanded role there and to the opportunity to share our capabilities with other federal agencies in Washington [D.C.] and the global intellectual property community."