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Employee Reports of Invention and Lotus Notes Patent Tracker

I. Data in the System

  1. Generally describe what data/information will be collected in the system.

    Employee inventors submit hard copy reports of their inventions for review by attorneys in the Intellectual Property Law Practice Group. A few elements from the reports (e.g., inventor names, title of invention, laboratory) are entered into a Lotus Note database, accessible to the attorneys.

  2. What are the sources and types of the information in the system?

    The employees submitting the reports

  3. How will the data be used by the Agency?

    To apply for patents on the inventions

  4. Why is the information being collected? (Purpose)

    To enable EPA, through its contractors, complete applications for patents

II. Access to the Data

  1. Who will have access to the data/information in the system (internal and external parties)? If contractors, are the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) clauses included in the contract (24.104 Contract clauses; 52.224-1 Privacy Act Notification; and 52.224-2 Privacy Act)?

    Assistant General Counsel for Intellectual Property Law Practice Group; Agency Patent Counsel; One senior patent attorney

  2. What controls are in place to prevent the misuse of data by those having authorized access?

    Office and file locks; limited access to database.

  3. Do other systems share data or have access to data/information in this system? If yes, explain who will be responsible for protecting the privacy rights of the individuals affected by the interface? (i.e., System Administrators, System Developers, System Managers)

    No.

  4. Will other agencies, state or local governments share data/information or have access to data in this system? (Includes any entity external to EPA.)

    No.

  5. Do individuals have the opportunity to decline to provide information or to consent to particular uses of the information? If yes, how is notice given to the individual? (Privacy policies must clearly explain where the collection or sharing of certain information may be optional and provide users a mechanism to assert any preference to withhold information or prohibit secondary use.)

    The information is only required if the employee and his or her laboratory director decides that it would be worthwhile to obtain a patent for the invention being reported.

III. Attributes of the Data

  1. Explain how the use of the data is both relevant and necessary to the purpose for which the system is being designed.

    Data in the Report of Invention is used to prepare an application for a patent at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patents are awarded in the names of the inventors themselves.

  2. If data are being consolidated, what controls are in place to protect the data from unauthorized access or use? Explain.

    N/A

  3. If processes are being consolidated, are the proper controls remaining in place to protect the data and prevent unauthorized access? Explain.

    N/A

  4. How will data be retrieved? Can it be retrieved by personal identifier? If yes, explain. (A personal identifier is a name, Social Security Number, or other identifying symbol assigned to an individual, i.e. any identifier unique to an individual.)

    Except for limited items (e.g. EPA case number, inventor name, USPTO serial number), which are included in a the Reports of Invention are maintained in hard copy in the individual attorney's and the practice group's files. The hard copies do have the inventors names.

  5. Is the Web privacy policy machine readable? Where is the policy stated? (Machine readable technology enables visitors to easily identify privacy policies and make an informed choice about whether to conduct business with that site.)

    The reports are not available on the Web.

IV. Maintenance of Administrative Controls

  1. Has a record control schedule been issued for the records in the system? If so, provide the schedule number. What are the retention periods for records in this system? What are the procedures for eliminating the records at the end of the retention period? (You may check with the record liaison officer (RLO) for your AA-ship, Tammy Boulware (Headquarters Records Officer) or Judy Hutt, Agency Privacy Act Officer, to determine if there is a retention schedule for the subject records.)

    EPA 677 http://www.epa.gov/records/policy/schedule/sched/677.htm No. The hard copy files are kept with the patents that result. Those records are maintained for as long as the patent is in effect, which is up to 20 years from the date the patent application was filed.

  2. While the data are retained in the system, what are the requirements for determining if the data are still sufficiently accurate, relevant, timely, and complete to ensure fairness in making determinations?

    The data in the report does not change. The patent application which relies on the data may change.

  3. Will this system provide the capability to identify, locate, and monitor individuals? If yes, explain.

    No.

  4. Does the system use any persistent tracking technologies?

    No.

  5. Under which System of Records (SOR) notice does the system operate? Provide the name of the system and its SOR number if applicable. A list of Agency SORs are posted at http://www.epa.gov/privacy/notice/. (A SOR is any collection of records under the control of the Agency in which the data is retrieved by a personal identifier. The Privacy Act Officer will determine if a SOR is necessary for your system.)

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