Litton Awarded Contract With U.S. Patent Office

Litton Industries was awarded a $38.1-million, five-year contract by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Litton’s PRC subsidiary won the award and will help upgrade and improve the patent office’s computer hardware, software and communications equipment.

The federal government is hoping to make the patent office’s information technology system more flexible as it handles an expected increase in workload. The office now expects more than 460,000 patent and trademark applications to be filed annually by the year 2000. Litton, based in Woodland Hills, is a major defense contractor.