Patent Office Awards Computer Contracts

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted $541 million in contracts to Lockheed Martin Corp. and El Segundo-based Computer Sciences Corp. to help the agency upgrade its computer operations over the next eight years. Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin’s contract was valued at $254 million and Computer Sciences’ at $287 million. The agency said the contracts are the largest in its history. The patent office received more than 236,000 patent and 200,000 trademark applications in the year ended last June. It expects the annual application rate to increase by 30% to 50% by 2000. Lockheed Martin shares were up $1.875 to close at $91.625 on the NYSE. CSC shares were up $2.375 to $60.75, also on the NYSE.