Quality Control & Process Improvement Flashcards
7 cards from real PPC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Quality Control & Process Improvement flashcards as text
What does the 'PDCA' cycle stand for in the context of process improvement?
Answer: Plan, Do, Check, Act
PDCA—Plan, Do, Check, Act—is a foundational continuous improvement cycle used to systematically test and refine processes.
In Lean methodology, what term describes the elimination of non-value-adding steps in a patent prosecution workflow?
Answer: Muda elimination
Muda is the Japanese term for waste; muda elimination focuses on removing steps that consume resources without adding value to the client or the output.
How does a root cause analysis (RCA) benefit a patent paralegal department that is experiencing recurring docketing errors?
Answer: It identifies the underlying systemic causes so corrective actions address the true source of the problem
RCA uncovers the systemic or procedural root cause of recurring errors rather than treating symptoms, enabling durable corrective actions.
A patent department holds a focused one-week event where staff collaboratively redesign the IDS filing workflow to reduce errors. This event is best described as:
Answer: A Kaizen event
A Kaizen event is a short, structured workshop where a cross-functional team rapidly improves a specific process, often within three to five days.
Which tool is most effective for visually mapping all steps in a patent prosecution workflow from application intake to issuance?
Answer: Value stream map
A value stream map shows every step, handoff, and wait time in an end-to-end process, making waste and bottlenecks visible.
A paralegal department completes a process improvement project and achieves a 40% reduction in IDS processing time. What should be done to ensure the improvement is sustained?
Answer: Update written standard operating procedures and train all staff on the new process
Documenting the new process in updated SOPs and training all staff institutionalizes the improvement and prevents regression to old habits.
Which quality tool would best help a patent paralegal team identify which type of filing error accounts for the majority of their total errors?
Answer: Pareto chart
A Pareto chart ranks error types by frequency, revealing the 'vital few' causes that account for most problems and guiding priority corrective actions.