PTAG Sources Sought: Seeking vendor to provide the USPTO with Food Service Equipment Repair, Replacement, Preventative Maintenance and Annual Inspections at the main campus in Alexandria, VA.

Active

Contract Opportunity

This PTAG 6.1.1 Sources Sought (request for information) Notice (RFI) is strictly for market research ONLY. It is for informational and planning purposes and shall NOT be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation or commitment by the Government at this time.

NOTE: A pdf of the inventory of applicable food service equipment and a pdf copy of this notice is attached.

PTAG

The Government intends to utilize the Alternative Competition Method in accordance with the Patent and Trademark Office Acquisition Guidelines (PTAG) and the Patent and Trademark Office Efficiency Act 35 U.S.C. 2(b)(4)(A) for this procurement. This Sources sought notice is intended as preliminary market information gathering which the USPTO will use to determine which Small Business contractor(s) is/are the most likely to successfully meet the agency’s needs and are thereby eligible to participate in an alternative competition. As a result of this market research, the solicitation will only be issued to those qualified small business contractor(s) that are deemed most likely to successfully meet the agency’s requirement as stated below.

1. Purpose of Request for Information (RFI)

The purpose of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Request for Information (RFI) is to educate USPTO about the capabilities and offerings of commercial food service equipment maintenance, repair and replacement companies currently available in the market. The RFI includes providing USPTO management with an understanding of these companies’ experience and the range of services provided. It also allows USPTO management to conduct thorough market research, identify suitable providers, and make informed decisions.

1. Description of Services and Background

The overall food service program is crucial to the morale and welfare of USPTO’s workforce at its main campus headquarters in Alexandria, VA. This food service equipment is operated for the benefit of approximately 2,900 employees currently on campus each day, with a projected 4,100 employees by the end of 2025.

A critical component of this program is to ensure that food service equipment is properly monitored, regularly maintained, quickly repaired and competently replaced when needed. These services will be provided in the Roundhouse Café cafeteria as well as for specified equipment in break areas, pantries and other designated locations throughout the campus.

The abbreviated Scope of Work is listed in Part 4 below, and is divided into two sections. Section 1 discusses the monitoring, maintenance and repair requirements, and Section 2 covers the replacement requirements.

The USPTO would like to explore options for ensuring needed food service equipment is available and operational to support that food service program which enhances the quality of life for the USPTO workforce.

The USPTO requires a professional contractor in the food service equipment maintenance industry that offers high quality, timely and competent support. Interested contractors must understand both the importance of their role to the daily operations of the USPTO workforce and the need for convenient service schedules and economically-sound operating practices.

After reviewing the requirements below, the contractor may submit any alternative creative solutions for consideration.

Once established, the contract requires the contractor to take the initiative over the USPTO’s food service equipment and ensure its operational availability. USPTO requires the contractor to engage in an active partnership with USPTO to bring about the desired results. This is not meant to be purely transactional support.

1. Description of Facilities

Area and Location in the Buildings: The work will be performed at the USPTO Campus located at 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 USA. The campus consists of the Madison East and West buildings, the atrium between them, the Knox building and the Jefferson building.

• The primary operational areas are:
  
  
  
  • Roundhouse Café: Full-service dining facility located in the Madison West Building on the concourse level
    
    
    
    
    1. Kitchen: Approximately 4,300 square feet with direct access to loading dock
    
    
    2. Food Service Area: Approximately 7,200 square feet dining area
    
    
    3. Common area seating adjacent to dining area: 330 seats
    
    
    4. Outdoor patio terrace area
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Round House Coffee: Beverage bar located in the Madison Building Atrium is accessible by the public, USPTO staff, and visitors.
    
    
    
    1. Approximately 200 square feet
    
    
    2. Seating: Common area seating in lower atrium (approximately 30 seats)
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Breakrooms and Pantries throughout campus. Currently, it is estimated that approximately 45 of these areas will be supported. Breakrooms may contain microwaves, coffee makers and other small appliances. Some may contain ice machines as well.
  
  
  
  

1. Scope of Work (abbreviated)

The contractor will be responsible to ensure full execution of the terms of the contract between USPTO and the contractor. The following documents will constitute the full contractual agreement between USPTO and the contractor:

• Contractor’s response to a Request for Quote (RFQ) that is accepted by USPTO and upon which a contract is awarded to the contractor.


• The RFQ used by USPTO will include the work statement and USPTO expectations related to the award of the contract; and,


• Any amendments and documents issued by the Contracting Officer to the contractor.

4.1 EQUIPMENT REPAIR, PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE AND ANNUAL INSPECTION (abbreviated)

• Acquire annual inspection and assessment, preventative maintenance in accordance with manufacturer recommendations, and repair services for commercial-grade kitchen equipment (excluding small wares) and related reporting. The contractor shall possess preventive and corrective maintenance experience for a variety of manufacturers as illustrated in Appendix #1 (Equipment Inventory and Manufacturer – this is for illustrative purposes only, and is not to be considered a complete list).


• The contractor shall provide proposals for task orders within 5 business days of receipt of request for regular non-emergency repairs (excluding small wares).


• Within 30 days of award, the contractor shall complete an initial assessment and provide an inventory of equipment and its condition as well as any recommendations for repair or replacement.


• Upon USPTO approval of recommended repairs, repair service shall be performed on equipment within 7-10 business day of notification from USPTO. Repair are expected to be completed within 2 days of receipt of any required replacement parts.


• The contractor is expected to maintain a “bench stock” of common parts to perform on-the-spot repairs and preventive maintenance. Examples include such parts as thermostats, sensors, valves, electrical plugs, knobs and dials, refrigerant, filters, small fittings, filters, belts and chains, hoses, nozzles and wheels. Bench stock inventory shall be submitted to USPTO quarterly.


• Contractor will follow applicable safety regulations and requirements.

• Emergency Response: Contractor shall respond to any emergency repair request outside the normal duty hours of Monday-Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. within two (2) hours of notification.


• Non-Emergency: The contractor shall respond to any non-emergency request within 1 business day.

4.2 CAFETERIA EQUIPMENT NEW OR REPLACEMENT SERVICES

• Acquire services to obtain and install new or replacement food service equipment (excluding small wares) and remove old equipment to a designated location. Much of the current food service equipment is beyond its useful life and some equipment is inoperable.

• The contractor shall provide prompt proposals for task orders within 5-7 business days for regular non-emergency equipment replacements and 2 days for emergency requests.


• The contractor shall communicate to the lessor and the COR to ensure all installation requirements are met.


• Contractor will follow applicable safety regulations and requirements.

1. Effective Date:

USPTO expects service will begin as early as possible within the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 and will consist of a base year plus 4 option years. The maximum period of performance is not to exceed four option years to be exercised at the Government's discretion subject to Federal Acquisition Regulations provisions and the availability of funds.

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

Note: The Government will not utilize formal evaluation criteria for market research associated with PTAG 6.1.1. The Government will review these sources sought responses to help determine which (if any) firms are most likely to successfully meet the agency’s requirements.

In your email response please include in the subject:

ACQ-26-0126- FS Equipment Maintenance

DEADLINE:

• Responses are due no later than Friday, October 10, 2025 at 1:00 PM ET and are to be submitted via email to Christopher Ward at Christopher.ward@uspto.gov and Kendall Jones at Kendall.Jones1@uspto.gov

• NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE

Responses should include:

• a capability statement (including other supporting info showing the ability to meet this requirement as requested below),


• the name of your firm,


• Whether or not your firm is a Small Business and the Socio-Economic sub-category(ies) of your firm (if applicable)


• complete address, email and phone of the primary contact.


• Your SAM.gov UEI number (if available).


• Your firms GSA schedule contract number (if applicable)


• Note: you must be registered in the SAM.gov database prior to any award of a contract or agreement.

In response to this source sought notice, please provide enough detail to show:

• Past performance should include ten plus years of relevant experience with food service equipment maintenance services at the federal, state, local, or private sector level.
  
  
  
  • If your company does not have at least ten years of applicable past performance, please explain in detail why you believe your company should be considered.
  
  
  
  

All information received in response to this RFI that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.

This PTAG 6.1.1 Sources Sought Notice is strictly for market research ONLY.

It is for informational and planning purposes and shall NOT be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation or commitment by the Government at this time.

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