They administer the plan.
Andres A. Gallo 19. Economics professor at University of North Florida. Jay P. Kesan. Patent Attorney. August 30, 2019. “The political economy of intellectual property reforms.” Research Handbook on the Economics of Intellectual Property Law. Chapter 21, p 482-509. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.umich.edu/10.4337/9781789903997.00065 ---ML
The USPTO is the agency tasked with administering the patent and trademark systems. It handles examination of patent and trademark applications, and provides certain administrative review proceedings that complement or act as alternatives to litigation (USPTO, 2015, 2017). One obvious concern is that, as an agency that derives its power from Congressional mandates, the USPTO is inherently susceptible to whatever political processes go on in Congress. If this were the whole story, USPTO policies would be expected to line up closely with the patent policy attitudes of the legislature. The reality is certainly more nuanced.