Special NoticePosted Aug 18, 2026·Original deadline passed (Aug 27). See latest amendment for current deadline.

PTAG Intent to Sole Source � Tango �On-the-Spot� Award Cards

Commerce (all) · DEPT OF COMMERCE PTO

Stage
Early notice (sources sought, presolicitation or special notice)
NAICS
455219
Value
Not stated
Solicitation
ACQ-27-0160
Set-aside
None stated
PSC
Not stated
Place
Alexandria, VA, USA
Contact
Kendall Jones (kendall.jones1@uspto.gov)
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CSV Email

Capture briefs (a one-page, shareable copy of this page) are part of Pro. The CSV here holds the notice, its timeline and past awards.

Where this opportunity stands

Every notice posted under solicitation ACQ-27-0160 in this department, oldest first.

Early notice
  • Aug 18, 2026 · this notice
    Special Notice
Solicitation
None posted
Award
Not yet. Too few past cases at this agency to estimate timing (5 found; 10 needed).

Next steps for this stage

Standard steps for the notice type; not advice about this buyer.

  • Answer the notice: this is when the requirement can still be shaped.
  • Contact the contracting officer named on the notice.
  • Check who won similar work; they are the likely bidders.

What the notice says

PTAG Intent to Sole Source � Tango �On-the-Spot� Award Cards (ACQ-27-0160) PTAG Part 6.1.1 Synopsis � Intent to Sole Source The USPTO is conducting this procurement using its unique procurement authority under the Patent and Trademark Office Efficiency Act 35 U.S.C. � 2(b)(4)(A) and the implementing guidelines of the Patent and Trademark Office Acquisition Guidelines (PTAG). https://federalregister.gov/a/2013-24316. Specifically, the USPTO is using the Alternative Competition Method. When using its unique procurement authority, the USPTO is exempted from a large number of procurement statutes … (show all)

and various FAR parts. As an integral part of �The Employee On-The-Spot Award� program (EOTSAP), The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), /Office of Human Resources (OCAO/OHR), intends to award on a sole source basis a FAR 12 Purchase Order to TANGO CARD, INC. of 4700 42ND AVE SW STE 430A Seattle, WA 981164589. UEI: D872VAJFUCN5. to provide electronic/virtual gift cards and allow the individual employee to select the gift card of their choice from a wide variety of options (merchants), allow for distribution of the gift cards virtually/electronically and allow Human Capital program administrators the ability to administer the overall purchase and distribution of the gift cards on-line. EOTSAP is an employee recognition program where the employee is awarded a gift card from the available selection on hand, for the specified award dollar amount to recognize the specified employee for day-to-day efforts that exceed their normal performance and is not connected to their annual performance appraisal. Tango Card, Inc. is the only vendor identified with the capability to permit employee selection of the specific gift card from a variety of businesses and electronically transmit that selected gift card to the employee via email Tango Card Inc. previously provided gift cards in support of EOTSAP. Through that effort, a centralized administrative portal was established to track all gift card activity, including issuance dates, access dates, and balance changes. Procuring additional cards through Tango Card will allow the new purchases to be incorporated into the existing portal without the need incur associated setup costs. Using the current active portal also preserves continuity of data across which is critical for consistent tracking, reporting, and oversight. The portal�s existing administrative capabilities, including real-time activation, immediate digital delivery, and automated audit trail generation, are necessary to support strict federal accounting requirements for participant incentives. Market research indicates that alternative vendors do not offer the same integrated tracking functionality needed to mitigate fraud, waste, and abuse without significant manual workarounds. Transitioning to another vendor would require duplicative administrative setup, creation of redundant tracking systems, and additional transition-related costs. In addition, the contractor�s proprietary portal has already been reviewed and authorized for use. As a result, Tango Card is uniquely positioned to fulfill this requirement efficiently and without disruption to ongoing operations. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals, nor will a solicitation be issued to the public. Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to the following point of contact (POC) and alternate point of contact no later than 9:00 AM ET on Thursday, August 27, 2026. POC: Kendall Jones at Kendall.jones1@uspto.gov Alternate POC: Christopher Ward at Christopher.ward@uspto.gov NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE PTAG SYNOPSIS STATEMENT The subject requirement is being procured using 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) DISCLAIMER All information received in response to this Special Notice that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this special notice. ###

Recent Agency Awards (Loose Match)

775 award notices on SAM.gov in the last 24 months. Matched by: Same agency (Commerce (all)), any industry: a loose match.

Loose match: same agency, any industry. Read the titles before treating these as competitors.

Single-winner award sizes (744): middle half $39K to $458K, median $100K; range $3K to $8.0B.

WinnerAwardsValueLast
GROUND LEVEL SERVICES LLC15$22.5MSep 23, 2026
TECHNICAL COMMUNITIES, INC.12$2.4MOct 7, 2026
GOVERNMENT SCIENTIFIC SOURCE INC7$411KSep 22, 2026
TOPTICA PHOTONICS INC6$614KOct 7, 2026
TITANIUM LOGISTIC SERVICES, LLC6$558KFeb 24, 2026
PARYMON CORP5$3.5MSep 21, 2026
Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC4$2.7MSep 24, 2026
AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC · $A · $7.4B4$1.5MSep 23, 2025
Rohde & Schwarz USA, Inc.4$1.0MSep 30, 2026
GOVAGE, INC.4$898KOct 1, 2026

Value counts new single-winner awards. "Shared" awards are multiple-award contracts that list every winner with the same total ceiling (same contract, or the same office, day and amount); that ceiling is not one company's win, so it is not added in. Contract modifications are not new awards and are not added in either (1 here). Revenue next to a ticker is the company's revenue over the latest 12 months in its SEC filings.

Investor context
  • $A reported $7.4B revenue (12 months to Jul 31, 2026). The median single-winner award in these 744 past awards, $100K, is under 0.1% of that. SEC filing

One award's total value against one year of revenue; many awards are paid over several years.

Latest awards

Competitive landscape

For the 8 most frequent past winners above. Lobbying is matched by the company's exact name or exact ticker; agencies are as named on the filings.

  • 0 of these past winners lobbied Commerce, Dept of (DOC) since 2024 (0 filings)
  • 0 of their lobbyists list a past Commerce, Dept of (DOC) job
  • No corporate PAC money from them to the overseeing committees since 2024
  • 0 foreign-agent (FARA) registrations
See who and the source records with Pro

Policy around it

Bills the past winners named while lobbying this agency's issues, rules from the department, and executive orders that name the agency, last 12 months.

  • 0 bills named on the past winners' lobbying filings
  • 373 rules from the department in the last 12 months
  • 0 executive orders naming the agency in the last 12 months
See who and the source records with Pro

Market

For past winners matched exactly to a listed company. Insider trades are open-market buys and sells (Form 4) in the last 90 days, shown as facts; our own study found insiders do not reliably buy ahead of awards. A sale marked 10b5-1 was made under a trading plan set up in advance.

  • 1 of the past winners are listed companies
  • 0 insider buys and 1 insider sells at them in the last 90 days
See who and the source records with Pro

Sources: SAM.gov notices and award notices; Senate LDA lobbying filings; FEC filings; FARA; Federal Register; congress.gov; SEC Form 4. Every row above links to its record.

Companies are matched to tickers by exact name, including the subsidiaries a company lists in its SEC filings. A company we could not match shows no market rows; that is a miss, not a finding.