Note about colors
- Red is generally associated with longer prosecution and/or harder-to-obtain allowances.
- Green is generally associated with shorter prosecution and/or easier-to-obtain allowances.
- Gold is generally associated with more-experienced examiners.
- Blue is generally associated with less-experienced examiners.
Thus, a lot of red and gold means an experienced, "difficult" examiner.
A lot of green and gold is an experienced, "easy" examiner.
A lot of blue means an inexperienced examiner (and thus higher expected variance in her metrics).
Basic Stats
Allowance Rate
Applications allowed / (applications allowed + applications abandoned)
To get a better sense of applications that were abandoned on the merits, abandonments during preexam are ignored and abandonments for failure
to pay issue fee are treated as allowances. Based on applications disposed in the last three years.
Actions per Allowance
(Non-final rejections + final rejections + examiner answers + restrictions + Ex-Parte Quayle actions) / Applications allowed
Based on applications disposed in the last three years.
Months to First Action
Number of months from filing or 371 date until the first non-final rejection, final rejection, or allowance. Based on applications disposed in the last three years.
Based on applications disposed in the last three years.
Months to First Allowance
Number of months from filing or 371 date until the first allowance. Time to first allowance better reflects
the portion of the timeline that is in the examiner's control. (e.g., it ignores delays in paying the issue
fee and delays resulting from the filing of RCEs with IDSs after allowance). Based on applications disposed in the last three years.
Appeal Stats
PTAB Affirmance Rate
Percentage of PTAB decisions in which the examiner was completely affirmed. Affirmed-in-part is not counted as an affirmance.
PTAB Decisions
Number PTAB decisions in the past three years.
After-Final Response Outcomes
RCE
Percentage of after-final responses which were followed by an RCE
Appeal Brief
Percentage of after-final responses which were followed by an Appeal Brief
Appeal Brief
Percentage of after-final responses which received an allowance without an intervening RCE or an Appeal Brief
Reopen
Percentage of after-final responses which received a new office action without an intervening RCE or an Appeal Brief.
AFCP 2.0 Outcomes
Same as for After-Final Response Outcomes, except limited to the after-final responses which were accompanied
by a request for consideration under the after-final consideration pilot program.
Pre-Appeal Request Outcomes
Proceed to Board
The percentage of pre-appeal requests that were met with a decision of "proceed to board." Other requests resulted either in re-opening
of prosecution or an allowance.
Appeal Brief Outcomes
Nonfinal or Final Rejection
The percentage of appeal briefs which resulted in the examiner reopening prosecution, without an intervening RCE.
Examiner Answer or Board Decision
The percentage of appeal briefs which the examiner answered or (in the come cases) went straight to a board decision without an examiner answer.
Allowance
The percentage of appeal briefs which resulted in an allowance without an intervening office action, appeal brief, or RCE.
Defective
The percentage of appeal briefs which were determined to be defective.
Examiner-Initiated Interviews
Allowance Rate With
Allowed Applications with at least one examiner-initiated interview / (All Disposed Applications with at least one examiner-initiated interview)
Number of Interviews
Number of examiner-initiated interviews in the past three years
Actions per Interview
Number of actions in applications with at least one examiner-initiated interview / Number of one examiner-initiated interviews
Applicant-Initiated Interviews
Allowance Rate With
Allowed Applications with at least one applicant-initiated interview / (All Disposed Applications with at least one applicant-initiated interview)
Number of Interviews
Number of applicant-initiated interviews in the past three years
Actions per Interview
Number of actions in applications with at least one applicant-initiated interview / Number of one applicant-initiated interviews
Experience
Nonfinal Rejections
Total number of nonfinal rejections the examiner has mailed.
Final Rejections
Total number of final rejections the examiner has mailed.
Restrictions
Total number of restrictions the examiner has mailed.
Examiner Answers
Total number of examiner answers the examiner has mailed.
Ex Parte Quayle
Total number of nonfinal rejections the examiner has mailed.