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Examiner Alicia M Willoughby

TECH CENTER 2100 · 3 ART UNITS · 568 DECIDED APPLICATIONS · LAST ACTION JUN 2026
ALLOWANCE RATE = SHARE OF DECIDED APPLICATIONS (ALLOWED + ABANDONED); PENDING EXCLUDED
OVERALL ALLOWANCE RATE · POOLED ACROSS 3 ART UNITS
55%vs 66% weighted peer average11 pts

Examiner Alicia M Willoughby has allowed 315 of 568 decided applications in Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security.

allowed315abandoned253pending43· pending excluded from the rate
The weighted peer average (66%) is each art unit's average below, weighted by this examiner's applications in it (3 art units).
DATA UPDATED JULY 14, 2026
AU 2167 · 56%AU 2164 · 38%AU 2156 · 96%
// READING THIS EXAMINER

What the data says.

Alicia M Willoughby maintains a 55% allowance rate across hundreds of decided applications in Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security). Her public record spans three art units within this technology center. The allowance rate—the share of decided applications (allowed and abandoned combined) that were allowed—reflects her pooled activity across these art units. Allowance rates vary among her art units, ranging from 38% to 96%. This range indicates substantive differences in outcomes across the distinct subject-matter areas in which she has examined. The figures presented here describe her historical record and do not forecast outcomes in any specific application.

// HOW TO READ THESE NUMBERS

How to read these numbers.

This profile aggregates Alicia M Willoughby's record across multiple art units within TC 2100. A pooled allowance rate combines allowed and abandoned applications from all her art units into a single figure, masking variation among them. The 55% overall rate and the 38%–96% range across units reflect her past activity only. These historical statistics describe what has happened; they are not predictive of what will occur in any future application and do not account for the specifics of any particular case.

These are aggregate statistics from this examiner's past public record — not predictions about any specific application. The per-art-unit figures below show how the record varies across art units. Our approach to patent prosecution →

// BY ART UNIT

The record, art unit by art unit.

Each section benchmarks this examiner against that art unit's average. Figures are this examiner's own public record within the art unit; the overall rate above pools them.

◈ PRIMARY · ART UNIT 2167
326 APPS · 56% ALLOWANCE

Primarily examines information retrieval and database structures.

56% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 67%
DISPOSITION184 / 142 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION20.9 moart unit avg 24.5 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY43.6 moart unit avg 41.2 mo
// REJECTION PROFILE
REJECTION RATE = SHARE OF THIS EXAMINER'S APPLICATIONS THAT DREW ≥1 OFFICE-ACTION REJECTION IN WHICH THE GROUND APPEARS

Grounds can co-occur, so the four don't sum to 100%. The art-unit figure is the unweighted mean across examiners in the art unit; §102 and §112 carry no art-unit benchmark.

§101 — Subject-matter eligibility51%art unit 43%+8 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)62%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness87%art unit 75%+12 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness56%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

Allowance rate for applications with an examiner interview versus without one.

WITH INTERVIEW64%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW46%+18 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 188 decided applications with an interview and 138 without.

ART UNIT 2164
173 APPS · 38% ALLOWANCE

Primarily examines information retrieval and database structures.

38% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 62%
DISPOSITION65 / 108 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION26 moart unit avg 22.7 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY51 moart unit avg 43.4 mo
// REJECTION PROFILE
REJECTION RATE = SHARE OF THIS EXAMINER'S APPLICATIONS THAT DREW ≥1 OFFICE-ACTION REJECTION IN WHICH THE GROUND APPEARS

Grounds can co-occur, so the four don't sum to 100%. The art-unit figure is the unweighted mean across examiners in the art unit; §102 and §112 carry no art-unit benchmark.

§101 — Subject-matter eligibility60%art unit 58%+2 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)47%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness88%art unit 88%±0 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness49%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

Allowance rate for applications with an examiner interview versus without one.

WITH INTERVIEW59%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW25%+34 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 63 decided applications with an interview and 110 without.

ART UNIT 2156
112 APPS · 96% ALLOWANCE

Primarily examines information retrieval and database structures.

96% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 69%
DISPOSITION66 / 3 / 43allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION18.7 moart unit avg 20.8 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY27.2 moart unit avg 40.1 mo
// REJECTION PROFILE
REJECTION RATE = SHARE OF THIS EXAMINER'S APPLICATIONS THAT DREW ≥1 OFFICE-ACTION REJECTION IN WHICH THE GROUND APPEARS

Grounds can co-occur, so the four don't sum to 100%. The art-unit figure is the unweighted mean across examiners in the art unit; §102 and §112 carry no art-unit benchmark.

§101 — Subject-matter eligibility65%art unit 55%+10 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)52%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness91%art unit 84%+7 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness54%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

Allowance rate for applications with an examiner interview versus without one.

WITH INTERVIEW95%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW96%-1 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 43 decided applications with an interview and 26 without.

// FAQ

Questions about Examiner Alicia M Willoughby

  • What is Alicia M Willoughby's overall allowance rate?
    55% across hundreds of decided applications in Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security). The allowance rate is the share of decided applications (allowed plus abandoned) that were allowed.
  • How many art units has she examined in?
    Three art units within TC 2100.
  • What is the range of allowance rates across her art units?
    Allowance rates range from 38% to 96% among the art units in which she has a substantial record. This variation reflects different patterns across the distinct subject areas within the technology center.
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METHODOLOGY & DISCLOSURES

Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner Alicia M Willoughby has a public record within Technology Center 2100. Statistics are computed from publicly available USPTO records, refreshed on a recurring schedule. This page's data was last updated July 14, 2026. The overall allowance rate is total allowed divided by total decided applications (allowed plus abandoned) across all art units — not an average of the per-art-unit rates; pending applications are excluded. Figures are rounded for display. Pooled sample: 611 applications.

Rejection rates. Each §-rate is the share of this examiner's applications that drew at least one office-action rejection in which that statutory ground appears; applications with no rejection on record are excluded, and because grounds can co-occur the four do not sum to 100%. The art-unit figure beside each is the unweighted mean of the per-examiner rates across the art unit, published for §101 and §103 only. Beside the overall allowance rate we show a benchmark: for a single-art-unit examiner it is exactly that art unit's average, labeled “art-unit average”; for an examiner spanning several art units it is the “weighted peer average” — the per-art-unit averages, weighted by this examiner's application count in each — labeled distinctly because it is a blended figure, not any single art unit's average. Both are built from the same per-art-unit averages the panels show.

Lynch LLP is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Examiner statistics are derived from publicly available USPTO data.

These statistics describe past examiner behavior and do not predict the outcome of any particular application. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Where this page compares an examiner's allowance rate to an art-unit average, that comparison is a factual description of the public record, not a characterization of any individual examiner's conduct or competence.

This page is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed by viewing it. Full disclaimers →

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