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Examiner Charles J Cai

TECH CENTER 2100 · 2 ART UNITS · 371 DECIDED APPLICATIONS · LAST ACTION JUN 2026
ALLOWANCE RATE = SHARE OF DECIDED APPLICATIONS (ALLOWED + ABANDONED); PENDING EXCLUDED
OVERALL ALLOWANCE RATE · POOLED ACROSS 2 ART UNITS
85%vs 81% weighted peer average+4 pts

Examiner Charles J Cai has allowed 315 of 371 decided applications in Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security.

allowed315abandoned56pending39· pending excluded from the rate
The weighted peer average (81%) is each art unit's average below, weighted by this examiner's applications in it (2 art units).
DATA UPDATED JULY 14, 2026
AU 2115 · 85%AU 2117 · 100%
// READING THIS EXAMINER

What the data says.

Charles J Cai maintains an 85% allowance rate across hundreds of decided applications in Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security). His public record spans 2 art units within TC 2100. The allowance rate represents the share of decided applications—those allowed or abandoned—in his pooled record. This figure reflects past dispositions and does not predict outcomes in any individual application. The record aggregates work across multiple art units and reflects historical decision patterns only.

// HOW TO READ THESE NUMBERS

How to read these numbers.

This examiner's pooled record aggregates decisions across multiple art units within TC 2100. The overall allowance rate of 85% describes the historical share of allowed applications among all decided cases and is not a prediction of any specific application's outcome. Pooled figures mask variation across individual art units and do not indicate how any particular application will be examined. Each case is distinct and the record shown here is correlational, not predictive.

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 2115
407 APPS · 85% ALLOWANCE

Primarily examines control or regulating systems, and electric power networks.

85% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 81%
DISPOSITION312 / 56 / 39allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION20.4 moart unit avg 25.4 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY30.2 moart unit avg 36.3 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 eligibility31%art unit 33%2 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)94%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness93%art unit 83%+10 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness81%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW94%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW69%+25 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 230 decided applications with an interview and 138 without.

ART UNIT 2117
3 APPS · 100% ALLOWANCE · LIMITED DATA

Primarily examines control or regulating systems.

100% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 74%
DISPOSITION3 / 0 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION16.6 moart unit avg 20.2 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY22.8 moart unit avg 33.2 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 eligibility33%art unit 33%±0 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)100%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness100%art unit 78%+22 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness100%no art-unit benchmark

Based on 3 applications — too small a sample to characterize the rejection mix reliably; shown for completeness.

// FAQ

Questions about Examiner Charles J Cai

  • What is Charles J Cai's overall allowance rate?
    His allowance rate is 85%, representing the share of allowed applications among his decided cases pooled across all art units.
  • How many art units does this examiner cover?
    His public record spans 2 art units within Technology Center 2100.
  • Does this pooled rate apply to my application?
    No. This rate aggregates past decisions across multiple art units and is not a prediction of any individual application's outcome. Each application is examined on its own merits.
  • What technology does this examiner handle?
    Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security).
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METHODOLOGY & DISCLOSURES

Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner Charles J Cai 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: 410 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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