LYNCH·LLP
HOME/EXAMINERS/TC 2100/CHRISTOPHER W CARTER
◈ FIND AN EXAMINER, ART UNIT, OR APPLICATION #
◈ USPTO PATENT EXAMINER STATISTICS

Examiner Christopher W Carter

TECH CENTER 2100 · 3 ART UNITS · 381 DECIDED APPLICATIONS · LAST ACTION JUN 2026
ALLOWANCE RATE = SHARE OF DECIDED APPLICATIONS (ALLOWED + ABANDONED); PENDING EXCLUDED
OVERALL ALLOWANCE RATE · POOLED ACROSS 3 ART UNITS
76%vs 73% weighted peer average+3 pts

Examiner Christopher W Carter has allowed 288 of 381 decided applications in Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security.

allowed288abandoned93pending54· pending excluded from the rate
The weighted peer average (73%) is each art unit's average below, weighted by this examiner's applications in it (3 art units).
DATA UPDATED JULY 14, 2026
AU 2117 · 81%AU 2118 · 65%AU 2126 · 20%
// READING THIS EXAMINER

What the data says.

Christopher W Carter maintains a 76% allowance rate across hundreds of decided applications in Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security). His record spans 3 art units within this technology center. The allowance rate ranges from 65% to 81% across these art units, reflecting variation in the composition of applications decided within each unit. This pooled figure represents the share of decided applications (allowed and abandoned combined) and does not include pending cases.

// HOW TO READ THESE NUMBERS

How to read these numbers.

This pooled record aggregates applications across multiple art units within TC 2100. The overall allowance rate of 76% describes the examiner's historical record across all decided applications in these units combined. This aggregate figure is a historical summary and is not a prediction of any specific application's outcome. Individual art-unit records, where available separately, may differ from this pooled rate.

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 2117
331 APPS · 81% ALLOWANCE

Primarily examines control or regulating systems.

81% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 74%
DISPOSITION225 / 52 / 54allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION23.6 moart unit avg 20.2 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY35.9 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 eligibility61%art unit 33%+28 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)89%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness83%art unit 78%+5 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness53%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW88%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW74%+14 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 137 decided applications with an interview and 140 without.

ART UNIT 2118
94 APPS · 65% ALLOWANCE
65% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 73%
DISPOSITION61 / 33 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION22.6 moart unit avg 22.1 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY41.1 moart unit avg 36.4 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 eligibility31%art unit 30%+1 pt
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)100%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness98%art unit 82%+16 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness41%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW83%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW51%+32 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 41 decided applications with an interview and 53 without.

ART UNIT 2126
10 APPS · 20% ALLOWANCE · LIMITED DATA

Primarily examines neural-network / biological-model computing, and machine learning.

20% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 63%
DISPOSITION2 / 8 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION24.4 moart unit avg 29.4 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY33.5 moart unit avg 44.4 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 eligibility40%art unit 53%13 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)100%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness100%art unit 88%+12 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness60%no art-unit benchmark

Based on 10 applications — too small a sample to characterize the rejection mix reliably; shown for completeness.

// FAQ

Questions about Examiner Christopher W Carter

  • What is Christopher W Carter's overall allowance rate?
    76% across hundreds of decided applications pooled across all his art units in TC 2100.
  • How many art units does this examiner work in?
    3 art units within Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security).
  • What is the range of allowance rates across his art units?
    The allowance rate ranges from 65% to 81% across these art units.
◈ HOW LYNCH LLP CAN HELP

Where to go next.

Lynch LLP represents applicants in patent prosecution before the USPTO. These are general resources about the firm's services — not advice about this examiner or any specific application.

Patent prosecution at Lynch LLPApplication drafting, office-action responses, and prosecution strategy before the USPTO.PTAB trials and patent appealsAppeals, inter partes review, and patent-owner defense before the PTAB.Building a patent portfolioHow a patent portfolio is sequenced and built over a multi-year horizon.Booking a consultationFree and paid consultation options across the firm's attorneys.
◈ RESPONDING TO AN OFFICE ACTION

Strategy, not paperwork. Talk to the attorney doing the work.

Lynch LLP represents applicants in patent prosecution before the USPTO. Book a consultation to discuss your matter with the attorney who would handle it.

Book a 30-minute consultation →
METHODOLOGY & DISCLOSURES

Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner Christopher W Carter 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: 435 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 →

ATTORNEY ADVERTISING — Sean Lynch, Partner, Lynch LLP