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◈ USPTO PATENT EXAMINER STATISTICS

Examiner Diem K Cao

TECH CENTER 2100 · 3 ART UNITS · 877 DECIDED APPLICATIONS · LAST ACTION JUN 2026
ALLOWANCE RATE = SHARE OF DECIDED APPLICATIONS (ALLOWED + ABANDONED); PENDING EXCLUDED
OVERALL ALLOWANCE RATE · POOLED ACROSS 3 ART UNITS
80%vs 72% weighted peer average+8 pts

Examiner Diem K Cao has allowed 701 of 877 decided applications in Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security.

allowed701abandoned176pending38· pending excluded from the rate
The weighted peer average (72%) is each art unit's average below, weighted by this examiner's applications in it (3 art units).
DATA UPDATED JULY 14, 2026
AU 2196 · 83%AU 2194 · 71%AU 2126 · 79%
// READING THIS EXAMINER

What the data says.

Diem K Cao maintains a pooled allowance rate of 80% across hundreds of decided applications in Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security). The examiner's record spans three art units within TC 2100. The allowance rate across these art units ranges from 71% to 83%, reflecting variation in the examiner's record by subject-matter unit. This pooled figure represents the share of decided applications (allowed and abandoned) that were allowed, and does not include pending applications.

// HOW TO READ THESE NUMBERS

How to read these numbers.

This pooled record aggregates the examiner's decisions across multiple art units in TC 2100. The 80% allowance rate describes the historical share of decided applications that were allowed. Because the rate is pooled across different art units, it does not predict outcomes in any specific application or art unit. Individual art-unit records may differ materially from the pooled figure.

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 2196
686 APPS · 83% ALLOWANCE

Primarily examines program control and execution.

83% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 73%
DISPOSITION537 / 111 / 38allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION25.2 moart unit avg 27.3 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY39.8 moart unit avg 41.8 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 46%13 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)68%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness79%art unit 86%7 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness58%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW89%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW78%+11 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 275 decided applications with an interview and 373 without.

ART UNIT 2194
215 APPS · 71% ALLOWANCE

Primarily examines program control and execution.

71% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 69%
DISPOSITION153 / 62 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION37.4 moart unit avg 28 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY57.9 moart unit avg 43.9 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 eligibility67%art unit 49%+18 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)0%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness67%art unit 79%12 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness33%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW92%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW51%+41 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 107 decided applications with an interview and 108 without.

ART UNIT 2126
14 APPS · 79% ALLOWANCE · LIMITED DATA

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

79% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 63%
DISPOSITION11 / 3 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION32.6 moart unit avg 29.4 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY42.1 moart unit avg 44.4 mo
// FAQ

Questions about Examiner Diem K Cao

  • What is Diem K Cao's overall allowance rate?
    The pooled allowance rate is 80% across hundreds of decided applications in Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security).
  • How many art units does this examiner cover?
    The record spans three art units within TC 2100: art units 2126, 2194, and 2196.
  • Does the allowance rate vary by art unit?
    Yes. The allowance rate ranges from 71% to 83% across the examiner's art units. The pooled figure of 80% is an aggregate across all art units and does not apply uniformly to each.
  • What does this pooled rate tell me about my application?
    The pooled rate is a historical summary and is not a prediction of any specific application's outcome. The examiner's rate in your specific art unit may differ from the pooled figure.
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METHODOLOGY & DISCLOSURES

Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner Diem K Cao 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: 915 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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