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Examiner Frank D Mills

TECH CENTER 2100 · 2 ART UNITS · 626 DECIDED APPLICATIONS · LAST ACTION JUN 2026
ALLOWANCE RATE = SHARE OF DECIDED APPLICATIONS (ALLOWED + ABANDONED); PENDING EXCLUDED
OVERALL ALLOWANCE RATE · POOLED ACROSS 2 ART UNITS
71%vs 62% weighted peer average+9 pts

Examiner Frank D Mills has allowed 442 of 626 decided applications in Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security.

allowed442abandoned184pending36· pending excluded from the rate
The weighted peer average (62%) is each art unit's average below, weighted by this examiner's applications in it (2 art units).
DATA UPDATED JULY 14, 2026
AU 2176 · 64%AU 2194 · 89%
// READING THIS EXAMINER

What the data says.

Frank D Mills maintains an allowance rate of 71% across hundreds of decided applications in Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security). His record spans 2 art units within this technology center. The allowance rate—the percentage of applications that were allowed among all decided (allowed and abandoned) applications—reflects outcomes pooled across these art units. Allowance rates across his art units range from 64% to 89%. This aggregate figure describes his historical record and does not predict outcomes in any specific application.

// HOW TO READ THESE NUMBERS

How to read these numbers.

An examiner's pooled allowance rate aggregates results across multiple art units and reflects past dispositions only. The rate shown here combines data from all art units in which the examiner has maintained a substantial record. Because different art units involve different subject matter and application complexities, the pooled rate masks variation; the range provided shows the spread across individual units. Pooled statistics are historical facts, not forecasts of any pending or future application.

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 2176
456 APPS · 64% ALLOWANCE

Primarily examines general computer details, and program control and execution.

64% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 59%
DISPOSITION290 / 166 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION24.2 moart unit avg 23.7 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY41.4 moart unit avg 40.5 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 eligibility48%art unit 40%+8 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)51%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness95%art unit 87%+8 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness51%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW78%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW55%+23 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 169 decided applications with an interview and 287 without.

ART UNIT 2194
206 APPS · 89% ALLOWANCE

Primarily examines program control and execution.

89% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 69%
DISPOSITION152 / 18 / 36allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION28.2 moart unit avg 28 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY35.3 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 eligibility61%art unit 49%+12 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)50%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness96%art unit 79%+17 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness46%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW100%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW82%+18 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 68 decided applications with an interview and 102 without.

// FAQ

Questions about Examiner Frank D Mills

  • What is Frank D Mills's overall allowance rate?
    His allowance rate is 71%, measured as the percentage of allowed applications among all decided (allowed and abandoned) applications, pooled across his art units.
  • How many art units does this examiner work in?
    Frank D Mills has maintained a public record across 2 art units within TC 2100.
  • What is the range of allowance rates across his art units?
    Allowance rates across his art units range from 64% to 89%, reflecting variation in outcomes by unit.
  • Does this pooled rate predict the outcome of my application?
    No. The pooled rate describes past outcomes across hundreds of decided applications and is not a prediction of any specific application's outcome.
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METHODOLOGY & DISCLOSURES

Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner Frank D Mills 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: 662 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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