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Examiner James H Blackwell

TECH CENTER 2100 · 2 ART UNITS · 437 DECIDED APPLICATIONS · LAST ACTION AUG 2024
ALLOWANCE RATE = SHARE OF DECIDED APPLICATIONS (ALLOWED + ABANDONED); PENDING EXCLUDED
OVERALL ALLOWANCE RATE · POOLED ACROSS 2 ART UNITS
51%vs 57% weighted peer average6 pts

Examiner James H Blackwell has allowed 221 of 437 decided applications in Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security.

allowed221abandoned216pending0· pending excluded from the rate
The weighted peer average (57%) is each art unit's average below, weighted by this examiner's applications in it (2 art units).
DATA UPDATED JULY 14, 2026
AU 2177 · 44%AU 2176 · 60%
// READING THIS EXAMINER

What the data says.

James H Blackwell has a pooled allowance rate of 51% across hundreds of decided applications in Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security). His record spans 2 art units. The allowance rate—the percentage of applications that issued as allowed versus abandoned among all decided applications—ranges from 44% to 60% across these art units. This range reflects variation in the examiner's record within TC 2100; the pooled 51% figure represents the aggregate outcome across both units combined.

// HOW TO READ THESE NUMBERS

How to read these numbers.

A pooled record aggregates an examiner's performance across multiple art units, yielding an overall allowance rate that describes past outcomes rather than predicting future results on any specific application. The range shown (44% to 60%) indicates that allowance rates vary by art unit; the pooled 51% is the combined average. Pooled figures serve as a historical reference and do not account for the particular merits, claims, or prosecution history of any individual case.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 2177
264 APPS · 44% ALLOWANCE
44% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 55%
DISPOSITION117 / 147 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION26 moart unit avg 22.5 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY53.3 moart unit avg 40.7 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 eligibility45%art unit 40%+5 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)84%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness95%art unit 90%+5 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness27%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW56%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW35%+21 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 116 decided applications with an interview and 148 without.

ART UNIT 2176
173 APPS · 60% ALLOWANCE

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

60% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 59%
DISPOSITION104 / 69 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION33.2 moart unit avg 23.7 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY52.2 moart unit avg 40.5 mo
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW86%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW49%+37 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 51 decided applications with an interview and 122 without.

// FAQ

Questions about Examiner James H Blackwell

  • What is James H Blackwell's overall allowance rate?
    His pooled allowance rate is 51% across hundreds of decided applications, meaning that 51% of his decided applications (allowed plus abandoned) resulted in allowance.
  • How many art units does this examiner cover?
    Blackwell has a public record spanning 2 art units within Technology Center 2100.
  • Does the allowance rate vary across his art units?
    Yes. The allowance rate ranges from 44% to 60% across his art units, reflecting variation in outcomes by unit. The pooled 51% combines all units together.
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METHODOLOGY & DISCLOSURES

Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner James H Blackwell 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: 437 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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