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Examiner Joseph P Hirl

TECH CENTER 2100 · 2 ART UNITS · 360 DECIDED APPLICATIONS · LAST ACTION MAY 2009
ALLOWANCE RATE = SHARE OF DECIDED APPLICATIONS (ALLOWED + ABANDONED); PENDING EXCLUDED
OVERALL ALLOWANCE RATE · POOLED ACROSS 2 ART UNITS
72%vs 64% weighted peer average+8 pts

Examiner Joseph P Hirl has allowed 258 of 360 decided applications in Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security.

allowed258abandoned102pending0· pending excluded from the rate
The weighted peer average (64%) is each art unit's average below, weighted by this examiner's applications in it (2 art units).
DATA UPDATED JULY 14, 2026
AU 2129 · 74%AU 2121 · 62%
// READING THIS EXAMINER

What the data says.

Joseph P Hirl maintains a pooled allowance rate of 72% across hundreds of decided applications in Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security). His record spans 2 art units. The allowance rate ranges from 62% to 74% across these art units, indicating variation in the decided application outcomes within his portfolio. This pooled figure represents allowed and abandoned applications only and does not include pending cases.

// HOW TO READ THESE NUMBERS

How to read these numbers.

This pooled record aggregates data across multiple art units within TC 2100. The overall allowance rate describes the examiner's historical disposition on decided applications and is not a prediction of any specific application's outcome. The range reflects differences in allowance rates among individual art units; the pooled figure represents the combined record across all units in the examiner's portfolio.

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 2129
299 APPS · 74% ALLOWANCE

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

74% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 65%
DISPOSITION220 / 79 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION28.7 moart unit avg 28.5 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY47.7 moart unit avg 42.3 mo
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW90%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW69%+21 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 62 decided applications with an interview and 237 without.

ART UNIT 2121
61 APPS · 62% ALLOWANCE

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

62% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 57%
DISPOSITION38 / 23 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION25.9 moart unit avg 27 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY38 moart unit avg 39.9 mo
// FAQ

Questions about Examiner Joseph P Hirl

  • What is Joseph P Hirl's overall allowance rate?
    72% across hundreds of decided applications pooled across all his art units in TC 2100. This represents allowed and abandoned applications; pending applications are excluded.
  • How many art units does this examiner cover?
    2 art units within Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security).
  • Does the allowance rate vary across his art units?
    Yes. The allowance rate ranges from 62% to 74% across these art units, reflecting variation in the decided application outcomes among individual art units.
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METHODOLOGY & DISCLOSURES

Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner Joseph P Hirl 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: 360 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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