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◈ USPTO PATENT EXAMINER STATISTICS

Examiner Li B Zhen

TECH CENTER 2100 · 4 ART UNITS · 294 DECIDED APPLICATIONS · LAST ACTION OCT 2025
ALLOWANCE RATE = SHARE OF DECIDED APPLICATIONS (ALLOWED + ABANDONED); PENDING EXCLUDED
OVERALL ALLOWANCE RATE · POOLED ACROSS 4 ART UNITS
52%vs 67% weighted peer average15 pts

Examiner Li B Zhen has allowed 152 of 294 decided applications in Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security.

allowed152abandoned142pending7· pending excluded from the rate
The weighted peer average (67%) is each art unit's average below, weighted by this examiner's applications in it (4 art units).
DATA UPDATED JULY 14, 2026
AU 2194 · 61%AU 2121 · 9%AU 2197 · 33%AU 2126 · 63%
// READING THIS EXAMINER

What the data says.

Examiner Li B Zhen maintains a public record across 4 art units within Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security). Across hundreds of decided applications, the examiner's pooled allowance rate is 52%. This aggregate figure reflects outcomes across multiple art units with varying allowance rates. The allowance rate ranges from 9% to 61% across these art units, reflecting differences in application characteristics and examination outcomes within the technology center. This pooled record represents the examiner's historical disposition of decided applications—those allowed or abandoned—and does not constitute a prediction for any specific application.

// HOW TO READ THESE NUMBERS

How to read these numbers.

A pooled record aggregates data across multiple art units and subject-matter categories. The overall allowance rate describes past outcomes across all decided applications combined, not a forecast for any individual case. Variation in allowance rates across art units reflects differences in application complexity, prior art, and claim scope within each unit. Pooled statistics describe the examiner's historical record and are not predictive of the outcome of any particular application under examination.

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 2194
231 APPS · 61% ALLOWANCE

Primarily examines program control and execution.

61% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 69%
DISPOSITION140 / 91 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION36.7 moart unit avg 28 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY59.7 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 eligibility0%art unit 49%49 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)0%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness33%art unit 79%46 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness67%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW90%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW28%+62 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 121 decided applications with an interview and 110 without.

ART UNIT 2121
53 APPS · 9% ALLOWANCE

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

9% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 57%
DISPOSITION4 / 42 / 7allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION34.2 moart unit avg 27 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY47.8 moart unit avg 39.9 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 eligibility73%art unit 46%+27 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)90%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness94%art unit 86%+8 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness58%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW6%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW10%-4 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 17 decided applications with an interview and 29 without.

ART UNIT 2197
9 APPS · 33% ALLOWANCE · LIMITED DATA

Primarily examines program control and execution, and software engineering.

33% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 69%
DISPOSITION3 / 6 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION39.4 moart unit avg 26 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY100.2 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 eligibility50%art unit 53%3 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)50%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness100%art unit 90%+10 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness0%no art-unit benchmark

Based on 9 applications — too small a sample to characterize the rejection mix reliably; shown for completeness.

ART UNIT 2126
8 APPS · 63% ALLOWANCE · LIMITED DATA

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

63% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 63%
DISPOSITION5 / 3 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION31.1 moart unit avg 29.4 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY34.7 moart unit avg 44.4 mo
// FAQ

Questions about Examiner Li B Zhen

  • What is Examiner Li B Zhen's overall allowance rate?
    The examiner's pooled allowance rate is 52%, measured across hundreds of decided applications (allowed and abandoned combined).
  • How many art units does this examiner cover?
    The examiner has a public record across 4 art units: 2121, 2126, 2194, and 2197.
  • What is the range of allowance rates across the examiner's art units?
    The allowance rate ranges from 9% to 61% across the examiner's art units, reflecting variation in outcomes within TC 2100.
  • Does this pooled rate predict my application's outcome?
    No. This pooled record describes past outcomes across all decided applications and is not a prediction of the outcome of any specific application.
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METHODOLOGY & DISCLOSURES

Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner Li B Zhen 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: 301 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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