Examiner Matthew Smithers has allowed 238 of 256 decided applications in Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security.
Matthew Smithers maintains a public record across Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security), spanning three art units. Across hundreds of decided applications, his allowance rate is 93%, meaning that of applications with final determinations (allowed or abandoned), 93% were allowed. This allowance rate is expressed as a pooled figure across all three art units and reflects the examiner's historical record in decided applications. The record does not include pending applications.
This pooled record aggregates data from multiple art units within TC 2100, creating an overall snapshot rather than art-unit-specific detail. The 93% allowance rate describes past outcomes in decided applications and is a historical measure of the examiner's record. Pooled figures represent an average across different subject areas and do not function as predictors of outcomes in any individual 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 →
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.
Primarily examines input/output (I/O) data transfer, and memory access and allocation.
Allowance rate for applications with an examiner interview versus without one.
A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 19 decided applications with an interview and 227 without.
Primarily examines network security, and computer and data security.
Primarily examines input/output (I/O) data transfer, and memory access and allocation.
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Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner Matthew Smithers 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: 256 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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