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Examiner Richard L Bowen

TECH CENTER 2100 · 3 ART UNITS · 590 DECIDED APPLICATIONS · LAST ACTION JUN 2026
ALLOWANCE RATE = SHARE OF DECIDED APPLICATIONS (ALLOWED + ABANDONED); PENDING EXCLUDED
OVERALL ALLOWANCE RATE · POOLED ACROSS 3 ART UNITS
82%vs 63% weighted peer average+19 pts

Examiner Richard L Bowen has allowed 483 of 590 decided applications in Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security.

allowed483abandoned107pending24· pending excluded from the rate
The weighted peer average (63%) is each art unit's average below, weighted by this examiner's applications in it (3 art units).
DATA UPDATED JULY 14, 2026
AU 2165 · 86%AU 2168 · 78%AU 2157 · 47%
// READING THIS EXAMINER

What the data says.

Richard L Bowen maintains an allowance rate of 82% across hundreds of decided applications in Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security). His record spans 3 art units within this technology center. The allowance rate ranges from 78% to 86% across these art units, reflecting variation in the composition of applications decided in each unit. This pooled figure represents the share of decided applications—those allowed or abandoned—and does not include pending matters.

// HOW TO READ THESE NUMBERS

How to read these numbers.

This pooled record aggregates allowance data across multiple art units, each of which may contain applications in related but distinct subject-matter areas within TC 2100. The 82% overall figure describes past decisions on applications that reached closure. Pooled rates do not account for differences in application complexity, claim scope, or prior art encountered in individual cases, and are not predictions of outcomes in any specific matter.

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 2165
404 APPS · 86% ALLOWANCE

Primarily examines information retrieval and database structures.

86% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 63%
DISPOSITION325 / 55 / 24allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION19.7 moart unit avg 22.5 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY32.9 moart unit avg 39.6 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 eligibility41%art unit 54%13 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)95%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness84%art unit 82%+2 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness45%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW91%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW77%+14 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 226 decided applications with an interview and 154 without.

ART UNIT 2168
193 APPS · 78% ALLOWANCE

Primarily examines information retrieval and database structures.

78% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 65%
DISPOSITION150 / 43 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION20.8 moart unit avg 23.3 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY37.8 moart unit avg 43.5 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 eligibility49%art unit 46%+3 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)67%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness95%art unit 83%+12 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness53%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW93%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW55%+38 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 116 decided applications with an interview and 77 without.

ART UNIT 2157
17 APPS · 47% ALLOWANCE · LIMITED DATA

Primarily examines information retrieval and database structures.

47% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 55%
DISPOSITION8 / 9 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION30.1 moart unit avg 28 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY38.6 moart unit avg 46.6 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 eligibility69%art unit 48%+21 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)69%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness92%art unit 85%+7 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness23%no art-unit benchmark

Based on 17 applications — too small a sample to characterize the rejection mix reliably; shown for completeness.

// FAQ

Questions about Examiner Richard L Bowen

  • What is Richard L Bowen's overall allowance rate?
    His pooled allowance rate is 82% across hundreds of decided applications in TC 2100.
  • How many art units does this examiner's record cover?
    The record spans 3 art units within Technology Center 2100.
  • Does the allowance rate vary across his art units?
    Yes. The allowance rate ranges from 78% to 86% across these art units.
  • What does this pooled record include?
    It includes all allowed and abandoned applications (decided applications) across the 3 art units, and excludes pending matters.
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METHODOLOGY & DISCLOSURES

Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner Richard L Bowen 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: 614 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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