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Examiner Stella Eun Higgs

TECH CENTER 2100 · 2 ART UNITS · 298 DECIDED APPLICATIONS · LAST ACTION APR 2023
ALLOWANCE RATE = SHARE OF DECIDED APPLICATIONS (ALLOWED + ABANDONED); PENDING EXCLUDED
OVERALL ALLOWANCE RATE · POOLED ACROSS 2 ART UNITS
40%vs 53% weighted peer average13 pts

Examiner Stella Eun Higgs has allowed 118 of 298 decided applications in Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security.

allowed118abandoned180pending0· pending excluded from the rate
The weighted peer average (53%) is each art unit's average below, weighted by this examiner's applications in it (2 art units).
DATA UPDATED JULY 14, 2026
AU 2179 · 39%AU 2189 · 50%
// READING THIS EXAMINER

What the data says.

Examiner Stella Eun Higgs maintains a public record across 2 art units in Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security). Across hundreds of decided applications pooled from these art units, the allowance rate is 40%. This figure reflects the share of decided applications (allowed and abandoned) in the examiner's record. The record spans multiple art units within TC 2100, and the aggregate allowance rate presented here combines outcomes across all of them. The 40% rate is descriptive of the examiner's historical decided applications and does not predict outcomes in any particular case.

// HOW TO READ THESE NUMBERS

How to read these numbers.

This examiner's pooled record aggregates decided applications across multiple art units within TC 2100. The 40% allowance rate is a historical aggregate and describes only the examiner's past decided applications. Pooled figures across art units do not indicate performance on any specific application, technology, or claim type. Each application is examined independently. Aggregate statistics are correlational, not predictive, and do not indicate how any particular case will be handled.

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 2179
292 APPS · 39% ALLOWANCE
39% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 53%
DISPOSITION115 / 177 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION21.9 moart unit avg 26.3 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY47 moart unit avg 43.3 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 eligibility52%art unit 39%+13 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)78%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness98%art unit 86%+12 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness59%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW57%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW18%+39 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 161 decided applications with an interview and 131 without.

ART UNIT 2189
6 APPS · 50% ALLOWANCE · LIMITED DATA

Primarily examines computer-aided design (CAD).

50% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 77%
DISPOSITION3 / 3 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION28.6 moart unit avg 26.4 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY40.1 moart unit avg 39 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 45%+5 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)50%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness50%art unit 72%22 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness25%no art-unit benchmark

Based on 6 applications — too small a sample to characterize the rejection mix reliably; shown for completeness.

// FAQ

Questions about Examiner Stella Eun Higgs

  • What is Examiner Higgs's overall allowance rate?
    The allowance rate is 40% across hundreds of decided applications pooled from all art units. This is the share of applications the examiner allowed out of all decided applications (allowed and abandoned). Pending applications are not included in this calculation.
  • How many art units does this record cover?
    The record spans 2 art units within Technology Center 2100 (Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security). The pooled allowance rate combines outcomes across both art units.
  • Does the 40% rate predict what will happen to my application?
    No. The 40% figure is a historical aggregate of decided applications and is not a prediction of any specific application's outcome. Each application is examined on its own merits.
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METHODOLOGY & DISCLOSURES

Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner Stella Eun Higgs 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: 298 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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