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Examiner Thomas J Cleary

TECH CENTER 2100 · 4 ART UNITS · 956 DECIDED APPLICATIONS · LAST ACTION JUN 2026
ALLOWANCE RATE = SHARE OF DECIDED APPLICATIONS (ALLOWED + ABANDONED); PENDING EXCLUDED
OVERALL ALLOWANCE RATE · POOLED ACROSS 4 ART UNITS
72%vs 73% weighted peer average1 pt

Examiner Thomas J Cleary has allowed 690 of 956 decided applications in Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security.

allowed690abandoned266pending31· pending excluded from the rate
The weighted peer average (73%) is each art unit's average below, weighted by this examiner's applications in it (4 art units).
DATA UPDATED JULY 14, 2026
AU 2111 · 61%AU 2185 · 79%AU 2175 · 86%AU 2186 · 81%
// READING THIS EXAMINER

What the data says.

Thomas J Cleary 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 four art units: 2111, 2175, 2185, and 2186. The allowance rate ranges from 61% to 86% across these art units, reflecting variation in outcomes within the technology center. This pooled figure represents the share of his decided applications—those allowed or abandoned—and does not include pending matters.

// HOW TO READ THESE NUMBERS

How to read these numbers.

A pooled record aggregates data across multiple art units, presenting an overall portrait of past outcomes rather than a prediction for any individual application. The allowance rate reflects historical decisions on applications that have been concluded (allowed or abandoned). When an examiner works across several art units, variation among them is normal. The aggregate figure and the range both describe what has occurred; neither forecasts the disposition of a specific case.

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 2111
413 APPS · 61% ALLOWANCE
61% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 80%
DISPOSITION250 / 163 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION24 moart unit avg 20.2 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY42 moart unit avg 31.7 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 eligibility25%art unit 21%+4 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)79%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness83%art unit 72%+11 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness82%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW68%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW58%+10 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 114 decided applications with an interview and 299 without.

ART UNIT 2185
299 APPS · 79% ALLOWANCE
79% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 67%
DISPOSITION237 / 62 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION17.8 moart unit avg 21.6 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY29.6 moart unit avg 36.3 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 eligibility19%art unit 19%±0 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)99%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness80%art unit 77%+3 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness78%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW88%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW76%+12 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 84 decided applications with an interview and 215 without.

ART UNIT 2175
145 APPS · 86% ALLOWANCE

Primarily examines general computer details, and program control and execution.

86% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 66%
DISPOSITION98 / 16 / 31allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION19.8 moart unit avg 22.8 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY29.3 moart unit avg 37.8 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 eligibility17%art unit 29%12 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)100%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness86%art unit 87%1 pt
§112 — Written description & definiteness81%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW91%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW81%+10 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 55 decided applications with an interview and 59 without.

ART UNIT 2186
130 APPS · 81% ALLOWANCE

Primarily examines computer-aided design (CAD).

81% allowance (of decided)▏ art-unit average 72%
DISPOSITION105 / 25 / 0allowed / abandoned / pending
FIRST ACTION14.9 moart unit avg 22.9 mo
TOTAL PENDENCY24.6 moart unit avg 35 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 eligibility15%art unit 32%17 pts
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)100%no art-unit benchmark
§103 — Obviousness90%art unit 83%+7 pts
§112 — Written description & definiteness89%no art-unit benchmark
// INTERVIEW SPLIT

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

WITH INTERVIEW87%allowance share
WITHOUT INTERVIEW77%+10 pt difference

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 53 decided applications with an interview and 77 without.

// FAQ

Questions about Examiner Thomas J Cleary

  • What is Thomas J Cleary's overall allowance rate?
    His pooled allowance rate is 72% across hundreds of decided applications in TC 2100.
  • How many art units does this examiner work in?
    Thomas J Cleary has a substantial record in four art units: 2111, 2175, 2185, and 2186.
  • What is the range of allowance rates across his art units?
    Allowance rates range from 61% to 86% across his art units, reflecting variation within TC 2100.
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METHODOLOGY & DISCLOSURES

Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner Thomas J Cleary 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: 987 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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