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◈ USPTO PATENT EXAMINER STATISTICS

Examiner Bob A Phunkulh

TECH CENTER 2400 · 3 ART UNITS · 1,044 DECIDED APPLICATIONS · LAST ACTION JUL 2026
ALLOWANCE RATE = SHARE OF DECIDED APPLICATIONS (ALLOWED + ABANDONED); PENDING EXCLUDED
OVERALL ALLOWANCE RATE · POOLED ACROSS 3 ART UNITS
90%vs 85% weighted peer average+5 pts

Examiner Bob A Phunkulh has allowed 943 of 1,044 decided applications.

943 allowed
Plus 48 applications still pending — not yet decided, so excluded from the rate.
The weighted peer average (85%) is each art unit's average below, weighted by this examiner's applications in it (3 art units).
DATA UPDATED JULY 22, 2026
AU 2412 · 92%AU 2477 · 87%AU 2419 · 84%

What the data says.reading this examiner

Bob A Phunkulh maintains a 90% allowance rate across more than a thousand decided applications in Technology Center 2400. His record spans 3 art units: 2412, 2419, and 2477. The allowance rate—the percentage of decided applications (allowed and abandoned) that issued as allowed—ranges from 84% to 92% across these art units. This pooled figure reflects the aggregate outcome of applications examined across all art units in which he maintains a substantial record.

How to read these numbers.

This pooled record aggregates outcomes across multiple art units within Technology Center 2400. The 90% allowance rate describes historical outcomes on decided applications and is not a prediction of any specific application's outcome. When an examiner works across several art units, the overall figure masks variation; the range (84% to 92%) indicates that allowance rates differ among individual art units. Pooled statistics describe past performance and do not forecast results in any particular 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 →

The record, art unit by art unit.3 art units

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 2412
833 APPS · 92% ALLOWANCE

Allowance ratewhere this examiner sits among peers

92%
higher than about 48% of the 21 examiners with published rates in art unit 2412
AU avg 89%
0%
100%
Each short mark is one of the 21 examiners with published rates in art unit 2412; the dot is this examiner. The tick is the art-unit average.

Disposition785 decided applications

720 allowed
Plus 48 applications still pending — not yet decided, so excluded from the rate.

Pendencymonths from filing

filed
first action 19mo
disposed 30.1mo
0
36mo
Art-unit average: first action 19.8 mo, disposed 31.5 mo.

Rejection groundsexaminer ● vs art-unit average ○

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 eligibility
AU 21
18%
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)
no AU benchmark
72%
§103 — Obviousness
AU 84
66%
§112 — Written description & definiteness
no AU benchmark
29%

Interview benefit

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

without
89%
+7 pts
with
96%

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 264 decided applications with an interview and 521 without.

ART UNIT 2477
182 APPS · 87% ALLOWANCE

Allowance ratewhere this examiner sits among peers

87%
higher than about 74% of the 23 examiners with published rates in art unit 2477
AU avg 80%
0%
100%
Each short mark is one of the 23 examiners with published rates in art unit 2477; the dot is this examiner. The tick is the art-unit average.

Disposition182 decided applications

158 allowed
No applications pending.

Pendencymonths from filing

filed
first action 27.2mo
disposed 44.9mo
0
48mo
Art-unit average: first action 23.3 mo, disposed 39.5 mo.

Rejection groundsexaminer ● vs art-unit average ○

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 eligibility
AU 22
35%
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)
no AU benchmark
67%
§103 — Obviousness
AU 88
37%
§112 — Written description & definiteness
no AU benchmark
27%

Interview benefit

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

without
85%
+15 pts
with
100%

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 26 decided applications with an interview and 156 without.

ART UNIT 2419
77 APPS · 84% ALLOWANCE

Allowance ratewhere this examiner sits among peers

84%
higher than about 84% of the 129 examiners with published rates in art unit 2419
AU avg 58%
0%
100%
Each short mark is one of the 129 examiners with published rates in art unit 2419; the dot is this examiner. The tick is the art-unit average.

Disposition77 decided applications

65 allowed
12 abandoned
No applications pending.

Pendencymonths from filing

filed
first action 37.3mo
disposed 53mo
0
60mo
Art-unit average: first action 31.1 mo, disposed 44.4 mo.

Interview benefit

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

without
81%
+13 pts
with
94%

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 18 decided applications with an interview and 59 without.

// FAQ

Questions about Examiner Bob A Phunkulh

  • What is Bob A Phunkulh's overall allowance rate?
    90% across more than a thousand decided applications in Technology Center 2400. Allowance rate measures the share of decided applications (allowed and abandoned) that were allowed.
  • How many art units does this examiner work in?
    3 art units: 2412, 2419, and 2477, all within Technology Center 2400.
  • What is the range of allowance rates across his art units?
    Allowance rates range from 84% to 92% across the art units in which he maintains a substantial record. This variation reflects differences in allowance outcomes among individual art units.
  • Does a pooled allowance rate predict my application's outcome?
    No. Pooled rates describe historical outcomes on decided applications and are not predictions of any specific application. Individual outcomes vary based on application details and examination history.
◈ HOW LYNCH LLP CAN HELP

Where to go next.

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METHODOLOGY & DISCLOSURES

Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner Bob A Phunkulh has a public record within Technology Center 2400. Statistics are computed from publicly available USPTO records, refreshed on a recurring schedule. This page's data was last updated July 22, 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: 1,092 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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