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Examiner Eric W Shepperd

TECH CENTER 2400 · 3 ART UNITS · 634 DECIDED APPLICATIONS · LAST ACTION JUL 2026
ALLOWANCE RATE = SHARE OF DECIDED APPLICATIONS (ALLOWED + ABANDONED); PENDING EXCLUDED
OVERALL ALLOWANCE RATE · POOLED ACROSS 3 ART UNITS
81%vs 71% weighted peer average+10 pts

Examiner Eric W Shepperd has allowed 512 of 634 decided applications.

512 allowed
122 abandoned
Plus 17 applications still pending — not yet decided, so excluded from the rate.
The weighted peer average (71%) is each art unit's average below, weighted by this examiner's applications in it (3 art units).
DATA UPDATED JULY 22, 2026
AU 2492 · 83%AU 2453 · 23%AU 2456 · 20%

What the data says.reading this examiner

Eric W Shepperd maintains a pooled allowance rate of 81% across hundreds of decided applications in Technology Center 2400. His record spans three art units: 2453, 2456, and 2492. The allowance rate—the percentage of applications that were allowed among all decided (allowed and abandoned) applications—reflects his aggregate output across these art units. Allowance rates across individual art units range from 23% to 83%, indicating variation in the decided-application profiles by art unit. This pooled figure represents historical data and does not predict outcomes in any specific application.

How to read these numbers.

A pooled record aggregates an examiner's decisions across multiple art units and represents the past distribution of allowances and abandonments. The overall allowance rate describes what fraction of the examiner's decided applications were allowed historically. Because different art units may have different application pools, technology profiles, and applicant populations, allowance rates can vary significantly by art unit. The aggregate figure is a factual summary of the examiner's past record, not a forecast of any individual case's outcome.

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 2492
624 APPS · 83% ALLOWANCE

Allowance ratewhere this examiner sits among peers

83%
higher than about 63% of the 30 examiners with published rates in art unit 2492
AU avg 71%
0%
100%
Each short mark is one of the 30 examiners with published rates in art unit 2492; the dot is this examiner. The tick is the art-unit average, computed across all 31 examiners in the unit — a broader group than the 30 published marks, so it can sit apart from them.

Disposition607 decided applications

506 allowed
101 abandoned
Plus 17 applications still pending — not yet decided, so excluded from the rate.

Pendencymonths from filing

filed
first action 22.5mo
disposed 36.7mo
0
48mo
Art-unit average: first action 23.3 mo, disposed 40.9 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 42
42%
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)
no AU benchmark
84%
§103 — Obviousness
AU 83
81%
§112 — Written description & definiteness
no AU benchmark
70%

Interview benefit

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

without
64%
+29 pts
with
93%

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 409 decided applications with an interview and 198 without.

ART UNIT 2453
22 APPS · 23% ALLOWANCE · LIMITED DATA

Allowance ratewhere this examiner sits among peers

23%
higher than about 8% of the 52 examiners with published rates in art unit 2453
AU avg 66%
0%
100%
Each short mark is one of the 52 examiners with published rates in art unit 2453; the dot is this examiner. The tick is the art-unit average.

Disposition22 decided applications

5 allowed
17 abandoned
No applications pending.

Pendencymonths from filing

filed
first action 36.4mo
disposed 48.1mo
0
60mo
Art-unit average: first action 25.4 mo, disposed 47.5 mo.
ART UNIT 2456
5 APPS · 20% ALLOWANCE · LIMITED DATA

Allowance ratewhere this examiner sits among peers

20%
higher than about 19% of the 42 examiners with published rates in art unit 2456
AU avg 58%
0%
100%
Each short mark is one of the 42 examiners with published rates in art unit 2456; the dot is this examiner. The tick is the art-unit average.

Disposition5 decided applications

1 allowed
4 abandoned
No applications pending.

Pendencymonths from filing

filed
first action 40.7mo
disposed 48.4mo
0
60mo
Art-unit average: first action 24.3 mo, disposed 42.4 mo.
// FAQ

Questions about Examiner Eric W Shepperd

  • What is Eric W Shepperd's overall allowance rate?
    His pooled allowance rate is 81% across hundreds of decided applications in Technology Center 2400.
  • How many art units does this examiner cover?
    Eric W Shepperd's public record spans three art units: 2453, 2456, and 2492.
  • Do allowance rates vary across his art units?
    Yes. Allowance rates across his art units range from 23% to 83%, reflecting different application and dispositions profiles by art unit.
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METHODOLOGY & DISCLOSURES

Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner Eric W Shepperd 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: 651 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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