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Examiner Patrick F Lambe

TECH CENTER 3600 · 5 ART UNITS · 647 DECIDED APPLICATIONS · LAST ACTION JUL 2026
ALLOWANCE RATE = SHARE OF DECIDED APPLICATIONS (ALLOWED + ABANDONED); PENDING EXCLUDED
OVERALL ALLOWANCE RATE · POOLED ACROSS 5 ART UNITS
64%vs 69% weighted peer average−5 pts

Examiner Patrick F Lambe has allowed 413 of 647 decided applications in Transportation, Construction, Electronic Commerce, Agriculture, National Security and License & Review.

413 allowed
234 abandoned
Plus 48 applications still pending — not yet decided, so excluded from the rate.
The weighted peer average (69%) is each art unit's average below, weighted by this examiner's applications in it (5 art units).
DATA UPDATED AUGUST 27, 2026
AU 3679 · 69%AU 3678 · 58%AU 3676 · 85%AU 3674 · 53%AU 3671 · 26%
◈ PATENT PROSECUTION

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Outcomes over timemonths since first office action

grantedpendingabandoned
granted 54%abandoned 34%0%50%100%048mo36momonths since first office action
↳ move your cursor across the chart to read any month

Within 36 months of the first office action, 54.02% of Examiner Patrick F Lambe's applications had been granted and 34.09% had been abandoned. This counts each application from its own first office action, so it covers a different population than the overall allowance rate above, which is measured across decided applications only.

Office actions per allowanceexaminer ● vs weighted peer average ○

Mailed office actions per allowed application
1.71
2.45

Counts mailed office actions on the merits — non-final and final — over this examiner's 413 allowed applications. A first-action allowance counts as zero, and a notice of allowance is not an office action.

The weighted peer average (1.71) blends the per-art-unit averages, weighted by this examiner's allowed applications in each: 3679 (1.75), 3678 (1.61), 3676 (1.60), 3674 (1.81), 3671 (1.45). Each art-unit figure is the unweighted mean of the individual examiner values in that art unit — the peer-typical figure, not the art unit's own ratio.

What the data says.reading this examiner

Patrick F Lambe has a pooled allowance rate of 64% across hundreds of decided applications in Technology Center 3600 (Transportation, Construction, Electronic Commerce, Agriculture, National Security and License & Review). His record spans 5 art units. The allowance rate—the percentage of decided applications that were allowed rather than abandoned—reflects outcomes across all art units combined. Allowance rates vary across individual art units, ranging from 26% to 85%. This pooled figure describes the examiner's historical record and does not predict outcomes in any specific application.

Reading a pooled record.

A pooled record aggregates an examiner's outcomes across multiple art units into a single allowance rate. The 64% figure represents past decisions on applications the examiner has disposed of (allowed or abandoned). Because this rate combines different art units with different subject matters, the pooled percentage does not reflect the examiner's performance in any single art unit. Art-unit-specific rates appear separately on this page. A pooled rate describes history, not prediction.

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 →

Appeals, stage by stagepre-appeal conference, then the Board

STAGE 1 · CONFERENCE32%62%34REQUESTSn = 34rates shown
21 of 34 proceed
+ 43 never asked
STAGE 2 · APPEAL30%18%10%12%25%77APPEALSn = 77rates shown
STAGE 1 · CONFERENCE OUTCOME · n = 34
  1. Proceeded to appeal2162%
  2. Prosecution reopened1132%
  3. Allowed at conference26%
STAGE 2 · APPEAL OUTCOME · n = 77
  1. Allowed2330%
  2. Abandoned1925%
  3. Reversed1418%
  4. Affirmed912%
  5. Affirmed in part810%
  6. Pending45%

Appeal outcomes are counted from USPTO transaction records. Where an examiner has few appeals on record, these figures describe what happened in those cases and should not be read as a rate.

Categories report what happened to the appeal, not the application's final fate — most appeals resolve without a Board decision, and an application whose rejection the Board affirmed can still be granted afterward.

HOW TO READ THESE NUMBERS

Past outcomes, not predictions — identity, attribution, and coverage limits on every figure on this page. Expand for the full list.

These figures describe outcomes already on the public record. They do not predict the outcome of any application and are not legal advice.

Reassigned applications. The USPTO publishes only the examiner currently assigned to an application. Where an application has changed examiners, its entire history — including office actions issued by a predecessor — is attributed here to the current examiner.

Examiner identity. The USPTO publishes no stable examiner identifier. Identity on this site is derived from the examiner's published name together with the art unit. An examiner's record is pooled across the art units they worked in within a technology center. An examiner who has worked in more than one technology center appears here more than once, with their record split between those pages. Two examiners who share a name within a single art unit may be combined into one record.

Comparing across technology centers. Rejection-ground rates (§101, §102, §103, §112) track the subject matter a technology center examines, not examiner severity. Technology Center 3600's rates are comparable with other art units inside TC 3600 and are not comparable with rates from a different technology center.

Comparing examiners. An examiner's rates are shown here against the average for their art unit, which is the closest available comparison because art units group related subject matter. Comparisons get less reliable the further you move from that — between art units, and especially between technology centers, differences in subject matter, applicant population, and prior art make raw rate comparisons misleading. Where an examiner has few applications on record, small changes in the underlying data move the percentages a great deal.

Applications not counted. An application whose currently assigned examiner has moved to a USPTO business unit outside the examining technology centers is absent from this record, together with every office action on it — even where those actions issued while the application sat in an art unit shown here.

Coverage is incomplete. This site does not include every patent application. Applications that may not appear here include those examined in technology centers not listed on this site; those that moved elsewhere within the Office, such as to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board on appeal, to central reexamination, to the Office of Petitions, or to design or plant examination; those never published, including applications filed with a nonpublication request and those abandoned before publication; provisional applications, which are not examined on the merits; anything filed or acted on after the refresh date above; and individual applications or office actions that the USPTO's public services did not return when we retrieved them. That list is illustrative, not exhaustive.

Counts may be low. The individual outcomes described here are matters of public record. The counts and rates computed from them are ours, and they are incomplete. Because of those gaps a count here may be lower than the true figure. We cannot state the size of the difference, and it is not uniform — one examiner's page may be close to complete while another's is materially short. Rates are computed from these same counts, so the uncertainty sits in both the numerator and the denominator. Do not treat a figure here as a count of record; verify against Patent Center, PatentsView, or the Patent Examination Data System before relying on it.

An absent figure. Where a figure is absent, we did not retrieve the underlying records. It does not mean the value is zero, and it does not mean the USPTO holds no such records.

Rejection-ground retrieval. Office-action rejection records are retrieved from the USPTO's office-action dataset in date-bounded batches sized so that each is returned whole in a single response. Retrieved this way, repeated pulls return the same set of records — the retrieval is reproducible. That is a property of our retrieval, not a guarantee that the USPTO dataset itself is complete; the coverage caveats above apply to these figures as to every other.

Compiled from USPTO records as published on August 27, 2026. Prosecution continues after that date and is not reflected here.

The record, art unit by art unit.5 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 3679
353 APPS · 69% ALLOWANCE

Allowance ratewhere this examiner sits among peers

69%
higher than about 46% of the 52 examiners with published rates in art unit 3679
AU avg 67%
0%
100%
Each short mark is one of the 52 examiners with published rates in art unit 3679; the dot is this examiner. The tick is the art-unit average, computed across all 53 examiners in the unit — a broader group than the 52 published marks, so it can sit apart from them.

Disposition353 decided applications

245 allowed
108 abandoned
No applications pending.

Pendencymonths from filing

filed
first action 15.2mo
disposed 34.3mo
0
36mo
Art-unit average: first action 17.4 mo, disposed 31.3 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; where an art unit has no computed average for a ground, that row says so rather than showing a comparison.

§101 — Subject-matter eligibility
7%
7%
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)
82%
97%
§103 — Obviousness
80%
85%
§112 — Written description & definiteness
70%
42%

Interview benefit

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

without
63%
+14 pts
with
77%

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 166 decided applications with an interview and 187 without.

◈ ART UNIT 3678
121 APPS · 58% ALLOWANCE

Allowance ratewhere this examiner sits among peers

58%
higher than about 10% of the 29 examiners with published rates in art unit 3678
AU avg 75%
0%
100%
Each short mark is one of the 29 examiners with published rates in art unit 3678; the dot is this examiner. The tick is the art-unit average, computed across all 30 examiners in the unit — a broader group than the 29 published marks, so it can sit apart from them.

Disposition121 decided applications

70 allowed
51 abandoned
No applications pending.

Pendencymonths from filing

filed
first action 15.1mo
disposed 35mo
0
36mo
Art-unit average: first action 19.2 mo, disposed 31.1 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; where an art unit has no computed average for a ground, that row says so rather than showing a comparison.

§101 — Subject-matter eligibility
5%
4%
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)
83%
83%
§103 — Obviousness
82%
91%
§112 — Written description & definiteness
68%
57%

Interview benefit

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

without
43%
+38 pts
with
81%

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 47 decided applications with an interview and 74 without.

◈ ART UNIT 3676
96 APPS · 85% ALLOWANCE

Allowance ratewhere this examiner sits among peers

85%
higher than about 72% of the 64 examiners with published rates in art unit 3676
AU avg 75%
0%
100%
Each short mark is one of the 64 examiners with published rates in art unit 3676; the dot is this examiner. The tick is the art-unit average.

Disposition48 decided applications

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

Pendencymonths from filing

filed
first action 14.3mo
disposed 32.9mo
0
36mo
Art-unit average: first action 17.5 mo, disposed 29.8 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; where an art unit has no computed average for a ground, that row says so rather than showing a comparison.

§101 — Subject-matter eligibility
13%
11%
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)
77%
98%
§103 — Obviousness
84%
94%
§112 — Written description & definiteness
65%
33%

Interview benefit

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

without
83%
+5 pts
with
88%

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 24 decided applications with an interview and 24 without.

◈ ART UNIT 3674
90 APPS · 53% ALLOWANCE

Allowance ratewhere this examiner sits among peers

53%
higher than about 31% of the 42 examiners with published rates in art unit 3674
AU avg 63%
0%
100%
Each short mark is one of the 42 examiners with published rates in art unit 3674; the dot is this examiner. The tick is the art-unit average.

Disposition90 decided applications

48 allowed
42 abandoned
No applications pending.

Pendencymonths from filing

filed
first action 16.9mo
disposed 36.9mo
0
48mo
Art-unit average: first action 20 mo, disposed 33.5 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; where an art unit has no computed average for a ground, that row says so rather than showing a comparison.

§101 — Subject-matter eligibility
8%
9%
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)
72%
67%
§103 — Obviousness
85%
97%
§112 — Written description & definiteness
66%
65%

Interview benefit

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

without
41%
+34 pts
with
75%

A correlation, not proof that interviews cause allowances. Based on 32 decided applications with an interview and 58 without.

◈ ART UNIT 3671
35 APPS · 26% ALLOWANCE · LIMITED DATA

Allowance ratewhere this examiner sits among peers

26%
higher than about 6% of the 54 examiners with published rates in art unit 3671
AU avg 74%
0%
100%
Each short mark is one of the 54 examiners with published rates in art unit 3671; the dot is this examiner. The tick is the art-unit average, computed across all 55 examiners in the unit — a broader group than the 54 published marks, so it can sit apart from them.

Disposition35 decided applications

9 allowed
26 abandoned
No applications pending.

Pendencymonths from filing

filed
first action 20.4mo
disposed 31.1mo
0
36mo
Art-unit average: first action 19.9 mo, disposed 31.2 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; where an art unit has no computed average for a ground, that row says so rather than showing a comparison.

§101 — Subject-matter eligibility
5%
0%
§102 — Anticipation (novelty)
83%
65%
§103 — Obviousness
88%
100%
§112 — Written description & definiteness
56%
65%

Based on 35 applications — too small a sample to characterize the rejection mix reliably; shown for completeness.

// FAQ

Questions about Examiner Patrick F Lambe

  • What is Patrick F Lambe's overall allowance rate?
    His pooled allowance rate is 64% across hundreds of decided applications in Technology Center 3600.
  • How many art units does this examiner cover?
    Patrick F Lambe's public record spans 5 art units within TC 3600.
  • How much does the allowance rate vary across his art units?
    Allowance rates across individual art units range from 26% to 85%. Art-unit-specific figures are provided separately.
◈ HOW LYNCH LLP CAN HELP

Where to go next.

Lynch LLP represents applicants in patent prosecution before the USPTO. These are general resources about the firm's services — not advice about this examiner or any specific application.

Patent prosecution at Lynch LLP →Application drafting, office-action responses, and prosecution strategy before the USPTO.Appeals and PTAB practice →Appeals, inter partes review, and patent-owner defense before the PTAB.IP portfolio strategy →How a patent portfolio is sequenced and built over a multi-year horizon.Scheduling time with an attorney →Free and paid consultation options across the firm's attorneys.
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METHODOLOGY & DISCLOSURES

Methodology. This page pools every art unit in which Examiner Patrick F Lambe has a public record within Technology Center 3600. Statistics are computed from publicly available USPTO records, refreshed on a recurring schedule. This page's data was last updated August 27, 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: 695 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.

Office actions per allowance. Mailed office actions on the merits — non-final and final — averaged over this examiner's allowed applications. A first-action allowance counts as zero and is included; a notice of allowance is not an office action. The comparison figure is built the same way as the allowance-rate benchmark — from each art unit's own average for this measure — weighted here by this examiner's allowed applications in each art unit, since that is this measure's own denominator. Each art unit's figure is the unweighted mean of its examiners' individual values, so it is the peer-typical figure rather than the art unit's own ratio.

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. Consult a registered patent practitioner about your own matter. These figures are reproduced and recombined by Lynch LLP from the USPTO's Patent File Wrapper bulk archive and Open Data Portal APIs; they are not an official USPTO publication, and the USPTO has not reviewed, endorsed, or verified them. If a page here is wrong, tell us at lynchllp.com/contact and we will correct or remove it. Full disclaimers →

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