Examiner R. Whitman Burns
Grant ratio: 47.5% (3rd percentile in Art Unit 2157 among examiners with at least 20 applications). Average office actions per grant: 3.07. Most common rejection type: §103.
Appears inactive
Last office action in data: December 2013
Examiner record
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| Group | Examiners | Average grant ratio | Average office actions / grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art Unit | 17 | 63.5% | 2.71 |
| Group | 119 | 59.3% | 2.64 |
| Tech Center | 1,781 | 52.8% | 2.19 |
| USPTO | 16,475 | 52.7% | 1.98 |
Office actions per application
| Office actions | Applications | Share of applications |
|---|---|---|
| No OA observed | 0 | 0.0% |
| 1 OA | 16 | 26.2% |
| 2 OAs | 12 | 19.7% |
| 3 OAs | 7 | 11.5% |
| 4 OAs | 13 | 21.3% |
| 5+ OAs | 13 | 21.3% |
Each application is counted once. “5+” includes all higher counts.
Grant history
Recent ratios may be lower while applications remain pending.
Yearly counts
| Year | Applications | Grants | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 16 | 8 | 50.0% |
| 2012 | 26 | 10 | 38.5% |
| 2013 | 19 | 11 | 57.9% |
Rejections by office-action stage
| Office-action stage | Actions observed | §101 | §102 | §103 | §112 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Action 1 | 61 | 0.0% | 16.4% | 83.6% | 0.0% |
| Action 2 | 45 | 2.2% | 8.9% | 86.7% | 2.2% |
| Action 3 | 33 | 6.1% | 0.0% | 90.9% | 3.0% |
| Action 4 | 26 | 0.0% | 3.8% | 96.2% | 0.0% |
| Action 5 | 13 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% |
| Action 6 | 6 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% |
| Action 7 | 5 | 20.0% | 0.0% | 80.0% | 0.0% |
| Action 8 | 2 | 50.0% | 0.0% | 50.0% | 0.0% |
| Action 9 | 1 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% |
| Action 10 | 1 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% |
Section 101 rejections
Last 3 years: 2023-08-28–2026-08-28. All years includes every dated office action in the data.
By year
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
3.1%
9.1%
Each bar is the percentage of office actions with a §101 rejection.
PTAB appeals
No PTAB decisions could be matched to this examiner.
Older and transferred applications may not have a reliable examiner match. Data through Aug. 27, 2026.