Examiner John P. Hocker

Grant ratio: 46.8% (43rd percentile in Art Unit 2158 among examiners with at least 20 applications). Average office actions per grant: 2.36. Most common rejection type: §103.

Recently active Last office action in data: August 2026
Grant ratio 46.8%
Average office actions / grant 2.36
Compared with Art unit About average
Compared with Work group About average
Compared with Technology center Very hard
Compared with USPTO Very hard

Examiner record

Examiner ID
84347
Primary art unit
2158
Work group
2150
Technology center
2100
Applications
171
Granted applications
80
Examiner phone
(571) 270-5004

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Peer comparisons

GroupExaminersAverage grant ratioAverage office actions / grant
Art Unit 16 49.9% 3.10
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

Average office actions per application 2.14 366 office actions across 171 applications
Applications with office actions 100.0% 171 applications
Office actionsApplicationsShare of applications
No OA observed 0 0.0%
1 OA 47 27.5%
2 OAs 81 47.4%
3 OAs 22 12.9%
4 OAs 17 9.9%
5+ OAs 4 2.3%

Each application is counted once. “5+” includes all higher counts.

Grant history

0.0% 25.0% 50.0% 75.0% 100.0% 2008: 15.4% 2008 2009: 60.8% 2009 2010: 79.2% 2010 2011: 78.6% 2011 2012: 33.3% 2012 2013: 0.0% 2013 2025: 15.8% 2025 2026: 0.0% 2026

Recent ratios may be lower while applications remain pending.

Yearly counts
YearApplicationsGrantsGrant rate
200813215.4%
2009513160.8%
2010241979.2%
2011282278.6%
20129333.3%
2013300.0%
202519315.8%
20262400.0%

Rejections by office-action stage

Office-action stageActions observed§101§102§103§112
Action 1 171 3.5% 26.9% 68.4% 0.0%
Action 2 124 0.8% 18.5% 80.6% 1.6%
Action 3 43 2.3% 14.0% 83.7% 0.0%
Action 4 21 0.0% 9.5% 90.5% 0.0%
Action 5 4 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0%
Action 6 3 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0%

Section 101 rejections

Last 3 years 11.8% 8 of 68 office actions
All years 2.2% 8 of 366 office actions
Change +9.6 pts Percentage points

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%
0.0%
0.0%
2024: AI examples
0.0%
2025: August memo
13.2%
10.3%

Each bar is the percentage of office actions with a §101 rejection.

PTAB appeals

Matched decisions: 3. Merits outcomes: 1 affirmed, 0 affirmed in part, and 1 reversed.

Full reversal rate
50.0% 1/2 decisions
Full or partial reversal rate
50.0% 1/2 decisions
Median appeal duration
31.3 months
New grounds of rejection
0
Recent decisions
DecisionApplicationOutcomeIssues
Mar. 25, 2013 11/460,461 Affirmed §102 · §103
Nov. 29, 2012 11/422,203 Reversed N/A
Apr. 23, 2010 11/315,712 Dismissed N/A

The examiner match uses the last recorded office action before the decision. Reversal rates exclude rehearings, remands, dismissals, and other decisions that did not reach the merits. Data through Aug. 27, 2026.

Job History

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