Examiner Kenneth M. Lo

Grant ratio: 39.7% (69th percentile in Art Unit 2188 among examiners with at least 20 applications). Average office actions per grant: 2.17. Most common rejection type: §103.

Recently active Last office action in data: July 2026
Grant ratio 39.7%
Average office actions / grant 2.17
Compared with Art unit About average
Compared with Work group Very hard
Compared with Technology center About average
Compared with USPTO Very hard

Examiner record

Examiner ID
82859
Primary art unit
2188
Work group
2180
Technology center
2100
Applications
232
Granted applications
92
Examiner phone
(571) 272-9774
Supervisor
John Cottingham
Supervisor phone
(571) 272-7079

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Peer comparisons

GroupExaminersAverage grant ratioAverage office actions / grant
Art Unit 11 22.6% 1.74
Group 178 52.5% 1.89
Tech Center 1,781 52.8% 2.19
USPTO 16,475 52.7% 1.98

Office actions per application

Average office actions per application 2.27 526 office actions across 232 applications
Applications with office actions 97.8% 227 applications
Office actionsApplicationsShare of applications
No OA observed 5 2.2%
1 OA 77 33.2%
2 OAs 77 33.2%
3 OAs 30 12.9%
4 OAs 27 11.6%
5+ OAs 16 6.9%

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

Grant history

0.0% 25.0% 50.0% 75.0% 100.0% 2008: 45.0% 2008 2009: 40.6% 2009 2010: 62.5% 2010 2011: 60.7% 2011 2012: 50.0% 2012 2013: 42.4% 2013 2014: 40.9% 2014 2015: 0.0% 2015 2016: 0.0% 2016 2017: 0.0% 2017 2018: 100.0% 2018 2020: 0.0% 2020 2021: 0.0% 2021 2025: 0.0% 2025 2026: 0.0% 2026

Recent ratios may be lower while applications remain pending.

Yearly counts
YearApplicationsGrantsGrant rate
200820945.0%
2009321340.6%
2010241562.5%
2011281760.7%
2012261350.0%
2013331442.4%
201422940.9%
2015300.0%
20162100.0%
2017500.0%
201822100.0%
2020200.0%
2021100.0%
2025500.0%
2026800.0%

Rejections by office-action stage

Office-action stageActions observed§101§102§103§112
Action 1 227 0.9% 20.3% 69.6% 7.5%
Action 2 150 2.0% 12.0% 62.7% 22.0%
Action 3 73 1.4% 12.3% 65.8% 19.2%
Action 4 43 0.0% 7.0% 76.7% 16.3%
Action 5 16 0.0% 0.0% 87.5% 12.5%
Action 6 9 0.0% 0.0% 88.9% 11.1%
Action 7 5 0.0% 0.0% 80.0% 20.0%
Action 8 2 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0%
Action 9 1 0.0% 100.0% 0.0% 0.0%

Section 101 rejections

Last 3 years 0.0% 0 of 14 office actions
All years 1.1% 6 of 526 office actions
Change -1.1 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%
2.6%
1.4%
1.6%
1.6%
2014: Alice
3.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2025: August memo
0.0%
0.0%

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

PTAB appeals

Matched decisions: 4. Merits outcomes: 1 affirmed, 0 affirmed in part, and 3 reversed.

Full reversal rate
75.0% 3/4 decisions
Full or partial reversal rate
75.0% 3/4 decisions
Median appeal duration
33.8 months
New grounds of rejection
0
Recent decisions
DecisionApplicationOutcomeIssues
Jun. 23, 2014 11/936,456 Reversed N/A
Dec. 20, 2013 11/070,947 Reversed N/A
Jul. 25, 2013 11/068,194 Affirmed N/A
Jul. 13, 2012 10/871,392 Reversed 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.

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