Examiner David J Pearson

Grant ratio: 72.8% (48th percentile in Art Unit 2438 among examiners with at least 20 applications). Average office actions per grant: 2.00. Most common rejection type: §103.

Recently active Last office action in data: August 2026
Grant ratio 72.8%
Average office actions / grant 2.00
Compared with Art unit About average
Compared with Work group About average
Compared with Technology center Very easy
Compared with USPTO About average

Examiner record

Examiner ID
81277
Primary art unit
2438
Work group
2430
Technology center
2400
Applications
760
Granted applications
553
Examiner phone
(571) 272-0711
Supervisor
Catherine Thiaw
Supervisor phone
(571) 270-1138

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Peer comparisons

GroupExaminersAverage grant ratioAverage office actions / grant
Art Unit 25 64.9% 1.88
Group 233 61.7% 1.99
Tech Center 1,754 58.4% 2.14
USPTO 16,475 52.7% 1.98

Office actions per application

Average office actions per application 1.98 1,501 office actions across 760 applications
Applications with office actions 97.1% 738 applications
Office actionsApplicationsShare of applications
No OA observed 22 2.9%
1 OA 345 45.4%
2 OAs 216 28.4%
3 OAs 74 9.7%
4 OAs 63 8.3%
5+ OAs 40 5.3%

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

Grant history

0.0% 25.0% 50.0% 75.0% 100.0% 2008: 57.1% 2008 2009: 57.6% 2009 2010: 75.0% 2010 2011: 86.5% 2011 2012: 56.5% 2012 2013: 84.8% 2013 2014: 87.8% 2014 2015: 87.2% 2015 2016: 87.5% 2016 2017: 77.1% 2017 2018: 73.1% 2018 2019: 79.6% 2019 2020: 78.0% 2020 2021: 80.0% 2021 2022: 71.1% 2022 2023: 75.0% 2023 2024: 86.5% 2024 2025: 36.8% 2025 2026: 0.0% 2026

Recent ratios may be lower while applications remain pending.

Yearly counts
YearApplicationsGrantsGrant rate
2008281657.1%
2009331957.6%
2010403075.0%
2011373286.5%
2012462656.5%
2013463984.8%
2014413687.8%
2015474187.2%
2016322887.5%
2017483777.1%
2018523873.1%
2019493979.6%
2020413278.0%
2021403280.0%
2022453271.1%
2023403075.0%
2024373286.5%
2025381436.8%
20262000.0%

Rejections by office-action stage

Office-action stageActions observed§101§102§103§112
Action 1 738 4.2% 5.6% 60.8% 1.9%
Action 2 393 1.8% 3.8% 76.3% 2.0%
Action 3 177 1.1% 0.0% 84.2% 1.1%
Action 4 103 1.9% 2.9% 83.5% 0.0%
Action 5 40 5.0% 2.5% 85.0% 0.0%
Action 6 25 4.0% 4.0% 76.0% 0.0%
Action 7 13 0.0% 7.7% 76.9% 7.7%
Action 8 5 0.0% 20.0% 60.0% 0.0%
Action 9 3 0.0% 0.0% 33.3% 0.0%
Action 10 2 0.0% 0.0% 50.0% 0.0%

Section 101 rejections

Last 3 years 3.9% 7 of 180 office actions
All years 3.0% 45 of 1,501 office actions
Change +0.9 pts Percentage points

Last 3 years: 2023-08-28–2026-08-28. All years includes every dated office action in the data.

By year

1.2%
1.1%
6.0%
1.1%
1.1%
2.5%
2014: Alice
3.8%
3.4%
0.0%
10.8%
1.0%
2019: PEG
1.2%
0.0%
1.6%
4.1%
5.8%
2024: AI examples
3.1%
2025: August memo
3.1%
9.1%

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

PTAB appeals

Matched decisions: 16. Merits outcomes: 10 affirmed, 2 affirmed in part, and 4 reversed.

Full reversal rate
25.0% 4/16 decisions
Full or partial reversal rate
37.5% 6/16 decisions
Median appeal duration
14.5 months
New grounds of rejection
0
Recent decisions
DecisionApplicationOutcomeIssues
Mar. 29, 2024 16/489,190 Affirmed §103
Dec. 15, 2023 16/861,623 Affirmed §102 · §103
Aug. 24, 2023 16/709,909 Reversed §102 · §103 · §112
Apr. 14, 2021 15/039,963 Affirmed §103
Dec. 2, 2020 15/024,499 Affirmed §103
Feb. 22, 2019 14/264,645 Affirmed in part §101 · §112
Oct. 18, 2018 14/773,983 Reversed N/A
Apr. 24, 2018 13/976,861 Affirmed N/A
Mar. 22, 2018 14/579,705 Reversed §103
Oct. 25, 2017 13/941,500 Affirmed §103
Aug. 5, 2016 12/212,368 Affirmed §103
Mar. 11, 2015 11/788,082 Affirmed §103

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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