Examiner Kevin Bates

Grant ratio: 61.8% (47th percentile in Art Unit 2456 among examiners with at least 20 applications). Average office actions per grant: 2.42. Most common rejection type: §103.

Recently active Last office action in data: July 2026
Grant ratio 61.8%
Average office actions / grant 2.42
Compared with Art unit Very easy
Compared with Work group About average
Compared with Technology center About average
Compared with USPTO About average

Examiner record

Examiner ID
79966
Primary art unit
2456
Work group
2450
Technology center
2400
Applications
233
Granted applications
144
Examiner phone
(571) 272-3980
Supervisor
James Kramer
Supervisor phone
(571) 272-6783

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Peer comparisons

GroupExaminersAverage grant ratioAverage office actions / grant
Art Unit 19 53.0% 2.80
Group 210 57.4% 2.41
Tech Center 1,754 58.4% 2.14
USPTO 16,475 52.7% 1.98

Office actions per application

Average office actions per application 2.36 550 office actions across 233 applications
Applications with office actions 95.3% 222 applications
Office actionsApplicationsShare of applications
No OA observed 11 4.7%
1 OA 76 32.6%
2 OAs 65 27.9%
3 OAs 27 11.6%
4 OAs 30 12.9%
5+ OAs 24 10.3%

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

Grant history

0.0% 25.0% 50.0% 75.0% 100.0% 2008: 71.8% 2008 2009: 65.6% 2009 2010: 63.6% 2010 2011: 73.7% 2011 2012: 70.5% 2012 2013: 64.7% 2013 2015: 100.0% 2015 2016: 50.0% 2016 2017: 40.0% 2017 2018: 50.0% 2018 2019: 100.0% 2019 2020: 100.0% 2020 2021: 0.0% 2021 2025: 25.0% 2025 2026: 0.0% 2026

Recent ratios may be lower while applications remain pending.

Yearly counts
YearApplicationsGrantsGrant rate
2008392871.8%
2009322165.6%
2010221463.6%
2011382873.7%
2012443170.5%
2013171164.7%
201511100.0%
20162150.0%
201710440.0%
20182150.0%
201911100.0%
202011100.0%
2021400.0%
20258225.0%
20261200.0%

Rejections by office-action stage

Office-action stageActions observed§101§102§103§112
Action 1 222 3.6% 21.6% 69.4% 2.3%
Action 2 146 2.7% 10.3% 82.9% 2.1%
Action 3 81 3.7% 6.2% 87.7% 2.5%
Action 4 54 3.7% 5.6% 85.2% 5.6%
Action 5 24 4.2% 0.0% 95.8% 0.0%
Action 6 15 6.7% 0.0% 93.3% 0.0%
Action 7 7 0.0% 0.0% 85.7% 14.3%
Action 8 1 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0%

Section 101 rejections

Last 3 years 5.6% 2 of 36 office actions
All years 3.5% 19 of 550 office actions
Change +2.1 pts Percentage points

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

By year

3.5%
4.3%
4.5%
4.1%
2.7%
0.0%
2014: Alice
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2019: PEG
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2025: August memo
10.0%
0.0%

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

PTAB appeals

Matched decisions: 14. Merits outcomes: 9 affirmed, 0 affirmed in part, and 5 reversed.

Full reversal rate
35.7% 5/14 decisions
Full or partial reversal rate
35.7% 5/14 decisions
Median appeal duration
26.3 months
New grounds of rejection
0
Recent decisions
DecisionApplicationOutcomeIssues
Jan. 30, 2023 14/720,174 Reversed §102 · §103
Dec. 15, 2022 15/958,860 Affirmed §103
Jun. 3, 2019 14/485,891 Reversed §102
Jun. 26, 2013 10/672,648 Affirmed §103
May. 15, 2013 10/874,665 Affirmed N/A
Apr. 29, 2013 10/297,333 Affirmed N/A
Apr. 23, 2013 10/671,234 Affirmed §103
Mar. 20, 2013 10/456,736 Affirmed N/A
Mar. 13, 2013 11/042,572 Affirmed §103
Dec. 18, 2012 09/950,484 Reversed §102
Jun. 11, 2012 10/724,284 Reversed §103
Aug. 17, 2011 10/677,797 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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