Examiner Steven H. Whitesell Gordon
Examiner Steven H. Whitesell Gordon appears to be about average relative to their peer examiners. Their lifetime grant ratio is 76.4%, they average 1.86 office actions per granted patent, and their rejection profile is dominated by ยง103.
Difficulty vs AU
About Average
Difficulty vs Group
About Average
Difficulty vs TC
About Average
Difficulty vs USPTO
Very Easy
Average OA / Grant
1.86
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Examiner Details
- Observed Examiner Years
- 20 years (2007-2026)
- Phone
- (571) 270-3942
- Predicted Supervisor
- Duane Smith
- Supervisor Phone
- (571) 272-1166
- Tech Center
- 2800 - Semiconductors, Electrical and Optical Systems and Components
- Group
- 2880 - Optics / Photocopying
Metrics
- Applications Evaluated
- 992
- Granted Applications
- 758
- Non-Granted Applications
- 234
- Avg OA / Grant
- 1.86
- Last OA Observed
- March 2026 (2 months ago)
- Work Groups Seen
Context Comparison
| Scope | Examiners | Lifetime Grant Ratio | Avg OA / Grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| This Examiner | 1 | 76.4% | 1.86 |
| Art Unit | 22 | 71.7% | 1.84 |
| Group | 164 | 65.8% | 1.71 |
| Tech Center | 2,370 | 64.7% | 1.69 |
| USPTO | 16,116 | 54.8% | 1.98 |
Grant Timeline
Shaded region marks the last two observed years, where grant outcomes may lag due to recency.
| Year | Applications | Granted | Grant Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 1 | 1 | 100.0% |
| 2008 | 28 | 16 | 57.1% |
| 2009 | 46 | 36 | 78.3% |
| 2010 | 57 | 43 | 75.4% |
| 2011 | 55 | 31 | 56.4% |
| 2012 | 57 | 42 | 73.7% |
| 2013 | 69 | 53 | 76.8% |
| 2014 | 47 | 34 | 72.3% |
| 2015 | 63 | 49 | 77.8% |
| 2016 | 65 | 57 | 87.7% |
| 2017 | 67 | 62 | 92.5% |
| 2018 | 56 | 52 | 92.9% |
| 2019 | 65 | 58 | 89.2% |
| 2020 | 65 | 61 | 93.8% |
| 2021 | 54 | 48 | 88.9% |
| 2022 | 27 | 26 | 96.3% |
| 2023 | 36 | 29 | 80.6% |
| 2024 | 45 | 39 | 86.7% |
| 2025 | 54 | 21 | 38.9% |
| 2026 | 35 | 0 | 0.0% |
758 family-cache-validated grants; 0 OA-only grant signals.
Rejection Timeline
| OA # | Office Actions | § 101 Percentage | § 102 Percentage | § 103 Percentage | § 112 Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 988 | 1.2% | 15.4% | 74.1% | 5.9% |
| 2 | 492 | 1.8% | 10.0% | 81.1% | 5.7% |
| 3 | 222 | 0.5% | 9.0% | 88.3% | 1.8% |
| 4 | 104 | 1.9% | 8.7% | 85.6% | 3.8% |
| 5 | 54 | 0.0% | 7.4% | 88.9% | 3.7% |
| 6 | 23 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% |
| 7 | 11 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% |
| 8 | 3 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% |
| 9 | 1 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% |
| 10 | 1 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% |
§ 101 Yearly Trend
2014: Alice
2019: PEG
2024: AI Examples
2025: Aug. Memo
Each bar shows the share of this examiner's observed office actions in that year that included a § 101 rejection.