Understanding USPTO Examining Attorney Profiles: Registration Rates, Case Volume, and What They Mean for Your Application
We analyzed data on 2,400+ USPTO examining attorneys and found registration rates ranging from 5% to 93%. Here is what that means for trademark applicants.
When you file a trademark application with the USPTO, it gets assigned to an examining attorney. That assignment can have a meaningful impact on the trajectory of your application. Some examiners approve a high percentage of applications; others issue office actions on nearly everything that crosses their desk.
We built GleanMark's Examiner Profiles to make this data accessible. Here is what we found after analyzing over 11.7 million trademark applications across 2,400+ examining attorneys.
What Is an Examiner's Registration Rate?
Before diving into the data, a quick definition. When we say "registration rate," we mean the percentage of applications assigned to an examiner that ultimately reached federal registration.
This rate reflects more than just the examiner's decisions. Applications can be abandoned for reasons that have nothing to do with the examiner: an applicant fails to file a Statement of Use, misses a response deadline, or simply decides not to pursue the mark. All of those outcomes reduce the examiner's registration rate even though the examiner may have been inclined to approve the application.
With that context in mind, the variation across examiners is still striking — and worth understanding.
Registration Rates Vary Dramatically
The single most striking finding: registration rates among experienced examiners range from under 10% to over 93%.
Among examiners who have reviewed more than 5,000 applications, the highest registration rates belong to:
| Examiner | Cases Reviewed | Registration Rate |
|---|---|---|
| SPARACINO, MARK V | 5,005 | 93.3% |
| FRENCH, CURTIS W | 5,430 | 92.9% |
| EVANKO, PATRICIA MALESARDI | 5,216 | 92.4% |
| HACK, ANDREA R | 5,664 | 92.4% |
At the other end of the spectrum, several examiners with comparable caseloads show registration rates below 10%. These lower rates typically correlate with caseloads concentrated in Nice classes that carry higher descriptiveness challenges, heavy intent-to-use filing volumes where applicants frequently abandon before filing a Statement of Use, or specialized examination units that handle inherently more complex applications.
The gap between the highest and lowest registration rates among experienced examiners exceeds 85 percentage points. While much of this variation reflects differences in caseload composition, the magnitude of the spread underscores why examiner data matters for prosecution planning.
Why Rates Vary: It Is Not Just About the Examiner
Examiner registration rates are shaped by several factors beyond individual judgment:
- Nice class assignment. An examiner who primarily handles Class 9 (software, electronics) will encounter more likelihood of confusion issues than one handling Class 30 (food products), simply because Class 9 has higher filing density and more overlapping marks.
- Application type mix. Intent-to-use (ITU) applications have a higher abandonment rate because applicants must file a Statement of Use before registration. Examiners with ITU-heavy caseloads will show lower registration rates regardless of their examination decisions.
- Time period. An examiner's rate can shift meaningfully over their career. GleanMark's examiner profiles let you filter by filing date to see whether an examiner's patterns have changed in recent years — something you cannot easily do on TSDR.
Understanding these nuances is what separates useful examiner intelligence from misleading statistics.
What Does This Data Mean in Practice?
1. Setting Client Expectations
If your client's application is assigned to an examiner whose historical registration rate sits well below the median, understanding why can shape your strategy. Is this examiner's rate low because they handle a class with high descriptiveness challenges, or because they issue more Section 2(d) refusals? GleanMark's profiles break down each examiner's caseload by Nice classification and mark type, so you can set informed expectations rather than speculating.
2. Response Strategy
When you receive an office action, examiner data adds a strategic dimension to your response. For instance, if an examiner's profile shows a concentration of cases in your client's Nice class with a registration rate significantly below their overall average, that may signal heightened scrutiny in that space. You can proactively strengthen your arguments around distinctiveness and commercial impression.
GleanMark's Office Action Strategy tool pairs with examiner data to help you craft responses calibrated to the specific refusal type and the examiner's historical patterns.
3. Prosecution Planning
Each examiner profile breaks down the examiner's caseload by class, mark type, and status. For a firm managing dozens of pending applications, this data helps prioritize which cases need proactive attention and which are likely to proceed smoothly.
The Numbers Behind the Profiles
Our examiner database covers:
- 2,400+ examining attorneys with case data
- 1,545 currently active examiners (cases within the last 2 years)
- 11.7 million total trademark applications reviewed
- Average registration rate: 53.1% across all examiners with 1,000+ cases
- Interquartile range: 23% to 92% — meaning the middle 50% of examiners still show enormous variation
Our highest-volume examiners have reviewed over 35,000 applications in their careers:
| Examiner | Total Cases |
|---|---|
| CARROLL, DORITT | 36,507 |
| WOOD, CAROLINE | 35,721 |
| BUSH, KAREN | 35,610 |
| CLARK, ROBERT | 35,339 |
What GleanMark Adds Beyond TSDR
You can look up your examining attorney on TSDR, but the information is limited to the individual application level. GleanMark aggregates the full picture:
- Cross-application patterns. See an examiner's registration rate, class distribution, and mark type breakdown across their entire career — not one serial at a time.
- Filterable case history. Browse every application the examiner has reviewed with filters for status, class, mark type, filing date range, and keyword search. Find analogous cases to yours in seconds.
- Temporal analysis. Filter by date range to see whether an examiner's patterns have shifted recently. An examiner who was approving 80% of applications three years ago may now be at 60% — or vice versa.
- Similar examiners. Each profile shows other active examining attorneys with overlapping class profiles, so you can compare patterns across examiners in your practice area.
- Status breakdown. See how many of an examiner's applications are currently pending, registered, cancelled, abandoned, or expired — not just the overall count.
This is data that would take hours to compile manually from TSDR. GleanMark computes it in milliseconds.
Pair Examiner Data with Other GleanMark Tools
Examiner profiles are most valuable when used alongside GleanMark's other prosecution intelligence tools:
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Knockout Search: Run a quick trademark clearance search before filing to identify potential conflicts. If your examiner has a high rate of Section 2(d) refusals in your class, a clearance report becomes even more important.
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Office Action Drafting: When you receive an office action, our AI-assisted response tool analyzes the specific refusal and helps you craft an effective response. Understanding your examiner's patterns helps you calibrate your arguments.
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Trademark Monitoring: After registration, keep an eye on your marks with automated status change alerts, citation monitoring, and deadline tracking.
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TTAB Research: If a dispute escalates to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, GleanMark provides full proceeding analysis with party histories and outcome data.
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Owner Portfolios: Research the trademark portfolios of potential opponents or business partners. See their filing patterns, registration rates, and active proceedings.
Start Exploring Examiner Data
You can search for any examining attorney by name, or browse profiles directly. Every examiner page is publicly accessible — no login required.
If you are a trademark attorney or brand owner, understanding your examining attorney's track record is a small investment of time that can pay dividends in prosecution strategy. The data is there. Use it.
GleanMark provides free access to USPTO examiner profiles, trademark search, and prosecution intelligence tools. Start your free trial or book a demo to see the full platform.