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Patent Examiner Frank S. Hou

Art Unit 1692 · Organometallic & Industrial Organic Chemistry · Tech Center 1600 · 234 applications filed 2021–2026

⚑ Hard · harder than 76% of examiners● Free examiner data

Frank S. Hou is a USPTO patent examiner in Art Unit 1692 (Organometallic & Industrial Organic Chemistry) with 234 applications from filing years 2021–2026. Examiner Hou's allowance rate is 67.5%, below the 82.1% USPTO average for applications filed in the same years. The examiner ranks harder than 76% of examiners. In 2022, decided applications with an examiner interview were allowed 24.5 percentage points more often than those without.

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Data through October 2026 from USPTO Patent Center (formerly PAIR) · Methodology

Overview

Free
Difficulty · Hard
harder than 76% of examiners
Easier76th percentileHarder
Allowance rate vs peers
Examiner Hou67.5%
Art Units 1622 and 169274.2%
USPTO average82.1%
Allowance rate
67.5%
▼ USPTO avg 82.1%
Applications
234
filing years 2021–2026
First-action allowance
14.6%
patented with no rejection
Abandoned
20.9%
share of applications
Avg office actions
1.3
USPTO avg 1.3
Days to first OA
886
▲ USPTO 632
RCE rate
20.5%
USPTO 20.0%
Interview rate
35.9%
USPTO 27.7%

Examiner details

  • Art unit1692 · Organometallic & Industrial Organic Chemistry
  • Title / gradePatent Examiner · GS-12
  • Service4 years
  • Phone(571) 272-1802
  • Email[email protected]
  • LocationAlexandria, VA 22314
  • In USPTO recordsHOU, FRANK S
Work reviewed by a primary examiner

Office actions from Examiner Hou are reviewed and signed by a more senior examiner before issuing, so clear written arguments carry extra weight.

Examines (USPC classes)
556 · Organic Compounds (Class 532-570 Series)564 · Organic Compounds: Amines (Class 532-570 Series)514 · Drug, Bio-Affecting & Body Treating Compositions

How to improve your odds with Examiner Hou

  • The data favors an interview. Interviewed cases were allowed more often in all 3 measured years, by 24.5 to 34.6 points.
  • Plan for the timeline. First office action averages 886 days vs the 632-day USPTO norm.
  • Expect a §103. Obviousness is the most-issued rejection (85), and applicants overcame it 67.2% of the time.
  • The data favors an RCE here. Cases with an RCE were allowed more often in both measured years, by 5.5 to 22.2 points.

Historical patterns from this examiner's past cases, shown for general information. This is not legal advice and does not predict the outcome of any specific application. Decisions about interviews, RCEs, and claim strategy should be made with a licensed patent attorney or agent.

Rejection patterns & how they get overcome

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§102 Novelty63 issued · 74.5% overcome
§103 Obviousness85 issued · 67.2% overcome
How applicants traverse §103 rejections🔒 Members

Of the 20 winning responses to Examiner Hou's §103 rejections that Boundly has classified, 16 (80%) amended the claims and argued, 2 amended without arguing, and 2 argued without amending. Each winning response, with its arguments and claim amendments, is in the file wrapper.

Read the winning §103 argumentsFull REMARKS, amendments, claim trees & redlines from the file wrappers
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RCE behavior

Allowance after a Request for Continued Examination versus without one, per year. Use it to judge whether an RCE is worth the cost in front of Examiner Hou.

YearRCE rateAllowance w/ RCEAllowance w/oDelta
202229.4%71.4%65.9%+5.5pp
202129.0%81.3%59.1%+22.2pp

Recent outcomes

Free🔒 Case detail for members
App #TitleOutcomeOAsArguments & redline
18/823063Metal Halide Perovskites, Light-Emitting Diodes, and MethodsPatented1🔒 View
17/682586Deuterated Organotin Compounds, Methods of Synthesis and Radiation PatterningPatented3🔒 View
17/783367Method for Producing Di- and Polyisocyanates of the Diphenylmethane SeriesAbandoned4🔒 View
18/232866New Cyclopentadienyl Ligands for Iron CatalysisPatented0🔒 View
See all 234 applications with full file-wrapper detailOffice action text, attorney arguments, amendments & claim-by-claim track changes
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Art Unit 1692 technology

Organometallic compoundsSyngas conversion processesIndustrial organic processesOrganosilicon compoundsTop CPC C07C · C07F · C01B
About this examiner. Frank S. Hou examines in Art Unit 1692 (Organometallic & Industrial Organic Chemistry, Tech Center 1600). The art unit's docket includes organometallic compounds, syngas conversion processes, industrial organic processes, and organosilicon compounds. Working on compound or antibody claims? See Life Sciences in AI Studio.

Frequently asked questions

What is Examiner Frank S. Hou's allowance rate?
Examiner Hou's allowance rate is 67.5%, compared with 82.1% across the USPTO and 74.2% in Art Units 1622 and 1692 for applications filed in the same years. That rate ranks Examiner Hou harder than 76% of examiners.
Is Examiner Hou a hard examiner?
Somewhat. Examiner Hou ranks harder than 76% of examiners, in the 76th difficulty percentile (hard). Examiner Hou has a 67.5% allowance rate versus 82.1% across the USPTO and 74.2% in Art Units 1622 and 1692, 1.3 office actions per application versus 1.3, and an RCE rate of 20.5% versus 20.0% across the USPTO, for applications filed in the same years.
Do examiner interviews help with Examiner Hou?
In this examiner's record, yes. Decided applications with an interview were allowed more often in each of the 3 measured years, by 24.5 to 34.6 percentage points. In 2022, 80.8% of decided applications with an interview were allowed, versus 56.3% of those without.
What is Examiner Hou's most common rejection?
§103 obviousness, issued 85 times in the data. Applicants overcame it 67.2% of the time. Of the 20 winning responses Boundly has classified, 16 amended the claims and argued.
Is an RCE worth filing with Examiner Hou?
In this examiner's record, yes. Decided applications with an RCE were allowed more often in both measured years, by 5.5 to 22.2 percentage points. In 2021, 81.3% of decided applications with an RCE were allowed, versus 59.1% of those without one.
How long until the first office action from Examiner Hou?
About 886 days on average, versus 632 days across the USPTO for applications filed in the same years.
How do I contact Examiner Frank S. Hou?
Examiner Hou can be reached by phone at (571) 272-1802 or by email at [email protected]. The examiner's direct line is also listed at the end of the examiner's office actions.

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Statistics are computed by Boundly Prosecution Intel from USPTO Patent Center (formerly PAIR) file wrappers for filing years 2021–2026, refreshed regularly. Allowance rate (sometimes called grant rate) is the share of disposed applications that issued as patents. Office actions here are non-final and final rejections, so restriction requirements and allowances are not counted. USPTO benchmarks are weighted to each examiner's mix of filing years, and art-unit benchmarks to the art units and filing years of the examiner's own applications, so they compare like for like. The difficulty percentile ranks examiners, each counted once, so it can point the other way from the USPTO average, which counts applications. See how each number is computed. The year-by-year interview and RCE tables show up to four recent filing years, leaving out the newest one and any year with fewer than ten applications or five decided applications on either side. Historical data is provided for informational purposes only. Past examiner behavior does not guarantee future outcomes, and nothing here is legal advice or a substitute for advice from a licensed patent attorney or agent. Are you Frank S. Hou, or see an error? Request a correction.