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Patent Examiner Shibin Liang

Art Unit 1741 · Plastic & Nonmetallic Article Shaping & Molding · Tech Center 1700 · 241 applications since 2021

⚑ Hard: harder than 78% of examiners● Free examiner data

Shibin Liang is a USPTO patent examiner in Art Unit 1741 (Plastic & Nonmetallic Article Shaping & Molding) who has examined 241 applications in filing years 2021–2025. Examiner Liang's allowance rate is 57.8%, below the 82.1% USPTO average; the examiner ranks harder than 78% of examiners. Applicants who held an examiner interview saw a 50.0 percentage-point lift in allowance in 2023.

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Data through March 2026 · Source: USPTO Patent Center (formerly PAIR) · Methodology

Overview

Free
Difficulty: Hard
harder than 78% of examiners
Easier78th percentileHarder
Allowance rate vs peers
Examiner Liang57.8%
Art Unit 174178.0%
USPTO average82.1%
Allowance rate
57.8%
▼ USPTO avg 82.1%
Applications
241
filing years 2021–2025
First-action allowance
8.2%
allowed on OA #1
Abandoned
25.7%
share of applications
Avg office actions
2.0
USPTO avg 1.2
Days to first OA
553
▼ USPTO 589
RCE rate
34.9%
USPTO 14.1%
Interview rate
24.9%
USPTO 21.5%

Examiner details

  • Art unit1741 · Plastic & Nonmetallic Article Shaping & Molding
  • Title / gradePatent Examiner · GS-13
  • Service7 years
  • Phone(571) 272-8811
  • Email[email protected]
  • LocationAlexandria, VA 22314
  • On office actionsLiang, Shibin
Partial signatory authority

Examiner Liang can sign some office actions directly, while allowances and final actions are reviewed by a more senior examiner, so clear written arguments carry extra weight.

Examines (USPC classes)
264 · Plastic & Nonmetallic Article Shaping or Treating: Processes425 · Plastic Article or Earthenware Shaping or Treating: Apparatus156 · Adhesive Bonding & Miscellaneous Chemical Manufacture

How to improve your odds with Examiner Liang

  • The data favors an interview. Interviewed cases allowed 50.0 points higher in 2023, the largest measured lift on this docket.
  • The timeline runs ahead of the norm. First office action averages 553 days vs the 589-day USPTO norm.
  • Expect a §103. Obviousness is the most-issued rejection (307), and applicants overcame it 54.4% of the time.
  • RCE outcomes are mixed year to year. 26.7 points up in 2021 but -2.0 in 2023; weigh the year-by-year table before spending the fee.
  • Tighter claims have moved faster here. With a 57.8% allowance rate, appropriately scoped independent claims have tended to shorten prosecution.

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

Free
§101 Eligibility13 issued · 50.0% overcome
§102 Novelty119 issued · 78.9% overcome
§103 Obviousness307 issued · 54.4% overcome
§112 Disclosure76 issued · 85.4% overcome
Arguments that overcame §103 rejections🔒 Members

REMARKS: Applicant respectfully traverses the rejection under 35 U.S.C. §103. The cited references, whether taken alone or in combination, fail to teach or suggest at least the recited limitation, and the Office has not established an adequate rationale to combine the references as proposed without impermissible hindsight in that ...

Read every winning §103 argumentFull 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 Liang.

YearRCE rateAllowance w/ RCEAllowance w/oDelta
202330.4%50.0%52.0%-2.0pp
202245.7%63.6%57.4%+6.2pp
202140.8%75.0%48.3%+26.7pp

Recent outcomes

Free🔒 Case detail: members
App #TitleOutcomeOAsArguments & redline
17/859426Composite Material Processing Apparatus and Composite Material Processing MethodPatented4🔒 View
18/323441Apparatus and Method for Producing Objects in Continuous Cycle From Plastic MaterialPatented1🔒 View
17/730748Apparatus, Method and Capacitor Plate for Producing a Particle Foam PartPatented5🔒 View
17/521084Insulation Compaction Device and Method for Forming an Insulated Structure for an AppliancePatented1🔒 View
See all 241 dispositions with full file-wrapper detailOffice action text, attorney arguments, amendments & claim-by-claim track changes
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Technology & expertise

Plastics shapingInjection moldingPolymer processingArticle formingTop CPC: B29C · B29D · B29B
About this examiner. Shibin Liang has examined 241 applications in Art Unit 1741 (Plastic & Nonmetallic Article Shaping & Molding, Tech Center 1700). The docket skews toward plastics shaping, injection molding, polymer processing.

Frequently asked questions

What is Examiner Shibin Liang's allowance rate?
Examiner Liang's allowance rate is 57.8%, compared with the 82.1% USPTO average and 78.0% for Art Unit 1741, which places Examiner Liang harder than 78% of examiners.
Is Examiner Liang a hard examiner?
Somewhat — Examiner Liang ranks harder than 78% of examiners, in the 78th difficulty percentile (hard), with a 57.8% allowance rate versus the 82.1% USPTO average and more office actions per application than average (2.0 versus 1.2) and a higher RCE rate (34.9% versus 14.1%).
Do examiner interviews help with Examiner Liang?
The data says yes. Interviewed applications allowed 50.0 percentage points higher than non-interviewed ones in 2023 (100.0% versus 50.0%).
What is Examiner Liang's most common rejection?
§103 obviousness, issued 307 times in the data. Applicants overcame it 54.4% of the time, usually by amendment plus argument.
Is an RCE worth filing with Examiner Liang?
It has varied by year, so the table is the better guide. In 2023, applications with an RCE allowed at 50.0% versus 52.0% without one, but earlier years did not all run that way.
How long until the first office action from Examiner Liang?
About 553 days on average, versus the 589-day USPTO norm.
How do I contact Examiner Shibin Liang?
Examiner Liang can be reached by phone at (571) 272-8811 or by email at [email protected]. The examiner's direct line also appears on the first page of every office action.

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Statistics are computed by Boundly Prosecution Intel from USPTO Patent Center (formerly PAIR) file wrappers for filing years 2021–2025, updated monthly. Allowance rate (sometimes called grant rate) is the share of disposed applications that issued as patents. 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 Shibin Liang, or see an error? Request a correction.