CrystalMark
Field notes from the examiner record: data stories on how USPTO trademark examiners behave. Drawn entirely from the public record and written for the docket.
The latest brief
No. 01 · September 4, 2026 · 8 min read
Nobody picks their examiner. The one you draw moves the odds of a likelihood-of-confusion refusal coming off by about 19 points, case held constant.
46%
Refusal comes off, tenth percentile of the corps
66%
Refusal comes off, ninetieth percentile of the corps
4 in 5
Of the hardest tenth stayed in the hard half in 2024-25
The archive
No. 04 · August 20, 2026 · revised September 16, 2026 · 8 min read
64%
of resolved appeals, on every ground, end with the refusal coming off
Nine decided Section 2(d) appeals in ten affirm the refusal. The figure above answers a different question. Both are true of the same record. The denominator decides which one you need.
Read the briefNo. 03 · August 6, 2026 · revised September 16, 2026 · 9 min read
1,007 of 1,034
tequila marks in Class 33 since 2014 drew their first office action from one examiner
In 2020 a USPTO examining attorney said assignment is random except for a short list. We tested the list against every office action since 2014. Three of five hold. The cannabis desk had already ended in 2018, and a desk forms on a date.
Read the briefNo. 02 · July 14, 2026 · revised September 16, 2026 · 7 min read
21 to 32%
more first actions in the four quarter-closing months, 2022 to 2025
Examination runs on the fiscal production calendar, and the mix moves with the sprint. The close approves and the month after refuses. The Final refusal waits for the month after as well.
Read the briefHow these briefs are made
Every brief is built, or rebuilt, the same way. We answer a question about examiner behavior from the public USPTO record. Then an adversarial pass tries to break the finding before it publishes. Most pieces carry a counter-hypothesis ledger, and every figure that reaches a page states where it came from.
Built from the public record. CrystalMark is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office or any of its employees.
The per-examiner version
Every active examiner the record supports has the reads behind these briefs: refusal rates, what they refuse on, what has overcome them, and their record when appealed. Find the one on your application in the examiner directory.
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