The authors thank the departmental editor, the associate editor, and two anonymous referees for helpful comments and suggestions. The authors also thank Clara Chen (discussant), Ella Mae Matsumura, and Fiona Wang as well as workshop participants at the 2021 Wharton People and Organizations Conference, the 2022 Management Accounting Section Midyear Meeting, the 2022 Academy of Management Annual Conference, and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology-Melbourne for their helpful comments. The authors thank the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for access to the detailed personnel data on patent examiners. The authors have benefited from interviews and conversations with patent examiners at the USPTO. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the USPTO.