Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
1 pending office actions • 1 art units • 1 examiners • 0 of 1 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready
1/4 Vin is currently navigating the patent prosecution process within the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. The company has 1 pending office action currently under review. This specific matter is assigned to 1 distinct examiner, which indicates a focused prosecution effort for the current portfolio. Because there is only a single pending office action, the company's immediate legal strategy is tied to a specific set of examiner requirements.
The portfolio is active within 1 distinct art unit. This indicates that the technical innovations being pursued are currently being evaluated within a specific specialized field. THOMAS, KAREEN KAY is identified as the busiest examiner for this portfolio, currently overseeing 1 pending office action. As the only examiner involved, the feedback from THOMAS, KAREEN KAY will be the primary factor in the company's near-term patent success.
With 1 distinct examiner and 1 distinct art unit, the prosecution process is centralized. Practitioners can focus their efforts on the specific preferences and requirements of this specific art unit. The 1 pending office action represents the totality of the company's current interactions with the patent office. The role of THOMAS, KAREEN KAY is central to the outcome of the company's current filings.
Difficulty is derived from the rejection statutes on the most recent pending office action. §101-driven and multi-statute cases are graded Hard; §112-only and obviousness-type double-patenting cases are graded Easy; everything else is Medium. "Unknown" means we have not yet parsed a statute for that office action.
| Bucket | Cases |
|---|---|
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 1 (100%) |
How the docket's pending cases split across USPTO tech-center bands.
Manual office-action response work runs about 10 hours per case. The time-saved bands below show what IP Author's prosecution pipeline typically delivers — a conservative 20% on the low end, 35% in the middle, 50% on the high end.
| Examiner | Apps on this docket | Allow rate | Interview lift |
|---|---|---|---|
| THOMAS, KAREEN KAY | 1 | 77.1% | +17.1% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 1 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18848409 | METHOD FOR HEAT-SEALING A SEAL ON A PLASTIC CONTAINER | THOMAS, KAREEN KAY | — |
Cases in front of an examiner whose interview lift is 10 percentage points or more — i.e. interviewed cases historically resolve more favorably than non-interviewed ones. The top 1 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18848409 | METHOD FOR HEAT-SEALING A SEAL ON A PLASTIC CONTAINER | THOMAS, KAREEN KAY | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3736 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18848409 | METHOD FOR HEAT-SEALING A SEAL ON A PLASTIC CONTAINER | THOMAS, KAREEN KAY | 3736 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 20, 2025 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free Trial1/4 Vin has 1 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 1 art units and 1 examiners.
Kareen Kay Thomas has the most, with 1 of 1/4 Vin's pending office actions.
Mostly Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering (USPTO Tech Center 3700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
