Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics • Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems
75 pending office actions • 24 art units • 51 examiners • 0 of 75 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 134 patents granted in the last 365 days
Aktiebolaget SKF manages a portfolio with 72 pending office actions in the Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems technology area. This workload is spread across 24 distinct art units, demonstrating a range of mechanical and systems-based innovations. The company engages with 49 distinct examiners, which requires a strategy capable of addressing many different examination approaches. Alan B Waits is the busiest examiner for the company, currently handling 10 pending office actions.
This concentration with one examiner represents a portion of the 72 total actions. The presence of 24 distinct art units suggests that the portfolio covers diverse technical sub-fields within its primary technology area. Managing 49 distinct examiners indicates a complex prosecution landscape where consistency in messaging across different units is a priority. Alan B Waits manages more actions than any other individual examiner. The number of examiners is higher than the count of art units involved.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 24 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.
Every pending office action with a known statutory deadline, placed on a days-until-due axis. Dots left of Today are overdue; the further right, the more runway. Cases that share a deadline window stack vertically. 24 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.
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 |
|---|---|
| §101 + other | 8 (11%) |
| §103 only | 25 (33%) |
| §102 only | 6 (8%) |
| §112 only | 8 (11%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 28 (37%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAITS, ALAN B | 11 | 68.8% | +29.8% |
| PILKINGTON, JAMES | 9 | 70.2% | +35.7% |
| NGUYEN, AIMEE TRAN | 4 | 78.8% | +16.8% |
| COMINO, EVA L | 3 | 70.4% | +32.3% |
| JOHNSON, PHILLIP A | 2 | 81.5% | +12.9% |
| ADJAGBE, MAXIME M | 1 | 84.2% | +9.6% |
| PALMER, ALEX ROBERT | 1 | 62.0% | +20.0% |
| PATEL, VISHAL A | 1 | 59.0% | +22.5% |
| TALBOT, BRIAN K | 1 | 59.1% | +30.9% |
| JORGENSEN, ABBY A | 1 | 74.0% | +14.1% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 2 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19278813 | SPHERICAL ROLLER BEARING HAVING RADIALLY OFFSET CAGE BARS | ADJAGBE, MAXIME M | — |
| 18975530 | BEARING | JOHNSON, PHILLIP A | — |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 8 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19058443 | RADIAL SHAFT SEALING RING | PATEL, VISHAL A | 43d overdue |
| 18924350 | OPTIMIZED BALL BEARING WITH FEATURES FOR IMPROVED LUBRICATION | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 42d overdue |
| 18654139 | CAGE FOR ROLLING ELEMENTS OF HIGH-SPEED BEARING AND HIGH-SPEED BEARING | NGUYEN, AIMEE TRAN | 11d overdue |
| 18117607 | WORKPIECE HOLDING DEVICE | VITALE, MICHAEL J | 3d overdue |
| 18438852 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING MICROSTRUCTURAL DETERIORATION AND REMAINING LIFE OF A HARDENED METAL COMPONENT | KEFAYATI, SOORENA | 5d |
| 17497243 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATED DETECTION AND PREDICTION OF MACHINE FAILURES USING ONLINE MACHINE LEARNING | ABOU EL SEOUD, MOHAMED | 13d |
| 18513904 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR FAULT DIAGNOSIS OF A SLIDING BEARING IN ROTATING MACHINERY | SUN, XIUQIN | 14d |
| 18532615 | ARC-SHAPED SEGMENT FOR ASSEMBLING A SEGMENTED CAGE, CAGE AND BEARING | WAITS, ALAN B | 28d |
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 8 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19058443 | RADIAL SHAFT SEALING RING | PATEL, VISHAL A | 43d overdue |
| 18901136 | DEEP GROOVE BALL BEARING | WAITS, ALAN B | 43d overdue |
| 18924350 | OPTIMIZED BALL BEARING WITH FEATURES FOR IMPROVED LUBRICATION | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 42d overdue |
| 18654139 | CAGE FOR ROLLING ELEMENTS OF HIGH-SPEED BEARING AND HIGH-SPEED BEARING | NGUYEN, AIMEE TRAN | 11d overdue |
| 18385459 | MODULAR SUPPORT ASSEMBLY | NGUYEN, AIMEE TRAN | 5d |
| 18768422 | WHEEL HUB UNIT | WAITS, ALAN B | 6d |
| 18532615 | ARC-SHAPED SEGMENT FOR ASSEMBLING A SEGMENTED CAGE, CAGE AND BEARING | WAITS, ALAN B | 28d |
| 18443527 | SUPPORT ASSEMBLY | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 68d |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3617 | 19 |
| 2855 | 7 |
| 2834 | 2 |
| 2857 | 2 |
| 1733 | 2 |
| 2116 | 2 |
| 3745 | 1 |
| 3675 | 1 |
| 1712 | 1 |
| 4100 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19278813 | SPHERICAL ROLLER BEARING HAVING RADIALLY OFFSET CAGE BARS | ADJAGBE, MAXIME M | 3745 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 24, 2025 |
| 19221835 | SUPPORT ASSEMBLY FOR FOOD APPLICATIONS | WAITS, ALAN B | — | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 29, 2025 |
| 19220281 | BEARING DEVICE WITH INTEGRATED ELECTRICAL INSULATION, NOTABLY FOR AN ELECTRIC MOTOR OR MACHINE, AND ASSOCIATED MANUFACTURING METHODS | PILKINGTON, JAMES | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 28, 2025 |
| 19218731 | MARKING FOR IDENTIFYING ROLLING ELEMENTS IN ROLLING BEARINGS | PILKINGTON, JAMES | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 27, 2025 |
| 19217079 | BEARING UNIT PROVIDED WITH A SEALING DEVICE | PILKINGTON, JAMES | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 23, 2025 |
| 19194167 | ROLLING BEARING WITH SEALS AND A SEGMENTED SPACER RING BETWEEN THE SEALS | PILKINGTON, JAMES | — | §101§102§103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 30, 2025 |
| 19192915 | BEARING DEVICE WITH INTEGRATED ELECTRIC INSULATION, IN PARTICULAR FOR AN ELECTRIC MACHINE OR MOTOR | PILKINGTON, JAMES | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 29, 2025 |
| 19192962 | VEHICLE WHEEL END ASSEMBLY | PALMER, ALEX ROBERT | — | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 29, 2025 |
| 19081388 | BEARING COMPONENT MADE OF CAST IRON AND PROCESS FOR PRODUCTION THEREOF | JOHNSON, PHILLIP A | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 17, 2025 |
| 19066274 | RADIALLY INNER ANNULAR ELEMENT OF A WHEEL HUB PROVIDED WITH FRONT TOOTHING FOR TRANSMITTING TORQUE | COMINO, EVA L | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 28, 2025 |
| 19058443 | RADIAL SHAFT SEALING RING | PATEL, VISHAL A | 3675 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 43d overdue | Pending | Feb 20, 2025 |
| 19057401 | ASYMMETRIC HUB BEARING UNIT | COMINO, EVA L | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 19, 2025 |
| 19053587 | METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT FOR APPLYING A COATING TO A BEARING COMPONENT | TALBOT, BRIAN K | 1712 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 14, 2025 |
| 19023836 | INSULATED BEARING AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 3617 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2025 |
| 18995320 | BEARING, MACHINE, LUBRICATION METHOD & USE | WAITS, ALAN B | 3617 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2025 |
| 19017877 | INSULATED BEARING AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME | WAITS, ALAN B | 3617 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 13, 2025 |
| 19012131 | DEVICE FOR DETERMINING THE ELONGATION OF A CHAIN AND ASSOCIATED CONVEYOR AND METHOD | JORGENSEN, ABBY A | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 07, 2025 |
| 18975530 | BEARING | JOHNSON, PHILLIP A | 3617 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 10, 2024 |
| 18870709 | MACHINE COMPONENT WITH A COATING AND PROCESS FOR MAKING THE SAME | GOLOBOY, JAMES C | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 02, 2024 |
| 18925344 | INTERNALLY SHUNTING GROUNDING BRUSH ASSEMBLY WITH AXIAL BRUSHES | KENERLY, TERRANCE L | 2834 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 24, 2024 |
| 18924350 | OPTIMIZED BALL BEARING WITH FEATURES FOR IMPROVED LUBRICATION | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 3617 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 42d overdue | Pending | Oct 23, 2024 |
| 18858942 | ESTIMATION SYSTEM AND METHOD | FOXX, CHICO A | — | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 22, 2024 |
| 18901136 | DEEP GROOVE BALL BEARING | WAITS, ALAN B | 3617 | §103 | Final Rejection | 43d overdue | Pending | Sep 30, 2024 |
| 18819801 | DEVICE FOR MONITORING RAIL BOGIE AND ASSOCIATED RAIL BOGIE | KUHFUSS, ZACHARY L | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 29, 2024 |
| 18818707 | SENSOR, ASSOCIATED METHOD AND NETWORK | KABIR, MOHAMMAD H | — | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 29, 2024 |
| 18810188 | PASSIVE SENSOR DEVICE AND PASSIVE SENSOR SYSTEM | WILLIAMS, JAMEL E | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 20, 2024 |
| 18806880 | COUPLING FOR CONNECTING THE ENDS OF TWO ROTATABLE SHAFTS | THOMPSON, KENNETH L | — | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Aug 16, 2024 |
| 18806862 | ROLLING-ELEMENT BEARING COMPRISING HOLES AND GROOVES | WAITS, ALAN B | 3617 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 16, 2024 |
| 18795503 | SEALED SELF-LUBRICATING ROLLER CHAIN | LIU, HENRY Y | 4100 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 06, 2024 |
| 18781534 | PORTABLE DEVICE FOR DETERMINING COMMUNICATION PERFORMANCE METRICS OF A CELLULAR MODULE, AND METHOD THEREOF | GAO, JING | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 23, 2024 |
| 18776334 | BEARING SEAL AND ITS APPLICATION | WAITS, ALAN B | 3617 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 18, 2024 |
| 18775093 | DEVICE FOR PREDICTING THE REMAINING LIFE OF A BEARING AND ASSOCIATED BEARING DEVICE AND METHOD | NOH, JAE NAM | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 17, 2024 |
| 18775584 | CAGE FOR ROLLING BEARINGS AND HIGH-SPEED BEARING FITTED WITH SUCH A CAGE | NGUYEN, AIMEE TRAN | 3617 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 17, 2024 |
| 18768422 | WHEEL HUB UNIT | WAITS, ALAN B | 3617 | §103 | Final Rejection | 6d | Pending | Jul 10, 2024 |
| 18768391 | BEARING CAGE FOR A ROLLER BEARING | WAITS, ALAN B | 3617 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 10, 2024 |
| 18760560 | ROLLING BEARING MONITORING DEVICE AND METHOD | BRYANT, CHRISTIAN THOMAS | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 01, 2024 |
| 18746150 | PINION BEARING UNIT | ELAHMADI, ZAKARIA | 3618 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 33d | Pending | Jun 18, 2024 |
| 18745073 | Grounding Brush Assembly | MULLINS, BURTON S | 2834 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 17, 2024 |
| 18741892 | THIN SECTION BEARING UNIT | WAITS, ALAN B | 3617 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 13, 2024 |
| 18735377 | DEVICE FOR CALIBRATING A SPALL PROPAGATION MODEL OF A BEARING AND ASSOCIATED METHOD AND SYSTEM | LEE, SANGKYUNG | — | §101§102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 06, 2024 |
| 18679865 | SWEPT PATTERN PROBABILITY CALCULATION FOR SPEED AND DEFECT IDENTIFICATION | BACA, MATTHEW WALTER | 2857 | §101§102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 31, 2024 |
| 18654139 | CAGE FOR ROLLING ELEMENTS OF HIGH-SPEED BEARING AND HIGH-SPEED BEARING | NGUYEN, AIMEE TRAN | 3617 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 11d overdue | Pending | May 03, 2024 |
| 18623427 | METHOD FOR ESTIMATING THE SIZE OF A SURFACE DEFECT OF A BEARING, AND ASSOCIATED BEARING DEVICE | PARK, HYUN D | — | §101§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 01, 2024 |
| 18599420 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING AN ENVELOPE OF A SIGNAL | MENSING, RODGER STEWART | 2855 | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 08, 2024 |
| 18599303 | METHOD FOR MEASURING OIL VISCOSITY AND VISCOSITY TESTING KIT FOR PERFORMING THE METHOD | PHAN, TRUONG D | 2855 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 15d | Pending | Mar 08, 2024 |
| 18443527 | SUPPORT ASSEMBLY | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 3617 | §103 | Final Rejection | 68d | Pending | Feb 16, 2024 |
| 18438852 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING MICROSTRUCTURAL DETERIORATION AND REMAINING LIFE OF A HARDENED METAL COMPONENT | KEFAYATI, SOORENA | 2884 | §101§102 | Final Rejection | 5d | Pending | Feb 12, 2024 |
| 18681647 | AUTOMATIC DETECTION METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETECTING SUBSTANCE COMPOSITION IN VISCOUS MATERIAL | NIA, FATEMEH ESFANDIARI | 2855 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 5d overdue | Pending | Feb 06, 2024 |
| 18426434 | METHOD OF SELECTING SHIMS NEEDED WHEN PERFORMING AN ALIGNMENT OF SHAFTS OF A FIRST MACHINE AND A SECOND MACHINE | CONNOLLY, MARK A | 2115 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 30, 2024 |
| 18579559 | COMPONENT FOR A ROLLING BEARING AND CORRESPONDING METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE COMPONENT | JANSSEN, REBECCA | 1733 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2024 |
| 18409888 | METHOD AND EQUIPMENT FOR DETERMINING AN ESTIMATED LIFE AND REMAINING USEFUL LIFE OF A MECHANICAL DEVICE | SHABMAN, MARK A | 2855 | §103 | Final Rejection | 72d overdue | Pending | Jan 11, 2024 |
| 18534016 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ESTIMATING AT LEAST ONE PROPERTY OF A ROTATING SYSTEM | FITZGERALD, JOHN P | 2855 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 08, 2023 |
| 18532615 | ARC-SHAPED SEGMENT FOR ASSEMBLING A SEGMENTED CAGE, CAGE AND BEARING | WAITS, ALAN B | 3617 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | 28d | Pending | Dec 07, 2023 |
| 18530814 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING PARTICLE CONTENT IN A FLUID, COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM | HERNANDEZ, ALEJANDRO | 2661 | §103 | Final Rejection | 73d overdue | Pending | Dec 06, 2023 |
| 18527486 | METHOD FOR CONNECTING A WIRELESS SENSOR TO A GATEWAY AND ASSOCIATED NETWORK | KELLER, MICHAEL A | 2446 | §103 | Final Rejection | 71d overdue | Pending | Dec 04, 2023 |
| 18513904 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR FAULT DIAGNOSIS OF A SLIDING BEARING IN ROTATING MACHINERY | SUN, XIUQIN | 2857 | §101§102 | Final Rejection | 14d | Pending | Nov 20, 2023 |
| 18514490 | BEARING-ASSEMBLY COMPONENT AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SUCH A BEARING-ASSEMBLY COMPONENT | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 3617 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Nov 20, 2023 |
| 18508330 | CONTROL METHOD FOR CASTING MACHINE, CONTROL SYSTEM FOR CASTING MACHINE AND COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM | SIDDIQUEE, TAMEEM | 2116 | §103 | Final Rejection | 36d overdue | Pending | Nov 14, 2023 |
| 18559816 | A METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A ROLLING OR PLAIN BEARING RING | TRAN, THIEN S | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 09, 2023 |
| 18385459 | MODULAR SUPPORT ASSEMBLY | NGUYEN, AIMEE TRAN | 3617 | §103 | Final Rejection | 5d | Pending | Oct 31, 2023 |
| 18486333 | HEAT TREATMENT METHOD OF BEARING RING | ZHENG, LOIS L | 1733 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 13, 2023 |
| 18483584 | METHOD FOR HEAT TREATING A STEEL COMPONENT | KESSLER, CHRISTOPHER S | 1759 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 10, 2023 |
| 18475716 | CONDITION MONITORING DEVICE FOR A ROTATING MACHINE LINKED TO AN EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLY | TSO, STANLEY | 2847 | §103 | Final Rejection | 33d | Pending | Sep 27, 2023 |
| 18457477 | CAGE FOR ROLLING ELEMENT BEARINGS | NGUYEN, AIMEE TRAN | 3617 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 29, 2023 |
| 18455792 | SENSOR MODULE FOR DETECTING A VIBRATIONAL BEHAVIOR OF A COMPONENT AND INCLUDING A LEAK-PROOF LIGHT GUIDE | ROYSTON, JOHN M | 2855 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Aug 25, 2023 |
| 18455773 | SENSOR MODULE FOR DETECTING A VIBRATIONAL BEHAVIOR OF A COMPONENT | YOUNG, MONICA S | 2855 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 163d overdue | Pending | Aug 25, 2023 |
| 18359942 | LUBRICATOR CONTROL SYSTEM | KHUU, HIEN DIEU THI | 2116 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 27, 2023 |
| 18274576 | BEARING COMPONENT | WANG, XIAOBEI | 1784 | §102 | Non-Final OA | 42d overdue | Pending | Jul 27, 2023 |
| 18218621 | ULTRA-QUIET WHEEL HUB ASSEMBLY | COMINO, EVA L | 3615 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 06, 2023 |
| 18215962 | IMIDE COMPOSITION AND PRESERVATIVE COMPOSITION COMPRISING THE IMIDE COMPOSITION | KAHN, RACHEL | 1766 | §112 | Final Rejection | 74d overdue | Pending | Jun 29, 2023 |
| 18210104 | SUPPORT ASSEMBLY FOR FOOD APPLICATIONS | WAITS, ALAN B | 3617 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 15, 2023 |
| 18117607 | WORKPIECE HOLDING DEVICE | VITALE, MICHAEL J | 3722 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | 3d overdue | Pending | Mar 06, 2023 |
| 17988952 | CARRY BOX WITH INTEGRATED INDUCTION HEATER FOR ANNULAR BEARING COMPONENT COMPRISING A TOP BOX | DANG, KET D | 3761 | §112 | Non-Final OA | 41d | Pending | Nov 17, 2022 |
| 17497243 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATED DETECTION AND PREDICTION OF MACHINE FAILURES USING ONLINE MACHINE LEARNING | ABOU EL SEOUD, MOHAMED | 2148 | §101§103 | Final Rejection | 13d | Pending | Oct 08, 2021 |
| 17406422 | INSTALLATION DEVICE AND INSTALLATION METHOD | VAUGHAN, JASON L | 3726 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 19, 2021 |
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