Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026

Align Technology, Inc.

84 pending office actions • 39 art units • 64 examiners • 0 of 84 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 136 patents granted in the last 365 days

Portfolio Summary

84
Total Pending OAs
54
Non-Final OAs
26
Final Rejections
4
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 83 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

38
Overdue
4
Due this week
26
Due this month
10
Due in next 60 days
5
Due later

Deadline Fire Line

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. 83 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (38)Due ≤ 7 days (4)Due ≤ 30 days (26)Due ≤ 60 days (10)Due later (5)

Case Difficulty Mix

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.

5
Hard (6%)
69
Medium (82%)
3
Easy (4%)
7
Unknown (8%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 only5 (6%)
§103 only67 (80%)
§102 only2 (2%)
§112 only3 (4%)
No statute on record7 (8%)

Industry Mix

How the docket's pending cases split across USPTO tech-center bands.

8
Life Sciences
10% of docket
9
Information Tech
11% of docket
18
Communications
21% of docket
2
Semiconductors
2% of docket
47
Mechanical / Eng
56% of docket
0
Business / Other
0% of docket

Time-on-OA Estimate

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.

840 h
Manual time on pending OAs
168 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
294 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
7.3 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
WEBB LYTTLE, ADRIENA JONIQUE 5 25.0% +100.0%
SAUNDERS, MATTHEW P 4 47.2% +38.0%
LEWIS, RALPH A 3 67.0% +23.4%
NELSON, MATTHEW M 3 57.8% +23.5%
MORAN, EDWARD JOHN 3 41.4% +60.6%
APONTE, MIRAYDA ARLENE 3 63.4% +20.5%
BELK, SHANNEL NICOLE 2 59.2% +37.4%
TO, HOLLY T 2 49.6% +32.9%
EIDE, HEIDI MARIE 2 50.5% +31.9%
MAI, HAO D 2 48.9% +39.1%

Hard Cases (10)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
18189102 DIRECT FABRICATION OF ORTHODONTIC ALIGNERS WEBB LYTTLE, ADRIENA JONIQUE 58d overdue
18542261 METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR MATCHING JAWS VIRTUAL DENTAL MODEL USING TEETH REFERENCE POINTS WEBB LYTTLE, ADRIENA JONIQUE 49d overdue
18358913 METHOD OF DETERMINING TOOTH ROOT APICES USING INTRAORAL SCANS AND PANORAMIC RADIOGRAPHS WEBB LYTTLE, ADRIENA JONIQUE 45d overdue
18629797 METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETERMINING A DENTAL TREATMENT DIFFICULTY IN DIGITAL TREATMENT PLANNING COTHRAN, BERNARD E 44d overdue
18890537 ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE RETENTION-ACTIVATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS WEBB LYTTLE, ADRIENA JONIQUE 15d overdue
18342708 ORTHO-RESTORATIVE TREATMENT PLANNING PULVIDENTE, SYDNEY J 9d overdue
18393571 ADDRESSING DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT RESULTS WEBB LYTTLE, ADRIENA JONIQUE 9d
19078217 METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR OPTIMIZATION OF ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT USING PASSIVE ALIGNERS PAULS, JOHN A 22d

Interview Candidates (29)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
18461307 TREATMENT OF TEMPEROMANDIBULAR JOINT DYSFUNCTION WITH ALIGNER THERAPY BELK, SHANNEL NICOLE 73d overdue
17665339 DENTAL APPLIANCE WITH SIMULATED TEETH AND METHOD FOR MAKING MORAN, EDWARD JOHN 73d overdue
18481798 SCHEDULE OF MOVEMENT MODIFICATIONS IN ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT TO AVOID COLLISIONS APONTE, MIRAYDA ARLENE 59d overdue
18189102 DIRECT FABRICATION OF ORTHODONTIC ALIGNERS WEBB LYTTLE, ADRIENA JONIQUE 58d overdue
17740177 DENTAL MODELS AND RELATED METHODS EIDE, HEIDI MARIE 53d overdue
18542261 METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR MATCHING JAWS VIRTUAL DENTAL MODEL USING TEETH REFERENCE POINTS WEBB LYTTLE, ADRIENA JONIQUE 49d overdue
18504071 ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT PLANNING SYSTEMS AND METHODS SAUNDERS, MATTHEW P 46d overdue
18358913 METHOD OF DETERMINING TOOTH ROOT APICES USING INTRAORAL SCANS AND PANORAMIC RADIOGRAPHS WEBB LYTTLE, ADRIENA JONIQUE 45d overdue

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
3772 38
3681 2
2614 2
3791 2
2663 2
2616 2
2664 2
2178 2
1743 2
3683 1

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
19078217 METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR OPTIMIZATION OF ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT USING PASSIVE ALIGNERS PAULS, JOHN A 3683 §101 Non-Final OA 22d Pending Mar 12, 2025
19066146 INTRAORAL SCANNER SLEEVE AUTHENTICATION AND IDENTIFICATION NOH, JAE NAM 2481 Other Non-Final OA 5d Pending Feb 27, 2025
19065896 METHODS FOR FORMING ORNAMENTAL INDICIA FOR DENTAL APPLIANCES MULVANEY, ELIZABETH EVANS 1785 Other Non-Final OA 23d overdue Pending Feb 27, 2025
19054762 METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ANALYZING DENTAL SCANS PATEL, SHERYL GOPAL 3685 §103 Non-Final OA 30d overdue Pending Feb 14, 2025
19008533 APPARATUSES AND METHODS FOR ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT WITH PREFABRICATED ATTACHMENTS BELK, SHANNEL NICOLE 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 55d Pending Jan 02, 2025
19000592 DENTAL APPLIANCES HAVING A TOOTH-GRIPPING FEATURE ROSEN, ERIC J 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 76d Pending Dec 23, 2024
18980240 SYSTEMS AND METHODS INCLUDING EXPANDABLE DENTAL APPLIANCES LEWIS, RALPH A 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 30d Pending Dec 13, 2024
18976167 OPTIMIZING ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT BASED ON PATIENT PROGRESS GEDRA, OLIVIA ROSE 3681 §103 Non-Final OA 35d overdue Pending Dec 10, 2024
18971833 SYSTEMS FOR FABRICATION OF DENTAL APPLIANCES WITH ELONGATE SHAFTS AND CONNECTORS SAUNDERS, MATTHEW P 3772 Other Non-Final OA 19d Pending Dec 06, 2024
18946783 PALATAL EXPANDER DEVICES WITH SENSORS NELSON, MATTHEW M 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 34d Pending Nov 13, 2024
18935286 DEVICES AND METHODS FOR POSITIONING DENTAL AUXILIARIES ON TEETH NELSON, MATTHEW M 3772 §102 Non-Final OA 22d Pending Nov 01, 2024
18924976 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT PROGRESS TRACKING NELSON, MATTHEW M 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 26d overdue Pending Oct 23, 2024
18919166 DENTAL TOOLS FOR REMOVING DENTAL AUXILIARIES FROM TEETH LEWIS, RALPH A 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 11d overdue Pending Oct 17, 2024
18890537 ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE RETENTION-ACTIVATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS WEBB LYTTLE, ADRIENA JONIQUE 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 15d overdue Pending Sep 19, 2024
18810295 CLINICALLY RELEVANT ANONYMIZATION OF PHOTOS AND VIDEO WEISENFELD, ARYAN E 3663 §103 Non-Final OA 45d overdue Pending Aug 20, 2024
18806591 COMPACT INTRAORAL SCANNER WITH IMPROVED AXIAL MAGNIFICATION STAFIRA, MICHAEL PATRICK 2877 §103 Non-Final OA 32d overdue Pending Aug 15, 2024
18780964 Facilitating attachment placement on dental site BRIER, JEFFERY A 2613 §103 Non-Final OA 14d Pending Jul 23, 2024
18779695 PHOTOPOLYMERIZABLE BLOCK POLYMERS AND METHODS OF PRODUCING AND USING THE SAME WHITELEY, JESSICA 1763 §112 Non-Final OA 2d overdue Pending Jul 22, 2024
18771087 SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND APPARATUS FOR CORRECTING MALOCCLUSIONS OF TEETH HAIDER, SYED 2633 §103 Final Rejection 30d Pending Jul 12, 2024
18750346 VISUAL PRESENTATION OF GINGIVAL LINE GENERATED BASED ON 3D TOOTH MODEL CHIN, MICHELLE 2614 §103 Non-Final OA 8d Pending Jun 21, 2024
18741728 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRACKING ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT USING CAMERA IMAGES GARCIA, SANTIAGO 2673 Other Non-Final OA 26d Pending Jun 12, 2024
18732551 APPARATUS FOR FORMING A DENTAL RESTORATION YANG, ANDREW GUS 2614 §103 Non-Final OA 7d Pending Jun 03, 2024
18669345 TREATMENT PLAN SPECIFIC BITE ADJUSTMENT STRUCTURES SAUNDERS, MATTHEW P 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 43d overdue Pending May 20, 2024
18658979 METHODS OF TREATMENT USING DENTAL APPLIANCES WITH SCALED-UP CAVITIES MORAN, EDWARD JOHN 3772 §103 Final Rejection 36d overdue Pending May 08, 2024
18652731 METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR HYBRID CONE BEAM COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC AND INTRAORAL SCAN IMAGE MODELING DUFFY, CAROLINE TABANCAY 2662 §112 Non-Final OA 21d Pending May 01, 2024
18645346 DETERMINING 3D DATA FOR 2D POINTS IN INTRAORAL SCANS NIRJHAR, NASIM NAZRUL 2896 §103 Non-Final OA 22d overdue Pending Apr 24, 2024
18633717 DENTAL APPLIANCES FOR CREATING OPPOSING COUNTER MOMENTS BETWEEN TEETH APONTE, MIRAYDA ARLENE 3772 §103 Final Rejection 44d overdue Pending Apr 12, 2024
18633200 DENTAL APPLIANCE OCCLUSAL ELEMENT TO, HOLLY T 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 26d Pending Apr 11, 2024
18629797 METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETERMINING A DENTAL TREATMENT DIFFICULTY IN DIGITAL TREATMENT PLANNING COTHRAN, BERNARD E 2188 §101 Non-Final OA 44d overdue Pending Apr 08, 2024
18624107 APPARATUSES AND METHODS FOR INTRAORAL PRESSURE SENSING MESSERSMITH, ERIC J 3791 §103 Non-Final OA 27d Pending Apr 01, 2024
18621075 ATTACHMENT SYSTEMS FOR DENTAL APPLIANCES NELSON, CHRISTINE L 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 44d overdue Pending Mar 28, 2024
18614577 PALATAL EXPANDERS AND METHODS OF EXPANDING A PALATE EIDE, HEIDI MARIE 3772 §103 Final Rejection 12d Pending Mar 22, 2024
18614524 AUTOMATIC DETECTION OF TOOTH TYPE AND ERUPTION STATUS MILLER, RONDE LEE 2663 §103 Non-Final OA 41d Pending Mar 22, 2024
18610126 3D DENTAL ARCH MODEL TO DENTITION VIDEO CORRELATION FOSTER, THOMAS JOHN 2616 §103 Final Rejection 15d Pending Mar 19, 2024
18605466 INTRAORAL SCANNER PROJECTOR ALIGNMENT AND FIXING EDWARDS, TYLER B 2488 §103 Non-Final OA 4d overdue Pending Mar 14, 2024
18598976 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ANONYMIZING PATIENT IMAGES IN RELATION TO A CLINICAL DATA FILE PAULSON, SHEETAL R. 3615 §103 Final Rejection 18d overdue Pending Mar 07, 2024
18426169 GRADUAL SURFACE QUALITY FEEDBACK DURING INTRAORAL SCANNING BEATTY, TY MITCHELL 2663 §103 Non-Final OA 15d Pending Jan 29, 2024
18420731 ARTIFACT IDENTIFICATION AND REMOVAL FROM INTRAORAL SCANS BRANDT, CHRISTOPHER M 2645 §103 Non-Final OA 34d Pending Jan 23, 2024
18406086 MACHINE LEARNING DENTAL SEGMENTATION SYSTEM AND METHODS USING SPARSE VOXEL REPRESENTATIONS LUCCHESI, NICHOLAS D 3772 §103 Final Rejection 60d Pending Jan 05, 2024
18393571 ADDRESSING DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT RESULTS WEBB LYTTLE, ADRIENA JONIQUE 3772 Other Final Rejection 9d Pending Dec 21, 2023
18542261 METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR MATCHING JAWS VIRTUAL DENTAL MODEL USING TEETH REFERENCE POINTS WEBB LYTTLE, ADRIENA JONIQUE 3772 §103 Final Rejection 49d overdue Pending Dec 15, 2023
18537773 INTRAORAL 3D SCANNER CALIBRATION BAYNES, SAMUEL DAVID 2665 §103 Non-Final OA 16d Pending Dec 12, 2023
18536052 IMAGE-BASED DEFECT DETECTION OF DIRECTLY FABRICATED DENTAL APPLIANCES BILODEAU, DUSTIN E 2664 §103 Non-Final OA 42d overdue Pending Dec 11, 2023
18530984 RESTORATIVE DECISION SUPPORT FOR DENTAL TREATMENT BARNES JR, CARL E 2178 §103 Final Rejection 83d Pending Dec 06, 2023
18527206 X-RAY BASED DENTAL CASE ASSESSMENT ZAK, JACQUELINE ROSE 2666 §103 Non-Final OA 17d overdue Pending Dec 01, 2023
18522169 GENERATION OF DENTAL RENDERINGS FROM MODEL DATA SUN, HAI TAO 2616 §103 Final Rejection 12d Pending Nov 28, 2023
18515176 INTRAORAL SCANNER SLEEVE APONTE, MIRAYDA ARLENE 3772 §112 Final Rejection 46d Pending Nov 20, 2023
18514083 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GENERATING A VIRTUAL DEPICTION OF AN ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT KABIR, SAAD M 2119 §101 Non-Final OA 70d Pending Nov 20, 2023
18511887 POST-PROCESSING OF ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURED OBJECTS WITH COOLANTS MALIK, VIPUL 1754 §103 Non-Final OA 9d overdue Pending Nov 16, 2023
18504071 ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT PLANNING SYSTEMS AND METHODS SAUNDERS, MATTHEW P 3772 Other Non-Final OA 46d overdue Pending Nov 07, 2023
18497534 OCCLUSAL BLOCKS FOR MANDIBULAR RELOCATION HUYNH, COURTNEY NGUYEN 3772 §103 Final Rejection 23d overdue Pending Oct 30, 2023
18496743 DENTAL TREATMENT VIDEO OMETZ, RACHEL ANNE 2668 §103 Non-Final OA 17d overdue Pending Oct 27, 2023
18489753 DUAL ALIGNER ASSEMBLY MORAN, EDWARD JOHN 3772 §103 Final Rejection 29d Pending Oct 18, 2023
18481798 SCHEDULE OF MOVEMENT MODIFICATIONS IN ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT TO AVOID COLLISIONS APONTE, MIRAYDA ARLENE 3772 §102 Non-Final OA 59d overdue Pending Oct 05, 2023
18476858 ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCES WITH ELASTIC SEGMENTS MAI, HAO D 3772 §103 Final Rejection Pending Sep 28, 2023
18473908 METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR FABRICATING DENTAL APPLIANCES HAVING VARIABLE STIFFNESSES MORENO HERNANDEZ, JERZI H 1743 §103 Non-Final OA 33d Pending Sep 25, 2023
18461307 TREATMENT OF TEMPEROMANDIBULAR JOINT DYSFUNCTION WITH ALIGNER THERAPY BELK, SHANNEL NICOLE 3772 §103 Final Rejection 73d overdue Pending Sep 05, 2023
18241709 TOOTH DETECTION AND LABELING BITAR, NANCY 2664 §103 Final Rejection 8d Pending Sep 01, 2023
18458890 CUSTOMIZED ALIGNER CHANGE INDICATOR FERNANDES, PATRICK M 3791 §103 Non-Final OA 53d overdue Pending Aug 30, 2023
18239712 3D FACIAL RECONSTRUCTION AND VISUALIZATION IN DENTAL TREATMENT PLANNING MA, MICHELLE HAU 2617 §103 Non-Final OA 21d Pending Aug 29, 2023
18358913 METHOD OF DETERMINING TOOTH ROOT APICES USING INTRAORAL SCANS AND PANORAMIC RADIOGRAPHS WEBB LYTTLE, ADRIENA JONIQUE 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 45d overdue Pending Jul 25, 2023
18348262 CURABLE COMPOSITIONS WITH CROSSLINKERS FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING BUTCHER, ROBERT T 1764 §103 Non-Final OA 7d Pending Jul 06, 2023
18342708 ORTHO-RESTORATIVE TREATMENT PLANNING PULVIDENTE, SYDNEY J 3772 §101 Final Rejection 9d overdue Pending Jun 27, 2023
18316228 APPARATUSES AND METHODS FOR INTRAORAL APPLIANCES WITH SENSING DEVICES GHORISHI, SEYED BEHROOZ 1748 §103 Non-Final OA 49d overdue Pending May 11, 2023
18189102 DIRECT FABRICATION OF ORTHODONTIC ALIGNERS WEBB LYTTLE, ADRIENA JONIQUE 3772 §103 Final Rejection 58d overdue Pending Mar 23, 2023
18167790 CLINICAL PARTNER EVENT RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT PRATT, EHRIN LARMONT 3629 §101 Final Rejection 40d Pending Feb 10, 2023
18149030 FORCE-DIRECTING DENTAL ALIGNER ATTACHMENTS FARAJ, LINA AHMAD 3772 §103 Final Rejection 46d overdue Pending Dec 30, 2022
18091306 DEVICES AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING MATERIAL DISTRIBUTION IN POLYMERS KENNEDY, TIMOTHY J 1743 §103 Non-Final OA 8d Pending Dec 29, 2022
18145792 OUTLIER DETECTION FOR CLEAR ALIGNER TREATMENT RUIZ MARTIN, LUIS MIGUEL 3772 §103 Final Rejection 78d Pending Dec 22, 2022
18068462 CONVERSION APPLIANCE FOR ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT FARAJ, LINA AHMAD 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 6d Pending Dec 19, 2022
17990160 METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING DENTAL ALIGNER GEOMETRY LEWIS, RALPH A 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 14d Pending Nov 18, 2022
18050289 METHODS FOR PLANNING ORTHO-RESTORATIVE TREATMENT PROCEDURES TO, HOLLY T 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 22d overdue Pending Oct 27, 2022
18050295 METHODS FOR GENERATING FACIAL LINES FOR DENTAL TREATMENT PLANNING BURKE, TIONNA M 2178 §103 Final Rejection 78d Pending Oct 27, 2022
18050140 PROSTHODONTIC AND ORTHODONTIC APPARATUS AND METHODS GIRI, PURSOTTAM 2186 §103 Non-Final OA 18d overdue Pending Oct 27, 2022
17885356 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CUSTOMIZING ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT AND TREATMENT PLANNING EDOUARD, PATRICIA KELLY 3681 §103 Non-Final OA 36d Pending Aug 10, 2022
17880635 VIRTUALLY TESTING FORCE PLACED ON A TOOTH HAYES, JONATHAN EDWARD 1685 Other Non-Final OA 12d Pending Aug 03, 2022
17862316 AUTOMATIC ATTACHMENT MATERIAL DETECTION AND REMOVAL HAO, YI 2187 §103 Non-Final OA 13d Pending Jul 11, 2022
17862346 ASYNCHRONOUS PROCESSING FOR ATTACHMENT MATERIAL DETECTION AND REMOVAL MONTES, NARCISO EDUARDO 2189 §103 Non-Final OA 8d overdue Pending Jul 11, 2022
17830097 AUTOMATED MANAGEMENT OF CLINICAL MODIFICATIONS TO TREATMENT PLANS USING THREE-DIMENSIONAL CONTROLS BEARD, CHARLES LLOYD 2611 §103 Final Rejection 17d overdue Pending Jun 01, 2022
17740177 DENTAL MODELS AND RELATED METHODS EIDE, HEIDI MARIE 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 53d overdue Pending May 09, 2022
17665339 DENTAL APPLIANCE WITH SIMULATED TEETH AND METHOD FOR MAKING MORAN, EDWARD JOHN 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 73d overdue Pending Feb 04, 2022
17177071 DENTAL APPLIANCE BINDING STRUCTURE SAMARASEKARA, SARA NELUM 3772 §103 Final Rejection 30d Pending Feb 16, 2021
17133475 INSERTABLE AND PREFABRICATED ATTACHMENTS FOR AN ORAL APPLIANCE SAUNDERS, MATTHEW P 3772 §103 Final Rejection 42d Pending Dec 23, 2020
16985802 METHODS OF FORMING SHAPE ENGINEERED ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCES MAI, HAO D 3772 §103 Non-Final OA 30d Pending Aug 05, 2020

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