Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026

Ancora Heart, Inc.

Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering

5 pending office actions • 3 art units • 5 examiners • 0 of 5 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 2 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

Ancora Heart, Inc. has 6 pending office actions in Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering. The docket involves 5 distinct examiners across 3 distinct art units, so some examination assignments cover more than one matter while the technical work remains distributed.

SCHERBEL, TODD J is the busiest examiner, with 2 pending matters. The concentration provides a specific examiner relationship to monitor, while the remaining assignments call for separate response planning and consistent treatment of device-related claim themes.

Written from this page's own data; every figure is computed from USPTO records and verified before publication.

Portfolio Summary

5
Total Pending OAs
2
Non-Final OAs
3
Final Rejections
0
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 1 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

1
Overdue
0
Due this week
0
Due this month
0
Due in next 60 days
0
Due later

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.

1
Hard (20%)
4
Medium (80%)
0
Easy (0%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§103 only3 (60%)
§102 only1 (20%)
Multi-statute (no §101)1 (20%)

Industry Mix

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

0
Life Sciences
0% of docket
0
Information Tech
0% of docket
0
Communications
0% of docket
0
Semiconductors
0% of docket
4
Mechanical / Eng
80% of docket
1
Business / Other
20% 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.

50 h
Manual time on pending OAs
10 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
18 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
0.4 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
SCHERBEL, TODD J 1 76.3% +52.0%
HALL, DEANNA K 1 75.7% +15.3%
VOKES, KATHLEEN PAIGE 1 56.3% +27.5%
LAUER, CHRISTINA C 1 68.6% +14.2%
ALEMAN, SARAH WEBB 1 62.2% +23.6%

Hard Cases (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 #TitleExaminerDue in
17149493 DEVICES AND METHODS FOR POSITIONING A GUIDEWIRE VOKES, KATHLEEN PAIGE —

Interview Candidates (5)

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 5 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
14814383 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CARDIAC REMODELING ALEMAN, SARAH WEBB 46d overdue
19297926 MYOCARDIAL IMPLANT LOAD SHARING DEVICE AND METHODS TO PROMOTE LV FUNCTION SCHERBEL, TODD J —
18626920 DIAGNOSTIC CATHETERS, GUIDE CATHETERS, VISUALIZATION DEVICES AND CHORD MANIPULATION DEVICES, AND RELATED KITS AND METHODS HALL, DEANNA K —
17149493 DEVICES AND METHODS FOR POSITIONING A GUIDEWIRE VOKES, KATHLEEN PAIGE —
16853384 ANCHOR DEPLOYMENT DEVICES AND RELATED METHODS LAUER, CHRISTINA C —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
3783 2
3771 1
3774 1

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
19297926 MYOCARDIAL IMPLANT LOAD SHARING DEVICE AND METHODS TO PROMOTE LV FUNCTION SCHERBEL, TODD J — §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 12, 2025
18626920 DIAGNOSTIC CATHETERS, GUIDE CATHETERS, VISUALIZATION DEVICES AND CHORD MANIPULATION DEVICES, AND RELATED KITS AND METHODS HALL, DEANNA K 3783 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 04, 2024
17149493 DEVICES AND METHODS FOR POSITIONING A GUIDEWIRE VOKES, KATHLEEN PAIGE 3783 §102§103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Jan 14, 2021
16853384 ANCHOR DEPLOYMENT DEVICES AND RELATED METHODS LAUER, CHRISTINA C 3771 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Apr 20, 2020
14814383 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CARDIAC REMODELING ALEMAN, SARAH WEBB 3774 §103 Final Rejection 46d overdue Pending Jul 30, 2015

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many pending USPTO office actions does Ancora Heart, Inc. have?

Ancora Heart, Inc. has 5 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 3 art units and 5 examiners.

Which USPTO examiner handles the most Ancora Heart, Inc. applications?

Todd J Scherbel has the most, with 1 of Ancora Heart, Inc.'s pending office actions.

What technology area are Ancora Heart, Inc.'s patent applications in?

Mostly Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering (USPTO Tech Center 3700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.

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