Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
11 pending office actions • 7 art units • 9 examiners • 0 of 11 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 24 patents granted in the last 365 days
AOB Products Company has 11 pending office actions in the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. These actions are distributed across 7 distinct art units and 9 distinct examiners. This reflects a high degree of specialization for a small portfolio. With 11 pending office actions, the company interacts with 9 different examiners, showing a high level of diversity for its size.
SIMMS JR, JOHN ELLIOTT is the busiest examiner with 2 pending office actions. The other 9 pending office actions are each handled by a different one of the 9 distinct examiners. This distribution across 7 distinct art units requires a highly individualized approach to each patent application. The Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area is the focus, but the 7 distinct art units suggest several different technical sub-specialties.
Practitioners should focus on the 2 pending office actions with SIMMS JR, JOHN ELLIOTT to see if any specific trends emerge. However, for the rest of the 11 pending office actions, the experience will be unique to each of the 9 distinct examiners. Navigating 7 distinct art units with such a small portfolio requires a high level of attention to detail for each individual filing to ensure successful prosecution outcomes.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 6 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. 6 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 |
|---|---|
| §103 only | 7 (64%) |
| §102 only | 1 (9%) |
| §112 only | 1 (9%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 2 (18%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SIMMS JR, JOHN ELLIOTT | 2 | 65.3% | +12.5% |
| NICONOVICH, ALEXANDER R | 2 | 72.8% | +21.9% |
| MORGAN, DERRICK R | 1 | 72.7% | +27.2% |
| GEHMAN, BRYON P | 1 | 73.8% | +30.6% |
| VANTERPOOL, LESTER L | 1 | 54.8% | -10.6% |
| NGUYEN, NAM V | 1 | 78.5% | +14.3% |
| ELLIOTT, ANDREW JAMES | 1 | 0.0% | +0.0% |
| NGUYEN, PHONG H | 1 | 70.7% | +20.6% |
| BOECKMANN, JASON J | 1 | 49.1% | +28.4% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 3 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17444282 | MATERIAL SPREADER | BOECKMANN, JASON J | 29d |
| 19345358 | SHOOTING TARGET LAUNCHER | SIMMS JR, JOHN ELLIOTT | — |
| 18439069 | Target Hit Indicator | ELLIOTT, ANDREW JAMES | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18943348 | SMART HOME AND SECURITY SYSTEM | NGUYEN, NAM V | 3d overdue |
| 17659460 | ELECTRIC KNIFE | NGUYEN, PHONG H | 3d overdue |
| 19066383 | SECURITY ENCLOSURE | GEHMAN, BRYON P | 13d |
| 17444282 | MATERIAL SPREADER | BOECKMANN, JASON J | 29d |
| 18614850 | SHOOTING TARGET THROWER | NICONOVICH, ALEXANDER R | 30d |
| 19242844 | DISPENSER FOR FIREARM AMMUNITION POWDER | MORGAN, DERRICK R | 34d |
| 19426483 | SHOOTING TARGET LAUNCHER | SIMMS JR, JOHN ELLIOTT | — |
| 19345358 | SHOOTING TARGET LAUNCHER | SIMMS JR, JOHN ELLIOTT | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3711 | 3 |
| 3641 | 1 |
| 3736 | 1 |
| 2685 | 1 |
| 3715 | 1 |
| 3724 | 1 |
| 3752 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19426483 | SHOOTING TARGET LAUNCHER | SIMMS JR, JOHN ELLIOTT | 3711 | §112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 19, 2025 |
| 19345358 | SHOOTING TARGET LAUNCHER | SIMMS JR, JOHN ELLIOTT | 3711 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 30, 2025 |
| 19242844 | DISPENSER FOR FIREARM AMMUNITION POWDER | MORGAN, DERRICK R | 3641 | §103 | Final Rejection | 34d | Pending | Jun 18, 2025 |
| 19066383 | SECURITY ENCLOSURE | GEHMAN, BRYON P | 3736 | §103 | Final Rejection | 13d | Pending | Feb 28, 2025 |
| 19052770 | KNIFE SHEATH | VANTERPOOL, LESTER L | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 13, 2025 |
| 18943348 | SMART HOME AND SECURITY SYSTEM | NGUYEN, NAM V | 2685 | §103 | Final Rejection | 3d overdue | Pending | Nov 11, 2024 |
| 18913060 | HANDHELD SHOOTING TARGET THROWER | NICONOVICH, ALEXANDER R | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 11, 2024 |
| 18614850 | SHOOTING TARGET THROWER | NICONOVICH, ALEXANDER R | 3711 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 30d | Pending | Mar 25, 2024 |
| 18439069 | Target Hit Indicator | ELLIOTT, ANDREW JAMES | 3715 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Feb 12, 2024 |
| 17659460 | ELECTRIC KNIFE | NGUYEN, PHONG H | 3724 | §103 | Final Rejection | 3d overdue | Pending | Apr 15, 2022 |
| 17444282 | MATERIAL SPREADER | BOECKMANN, JASON J | 3752 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 29d | Pending | Aug 02, 2021 |
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