Technology area: Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics
176 pending office actions • 51 art units • 110 examiners • 14 of 176 (8%) have an AI response strategy ready • 228 patents granted in the last 365 days
ASML Holding N.V. has 178 pending office actions in Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics. The portfolio involves 109 distinct examiners and 50 distinct art units, creating a large and widely distributed prosecution operation. Counsel will need strong portfolio controls to preserve consistency across technical subgroups while responding to varied examination practices.
WHITESELL, STEVEN H is the busiest examiner, with 10 pending matters. This is a meaningful concentration within the profile and may justify focused coordination, but the broader docket remains spread across many examiners and art units.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 55 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. 55 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 only | 3 (2%) |
| §101 + other | 25 (14%) |
| §103 only | 47 (27%) |
| §102 only | 17 (10%) |
| §112 only | 5 (3%) |
| Double-patenting only | 1 (1%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 2 (1%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 76 (43%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A | 9 | 81.0% | +14.0% |
| PERSAUD, DEORAM | 9 | 77.1% | +11.7% |
| WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 9 | 82.0% | +12.9% |
| ASFAW, MESFIN T | 6 | 83.1% | +13.9% |
| MCCORMACK, JASON L | 5 | 84.7% | +8.1% |
| HANSEN, JONATHAN M | 4 | 79.4% | +11.5% |
| KIM, PETER B | 4 | 83.1% | +9.4% |
| LI, LARRY | 4 | 66.7% | +66.7% |
| SMITH, DAVID E | 4 | 85.3% | +6.9% |
| OSENBAUGH-STEWART, ELIZA W | 4 | 73.0% | +16.8% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 8 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17277583 | METROLOGY METHOD AND APPARATUS THEREFOR | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 118d overdue |
| 17874582 | COMPUTATIONAL METROLOGY BASED CORRECTION AND CONTROL | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 66d overdue |
| 18568628 | CHARGED PARTICLE DETECTOR ASSEMBLY | SMITH, DAVID E | 42d overdue |
| 18570140 | STRUCTURES FOR USE ON A SUBSTRATE HOLDER, SUBSTRATE HOLDER, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND METHOD | KIM, PETER B | 8d |
| 18320157 | INSPECTION METHOD AND INSPECTION TOOL | MCCORMACK, JASON L | 14d |
| 18844478 | SETUP AND CONTROL METHODS FOR A LITHOGRAPHIC PROCESS AND ASSOCIATED APPARATUSES | ASFAW, MESFIN T | 30d |
| 18376237 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING A CONDITION ASSOCIATED WITH A PELLICLE | RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A | — |
| 19125621 | CONTAMINATION CONTROL | ASFAW, MESFIN T | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17607701 | A PATTERNING DEVICE | ANGEBRANNDT, MARTIN J | 103d overdue |
| 18565951 | INSPECTION DATA FILTERING SYSTEMS AND METHODS | BHATNAGAR, ANAND P | 100d overdue |
| 17623829 | SUB-FIELD CONTROL OF A LITHOGRAPHIC PROCESS AND ASSOCIATED APPARATUS | TAN, ALVIN H | 99d overdue |
| 18265431 | FEATURE EXTRACTION METHOD FOR EXTRACTING FEATURE VECTORS FOR IDENTIFYING PATTERN OBJECTS | LIEW, ALEX KOK SOON | 93d overdue |
| 18511454 | PROCESS WINDOW BASED ON DEFECT PROBABILITY | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 88d overdue |
| 17632632 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PHOTOLITHOGRAPHIC IMAGING | WHITE, JAY MICHAEL | 86d overdue |
| 18294202 | AN OBJECT GRIPPER, A METHOD OF HOLDING AN OBJECT AND A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 72d overdue |
| 17794435 | CHARGED PARTICLE MANIPULATOR DEVICE | OSENBAUGH-STEWART, ELIZA W | 72d overdue |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17277583 | METROLOGY METHOD AND APPARATUS THEREFOR | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 118d overdue |
| 18511454 | PROCESS WINDOW BASED ON DEFECT PROBABILITY | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 88d overdue |
| 18294202 | AN OBJECT GRIPPER, A METHOD OF HOLDING AN OBJECT AND A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 72d overdue |
| 17794435 | CHARGED PARTICLE MANIPULATOR DEVICE | OSENBAUGH-STEWART, ELIZA W | 72d overdue |
| 17874582 | COMPUTATIONAL METROLOGY BASED CORRECTION AND CONTROL | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 66d overdue |
| 18690979 | METHOD FOR FOCUS METROLOGY AND ASSOCIATED APPARATUSES | ASFAW, MESFIN T | 56d overdue |
| 18025183 | TARGET STRUCTURE AND ASSOCIATED METHODS AND APPARATUS | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 51d overdue |
| 18280459 | DIGITAL HOLOGRAPHIC MICROSCOPE AND ASSOCIATED METROLOGY METHOD | HANSEN, JONATHAN M | 50d overdue |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 2882 | 28 |
| 2881 | 27 |
| 2877 | 18 |
| 2851 | 13 |
| 1759 | 9 |
| 2857 | 9 |
| 1737 | 5 |
| 2884 | 4 |
| 2664 | 3 |
| 2667 | 3 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19210413 | SUBSTRATE HOLDER FOR USE IN A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS | ASFAW, MESFIN T | — | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 16, 2025 |
| 18376237 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING A CONDITION ASSOCIATED WITH A PELLICLE | RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A | 2882 | §103DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 03, 2023 |
| 18280459 | DIGITAL HOLOGRAPHIC MICROSCOPE AND ASSOCIATED METROLOGY METHOD | HANSEN, JONATHAN M | 2877 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | 50d overdue | Pending | Sep 05, 2023 |
| 17912202 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FORMING STRUCTURES ON A SURFACE | CHACKO DAVIS, DABORAH | 1737 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | 44d overdue | Pending | Sep 16, 2022 |
| 19125621 | CONTAMINATION CONTROL | ASFAW, MESFIN T | 2882 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 29, 2025 |
| 19123378 | OPTICAL SYSTEM FOR METROLOGY | RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A | 2882 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 22, 2025 |
| 19121669 | POSITION MEASUREMENT SYSTEM AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS | RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A | 2882 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 16, 2025 |
| 19121106 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INSPECTION FOCUS MEASUREMENT | RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A | 2882 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 14, 2025 |
| 19092004 | COOLING DEVICE FOR COOLING A POSITION-SENSITIVE COMPONENT OF A LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM | PERSAUD, DEORAM | 2882 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 27, 2025 |
| 19110674 | AN ILLUMINATION MODULE FOR A METROLOGY DEVICE | DUDEK, JAMES A | 2872 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 11, 2025 |
| 19029961 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING DEFECTIVENESS OF PATTERN BASED ON AFTER DEVELOPMENT IMAGE | BAKER, CHARLOTTE M | 2664 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 17, 2025 |
| 19011092 | SUBSTRATE HOLDER FOR USE IN A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 1759 | §102§103Other | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 06, 2025 |
| 19009394 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND METHOD | PERSAUD, DEORAM | 2882 | §103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 03, 2025 |
| 19008794 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROCESS-WINDOW CHARACTERIZATION | ASFAW, MESFIN T | 2882 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 03, 2025 |
| 19009546 | ABERRATION IMPACT SYSTEMS, MODELS, AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES | PERSAUD, DEORAM | 2882 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 03, 2025 |
| 18876810 | METROLOGY METHOD AND ASSOCIATED METROLOGY DEVICE | PERSAUD, DEORAM | 2882 | §101§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 19, 2024 |
| 18875601 | A PATTERNING DEVICE VOLTAGE BIASING SYSTEM FOR USE IN EUV LITHOGRAPHY | RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A | 2882 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 16, 2024 |
| 18874812 | SYSTEMS FOR PATH COMPENSATION WITH A MOVING OBJECTIVE | SUMLAR, JOURNEY F | 2872 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 13, 2024 |
| 18874483 | METROLOGY METHOD AND ASSOCIATED METROLOGY DEVICE | PEREZ-GUZMAN, CARLOS GABRIEL | 2877 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 12, 2024 |
| 18873382 | SEMICONDUCTOR CHARGED PARTICLE DETECTOR AND METHODS THEREOF | KEFAYATI, SOORENA | 2884 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 10, 2024 |
| 18871903 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTACTLESS INSPECTION OF A SUBSTRATE | HOQUE, FARHANA AKHTER | 2858 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 05, 2024 |
| 18871448 | ISOLATING SPACER FOR ELECTRON-OPTICAL ASSEMBLY | GASSEN, CHRISTOPHER J | 2881 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 03, 2024 |
| 18870245 | SYSTEM, APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SELECTIVE SURFACE TREATMENT | PERSAUD, DEORAM | 2882 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 27, 2024 |
| 18868802 | SENSOR MODULE, ILLUMINATOR, METROLOGY DEVICE AND ASSOCIATED METROLOGY METHOD | RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A | 2882 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Nov 25, 2024 |
| 18869149 | A RADIATION SOURCE | RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A | 2882 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Nov 25, 2024 |
| 18868800 | CALIBRATION METHOD AND APPARATUS | UNDERWOOD, JARREAS C | 2877 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 25, 2024 |
| 18868972 | A MEMBRANE AND ASSOCIATED METHOD AND APPARATUS | KIM, PETER B | 2882 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 25, 2024 |
| 18868113 | ELECTRON-OPTICAL APPARATUS AND METHOD OF OBTAINING TOPOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ABOUT A SAMPLE SURFACE | WANG, JING | 2881 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 21, 2024 |
| 18867491 | CLASSIFYING PRODUCT UNITS | CHOI, ALICIA M | 2117 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 20, 2024 |
| 18867005 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REDUCING CHARGING ARTIFACT IN INSPECTION IMAGE | BROUGHTON, KATHLEEN M | 2661 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 19, 2024 |
| 18866780 | SUBSTRATE HOLDING SYSTEM AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS | HUANG, STEVEN | 3723 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 18, 2024 |
| 18866471 | DROPLET GENERATOR NOZZLE | MCCORMACK, JASON L | 2881 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 15, 2024 |
| 18866014 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FINE FOCUSING SECONDARY BEAM SPOTS ON DETECTOR FOR MULTI-BEAM INSPECTION APPARATUS | WANG, JING | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 14, 2024 |
| 18864761 | METHOD OF SPATIALLY ALIGNING A PATTERNING DEVICE AND A SUBSTRATE | HANSEN, JONATHAN M | 2877 | §102 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Nov 11, 2024 |
| 18864463 | OBTAINING HIGH RESOLUTION INFORMATION FROM LOW RESOLUTION IMAGES | KALISZEWSKI, ALINA ROSE | 2881 | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 08, 2024 |
| 18864099 | DETECTOR FOR DETECTING RADIATION, METHOD OF DETECTING RADIATION, ASSESSMENT SYSTEM | SONG, HOON K | 2884 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 08, 2024 |
| 18863941 | CONTAMINATION DETERMINATION | KIM, PETER B | 2882 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 34d | Pending | Nov 07, 2024 |
| 18863624 | CONTAMINATION MEASUREMENT | AMARA, MOHAMED K | 2877 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Nov 06, 2024 |
| 18861859 | METHOD AND SYSTEM OF OVERLAY MEASUREMENT USING CHARGED-PARTICLE INSPECTION APPARATUS | NGUYEN, HUNG | 2882 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 30, 2024 |
| 18860879 | MECHATRONIC SYSTEM CONTROL METHOD, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS CONTROL METHOD AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS | NGUYEN, BAO LONG T | 3656 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 28, 2024 |
| 18861173 | MEASUREMENT OF FABRICATION PARAMETERS BASED ON MOIRÉ INTERFERENCE PATTERN COMPONENTS | COOK, JONATHON | 2877 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 28, 2024 |
| 18860248 | OPTICAL ARRANGEMENT FOR A METROLOGY SYSTEM | BAGHDASARYAN, HOVHANNES | 3645 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 25, 2024 |
| 18860115 | SINGLE PAD OVERLAY MEASUREMENT | BRYANT, REBECCA CAROLE | 2877 | §102 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 25, 2024 |
| 18859655 | MIRROR ASSEMBLY FOR MICROMIRROR ARRAY | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 1759 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 24, 2024 |
| 18859466 | TRANSIENT DEFECT INSPECTION USING AN INSPECTION IMAGE | GORADIA, SHEFALI DINESH | 2676 | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 23, 2024 |
| 18859485 | THERMALLY ACTUATED COOLING SYSTEM | EINHORN, MICA JILLIAN | 2881 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 23, 2024 |
| 18857065 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND SOFTWARE FOR MULTILAYER METROLOGY | CODRINGTON, SHANE WRENSFORD | 2667 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 15, 2024 |
| 18856459 | A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, AN INSPECTION SYSTEM, AND A DETECTOR HAVING A SQUARE-CORE FIBER | AKANBI, ISIAKA O | 2877 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 11, 2024 |
| 18911806 | CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM APPARATUS WITH MULTIPLE DETECTORS AND METHODS FOR IMAGING | MCCORMACK, JASON L | 2881 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 10, 2024 |
| 18855625 | CHARGED-PARTICLE BEAM APPARATUS WITH LARGE FIELD-OF-VIEW AND METHODS THEREOF | LI, LARRY | 2881 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 09, 2024 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free TrialASML Holding N.V. has 176 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 51 art units and 110 examiners.
Christina A Riddle has the most, with 9 of ASML Holding N.V.'s pending office actions.
Mostly Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics (USPTO Tech Center 2800), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
