Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
6 pending office actions • 1 art units • 5 examiners • 0 of 6 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 2 patents granted in the last 365 days
Belvac Production Machinery Inc. has 6 pending office actions within the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. These actions are distributed among 5 distinct examiners, all of whom are located within 1 distinct art unit. This concentration within 1 distinct art unit suggests a highly specialized technical focus for the company's active prosecution, where all matters are subject to the same divisional oversight.
David J Laux is the busiest examiner for the portfolio, currently managing 2 pending office actions. While 5 distinct examiners are involved, the 6 pending actions are all being processed within the same technical division. This examiner is the only one handling more than a single matter for the company, making their specific feedback particularly important for the overall portfolio.
Having multiple pending actions in a single art unit allows the company to develop a deep understanding of that unit's specific interpretation of the prior art. However, it also means that any systemic shift in policy within that division could impact the entire pending portfolio. Practitioners should leverage the insights gained from the multiple examiners to build a robust and consistent prosecution strategy.
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 |
|---|---|
| Double-patenting + other | 1 (17%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 5 (83%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAUX, DAVID J | 2 | 65.0% | +28.3% |
| HARP, WILLIAM RAY | 1 | 79.1% | +10.8% |
| TREMARCHE, CONNOR J. | 1 | 65.6% | +27.7% |
| WAN, DEMING | 1 | 76.4% | +42.4% |
| GRAVINI, STEPHEN MICHAEL | 1 | 77.9% | +19.2% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 5 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18684488 | SYSTEMS AND METHOD FOR AN EARLY DETECTION OF A MALFUNCTION OF A CONVEYOR UNIT OF A CONVEYOR SYSTEM OF AN OVEN, AND OVEN COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE SUCH SYSTEM | TREMARCHE, CONNOR J. | — |
| 18684448 | PRODUCTION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING METAL CANS | LAUX, DAVID J | — |
| 18684257 | DRYING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DRYING CONTAINERS HAVING AT LEAST ONE CONTAINER PROPERTY | LAUX, DAVID J | — |
| 18580589 | DRYING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DRYING CONTAINER UNITS EXHIBITING SOLVENT | WAN, DEMING | — |
| 18290163 | DRYING DEVICE FOR DRYING CONTAINERS CONTAINING CLEANING FLUID, CONTROL DEVICE, AND METHOD | GRAVINI, STEPHEN MICHAEL | — |
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 6 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19002198 | SERVO-CONTROLLED MACHINE LINE | HARP, WILLIAM RAY | — |
| 18684488 | SYSTEMS AND METHOD FOR AN EARLY DETECTION OF A MALFUNCTION OF A CONVEYOR UNIT OF A CONVEYOR SYSTEM OF AN OVEN, AND OVEN COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE SUCH SYSTEM | TREMARCHE, CONNOR J. | — |
| 18684448 | PRODUCTION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING METAL CANS | LAUX, DAVID J | — |
| 18684257 | DRYING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DRYING CONTAINERS HAVING AT LEAST ONE CONTAINER PROPERTY | LAUX, DAVID J | — |
| 18580589 | DRYING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DRYING CONTAINER UNITS EXHIBITING SOLVENT | WAN, DEMING | — |
| 18290163 | DRYING DEVICE FOR DRYING CONTAINERS CONTAINING CLEANING FLUID, CONTROL DEVICE, AND METHOD | GRAVINI, STEPHEN MICHAEL | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3753 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19002198 | SERVO-CONTROLLED MACHINE LINE | HARP, WILLIAM RAY | — | §103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 26, 2024 |
| 18684488 | SYSTEMS AND METHOD FOR AN EARLY DETECTION OF A MALFUNCTION OF A CONVEYOR UNIT OF A CONVEYOR SYSTEM OF AN OVEN, AND OVEN COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE SUCH SYSTEM | TREMARCHE, CONNOR J. | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 22, 2024 |
| 18684448 | PRODUCTION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING METAL CANS | LAUX, DAVID J | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 16, 2024 |
| 18684257 | DRYING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DRYING CONTAINERS HAVING AT LEAST ONE CONTAINER PROPERTY | LAUX, DAVID J | — | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Feb 16, 2024 |
| 18580589 | DRYING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DRYING CONTAINER UNITS EXHIBITING SOLVENT | WAN, DEMING | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 18, 2024 |
| 18290163 | DRYING DEVICE FOR DRYING CONTAINERS CONTAINING CLEANING FLUID, CONTROL DEVICE, AND METHOD | GRAVINI, STEPHEN MICHAEL | 3753 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 10, 2023 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free Trial