Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Communications • Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics
148 pending office actions • 42 art units • 99 examiners • 0 of 148 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 358 patents granted in the last 365 days
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha is currently managing 147 pending office actions within the Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics technology area. These actions are distributed among 99 distinct examiners, which indicates that many examiners are handling multiple cases for the company. The involvement of 43 distinct art units further shows that the company's patent applications are being evaluated across a wide array of technical specializations.
VALENCIA, ALEJANDRO is the busiest examiner for the company, currently overseeing 15 pending office actions. This concentration represents a significant portion of the 147 total pending office actions, making his individual examination style a critical factor for the company's prosecution strategy. The presence of 99 distinct examiners means that while VALENCIA, ALEJANDRO is very active, the remaining actions are spread across many other individuals.
The 43 distinct art units involved in these 147 pending office actions demonstrate that the company's technology is being evaluated by dozens of different specialized divisions. With 99 distinct examiners to manage, the prosecution effort requires balancing concentrated relationships with a broad set of individual reviews. VALENCIA, ALEJANDRO and his 15 pending actions represent the most significant point of examiner contact in the Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics sector.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 27 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. 27 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 | 5 (3%) |
| §101 + other | 7 (5%) |
| §103 only | 50 (34%) |
| §102 only | 13 (9%) |
| §112 only | 4 (3%) |
| Double-patenting only | 8 (5%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 3 (2%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 56 (38%) |
| No statute on record | 2 (1%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| VALENCIA, ALEJANDRO | 15 | 42.6% | +6.3% |
| CHEN, SOPHIA S | 3 | 95.8% | +4.5% |
| AYDIN, SEVAN A | 3 | 80.1% | +4.6% |
| PACHOL, NICHOLAS C | 3 | 61.4% | +21.7% |
| SABAH, HARIS | 3 | 77.2% | +15.4% |
| VO, QUANG N | 3 | 72.6% | +6.1% |
| VO, ANH T N | 2 | 90.0% | +4.6% |
| GRAINGER, QUANA M | 2 | 88.9% | -3.7% |
| POLK, SHARON A | 2 | 91.6% | +5.9% |
| ROTH, LAURA K | 2 | 82.7% | +1.6% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19256372 | IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING MECHANISM FOR OPENING AND CLOSING SHUTTER OF ATTACHED DRUM CARTRIDGE IN INTERLOCKING RELATION TO OPENING AND CLOSING MOVEMENT OF COVER | CHEN, SOPHIA S | — |
| 19229156 | IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING OPERATING MEMBER DISPOSED ON MOVABLE COVER FOR OPENING AND CLOSING SHUTTER OF TONER CONTAINER | GRAINGER, QUANA M | — |
| 19222028 | IMAGE-FORMING DEVICE INCLUDING CONSUMABLE INCLUDING CONSUMABLE MEMORY HAVING FIRST AREA SUBJECT TO DIGITAL SIGNATURE AND SECOND AREA NOT SUBJECT TO DIGITAL SIGNATURE | AYDIN, SEVAN A | — |
| 19219603 | IMAGE FORMATION DEVICE | CHEN, SOPHIA S | — |
| 19214885 | METHOD FOR REMOVING AND ATTACHING FIRST HOLDER MEMBER RELATIVE TO SECOND HOLDER MEMBER SUPPORTED BY HOUSING IN CARTRIDGE | CHEN, SOPHIA S | — |
| 19184993 | IMAGE FORMING DEVICE, PROCESS CARTRIDGE, AND DEVELOPER CARTRIDGE | GRAINGER, QUANA M | — |
| 19088269 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS WITHOUT DEDICATED POWER SUPPLY FOR COMPARATOR REFERENCE VOLTAGE | ROTH, LAURA K | — |
| 19065527 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | AYDIN, SEVAN A | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17536390 | INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM THEREFOR | HEFFINGTON, JOHN M | 44d overdue |
| 18055889 | RECORDING METHOD, WATER-BASED RECORDING INK, AND PRINTED RECORDING MEDIUM | RODRIGUEZ, MICHAEL P | 42d overdue |
| 18423465 | STORAGE MEDIUM STORING PROGRAM AND IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS | CHU, RANDOLPH I | 31d overdue |
| 18672468 | LIQUID DISCHARGE APPARATUS AND ESTIMATION METHOD | FIDLER, SHELBY LEE | 24d overdue |
| 18334419 | LIQUID DISCHARGING APPARATUS | VALENCIA, ALEJANDRO | 16d overdue |
| 18494452 | LIGHT SOURCE DEVICE HAVING POSITIONING PART ON HOLDER FOR POSITIONING OF COUPLING LENS RELATIVE THERETO, AND SCANNING OPTICAL DEVICE USING THE SAME | STANFORD, CHRISTOPHER J | 5d |
| 18785267 | IMAGE RECORDING APPARATUS | ALSHOROOGI, RAMI ABDELNASER | 8d |
| 18187780 | SERVER PERFORMING BENEFIT PROVISION PROCESS TO PROVIDE BENEFIT BY USING VARIABLE RATE | SYROWIK, MATHEW RICHARD | 13d |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18475394 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE PERFORMING PRESCRIBED OPERATION WHILE CONSUMING CONSUMABLE MOUNTED THEREIN | PACHOL, NICHOLAS C | 14d |
| 17935983 | PRINTING SYSTEM INCLUDING PRINTER CONFIGURED TO PRINT IMAGE WHEN DETERMINING THAT AUTHORITY INFORMATION INDICATING AUTHORITY TO PRINT IMAGE IS VALID | PACHOL, NICHOLAS C | 27d |
| 19058689 | IMAGE READER, MULTI-FUNCTION PERIPHERAL, AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING ERROR NOTIFICATION AT APPROPRIATE TIME IN RESPONSE TO OCCURRENCE OF ERROR DURING USE OF READING UNIT | PACHOL, NICHOLAS C | — |
| 18999237 | NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM AND GUIDELINE DISPLAY METHOD | SABAH, HARIS | — |
| 18961551 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS THAT TRANSMITS REQUESTED DATA WITHOUT DISPLAYING AN APPROVAL SCREEN IN RESPONSE TO SATISFY A PARTICULAR CONDITION | SABAH, HARIS | — |
| 18906882 | RECORDING APPARATUS AND RECORDING SYSTEM | SABAH, HARIS | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 2853 | 44 |
| 2852 | 20 |
| 2683 | 11 |
| 2681 | 10 |
| 2682 | 8 |
| 2699 | 3 |
| 3724 | 3 |
| 3992 | 2 |
| 3722 | 2 |
| 2664 | 2 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19426683 | IMAGE RECORDING APPARATUS, EXTERNAL TERMINAL AND SERVER | VIG, NARESH | 3622 | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 19, 2025 |
| 19419391 | INK CONTAINER, INK CONTAINER SET AND PRINTING SYSTEM | VO, ANH T N | 2853 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 15, 2025 |
| 19307888 | IMAGE RECORDING DEVICE, METHOD OF CONTROLLING IMAGE RECORDING DEVICE, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM THEREFOR | CAMPBELL, JOSHUA D | 3992 | Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 22, 2025 |
| 19302826 | IMAGE RECORDING APPARATUS AND FEED TRAY | GONZALEZ, LUIS A | 3653 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 18, 2025 |
| 19293179 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING DEVICE MAIN BODY AND CONSUMABLE ATTACHABLE THERETO AND INCLUDING CONSUMABLE MEMORY FOR STORING RECYCLING HISTORY INFORMATION | TRAN, HOAN H | 2852 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 07, 2025 |
| 19281482 | NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM, SERVER, AND LABEL DATA SHARING SYSTEM | GEORGALAS, ANNE MARIE | 3689 | §101§102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 25, 2025 |
| 19256372 | IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING MECHANISM FOR OPENING AND CLOSING SHUTTER OF ATTACHED DRUM CARTRIDGE IN INTERLOCKING RELATION TO OPENING AND CLOSING MOVEMENT OF COVER | CHEN, SOPHIA S | 2852 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 01, 2025 |
| 19229156 | IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING OPERATING MEMBER DISPOSED ON MOVABLE COVER FOR OPENING AND CLOSING SHUTTER OF TONER CONTAINER | GRAINGER, QUANA M | 2852 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 05, 2025 |
| 19222028 | IMAGE-FORMING DEVICE INCLUDING CONSUMABLE INCLUDING CONSUMABLE MEMORY HAVING FIRST AREA SUBJECT TO DIGITAL SIGNATURE AND SECOND AREA NOT SUBJECT TO DIGITAL SIGNATURE | AYDIN, SEVAN A | 2852 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 29, 2025 |
| 19220854 | IMAGE FORMING DEVICE | BRASE, SANDRA L | 2852 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 28, 2025 |
| 19219603 | IMAGE FORMATION DEVICE | CHEN, SOPHIA S | 2852 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 27, 2025 |
| 19214885 | METHOD FOR REMOVING AND ATTACHING FIRST HOLDER MEMBER RELATIVE TO SECOND HOLDER MEMBER SUPPORTED BY HOUSING IN CARTRIDGE | CHEN, SOPHIA S | 2852 | §102DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 21, 2025 |
| 19207511 | TANK INCLUDING FRAME DEFINING FIRST OPENING, AND COVER COVERING AT LEAST PART OF FIRST OPENING | ELOSHWAY, NIKI MARINA | 3736 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 14, 2025 |
| 19189825 | PRINTING DEVICE READING SURFACE OF PRINTING TARGET ON PLATEN TO OBTAIN SCAN DATA | HUFFMAN, JULIAN D | 2859 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 25, 2025 |
| 19188345 | CARTRIDGE | BEATTY, ROBERT B | 2852 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 24, 2025 |
| 19186333 | DROPLET EJECTING APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD OF THE SAME, AND MEDIUM | SOLOMON, LISA | 2853 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 22, 2025 |
| 19184803 | LIQUID EJECTING APPARATUS | CHELST, SHLOMIT ESTHER | 2853 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 21, 2025 |
| 19184993 | IMAGE FORMING DEVICE, PROCESS CARTRIDGE, AND DEVELOPER CARTRIDGE | GRAINGER, QUANA M | 2852 | §103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 21, 2025 |
| 19178838 | PRINTING CASSETTE AND PRINTER | LEGESSE, HENOK D | 2853 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 14, 2025 |
| 19170537 | PRINTING CASSETTE INCLUDING PRINTING TAPE ROLL AND FIRST CASE HAVING FIRST OUTER SURFACE, SECOND OUTER SURFACE, THIRD OUTER SURFACE AND FOURTH OUTER SURFACE | POLK, SHARON A | 2853 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 04, 2025 |
| 19169608 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | CURRAN, GREGORY H | 2852 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 03, 2025 |
| 19092854 | Ligation Device | ORKIN, ALEXANDER J | 3771 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 27, 2025 |
| 19089787 | IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING FAN CONFIGURED TO DISCHARGE AIR THROUGH LOUVER ON HOUSING AND FILTER POSITIONED BETWEEN FAN AND LOUVER IN AIR DISCHARGING DIRECTION | ROTH, LAURA K | 2852 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 25, 2025 |
| 19088144 | COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, SERVER, AND COMMUNICATION METHOD | NGUYEN, PHUOC H | 2451 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 24, 2025 |
| 19088269 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS WITHOUT DEDICATED POWER SUPPLY FOR COMPARATOR REFERENCE VOLTAGE | ROTH, LAURA K | 2852 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 24, 2025 |
| 19083035 | CONSUMABLE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND CONSUMABLE MANAGEMENT APPARATUS | SIMPSON, DIONE N | 3628 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 18, 2025 |
| 19083168 | RECORDING APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD OF RECORDING APPARATUS, AND MEDIUM | SHENDEROV, ALEXANDER D | 2853 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 18, 2025 |
| 19078969 | LIQUID CONTAINMENT BOTTLE AND LIQUID SUPPLY APPARATUS | UHLENHAKE, JASON S | 2853 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 13, 2025 |
| 19077812 | PLATEN AND PRESS UNIT | FERGUSON SAMRETH, MARISSA LIANA | 2853 | §102 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 12, 2025 |
| 19077439 | LAYER FORMATION METHOD, SUBSTRATE REGENERATION METHOD, AND PRINTED MATTER PRODUCTION METHOD | RIVERA-CORDERO, ARLYN I | 1714 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 12, 2025 |
| 19073829 | SYSTEM AND IMAGE FORMING DEVICE | DOTTIN, DARRYL V | 2683 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 07, 2025 |
| 19072255 | ROTARY JOINT DEVICE, MOTOR, AND MACHINE TOOL | VITALE, MICHAEL J | 3722 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 06, 2025 |
| 19071135 | CASSETTE INCLUDING PROTRUSION CONFIGURED TO CONTACT WIDTHWISE CENTER PORTION OF INK RIBBON TO CAUSE INK RIBBON TO BE CURVED | FIDLER, SHELBY LEE | 2853 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 05, 2025 |
| 19068344 | FIXING DEVICE INCLUDING CHARGE ELIMINATING BRUSH PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF BRISTLES AND HOLDING FRAME HOLDING THE SAME | AYDIN, SEVAN A | 2852 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 03, 2025 |
| 19066973 | IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING DETACHABLE CHUTE CONFIGURED TO FORM PART OF RE-CONVEYING PATH POSITIONED BETWEEN SHEET TRAY AND DRAWER | THERRIEN, CARLA J | 2852 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Feb 28, 2025 |
| 19065527 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | AYDIN, SEVAN A | 2852 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 27, 2025 |
| 19058689 | IMAGE READER, MULTI-FUNCTION PERIPHERAL, AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING ERROR NOTIFICATION AT APPROPRIATE TIME IN RESPONSE TO OCCURRENCE OF ERROR DURING USE OF READING UNIT | PACHOL, NICHOLAS C | 2699 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 20, 2025 |
| 19058635 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM, AND METHOD FOR ACCEPTING INPUT OPERATIONS FROM MOBILE TERMINAL | MILIA, MARK R | 2681 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 20, 2025 |
| 19058147 | LIQUID EJECTING APPARATUS AND SET OF LIQUIDS USED THEREIN | SHENDEROV, ALEXANDER D | 2853 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 20, 2025 |
| 19056370 | NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM STORING SET OF INSTRUCTIONS FOR REGISTERING MEDIUM SIZE AS REGISTERED SIZE | BAKER, CHARLOTTE M | 2664 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 18, 2025 |
| 19039000 | LIQUID DROPLET EJECTING APPARATUS | VAN KREUNINGEN, KYRA MELOR | 2853 | §102§103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 28, 2025 |
| 19031842 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING APPROPRIATE OBJECTS ON SCREEN | RODRIGUEZGONZALEZ, LENNIN R | 2683 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 18, 2025 |
| 19016763 | TERMINAL DEVICE, CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM CONTAINING COMPUTER-EXECUTABLE INSTRUCTIONS FOR TERMINAL DEVICE | O'CONNOR-EMANUEL, LAWRENCE SCOTT | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 10, 2025 |
| 19014948 | DEVELOPER CARTRIDGE PROVIDED WITH GEAR HAVING ENGAGEMENT PORTIONS | WENDEROTH, FREDERICK | 2852 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 09, 2025 |
| 19015048 | INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE USING DEFAULT PRINT SETTING STORED ON PRINTER ACCORDING TO SUPPORT PROGRAM | CHATLY, AMIT | 2624 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 09, 2025 |
| 19006360 | Component Movement Mechanism for an Image Forming Apparatus | DO, ANDREW V | 2852 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 31, 2024 |
| 19000604 | COLUMN AND MACHINE TOOL | RUFO, RYAN C | 3722 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 23, 2024 |
| 18999237 | NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM AND GUIDELINE DISPLAY METHOD | SABAH, HARIS | — | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 23, 2024 |
| 18989275 | IMAGE READER, MULTI-FUNCTION PERIPHERAL, AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING IMAGE READING BY INTERRUPTION DURING ERROR NOTIFICATION | MILIA, MARK R | 2681 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 20, 2024 |
| 18990405 | PRINTING SYSTEM, PRINTING APPARATUS, AND MEDIUM STORING PRINTING PROGRAM | POON, KING Y | 2617 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 20, 2024 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free TrialBrother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha has 148 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 42 art units and 99 examiners.
Alejandro Valencia has the most, with 15 of Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha's pending office actions.
Mostly Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics (USPTO Tech Center 2800), based on where its pending office actions are examined.