Technology area: Chemistry & Materials
11 pending office actions • 7 art units • 11 examiners • 0 of 11 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 9 patents granted in the last 365 days
Bühler AG is currently managing 12 pending office actions in the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These actions are spread across 8 distinct art units, indicating that the company's chemical and material innovations are being reviewed by a wide variety of technical specialists. This distribution across 8 distinct art units requires a prosecution strategy that can adapt to many different examination standards within the patent office.
The portfolio involves 12 distinct examiners, which means that every one of the 12 pending office actions is being handled by a different person. SWEENEY, MAURA ELIZABETH is the busiest examiner, though they are only responsible for 1 pending office action. This distribution between 12 distinct examiners and 12 pending office actions shows a complete lack of examiner concentration in the current pipeline, requiring independent engagement for each file.
Practitioners should note that with 12 distinct examiners and 8 distinct art units, there is no opportunity for consolidated negotiations. Each of the 12 pending office actions must be prosecuted as an independent matter. The busiest examiner, SWEENEY, MAURA ELIZABETH, does not have a larger share of the workload than any other examiner, as they only manage 1 pending office action within this diverse group of active cases.
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.
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 | 1 (9%) |
| §112 only | 1 (9%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 9 (82%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWEENEY, MAURA ELIZABETH | 1 | 7.0% | -8.9% |
| BECKER, DREW E | 1 | 49.0% | +0.2% |
| DUBOIS, PHILIP A | 1 | 25.6% | +26.3% |
| LEFF, STEVEN N | 1 | 41.4% | +8.4% |
| BHATIA, ANSHU | 1 | 84.2% | +17.1% |
| STEPHENS, MATTHEW | 1 | 65.1% | +21.6% |
| AHMED ALI, MOHAMED K | 1 | 70.9% | +26.6% |
| SZUMNY, JONATHON A | 1 | 56.8% | +54.9% |
| TIMILSINA, SHARAD | 1 | 74.4% | +11.1% |
| MUDD, HENRY HOOPER | 1 | 70.0% | +24.5% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18004838 | DOSE MEASURING DEVICE FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF A RADIATION DOSE AND MEASUREMENT METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE RADIATION DOSE APPLIED DURING PASTEURIZATION AND/OR STERILIZATION OF PARTICULATE MATERIAL | HO, ALLEN C | 198d overdue |
| 19014886 | MODULAR PRODUCTION LINE AND PROCESS FOR USING IT | SWEENEY, MAURA ELIZABETH | — |
| 18832398 | TWO-STEP COOKING | BECKER, DREW E | — |
| 18723116 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FORMING A PRODUCT THAT IMITATES PROPERTIES OF MEAT, POULTRY, FISH, SEAFOOD, OR PRODUCTS DERIVED THEREFROM | DUBOIS, PHILIP A | — |
| 18723127 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FORMING A PRODUCT THAT IMITATES PROPERTIES OF MEAT, POULTRY, FISH, SEAFOOD, DAIRY PRODUCTS, OR PRODUCTS DERIVED THEREFROM | LEFF, STEVEN N | — |
| 18720817 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING AND CONTROLLING PRODUCTION OF VISCOUS MATERIAL SUCH AS BATTERY PASTE FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION | BHATIA, ANSHU | — |
| 18718705 | HAMMER CAGE | STEPHENS, MATTHEW | — |
| 18713412 | FOOD PRODUCT AND DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | AHMED ALI, MOHAMED K | — |
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 7 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18723116 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FORMING A PRODUCT THAT IMITATES PROPERTIES OF MEAT, POULTRY, FISH, SEAFOOD, OR PRODUCTS DERIVED THEREFROM | DUBOIS, PHILIP A | — |
| 18720817 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING AND CONTROLLING PRODUCTION OF VISCOUS MATERIAL SUCH AS BATTERY PASTE FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION | BHATIA, ANSHU | — |
| 18718705 | HAMMER CAGE | STEPHENS, MATTHEW | — |
| 18713412 | FOOD PRODUCT AND DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | AHMED ALI, MOHAMED K | — |
| 18697282 | IMPACT RING AND IMPROVED DEHULLING DEVICE | SZUMNY, JONATHON A | — |
| 18570359 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF OPTIMIZED TREATMENT CONDITIONS FOR TREATING CELLS WITH ELECTRIC PULSES | TIMILSINA, SHARAD | — |
| 18256165 | CLEANING SYSTEM, CONVEYING DEVICE AND SEPARATING DEVICE FOR INSECTS OR WORMS AND CORRESPONDING METHODS | MUDD, HENRY HOOPER | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1791 | 4 |
| 1792 | 2 |
| 1774 | 1 |
| 3725 | 1 |
| 1653 | 1 |
| 3642 | 1 |
| 2884 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19014886 | MODULAR PRODUCTION LINE AND PROCESS FOR USING IT | SWEENEY, MAURA ELIZABETH | 1791 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 09, 2025 |
| 18832398 | TWO-STEP COOKING | BECKER, DREW E | 1792 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 23, 2024 |
| 18723116 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FORMING A PRODUCT THAT IMITATES PROPERTIES OF MEAT, POULTRY, FISH, SEAFOOD, OR PRODUCTS DERIVED THEREFROM | DUBOIS, PHILIP A | 1791 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 21, 2024 |
| 18723127 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FORMING A PRODUCT THAT IMITATES PROPERTIES OF MEAT, POULTRY, FISH, SEAFOOD, DAIRY PRODUCTS, OR PRODUCTS DERIVED THEREFROM | LEFF, STEVEN N | 1792 | §102§103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 21, 2024 |
| 18720817 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING AND CONTROLLING PRODUCTION OF VISCOUS MATERIAL SUCH AS BATTERY PASTE FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION | BHATIA, ANSHU | 1774 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 17, 2024 |
| 18718705 | HAMMER CAGE | STEPHENS, MATTHEW | 3725 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 11, 2024 |
| 18713412 | FOOD PRODUCT AND DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | AHMED ALI, MOHAMED K | 1791 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 24, 2024 |
| 18697282 | IMPACT RING AND IMPROVED DEHULLING DEVICE | SZUMNY, JONATHON A | 1791 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 29, 2024 |
| 18570359 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF OPTIMIZED TREATMENT CONDITIONS FOR TREATING CELLS WITH ELECTRIC PULSES | TIMILSINA, SHARAD | 1653 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 14, 2023 |
| 18256165 | CLEANING SYSTEM, CONVEYING DEVICE AND SEPARATING DEVICE FOR INSECTS OR WORMS AND CORRESPONDING METHODS | MUDD, HENRY HOOPER | 3642 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 06, 2023 |
| 18004838 | DOSE MEASURING DEVICE FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF A RADIATION DOSE AND MEASUREMENT METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE RADIATION DOSE APPLIED DURING PASTEURIZATION AND/OR STERILIZATION OF PARTICULATE MATERIAL | HO, ALLEN C | 2884 | §102§112 | Final Rejection | 198d overdue | Pending | Jan 09, 2023 |
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Start Free TrialBühler AG has 11 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 7 art units and 11 examiners.
Maura Elizabeth Sweeney has the most, with 1 of Bühler AG's pending office actions.
Mostly Chemistry & Materials (USPTO Tech Center 1700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
