Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Communications • Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics
1,409 pending office actions • 280 art units • 887 examiners • 1 of 1,409 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 2,916 patents granted in the last 365 days
Canon Inc. manages an extensive portfolio of 1436 pending office actions within the Communications technology area. These actions are spread across 897 distinct examiners, which indicates a massive variety of individual perspectives involved in the prosecution process. The workload is further distributed across 237 distinct art units, reflecting the enormous technical breadth of the company's communications-related patent applications.
VALENCIA, ALEJANDRO is the busiest examiner for this portfolio, currently overseeing 21 busiest examiner pending actions. Given the total of 1436 pending office actions, this concentration is relatively low, showing that no single examiner has a dominant impact on the overall portfolio. The involvement of 897 distinct examiners across 237 distinct art units requires a highly sophisticated and decentralized management strategy. To successfully navigate these 1436 pending office actions, the company must address the specific requirements of hundreds of different technical classifications and examiner styles.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 283 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. 283 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 | 31 (2%) |
| §101 + other | 137 (10%) |
| §103 only | 478 (34%) |
| §102 only | 124 (9%) |
| §112 only | 44 (3%) |
| Double-patenting only | 41 (3%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 23 (2%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 522 (37%) |
| No statute on record | 9 (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 | 19 | 42.6% | +6.3% |
| BEATTY, ROBERT B | 15 | 92.5% | +3.1% |
| GRAINGER, QUANA M | 10 | 88.9% | -3.7% |
| HEREDIA OCASIO, ARLENE J | 10 | 75.4% | +3.0% |
| ZONG, HELEN | 10 | 79.2% | +7.9% |
| GUILLERMETY, JUAN M | 9 | 72.8% | +14.0% |
| ROTH, LAURA K | 8 | 82.7% | +1.6% |
| AMEH, YAOVI M | 8 | 91.1% | +7.9% |
| CATO, MIYA J | 8 | 76.7% | +12.7% |
| AUGUSTIN, MARCELLUS | 8 | 81.9% | +15.9% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19033207 | DEVELOPMENT DEVICE | ROTH, LAURA K | 43d overdue |
| 18949821 | HEATER, FIXING APPARATUS, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | GRAINGER, QUANA M | 15d |
| 19338402 | IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM AND IMAGE READING APPARATUS | GRAINGER, QUANA M | — |
| 19311090 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | BEATTY, ROBERT B | — |
| 19310487 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | GRAINGER, QUANA M | — |
| 19306802 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | GRAINGER, QUANA M | — |
| 19289360 | IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM | BEATTY, ROBERT B | — |
| 19278883 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS THAT COOLS AN EXPOSURE DEVICE | BEATTY, ROBERT B | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18889730 | IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS AND MOVING BODY | TARKO, ASMAMAW G | 163d overdue |
| 17935994 | MEDICAL INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, MEDICAL INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM | PAULSON, SHEETAL R. | 154d overdue |
| 17702532 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS THAT CARRIES OUT NOISE REDUCTION PROCESS WHEN PLAYING VIDEO, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | SHIBRU, HELEN | 124d overdue |
| 18435716 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | NGUYEN, HAU H | 120d overdue |
| 18534482 | COMMUNICATION APPARATUS, COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | AUNG, SAI | 84d overdue |
| 17506804 | NUCLEIC ACID DETECTION SYSTEM AND NUCLEIC ACID DETECTION METHOD | GRAY, JESSICA | 73d overdue |
| 18969248 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND X-RAY COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY APPARATUS | REYES, REGINALD R | 51d overdue |
| 18299787 | MEDICAL INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD | LONG, FONYA M | 50d 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18628388 | STORAGE MEDIUM, CONTROL METHOD FOR CONTROLLING INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS | CATO, MIYA J | 42d |
| 19064048 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM | CATO, MIYA J | — |
| 19041808 | STORAGE MEDIUM, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND CONTROL METHOD | CATO, MIYA J | — |
| 19006367 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS FOR OUTPUTTING IMAGE DATA, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | GUILLERMETY, JUAN M | — |
| 18985728 | INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM THAT CUTS MEDIUM TO BE CUT, STORAGE MEDIUM STORING CUTTING APPLICATION, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | GUILLERMETY, JUAN M | — |
| 18963316 | PRINTING SYSTEM, STORAGE MEDIUM, AND METHOD | GUILLERMETY, JUAN M | — |
| 18945928 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS CAPABLE OF PROPERLY PERFORMING RESERVATION PRINTING, METHOD OF CONTROLLING SAME, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | GUILLERMETY, JUAN M | — |
| 18938934 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | CATO, MIYA J | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 2853 | 102 |
| 2852 | 94 |
| 2683 | 55 |
| 2682 | 54 |
| 2872 | 44 |
| 2681 | 43 |
| 2637 | 31 |
| 2639 | 28 |
| 2884 | 25 |
| 3798 | 21 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19569463 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAY, CONTROL METHOD FOR INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND STORAGE MEDIUM THAT ENABLES A USER TO VIEW IMAGES IN APPROPRIATE VISUAL RECOGNITION STATE THROUGH LEFT AND RIGHT DISPLAY UNITS RESPECTIVELY HELD IN FRONT OF BOTH EYES OF THE USER | JANSEN II, MICHAEL J | 2626 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 17, 2026 |
| 19418049 | CHARGE REMOVAL APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM | GRAY, FRANCIS C | 2852 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 12, 2025 |
| 19398737 | DETECTION APPARATUS AND ELECTRONIC STETHOSCOPE | TALTY, MARIA CHRISTINA | 3797 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 24, 2025 |
| 19396551 | X-RAY CT APPARATUS, MEDICAL INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, AND MEDICAL INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD | SEREBOFF, NEAL | 3683 | §101§102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 21, 2025 |
| 19372502 | MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND MEDICAL ANALYSIS METHOD | BRUTUS, JOEL F | 3797 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 29, 2025 |
| 19368676 | DISPLAY DEVICE, DISPLAY APPARATUS, PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION APPARATUS, ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, MOVING BODY, AND WEARABLE DEVICE | SHAH, SUJIT | 2624 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 24, 2025 |
| 19368109 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS | COOK, CHRISTOPHER L | 3797 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 24, 2025 |
| 19366566 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, MOVIE RECORDING APPARATUS, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD | DANG, HUNG Q | 2484 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 23, 2025 |
| 19365264 | SHEET CONVEYANCE APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | SANDERS, HOWARD J | 3653 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 22, 2025 |
| 19351935 | SHEET CONVEYANCE APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM | SEVERSON, JEREMY R | 1759 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 07, 2025 |
| 19339986 | MEDICAL INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, MEDICAL INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | HUYNH, EMILY | 3683 | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 25, 2025 |
| 19338167 | CONTAINER | BEATTY, ROBERT B | 2852 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 24, 2025 |
| 19338402 | IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM AND IMAGE READING APPARATUS | GRAINGER, QUANA M | 2852 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 24, 2025 |
| 19168157 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENCAPSULATING AND PARSING A MEDIA FILE COMPRISING NEURAL NETWORK BASED POST FILTER INFORMATION | LANGHNOJA, KUNAL N | 2425 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 23, 2025 |
| 19335290 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, MEDICAL IMAGE ANALYTIC APPARATUS, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM STORING MEDICAL IMAGE ANALYSIS PROGRAM | PENG, BO JOSEPH | 3797 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 22, 2025 |
| 19331478 | MEDICAL INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD | SHELDEN, BION A | 3685 | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 17, 2025 |
| 19330377 | SHEET CONVEYANCE APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | SANDERS, HOWARD J | 3653 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 16, 2025 |
| 19324336 | PRINTING APPARATUS AND STORAGE CASSETTE | SANDERS, HOWARD J | 3653 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 10, 2025 |
| 19324359 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS | COOK, CHRISTOPHER L | 3797 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 10, 2025 |
| 19317243 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, METHOD OF CONTROLLING INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | MORRISON, JAY A | 2151 | §101 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Sep 03, 2025 |
| 19316679 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | BEATTY, ROBERT B | 2852 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 02, 2025 |
| 19314603 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS THAT DETERMINES COLOR MISREGISTRATION AMOUNT | CHEN, SOPHIA S | 2852 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 29, 2025 |
| 19314173 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS, LESION DETECTION APPARATUS, AND LESION DETECTION METHOD | KELLOGG, MICHAEL S | 3798 | §101§102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 29, 2025 |
| 19314133 | BIOLOGICAL TISSUE INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, BIOLOGICAL TISSUE INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | VIRK, ADIL PARTAP S | 3798 | §101§102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 29, 2025 |
| 19313262 | CONTROL APPARATUS, IMAGE PICKUP SYSTEM, CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | AZONGHA, SARDIS F | 2627 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Aug 28, 2025 |
| 19311090 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | BEATTY, ROBERT B | 2852 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 27, 2025 |
| 19310047 | IMAGING CONTROL APPARATUS, IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS, IMAGING CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | TARKO, ASMAMAW G | 2482 | §103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 26, 2025 |
| 19310487 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | GRAINGER, QUANA M | 2852 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 26, 2025 |
| 19306491 | PRINTING SYSTEM, CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | THERRIEN, CARLA J | 2852 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 21, 2025 |
| 19306802 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | GRAINGER, QUANA M | 2852 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 21, 2025 |
| 19303851 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE, ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE, MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | FRITH, SEAN A | 3798 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 19, 2025 |
| 19303974 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD OF IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | BANH, DAVID H | 2853 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 19, 2025 |
| 19302557 | IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS THAT CAPTURES IMAGE OF MOVING OBJECT, IMAGE CAPTURING SYSTEM, METHOD OF CONTROLLING IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | LAM, HUNG H | 2639 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 18, 2025 |
| 19301728 | POWER TRANSMISSION APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD OF POWER TRANSMISSION APPARATUS, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | LAM, ALEX W | 2836 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 15, 2025 |
| 19301328 | PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION DEVICE AND PHOTODETECTION SYSTEM | AGGARWAL, YOGESH K | 2637 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 15, 2025 |
| 19299590 | REGENERATION DEVICE FOR CLEANING BLADE, REGENERATION METHOD FOR CLEANING BLADE, AND MANUFACTURING METHOD FOR REGENERATED CLEANING BLADE | BEATTY, ROBERT B | 2852 | §101§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 14, 2025 |
| 19299525 | CARTRIDGE | BEATTY, ROBERT B | 2852 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 14, 2025 |
| 19298716 | ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC ROLLER, PROCESS CARTRIDGE, AND ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | CHEN, SOPHIA S | 2852 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 13, 2025 |
| 19298772 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS | TURCHEN, ROCHELLE DEANNA | 3797 | §103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 13, 2025 |
| 19297961 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | VANG, MENG | 2443 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 12, 2025 |
| 19294667 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS | WANG, XI | 2637 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 08, 2025 |
| 19294501 | IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | JERABEK, KELLY L | 2699 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 08, 2025 |
| 19294824 | DISPLAY APPARATUS, FINDER APPARATUS, AND IMAGING APPARATUS | MOREHEAD III, JOHN H | — | Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 08, 2025 |
| 19294921 | CHARGE-ELIMINATING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM | THERRIEN, CARLA J | 2852 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 08, 2025 |
| 19289647 | CONTROL APPARATUS, LENS APPARATUS, IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS, CAMERA SYSTEM, AND CONTROL METHOD | NAZRUL, SHAHBAZ | 2638 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 04, 2025 |
| 19289360 | IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM | BEATTY, ROBERT B | 2852 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 04, 2025 |
| 19286326 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS AND IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS | BRUTUS, JOEL F | 3797 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 31, 2025 |
| 19287620 | POWER TRANSMISSION APPARATUS, METHOD PERFORMED BY POWER TRANSMISSION APPARATUS, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | TRAN, THAI H | 2836 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 31, 2025 |
| 19285193 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | CHEN, SOPHIA S | 2852 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 30, 2025 |
| 19282304 | EXPOSURE HEAD AND IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS | AYDIN, SEVAN A | 2852 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 28, 2025 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free TrialCanon Inc. has 1,409 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 280 art units and 887 examiners.
Alejandro Valencia has the most, with 19 of Canon Inc.'s pending office actions.
Mostly Communications (USPTO Tech Center 2600), based on where its pending office actions are examined.