Technology area: Chemistry & Materials
3 pending office actions • 2 art units • 3 examiners • 0 of 3 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready
Carl Zeiss SMS Ltd. is managing 3 pending office actions in the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These actions are assigned to 3 distinct examiners but are grouped within 2 distinct art units. This arrangement indicates that while the examiners are different, the technical focus of the 3 pending office actions is concentrated in a small number of specialized areas.
The busiest examiner, WHITESELL, STEVEN H, is responsible for 1 pending action. Although 3 distinct examiners are involved, the concentration in 2 distinct art units suggests that the company's chemistry-related filings share similar technical classifications. This structure requires the company to adapt to 3 different examiner styles while working within the specific frameworks of the 2 distinct art units. The prosecution team must manage these individual relationships while maintaining consistency across the related technical fields to resolve the 3 pending office actions.
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 (33%) |
| §112 only | 1 (33%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 1 (33%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 1 | 82.0% | +12.9% |
| ANGEBRANNDT, MARTIN J | 1 | 55.5% | +34.1% |
| ROBINSON, CHANCEITY N | 1 | 72.4% | -13.0% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 1 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19032895 | METHODS, COMPUTER PROGRAMS AND APPARATUSES FOR TREATING AN OPTICAL ELEMENT FOR THE EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET WAVELENGTH RANGE | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | — |
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 2 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19032895 | METHODS, COMPUTER PROGRAMS AND APPARATUSES FOR TREATING AN OPTICAL ELEMENT FOR THE EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET WAVELENGTH RANGE | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | — |
| 18443486 | METHOD FOR CORRECTING ERRORS IN PHOTOLITHOGRAPHIC MASKS WHILE AVOIDING DAMAGE TO REAR-SIDE COATINGS | ANGEBRANNDT, MARTIN J | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1737 | 2 |
| 1759 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19032895 | METHODS, COMPUTER PROGRAMS AND APPARATUSES FOR TREATING AN OPTICAL ELEMENT FOR THE EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET WAVELENGTH RANGE | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 1759 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 21, 2025 |
| 18443486 | METHOD FOR CORRECTING ERRORS IN PHOTOLITHOGRAPHIC MASKS WHILE AVOIDING DAMAGE TO REAR-SIDE COATINGS | ANGEBRANNDT, MARTIN J | 1737 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 16, 2024 |
| 18238730 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPTIMIZING A DEFECT CORRECTION FOR AN OPTICAL ELEMENT USED IN A LITHOGRAPHIC PROCESS | ROBINSON, CHANCEITY N | 1737 | §112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Aug 28, 2023 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free TrialCarl Zeiss SMS Ltd. has 3 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 2 art units and 3 examiners.
Steven H Whitesell has the most, with 1 of Carl Zeiss SMS Ltd.'s pending office actions.
Mostly Chemistry & Materials (USPTO Tech Center 1700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
