Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026

Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH

Technology area: Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics

53 pending office actions • 16 art units • 36 examiners • 0 of 53 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 74 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH is currently managing 53 pending office actions within the Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics technology area. These matters are assigned to 36 distinct examiners, showing a level of concentration among the reviewing staff. The prosecution activity is spread across 16 distinct art units, which indicates a variety of technical subject matter within the Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics sector. This breadth across 16 distinct art units requires an approach that accounts for different procedural norms.

WHITESELL, STEVEN H is the busiest examiner for the company, overseeing 6 of the 53 pending actions. This concentration of 6 actions with a single examiner is a specific feature compared to the 36 distinct examiners involved overall. While WHITESELL, STEVEN H is a primary point of contact, the remaining actions are distributed among the other distinct examiners. Practitioners must manage 53 pending office actions while addressing the feedback from 36 distinct examiners.

Written from this page's own data; every figure is computed from USPTO records and verified before publication.

Portfolio Summary

53
Total Pending OAs
39
Non-Final OAs
14
Final Rejections
0
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 9 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

4
Overdue
0
Due this week
5
Due this month
0
Due in next 60 days
0
Due later

Deadline Fire Line

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. 9 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (4)Due ≤ 30 days (5)

Case Difficulty Mix

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.

32
Hard (60%)
19
Medium (36%)
2
Easy (4%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 + other5 (9%)
§103 only16 (30%)
§102 only3 (6%)
§112 only2 (4%)
Multi-statute (no §101)27 (51%)

Industry Mix

How the docket's pending cases split across USPTO tech-center bands.

6
Life Sciences
11% of docket
0
Information Tech
0% of docket
1
Communications
2% of docket
25
Semiconductors
47% of docket
1
Mechanical / Eng
2% of docket
20
Business / Other
38% of docket

Time-on-OA Estimate

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.

530 h
Manual time on pending OAs
106 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
186 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
4.6 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
WHITESELL, STEVEN H 7 81.9% +12.9%
RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A 4 81.0% +13.9%
ASFAW, MESFIN T 3 83.0% +13.9%
KIM, PETER B 3 83.0% +9.5%
NGUYEN, HUNG 2 90.7% +9.0%
MCCORMACK, JASON L 2 84.6% +8.1%
CARLSON, JOSHUA MICHAEL 2 59.1% +39.5%
CARRUTH, JENNIFER DOAK 2 77.3% +15.5%
TSWEI, YU-JANG 1 83.6% +16.0%
HO, ALLEN C 1 86.9% +17.6%

Quick Wins (8)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
18895292 DRIVE DEVICE, OPTICAL SYSTEM AND LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS WHITESELL, STEVEN H 5d overdue
18362630 METHOD FOR PRODUCING A MULTI-PART MIRROR OF A PROJECTION ILLUMINATION SYSTEM FOR MICROLITHOGRAPHY WHITESELL, STEVEN H 29d
19073220 MICROELECTROMECHANICAL DEVICE WHITESELL, STEVEN H —
19063773 INDIVIDUAL MIRROR OF A PUPIL FACET MIRROR AND PUPIL FACET MIRROR FOR AN ILLUMINATION OPTICAL UNIT OF A PROJECTION EXPOSURE APPARATUS ASFAW, MESFIN T —
19018304 LENS ELEMENT FOR A MICROLITHOGRAPHIC PROJECTION EXPOSURE APPARATUS DESIGNED FOR OPERATION IN THE DUV, AND METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT FOR FORMING AN ANTIREFLECTION LAYER WHITESELL, STEVEN H —
19015842 X-RAY IMAGING SYSTEM HO, ALLEN C —
18984649 IMAGING EUV OPTICAL UNIT FOR IMAGING AN OBJECT FIELD INTO AN IMAGE FIELD NGUYEN, HUNG —
18638890 MEASURING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR INSPECTING PHOTOMASKS INTENDED FOR EUV MICROLITHOGRAPHY WHITESELL, STEVEN H —

Hard Cases (32)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
18319617 METHOD FOR PRODUCING A MAIN BODY OF AN OPTICAL ELEMENT FOR SEMICONDUCTOR LITHOGRAPHY, AND MAIN BODY OF AN OPTICAL ELEMENT FOR SEMICONDUCTOR LITHOGRAPHY CARRUTH, JENNIFER DOAK 58d overdue
18419940 APPARATUS FOR ANALYSING AND/OR PROCESSING A SAMPLE WITH A PARTICLE BEAM AND METHOD MCCORMACK, JASON L 20d
19170404 MIRROR, IN PARTICULAR FOR A MICROLITHOGRAPHIC PROJECTION EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF PROCESSING A MIRROR RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A —
19171128 METHOD FOR OPERATING AN OPTICAL COMPONENT, AND OPTICAL COMPONENT RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A —
19095316 COMPUTER IMPLEMENTED METHOD, COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT AND CORRESPONDING SYSTEMS FOR THE PREDICTION OF DEFECTS IN WAFERS AND FOR OFFLINE WAFER-LESS PROCESS WINDOW QUALIFICATION TSWEI, YU-JANG —
19082444 METHOD FOR OPERATING A PROJECTION EXPOSURE SYSTEM WHITESELL, STEVEN H —
19082944 OPTICAL ELEMENT FOR A PROJECTION EXPOSURE SYSTEM, OPTICAL SYSTEM COMPRISING SAME AND PROJECTION EXPOSURE SYSTEM COMPRISING THE OPTICAL ELEMENT AND/OR THE OPTICAL SYSTEM RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A —
19068695 ILLUMINATION SYSTEM, RADIATION SOURCE APPARATUS, METHOD FOR ILLUMINATING A RETICLE, AND LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM ASFAW, MESFIN T —

Interview Candidates (20)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
18319617 METHOD FOR PRODUCING A MAIN BODY OF AN OPTICAL ELEMENT FOR SEMICONDUCTOR LITHOGRAPHY, AND MAIN BODY OF AN OPTICAL ELEMENT FOR SEMICONDUCTOR LITHOGRAPHY CARRUTH, JENNIFER DOAK 58d overdue
18587228 METHOD AND MEASURING DEVICE FOR INSPECTING PHOTOMASKS, AND EUV CAMERA CARLSON, JOSHUA MICHAEL 24d overdue
18367208 Mesh Integrity Check CARLSON, JOSHUA MICHAEL 23d overdue
18895292 DRIVE DEVICE, OPTICAL SYSTEM AND LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS WHITESELL, STEVEN H 5d overdue
18362630 METHOD FOR PRODUCING A MULTI-PART MIRROR OF A PROJECTION ILLUMINATION SYSTEM FOR MICROLITHOGRAPHY WHITESELL, STEVEN H 29d
19170404 MIRROR, IN PARTICULAR FOR A MICROLITHOGRAPHIC PROJECTION EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF PROCESSING A MIRROR RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A —
19171128 METHOD FOR OPERATING AN OPTICAL COMPONENT, AND OPTICAL COMPONENT RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A —
19095316 COMPUTER IMPLEMENTED METHOD, COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT AND CORRESPONDING SYSTEMS FOR THE PREDICTION OF DEFECTS IN WAFERS AND FOR OFFLINE WAFER-LESS PROCESS WINDOW QUALIFICATION TSWEI, YU-JANG —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
2877 5
2881 5
2882 4
1759 4
2871 4
2884 1
1713 1
2858 1
2878 1
2857 1

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
19170404 MIRROR, IN PARTICULAR FOR A MICROLITHOGRAPHIC PROJECTION EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF PROCESSING A MIRROR RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A — §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 04, 2025
19171128 METHOD FOR OPERATING AN OPTICAL COMPONENT, AND OPTICAL COMPONENT RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A — §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 04, 2025
19095316 COMPUTER IMPLEMENTED METHOD, COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT AND CORRESPONDING SYSTEMS FOR THE PREDICTION OF DEFECTS IN WAFERS AND FOR OFFLINE WAFER-LESS PROCESS WINDOW QUALIFICATION TSWEI, YU-JANG — §101§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 31, 2025
19082444 METHOD FOR OPERATING A PROJECTION EXPOSURE SYSTEM WHITESELL, STEVEN H — §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 18, 2025
19082944 OPTICAL ELEMENT FOR A PROJECTION EXPOSURE SYSTEM, OPTICAL SYSTEM COMPRISING SAME AND PROJECTION EXPOSURE SYSTEM COMPRISING THE OPTICAL ELEMENT AND/OR THE OPTICAL SYSTEM RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A — §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 18, 2025
19073220 MICROELECTROMECHANICAL DEVICE WHITESELL, STEVEN H — §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 07, 2025
19068695 ILLUMINATION SYSTEM, RADIATION SOURCE APPARATUS, METHOD FOR ILLUMINATING A RETICLE, AND LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM ASFAW, MESFIN T — §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 03, 2025
19063773 INDIVIDUAL MIRROR OF A PUPIL FACET MIRROR AND PUPIL FACET MIRROR FOR AN ILLUMINATION OPTICAL UNIT OF A PROJECTION EXPOSURE APPARATUS ASFAW, MESFIN T — §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 26, 2025
19059808 INTERMEDIATE PRODUCT FOR PRODUCING AN OPTICAL ELEMENT FOR A PROJECTION EXPOSURE APPARATUS, OPTICAL ELEMENT FOR A PROJECTION EXPOSURE APPARATUS, METHOD FOR PRODUCING AN INTERMEDIATE PRODUCT, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING AN OPTICAL ELEMENT NGUYEN, HUNG — §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 21, 2025
19034100 OPTICAL SYSTEM, LITHOGRAPHY MACHINE HAVING AN OPTICAL SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING AN OPTICAL SYSTEM ASFAW, MESFIN T — §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 22, 2025
19018304 LENS ELEMENT FOR A MICROLITHOGRAPHIC PROJECTION EXPOSURE APPARATUS DESIGNED FOR OPERATION IN THE DUV, AND METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT FOR FORMING AN ANTIREFLECTION LAYER WHITESELL, STEVEN H — §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 13, 2025
19015842 X-RAY IMAGING SYSTEM HO, ALLEN C 2884 §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 10, 2025
19008383 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING SENSOR DATA OF AN OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL SYSTEM AND LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS HAVING AN OPTICAL SYSTEM PERSAUD, DEORAM — §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 02, 2025
19000922 MEASURING ASSEMBLY FOR DETECTING A DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO ELEMENTS, DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICE, OPTICAL MEASURING SYSTEM AND METHOD NGUYEN, SANG H — §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 24, 2024
18984649 IMAGING EUV OPTICAL UNIT FOR IMAGING AN OBJECT FIELD INTO AN IMAGE FIELD NGUYEN, HUNG — §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 17, 2024
18971089 COMPUTER IMPLEMENTED METHOD FOR GENERATING AN AERIAL IMAGE OF A PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY MASK USING A MACHINE LEARNING MODEL BAYAT, ALI — §101§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 06, 2024
18948801 CATADIOPTRIC PROJECTION OBJECTIVE, PROJECTION ILLUMINATION SYSTEM AND PROJECTION ILLUMINATION METHOD KIM, PETER B 2882 §102§112Other Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 15, 2024
18935796 METHOD FOR MEASURING AN EFFECT OF A WAVELENGTH-DEPENDENT MEASURING LIGHT REFLECTIVITY AND AN EFFECT OF A POLARIZATION OF MEASURING LIGHT ON A MEASURING LIGHT IMPINGEMENT ON A LITHOGRAPHY MASK AYUB, HINA F 2877 §112 Final Rejection — Pending Nov 04, 2024
18920238 METHOD FOR MEASURING THE ILLUMINATION PUPIL IN A SCANNER TAKING INTO ACCOUNT A MEASUREMENT RETICLE KIM, PETER B 2882 §102§112 Final Rejection — Pending Oct 18, 2024
18901513 DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ALIGNING TWO COMPONENTS WHITESELL, STEVEN H 1759 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 30, 2024
18897888 BEAM ANGLE ROTATION AND SAMPLE ROTATION KALISZEWSKI, ALINA ROSE — §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 26, 2024
18895292 DRIVE DEVICE, OPTICAL SYSTEM AND LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS WHITESELL, STEVEN H 1759 §112 Final Rejection 5d overdue Pending Sep 24, 2024
18807439 METHOD FOR MACHINING A WORKPIECE GATES, BRADFORD M 1713 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 16, 2024
18792737 COMPUTER IMPLEMENTED METHOD FOR DEFECT DETECTION IN AN OBJECT COMPRISING INTEGRATED CIRCUIT PATTERNS AND CORRESPONDING COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM, COMPUTER PROGRAM AND SYSTEM PHAM, ANNIE — §101§102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 02, 2024
18778483 INFEROMETRIC MEASURING APPARATUS SCHNASE, PAUL DANIEL 2877 §103 Final Rejection 12d Pending Jul 19, 2024
18741925 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING AT LEAST ONE HOLLOW STRUCTURE, MIRROR, EUV LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM, FLUID FEED APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR FEEDING A FLUID KIM, PETER B 2882 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 13, 2024
18674144 COMPENSATION RASTER SCANNING MCCORMACK, JASON L — §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending May 24, 2024
18666211 METHOD, OPTICAL SYSTEM, TEST DEVICE AND ARRANGEMENT MILLER, DANIEL R 2858 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending May 16, 2024
18648644 OPTICAL SYSTEM FOR A METROLOGY SYSTEM AND METROLOGY SYSTEM WITH SUCH AN OPTICAL SYSTEM MENDOZA, ALEXANDRIA ARELLANO 2877 §103 Non-Final OA 12d Pending Apr 29, 2024
18639028 MEASUREMENT APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR INSPECTING PHOTOMASKS INTENDED FOR EUV MICROLITHOGRAPHY WANG, JING 2881 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Apr 18, 2024
18638890 MEASURING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR INSPECTING PHOTOMASKS INTENDED FOR EUV MICROLITHOGRAPHY WHITESELL, STEVEN H 1759 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 18, 2024
18631733 HIGH RESOLUTION, LOW ENERGY ELECTRON MICROSCOPE FOR PROVIDING TOPOGRAPHY INFORMATION AND METHOD OF MASK INSPECTION SMYTH, ANDREW P 2878 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 10, 2024
18612515 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ANALYZING AN ELEMENT OF A PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY PROCESS WITH THE AID OF A TRANSFORMATION MODEL DINH, LYNDA 2857 §101§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 21, 2024
18612175 OPTICAL COMPONENT GROUP, IN PARTICULAR FOR USE IN AN ILLUMINATION DEVICE OF A MICROLITHOGRAPHIC PROJECTION EXPOSURE APPARATUS MERLIN, JESSICA M 2871 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 21, 2024
18587228 METHOD AND MEASURING DEVICE FOR INSPECTING PHOTOMASKS, AND EUV CAMERA CARLSON, JOSHUA MICHAEL 2877 §103Other Final Rejection 24d overdue Pending Feb 26, 2024
18422302 METHOD FOR EXAMINING SAMPLES PERTAINING TO MICROLITHOGRAPHY NGUYEN, LEON VIET Q — §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 25, 2024
18419940 APPARATUS FOR ANALYSING AND/OR PROCESSING A SAMPLE WITH A PARTICLE BEAM AND METHOD MCCORMACK, JASON L 2881 §102§103 Final Rejection 20d Pending Jan 23, 2024
18519993 METHODS, SYSTEMS, COMPUTER PROGRAMS AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIA FOR AUTOMATICALLY DESIGNING A WORKFLOW TO PERFORM A SEMICONDUCTOR INSPECTION TASK WALTON, CHESIREE A 3624 §101§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 27, 2023
18387905 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PARTICLE BEAM-INDUCED PROCESSING OF A DEFECT OF A MICROLITHOGRAPHIC PHOTOMASK GARBOWSKI, LEIGH M — §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 08, 2023
18480263 ACTUATOR-SENSOR DEVICE AND LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A 2882 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 03, 2023
18367208 Mesh Integrity Check CARLSON, JOSHUA MICHAEL 2877 §103 Non-Final OA 23d overdue Pending Sep 12, 2023
18460760 Support Device for One or More MEMS Components MCDONALD, JASON ANDREW 2898 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Sep 05, 2023
18456309 ION BEAM INSPECTION AND REPAIR WITH INCREASED SECONDARY ELECTRON YIELD GHYKA, ALEXANDER G 2812 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 25, 2023
18362630 METHOD FOR PRODUCING A MULTI-PART MIRROR OF A PROJECTION ILLUMINATION SYSTEM FOR MICROLITHOGRAPHY WHITESELL, STEVEN H 1759 §103 Final Rejection 29d Pending Jul 31, 2023
18350522 OPTICAL ELEMENT FOR REFLECTING RADIATION, AND OPTICAL ASSEMBLY GASSEN, CHRISTOPHER J 2881 §103 Non-Final OA 12d Pending Jul 11, 2023
18319617 METHOD FOR PRODUCING A MAIN BODY OF AN OPTICAL ELEMENT FOR SEMICONDUCTOR LITHOGRAPHY, AND MAIN BODY OF AN OPTICAL ELEMENT FOR SEMICONDUCTOR LITHOGRAPHY CARRUTH, JENNIFER DOAK 2871 §102§103 Final Rejection 58d overdue Pending May 18, 2023
18124171 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MASK REPAIR ANGEBRANNDT, MARTIN J 1737 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 21, 2023
18121722 APPARATUS FOR ANALYZING AND/OR PROCESSING A SAMPLE WITH A PARTICLE BEAM AND METHOD LOGIE, MICHAEL J 2881 §102 Final Rejection — Pending Mar 15, 2023
18098215 METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETERMINING AN ALIGNMENT OF A PHOTOMASK ON A SAMPLE STAGE WHICH IS DISPLACEABLE ALONG AT LEAST ONE AXIS AND ROTATABLE ABOUT AT LEAST ONE AXIS OSENBAUGH-STEWART, ELIZA W 2881 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 18, 2023
17836367 OPTICAL ELEMENT HAVING A PROTECTIVE COATING, METHOD FOR THE PRODUCTION THEREOF AND OPTICAL ARRANGEMENT MEDICH, ANGELA MARGOT 2871 §103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Jun 09, 2022
17742733 METHOD FOR DETERMINING A REGISTRATION ERROR RODGERS, ALEXANDER JOHN 2661 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending May 12, 2022
17685432 MIRROR ASSEMBLY HAVING A HYDROGEN BARRIER AND OPTICAL ASSEMBLY PASKO, NICHOLAS R 2896 §103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Mar 03, 2022
17162439 SUBSTRATE FOR AN EUV-LITHOGRAPHY MIRROR CARRUTH, JENNIFER DOAK 2871 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Jan 29, 2021

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