Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
8 pending office actions • 2 art units • 7 examiners • 0 of 8 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 61 patents granted in the last 365 days
Dcstar Inc. has 8 pending office actions in the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. These actions are concentrated in only 2 distinct art units, suggesting a very narrow technical focus despite the number of pending matters. The company works with 6 distinct examiners, indicating some overlap in the individuals reviewing these cases.
ZHANG, TINA is the busiest examiner, currently managing 2 pending actions. Because there are 8 pending office actions and 6 distinct examiners, at least two examiners are handling multiple cases. This concentration within 2 distinct art units allows for a more unified prosecution strategy compared to more fragmented portfolios.
For practitioners, the 2 distinct art units represent the primary regulatory hurdles for the 8 pending office actions. With 6 distinct examiners, there is some variety in perspectives, but the limited number of art units suggests that the technical arguments may be similar across cases. The 2 pending actions with ZHANG, TINA offer a specific opportunity to establish consistent examiner rapport within the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering field.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 4 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. 4 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 |
|---|---|
| §103 only | 2 (25%) |
| §112 only | 1 (12%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 1 (12%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 4 (50%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEE, MICHELLE J | 2 | 39.8% | +60.2% |
| ZHANG, TINA | 1 | 56.1% | +44.6% |
| DIXON, ANNETTE FREDRICKA | 1 | 74.3% | +26.0% |
| WOODWARD, VALERIE LYNN | 1 | 71.3% | +27.1% |
| BOECKER, JOSEPH D | 1 | 83.7% | +22.9% |
| SUL, DOUGLAS YOUNG | 1 | 54.8% | +56.0% |
| RUDDIE, ELLIOT S | 1 | 66.0% | +41.7% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 1 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18540118 | ELBOW ASSEMBLY FOR DIRECT CONNECTION TO A FACE MASK | BOECKER, JOSEPH D | — |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 4 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18777015 | AN ORAL APPLIANCE | LEE, MICHELLE J | 6d |
| 18776963 | A MANDIBULAR ADVANCEMENT DEVICE WITH A SUPPORT BAFFLE | LEE, MICHELLE J | 34d |
| 18416188 | COMFORT PAD FOR USE ON A CONTINUOUS POSITIVE AIRWAY PRESSURE FRAME | WOODWARD, VALERIE LYNN | — |
| 18540315 | NASAL MASK FOR SEALING THE AREA FROM THE NOSE TIP TO THE UPPER LIP | SUL, DOUGLAS YOUNG | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19305514 | PATIENT INTERFACE CUSHION WITH FABRIC | DIXON, ANNETTE FREDRICKA | 19d overdue |
| 18777015 | AN ORAL APPLIANCE | LEE, MICHELLE J | 6d |
| 18776963 | A MANDIBULAR ADVANCEMENT DEVICE WITH A SUPPORT BAFFLE | LEE, MICHELLE J | 34d |
| 18515499 | FRAME ASSEMBLY DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO A FRAME AND A SHORT TUBE | RUDDIE, ELLIOT S | 39d |
| 19315416 | A RESPIRATORY OBSTRUCTION REMOVAL DEVICE | ZHANG, TINA | — |
| 18416188 | COMFORT PAD FOR USE ON A CONTINUOUS POSITIVE AIRWAY PRESSURE FRAME | WOODWARD, VALERIE LYNN | — |
| 18540118 | ELBOW ASSEMBLY FOR DIRECT CONNECTION TO A FACE MASK | BOECKER, JOSEPH D | — |
| 18540315 | NASAL MASK FOR SEALING THE AREA FROM THE NOSE TIP TO THE UPPER LIP | SUL, DOUGLAS YOUNG | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3785 | 6 |
| 3786 | 2 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19315416 | A RESPIRATORY OBSTRUCTION REMOVAL DEVICE | ZHANG, TINA | 3785 | §103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 29, 2025 |
| 19305514 | PATIENT INTERFACE CUSHION WITH FABRIC | DIXON, ANNETTE FREDRICKA | 3785 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 19d overdue | Pending | Aug 20, 2025 |
| 18777015 | AN ORAL APPLIANCE | LEE, MICHELLE J | 3786 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 6d | Pending | Jul 18, 2024 |
| 18776963 | A MANDIBULAR ADVANCEMENT DEVICE WITH A SUPPORT BAFFLE | LEE, MICHELLE J | 3786 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 34d | Pending | Jul 18, 2024 |
| 18416188 | COMFORT PAD FOR USE ON A CONTINUOUS POSITIVE AIRWAY PRESSURE FRAME | WOODWARD, VALERIE LYNN | 3785 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 18, 2024 |
| 18540118 | ELBOW ASSEMBLY FOR DIRECT CONNECTION TO A FACE MASK | BOECKER, JOSEPH D | 3785 | §112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 14, 2023 |
| 18540315 | NASAL MASK FOR SEALING THE AREA FROM THE NOSE TIP TO THE UPPER LIP | SUL, DOUGLAS YOUNG | 3785 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 14, 2023 |
| 18515499 | FRAME ASSEMBLY DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO A FRAME AND A SHORT TUBE | RUDDIE, ELLIOT S | 3785 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 39d | Pending | Nov 21, 2023 |
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Start Free TrialDcstar Inc. has 8 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 2 art units and 7 examiners.
Michelle J Lee has the most, with 2 of Dcstar Inc.'s pending office actions.
Mostly Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering (USPTO Tech Center 3700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
