Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
86 pending office actions • 42 art units • 83 examiners • 0 of 86 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 74 patents granted in the last 365 days
Duke University maintains a large portfolio with 85 pending office actions in the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals technology area. These actions are distributed across 42 distinct art units, indicating a broad range of research and development activities. This distribution across 42 art units suggests that the university's intellectual property covers a vast array of biological and chemical disciplines, requiring an adaptable legal strategy to navigate many different USPTO sections.
The university interacts with 82 distinct examiners. ROBERT M KELLY is the busiest examiner, currently managing 2 pending actions. With 85 pending office actions and 82 distinct examiners, nearly every case is being reviewed by a different person. This lack of examiner concentration means that the university cannot rely on a single relationship or consistent examiner behavior across its portfolio. Instead, it must manage 82 unique prosecution tracks simultaneously to resolve the 85 pending office actions.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 21 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. 21 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 + other | 17 (20%) |
| §103 only | 21 (24%) |
| §102 only | 3 (3%) |
| §112 only | 6 (7%) |
| Double-patenting only | 1 (1%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 11 (13%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 27 (31%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| KELLY, ROBERT M | 2 | 74.0% | +24.3% |
| REDDIG, PETER J | 2 | 57.9% | +40.2% |
| GRABER, JAMES J | 2 | 47.0% | +58.0% |
| ALBERS, KEVIN S | 1 | 26.4% | +49.9% |
| STRACHAN, KATE ELIZABETH | 1 | 48.7% | +30.0% |
| THUESON, HANNA MARIE | 1 | 76.7% | +28.2% |
| ROCHELLE, CIERRA MARIE | 1 | 100.0% | +0.0% |
| JANOSKO, CHASITY PAIGE | 1 | 15.9% | +63.6% |
| JACKSON, SHAWQUIA | 1 | 78.0% | -3.4% |
| FRENCH, CORRELL T | 1 | 44.9% | +33.3% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18925601 | METHODS, COMPOSITIONS, AND KITS FOR TREATING AND/OR PREVENTING A SIDE EFFECT ASSOCIATED WITH RADIATION AND/OR CHEMOTHERAPY EXPOSURE | ROCHELLE, CIERRA MARIE | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18962035 | NON-INVASIVE ORTHOSIS FOR IMMOBILIZING THE CERVICAL SPINE | ALBERS, KEVIN S | 14d |
| 17637760 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR THE TREATMENT OF PATHOLOGICAL PAIN AND ITCH | GRABER, JAMES J | 15d |
| 18024091 | METHODS FOR REPROGRAMMING TARGET CELLS | CORDAS, EMILY ANN | 27d |
| 18867588 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CALCULATING VOLUMES OF EXCRETED URINE AND STOOL | STRACHAN, KATE ELIZABETH | — |
| 18862323 | PATIENT-DERIVED CELL-CONTAINING DROPLETS ENABLE CLINICAL PRECISION ONCOLOGY | THUESON, HANNA MARIE | — |
| 18860428 | BIOMATERIALS FOR IMPROVING BRAIN HEALING AFTER STROKE AND METHODS OF USING SAME | KELLY, ROBERT M | — |
| 18893942 | KNEE IMPLANT | JANOSKO, CHASITY PAIGE | — |
| 18849279 | COMPOSITIONS FOR AND METHODS OF MODULATING RNA STABILITY | JACKSON, SHAWQUIA | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18962035 | NON-INVASIVE ORTHOSIS FOR IMMOBILIZING THE CERVICAL SPINE | ALBERS, KEVIN S | 14d |
| 17637760 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR THE TREATMENT OF PATHOLOGICAL PAIN AND ITCH | GRABER, JAMES J | 15d |
| 18867588 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CALCULATING VOLUMES OF EXCRETED URINE AND STOOL | STRACHAN, KATE ELIZABETH | — |
| 18862323 | PATIENT-DERIVED CELL-CONTAINING DROPLETS ENABLE CLINICAL PRECISION ONCOLOGY | THUESON, HANNA MARIE | — |
| 18860428 | BIOMATERIALS FOR IMPROVING BRAIN HEALING AFTER STROKE AND METHODS OF USING SAME | KELLY, ROBERT M | — |
| 18893942 | KNEE IMPLANT | JANOSKO, CHASITY PAIGE | — |
| 18759804 | METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIA FOR EARLY DETECTION OF A NEURODEVELOPMENTAL OR PSYCHIATRIC DISORDER USING SCALABLE COMPUTATIONAL BEHAVIORAL PHENOTYPING AND AUTOMATED MOTOR SKILLS ASSESSMENT | FRENCH, CORRELL T | — |
| 18545176 | Combination Treatment | KELLY, ROBERT M | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1632 | 4 |
| 1636 | 4 |
| 1672 | 3 |
| 1637 | 3 |
| 1638 | 3 |
| 1675 | 2 |
| 1643 | 2 |
| 1631 | 2 |
| 1635 | 2 |
| 1674 | 2 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18962035 | NON-INVASIVE ORTHOSIS FOR IMMOBILIZING THE CERVICAL SPINE | ALBERS, KEVIN S | 3786 | §103 | Final Rejection | 14d | Pending | Nov 27, 2024 |
| 18867588 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CALCULATING VOLUMES OF EXCRETED URINE AND STOOL | STRACHAN, KATE ELIZABETH | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 20, 2024 |
| 18862323 | PATIENT-DERIVED CELL-CONTAINING DROPLETS ENABLE CLINICAL PRECISION ONCOLOGY | THUESON, HANNA MARIE | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 01, 2024 |
| 18860428 | BIOMATERIALS FOR IMPROVING BRAIN HEALING AFTER STROKE AND METHODS OF USING SAME | KELLY, ROBERT M | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 25, 2024 |
| 18925601 | METHODS, COMPOSITIONS, AND KITS FOR TREATING AND/OR PREVENTING A SIDE EFFECT ASSOCIATED WITH RADIATION AND/OR CHEMOTHERAPY EXPOSURE | ROCHELLE, CIERRA MARIE | — | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 24, 2024 |
| 18893942 | KNEE IMPLANT | JANOSKO, CHASITY PAIGE | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 23, 2024 |
| 18849279 | COMPOSITIONS FOR AND METHODS OF MODULATING RNA STABILITY | JACKSON, SHAWQUIA | — | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 20, 2024 |
| 18759804 | METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIA FOR EARLY DETECTION OF A NEURODEVELOPMENTAL OR PSYCHIATRIC DISORDER USING SCALABLE COMPUTATIONAL BEHAVIORAL PHENOTYPING AND AUTOMATED MOTOR SKILLS ASSESSMENT | FRENCH, CORRELL T | 3715 | §101§102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 28, 2024 |
| 18759522 | RISK DETECTION WITH ACTIONABLE GUIDANCE FOR NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS | AKOGYERAM II, NICHOLAS A | 3686 | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 28, 2024 |
| 18744161 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS OF TREATING INVASIVE PATHOGENS | TRAN, ERIC | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 14, 2024 |
| 18680164 | DEVICES AND METHODS FOR CREATING TRANSCELLULAR PORES | REGLAS, GILLIAN CHELSEA | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 31, 2024 |
| 18713948 | METALLIC SINGLE-WALLED CARBON NANOTUBE HYBRID ASSEMBLIES AND SUPERSTRUCTURES | THOMPSON, CAMIE S | 1786 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 28, 2024 |
| 18668784 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR NOISE CANCELLATION BASED ON QUBIT FEEDBACK | EBERSMAN, BRUCE I | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 20, 2024 |
| 18707971 | Compositions and Methods for Modulating the Effect of Beta-Blocker Activity in a Subject | MOU, LIYUAN | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 07, 2024 |
| 18649219 | MACHINE LEARNING AIDED REALISM-ENHANCED VIRTUAL CLINICAL IMAGING WITH GROUND TRUTH PRESERVATION | TRAN, JENNY NGAN | 2615 | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 29, 2024 |
| 18703125 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR TARGETING GPCR FOR THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF PAIN | GONZALEZ, LUISALBERTO | — | §102§103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 19, 2024 |
| 18639337 | FUNCTIONAL OUTCOMES AFTER SPINAL CORD INJURY | MATTHEWS, JOSEPH RICCI | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 18, 2024 |
| 18633760 | METHODS FOR REDUCING ISCHEMIA-REPERFUSION INJURIES | ROZOF, TIMOTHY R | 1625 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 12, 2024 |
| 18700677 | COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING HIV ENVELOPES TO INDUCE HIV-1 ANTIBODIES | FOLEY, SHANON A | — | §101§102§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 11, 2024 |
| 18629315 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SEEDLESS FRUIT TRAIT | CHATTERJEE, JAYANTA | 1662 | §102§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Apr 08, 2024 |
| 18629894 | LASOFOXIFENE TREATMENT OF BREAST CANCER | PECKHAM, RICHARD GRANT | — | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 08, 2024 |
| 18626187 | ANTIBIOTICS COMPRISING LPXH-TARGETING COMPOUNDS AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING THE SAME | CHENG, KAREN | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 03, 2024 |
| 18697976 | COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING SMALL MOLECULE REGULATORS OF TUMOR IMMUNITY AND METHODS OF USING SAME | WILSON, JERICA KATLYNN | 1621 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 02, 2024 |
| 18611203 | Systems and Methods for the Direct Comparison of Molecular Derivatives | ACOSTA, RILEY SULLIVAN | — | §101§102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 20, 2024 |
| 18581157 | COMPUTATIONAL IMAGE CONTRAST FROM MULTI-DIMENSIONAL DATA | BUDISALICH, ANDREW STEVEN | 2662 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Feb 19, 2024 |
| 18684346 | NEXT GENERATION VACCINES COMPRISING ANTIGENIC LIBRARIES AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING SAME | GILL, RACHEL B | 1671 | §101§102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 16, 2024 |
| 18683650 | NON-IMMUNOGENIC, HIGH DENSITY POEGMA CONJUGATES | CESARE, JOSEPH DAVID | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 14, 2024 |
| 18578262 | VOLUME REDUCTION SOLIDS TREATMENT SYSTEM | GURTOWSKI, RICHARD C | 1773 | §103 | Final Rejection | 49d | Pending | Jan 10, 2024 |
| 18575098 | RADIOLABELED PARP INHIBITOR CONJUGATES FOR CANCER TREATMENT | MOSHER, ERIC PARKER | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 28, 2023 |
| 18392091 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING AND TREATING PATHOLOGICAL FIBROBLAST CELLS | MELCHIOR, JAMES RYLAND | — | §101§102§103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 21, 2023 |
| 18545176 | Combination Treatment | KELLY, ROBERT M | — | §112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 19, 2023 |
| 18570967 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF HEMOGLOBINOPATHIES | YU, DELPHINUS DOU YI | — | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 15, 2023 |
| 18532709 | COMPLEMENT FACTOR H ANTIBODIES | SZPERKA, MICHAEL EDWARD | — | §101§102§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 07, 2023 |
| 18513095 | TARGETED INHIBITION OF DKK3 TO SENSITIZE TUMORS TO IMMUNOTHERAPY | STOICA, ELLY GERALD | — | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 17, 2023 |
| 18511817 | CHIMERIC APOPTOTIC SIGNAL TARGETING LYMPHOCYTES (TIM-4 CASTL) AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING SAME | REDDIG, PETER J | — | §102§103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 16, 2023 |
| 18511825 | RECOMBINANT TIM-4 PROTEIN, CHIMERIC ANTIGEN RECEPTOR (CAR) T CELL DELIVERY SYSTEM AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING SAME | BORGEEST, CHRISTINA M | 1675 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 16, 2023 |
| 18499880 | METHODS FOR DETECTING ONCOGENIC KRAS MUTATIONS | BELLAH, JEFFREY LAWRENCE | 1683 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 01, 2023 |
| 18557787 | ENGINEERED INFLUENZA VIRUSES EXPRESSING SARS-COV-2 ANTIGENS, VACCINES AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING THE SAME | JADHAO, SAMADHAN JAISING | 1672 | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 27, 2023 |
| 18288505 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR RAPID GENERATION OF MODIFIABLE STABLE CELL LINES | BEHARRY, ZANNA MARIA | 1632 | §103§112DP | Final Rejection | 63d | Pending | Oct 26, 2023 |
| 18486146 | M6A-COUPLED EFFECTOR PROTEIN EXPRESSION SYSTEM AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING SAME | ALLEN, SARAH ELIZABETH | 1637 | §101§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 12, 2023 |
| 18376919 | REGIONAL MOTION DISPLAY AND ASSESSMENT IMAGING | TRAN, DUY ANH | 2674 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 05, 2023 |
| 18553703 | METHODS FOR DETERMINING TUMOR IMMUNE STATUS | NICKOL, GARY B | 1643 | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 02, 2023 |
| 18552693 | Compositions For and Methods of Editing the Genome | MONTANARI, DAVID A | 1632 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 27, 2023 |
| 18474697 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR EXOSOME DELIVERY OF MICRORNAS FOR CELLULAR REPROGRAMMING | SMALL, KATHERINE R | 1633 | §101§102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Sep 26, 2023 |
| 18551547 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR RAPID COVID-19 DETECTION | CHEN, STACY BROWN | 1672 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 20, 2023 |
| 18550928 | GENERATION OF NOVEL CRISPR GENOME EDITING AGENTS USING COMBINATORIAL CHEMISTRY | OLSON, ALEXANDRA NADINE | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 15, 2023 |
| 18547332 | Compositions For and Methods of Improving Gene Therapy | GRABER, JAMES J | 1631 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 21, 2023 |
| 18271983 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR THE GENETIC MANIPULATION OF THE INFLUENZA VIRUS | GRIZER, CASSANDRA SENN | 1672 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 12, 2023 |
| 18036721 | TOUGH, REPROCESSABLE ELASTOMERS AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING SAME | KARST, DAVID THOMAS | 1767 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 12, 2023 |
| 18036862 | TARGETED GENE REGULATION OF HUMAN IMMUNE CELLS WITH CRISPR-CAS SYSTEMS | MCCORMICK, CATHERINE LYNN | 1638 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 12, 2023 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free TrialDuke University has 86 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 42 art units and 83 examiners.
Robert M Kelly has the most, with 2 of Duke University's pending office actions.
Mostly Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals (USPTO Tech Center 1600), based on where its pending office actions are examined.