Technology area: Chemistry & Materials
82 pending office actions • 46 art units • 68 examiners • 0 of 82 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 93 patents granted in the last 365 days
Ecolab USA Inc. has 87 pending office actions in Chemistry & Materials. The portfolio spans 68 distinct examiners and 45 distinct art units, reflecting broad prosecution activity with repeated assignments at both the examiner and art-unit levels. The difference between pending matters and examiner count indicates that multiple matters are handled by some examiners.
BELL, SPENCER E is the busiest examiner, with 4 pending matters. That concentration warrants a focused review of the related cases, while the wider distribution calls for centralized docket control, consistent claim-development practices, and art-unit-specific preparation.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 19 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. 19 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 | 1 (1%) |
| §101 + other | 1 (1%) |
| §103 only | 21 (26%) |
| §102 only | 2 (2%) |
| §112 only | 5 (6%) |
| Double-patenting only | 2 (2%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 7 (9%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 40 (49%) |
| No statute on record | 3 (4%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MRUK, BRIAN P | 3 | 74.2% | +28.1% |
| OGDEN JR, NECHOLUS | 3 | 69.7% | +23.7% |
| BELL, SPENCER E | 3 | 63.0% | +13.4% |
| BOYER, CHARLES I | 3 | 70.4% | +19.7% |
| CARRILLO, BIBI SHARIDAN | 3 | 62.5% | -15.3% |
| BREWSTER, HAYDEN R | 2 | 62.8% | +46.8% |
| PARIHAR, PRADHUMAN | 2 | 56.8% | +20.7% |
| DOUYON, LORNA M | 2 | 56.8% | +72.1% |
| PAUL, SHREYA | 2 | 100.0% | +0.0% |
| HAILE, BENYAM | 1 | 61.7% | +24.6% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18606681 | ALKOXIDE-BASED SOLIDIFICATION VIA CONTROL OF REACTION EQUILIBRIUM AND KINETICS | PAUL, SHREYA | 49d |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18410674 | SCALE INHIBITION FOR PULP DIGESTERS | CALANDRA, ANTHONY J | 45d overdue |
| 17686810 | COATINGS FOR ELECTRODES IN ELECTRIC ARC FURNACES | OLIVA, STEPHANIE RENEE | 31d overdue |
| 18541640 | CLEANING COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS OF USE THEREOF FOR STARCH AND FATS | PAUL, SHREYA | 23d overdue |
| 18746876 | WASH AND RINSE ARM SYSTEM FOR DISH WASHER | ZHANG, RICHARD Z | 22d overdue |
| 18390789 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR INHIBITING OXIDATION OF NATURAL OIL BASED COMPOSITION USING AMINOPHENOL ANTIOXIDANT | LI, CHANGQING | 12d |
| 17974260 | BLENDS OF ETHYLENE VINYL ACETATE COPOLYMER AND AN ACRYLATE-CONTAINING COPOLYMER AS POUR POINT DEPRESSANTS | EASHOO, MARK | 19d |
| 17150947 | FOOD SAFETY PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT MODELS | SANTIAGO-MERCED, FRANCIS Z | 26d |
| 19207683 | HIGH FOAMING TABLET COMPOSITIONS AND USES THEREOF | RIVERA-CORDERO, ARLYN I | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18486508 | SOLID DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS OF ADJUSTING THE DISPENSE RATE OF SOLID DETERGENTS USING SOLID ANIONIC SURFACTANTS | DOUYON, LORNA M | 20d |
| 19266614 | HYGIENE SYSTEM FOR A PORTABLE PACKAGED FOOD CONTAINER | HAILE, BENYAM | — |
| 19249727 | USE OF MEDIUM CHAIN PERACIDS FOR BIOFILM INHIBITION IN INDUSTRIAL RECIRCULATING WATER SYSTEMS | BREWSTER, HAYDEN R | — |
| 19173407 | PEROXYFORMIC ACID COMPOSITIONS FOR MEMBRANE FILTRATION CLEANING | PARIHAR, PRADHUMAN | — |
| 19030067 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHOD FOR FLOOR CLEANING OR RESTORATION | MRUK, BRIAN P | — |
| 18962025 | HARD SURFACE CLEANING COMPOSITIONS | MRUK, BRIAN P | — |
| 18960000 | ALKALINE CLEANING COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING A HYDROXYPHOSPHONO CARBOXYLIC ACID AND METHODS OF REDUCING METAL CORROSION | OGDEN JR, NECHOLUS | — |
| 18863730 | DISH MACHINE WITH ENHANCED ENERGY EFFICIENCY | BELL, SPENCER E | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1761 | 16 |
| 1711 | 7 |
| 1714 | 4 |
| 1748 | 3 |
| 1779 | 2 |
| 3753 | 2 |
| 1771 | 2 |
| 1612 | 2 |
| 3647 | 2 |
| 1764 | 2 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19266614 | HYGIENE SYSTEM FOR A PORTABLE PACKAGED FOOD CONTAINER | HAILE, BENYAM | 2688 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 11, 2025 |
| 19249727 | USE OF MEDIUM CHAIN PERACIDS FOR BIOFILM INHIBITION IN INDUSTRIAL RECIRCULATING WATER SYSTEMS | BREWSTER, HAYDEN R | 1779 | §103DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 25, 2025 |
| 19133169 | ELECTROMAGNETIC LOCKING STRUCTURE FOR DISHWASHER HOOD | TULLIA, STEVEN A | 3675 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | May 27, 2025 |
| 19207683 | HIGH FOAMING TABLET COMPOSITIONS AND USES THEREOF | RIVERA-CORDERO, ARLYN I | 1714 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 14, 2025 |
| 19200219 | VISUAL IDENTIFICATION OF STATUS OF STORAGE CONTAINER VALVE | WADDY, JONATHAN J | 3753 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 06, 2025 |
| 19197220 | ACID GAS AND CARBONYL REMOVAL IN A STREAM OF A CHEMICAL PROCESSING PLANT | DOYLE, BRANDI M | 1771 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 02, 2025 |
| 19173407 | PEROXYFORMIC ACID COMPOSITIONS FOR MEMBRANE FILTRATION CLEANING | PARIHAR, PRADHUMAN | 1714 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 08, 2025 |
| 19097218 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACOUSTIC PEST DETECTION | CASILLASHERNANDEZ, OMAR | 2689 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Apr 01, 2025 |
| 19081993 | REDUCING ILLNESSES AND INFECTIONS CAUSED BY INEFFECTIVE CLEANING BY TRACKING AND CONTROLLING CLEANING EFFICACY | YACOB, SISAY | 2686 | Other | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 17, 2025 |
| 19071520 | PERFORMIC ACID ON-SITE GENERATOR AND FORMULATOR | CHORBAJI, MONZER R | — | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 05, 2025 |
| 19058501 | ZONE ANTENNA SYSTEM | JIANG, YONG HANG | 2845 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 20, 2025 |
| 19052585 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING PESTS USING LOW POWER CAPACITIVE SENSING | MAHONEY, CHRISTOPHER E | 2852 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 13, 2025 |
| 19029947 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ATTRACTING AND TRAPPING FLYING INSECTS | TOPOLSKI, MAGDALENA | 3642 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 17, 2025 |
| 19030067 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHOD FOR FLOOR CLEANING OR RESTORATION | MRUK, BRIAN P | 1761 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 17, 2025 |
| 18989990 | ADAPTIVE ACTIVE INFRARED SENSOR HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE IN THE DETECTION OF PESTS WITH PEST DETECTION STATION | FOX, DANIELLE A | 2884 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 20, 2024 |
| 18984600 | USE OF SELECTED RESINS FOR SULFATE REMOVAL IN HYDROCARBON MEDIUMS | GRAHAM, CHANTEL LORAN | 1771 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 17, 2024 |
| 18965704 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BIRD CONTROL USING LASER | BLACK-CHILDRESS, RAJSHEED O | 2685 | §103 | Final Rejection | 28d | Pending | Dec 02, 2024 |
| 18962025 | HARD SURFACE CLEANING COMPOSITIONS | MRUK, BRIAN P | 1761 | §102DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 27, 2024 |
| 18960000 | ALKALINE CLEANING COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING A HYDROXYPHOSPHONO CARBOXYLIC ACID AND METHODS OF REDUCING METAL CORROSION | OGDEN JR, NECHOLUS | 1761 | §103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 26, 2024 |
| 18863730 | DISH MACHINE WITH ENHANCED ENERGY EFFICIENCY | BELL, SPENCER E | 1711 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 07, 2024 |
| 18940339 | METHODS FOR CONTROLLING A WATER REUSE SYSTEM IN A WASH MACHINE | BELL, SPENCER E | 1711 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Nov 07, 2024 |
| 18924778 | BIOCIDAL COMPOSITIONS WITH HYDRONIUM ION SOURCES FOR BIOFILM CONTROL | COHEN, MICHAEL P | 1612 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 23, 2024 |
| 18923923 | SOLIDIFYING NONIONIC SURFACTANTS | BOYER, CHARLES I | 1761 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 23, 2024 |
| 18920613 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE END OF A CIP PHASE | CARRILLO, BIBI SHARIDAN | 1711 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 18, 2024 |
| 18919235 | PEG-MODIFIED CASTOR OIL BASED COMPOSITIONS FOR MICROEMULSIFYING AND REMOVING MULTIPLE OILY SOILS | MRUK, BRIAN P | 1761 | §102§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 17, 2024 |
| 18910242 | WIPE COMPOSITIONS FOR HAND POLISHING WITH IMPROVED SHINE ON FLATWARE AND OTHER SURFACES | BOYER, CHARLES I | 1761 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 09, 2024 |
| 18904616 | RINSE WATER REUSE SYSTEM AND METHODS OF USE | BELL, SPENCER E | 1711 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 02, 2024 |
| 18853650 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR IMPROVING A PAPERMAKING PROCESS | MINSKEY, JACOB T | 1748 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 02, 2024 |
| 18828448 | FLYING INSECT ATTRACTION STATION | ARK, DARREN W | 3647 | §112 | Non-Final OA | 36d overdue | Pending | Sep 09, 2024 |
| 18820906 | COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING CELLULASE WITH A NONIONIC SURFACTANT AND A QUATERNARY AMMONIUM COMPOUND | BOYER, CHARLES I | 1761 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 30, 2024 |
| 18821665 | CREPING PROCESS PERFORMANCE TRACKING AND CONTROL | SAAVEDRA, EMILIO J | 2117 | §101§103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 30, 2024 |
| 18819360 | EMBEDDED TEMPERATURE SENSORS FOR MONITORING TEMPERATURE OF ARTICLES AND STATUS OF DRYING OR CLEANING CYCLES | GRAVINI, STEPHEN MICHAEL | 3753 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 29, 2024 |
| 18816425 | READY-TO-USE HAND SOAP SYSTEM DRIVING PROGRAM EFFICIENCIES, SUSTAINABILITY AND COMPLIANCE WITH IMPROVED COMPOSITION AND AIR TO PRODUCT PUMP RATIOS | OGDEN JR, NECHOLUS | 1761 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 27, 2024 |
| 18837101 | LAUNDRY EMULSIFIER WITH SURFACTANT AND SOLVENT | DOUYON, LORNA M | 1761 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 08, 2024 |
| 18797376 | GALVANIZED METAL CORROSION INHIBITOR COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS OF USE | COHEN, STEFANIE J | 1732 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 07, 2024 |
| 18748644 | CELLULOSIC FIBER BLENDS FOR DISINFECTING WIPES WITH IMPROVED TEAR STRENGTH | WERTZ, ASHLEE ELIZABETH | 1612 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 20, 2024 |
| 18747621 | LOW 1,4 DIOXANE, FAST WETTING AND HIGH FOAMING CLEANING COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS OF USE THEREOF | OGDEN JR, NECHOLUS | 1761 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 19, 2024 |
| 18746876 | WASH AND RINSE ARM SYSTEM FOR DISH WASHER | ZHANG, RICHARD Z | 1714 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | 22d overdue | Pending | Jun 18, 2024 |
| 18732997 | STRENGTH SYNERGY BETWEEN POLYMER AND PAPERMAKING STRENGTH AID | FORTUNA, JOSE A | 1748 | §103 | Final Rejection | 33d | Pending | Jun 04, 2024 |
| 18676988 | TREATMENT STRATEGIES TO PROTECT FLOWABLE POLYMER BODIES AGAINST BLOCKING AND FOULING | MURATA, AUSTIN | 1712 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | May 29, 2024 |
| 18667751 | OXYALKYLATED SURFACTANTS AS CORROSION INHIBITORS | DIAZ, MATTHEW R | 1761 | §103§112DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | May 17, 2024 |
| 18659985 | CLEANING OF A MEDICAL DEVICE | CARRILLO, BIBI SHARIDAN | 1711 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 09, 2024 |
| 18647420 | TRAY COUPLING MODULE FOR A CLEANING MACHINE | AYALEW, TINSAE B | 1711 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 26, 2024 |
| 18646036 | ENDOSCOPE REPROCESSING SYSTEM AND TECHNIQUE TO DETECT MISCONNECTION OF A ROTATING SPRAY ASSEMBLY | LEE, AHAM NMN | 1758 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 25, 2024 |
| 18645816 | ENDOSCOPE REPROCESSING SYSTEM AND TECHNIQUE TO DETECT DISCONNECTION OF AN ENDOSCOPE BIOPSY CHANNEL | PARIHAR, PRADHUMAN | 1714 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Apr 25, 2024 |
| 18624204 | PAINT OVERSPRAY TREATMENT COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS OF USE | GUINO-O UZZLE, MARITES A | 1731 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 02, 2024 |
| 18624443 | ANTIMICROBIAL COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING ALKYL ETHER CARBOXYLIC ACIDS AND METHODS OF USE THEREOF | LI, WENHAN | 1614 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Apr 02, 2024 |
| 18605976 | ALKOXIDE-BASED SOLIDIFICATION USING CONCENTRATED ALKALI METAL HYDROXIDES | CONIGLIO, AUDREA JUNE BUCKLEY | 1617 | §103DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 15, 2024 |
| 18606681 | ALKOXIDE-BASED SOLIDIFICATION VIA CONTROL OF REACTION EQUILIBRIUM AND KINETICS | PAUL, SHREYA | 1761 | §102 | Final Rejection | 49d | Pending | Mar 15, 2024 |
| 18606280 | CAPPED BLOCK COPOLYMERS, THEIR SYNTHESIS, MANUFACTURE, AND METHODS OF USE | REDDY, KARUNA P | 1764 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 15, 2024 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free TrialEcolab USA Inc. has 82 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 46 art units and 68 examiners.
Brian P Mruk has the most, with 3 of Ecolab USA Inc.'s pending office actions.
Mostly Chemistry & Materials (USPTO Tech Center 1700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
