Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Chemistry & Materials
8 pending office actions • 3 art units • 4 examiners • 0 of 8 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 1 patents granted in the last 365 days
Equistar Chemicals L.P. maintains a portfolio with 8 pending office actions in the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These matters are distributed among 4 distinct examiners and 3 distinct art units. This volume of activity indicates a robust and active prosecution phase for the company's chemical and material innovations. The use of 3 distinct art units suggests that the company's filings cover a variety of technical sub-specialties within the broader Chemistry & Materials field.
The busiest examiner for the portfolio is RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD, who is currently managing 4 of the 8 pending office actions. This concentration means that half of the company's pending actions are under the review of a single individual, making the relationship with RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD a critical factor in the portfolio's overall success. The remaining actions are split among the other 3 distinct examiners, requiring the company to balance a high-volume relationship with one examiner against the varied requirements of several others. With 4 distinct examiners and 3 distinct art units, the company faces a complex prosecution landscape that demands both consistency in its primary relationship and adaptability across multiple administrative groups.
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 |
|---|---|
| §102 only | 1 (12%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 7 (88%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD | 4 | 45.8% | +32.9% |
| COPENHEAVER, BLAINE R | 2 | 85.5% | +18.4% |
| LEE, RIP A | 1 | 83.5% | -4.2% |
| FISCHER, JUSTIN R | 1 | 44.3% | +2.3% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18627073 | BLENDS OF POST CONUMER RESINS AND POLYETHYLENE FOR QUALITY BLOWN FILM | LEE, RIP A | — |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 7 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17845727 | POLYMER RECYCLATE PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS | RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD | 20d |
| 17845673 | POLYMER RECYCLATE PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS | RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD | 20d |
| 17845759 | POLYMER RECYCLATE PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS | RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD | 20d |
| 17845636 | POLYMER RECYCLATE PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS | RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD | 20d |
| 18637014 | HDPE BLENDS OF VIRGIN POLYETHYLENE AND POST CONSUMER RECYCLATE FOR BLOWN FILMS AND METHODS THEREOF | COPENHEAVER, BLAINE R | — |
| 18595783 | COMPATIBILIZATION AND IMPACT MODIFICATION OF POST CONSUMER RESINS | FISCHER, JUSTIN R | — |
| 18142398 | POLYOLEFIN COMPOSITIONS AND PRODUCTS | COPENHEAVER, BLAINE R | — |
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 6 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17845727 | POLYMER RECYCLATE PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS | RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD | 20d |
| 17845673 | POLYMER RECYCLATE PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS | RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD | 20d |
| 17845759 | POLYMER RECYCLATE PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS | RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD | 20d |
| 17845636 | POLYMER RECYCLATE PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS | RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD | 20d |
| 18637014 | HDPE BLENDS OF VIRGIN POLYETHYLENE AND POST CONSUMER RECYCLATE FOR BLOWN FILMS AND METHODS THEREOF | COPENHEAVER, BLAINE R | — |
| 18142398 | POLYOLEFIN COMPOSITIONS AND PRODUCTS | COPENHEAVER, BLAINE R | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1759 | 4 |
| 1781 | 2 |
| 1787 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18637014 | HDPE BLENDS OF VIRGIN POLYETHYLENE AND POST CONSUMER RECYCLATE FOR BLOWN FILMS AND METHODS THEREOF | COPENHEAVER, BLAINE R | 1781 | §102§103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 16, 2024 |
| 18627073 | BLENDS OF POST CONUMER RESINS AND POLYETHYLENE FOR QUALITY BLOWN FILM | LEE, RIP A | 1787 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 04, 2024 |
| 18595783 | COMPATIBILIZATION AND IMPACT MODIFICATION OF POST CONSUMER RESINS | FISCHER, JUSTIN R | — | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 05, 2024 |
| 18142398 | POLYOLEFIN COMPOSITIONS AND PRODUCTS | COPENHEAVER, BLAINE R | 1781 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | May 02, 2023 |
| 17845727 | POLYMER RECYCLATE PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS | RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD | 1759 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | 20d | Pending | Jun 21, 2022 |
| 17845673 | POLYMER RECYCLATE PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS | RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD | 1759 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | 20d | Pending | Jun 21, 2022 |
| 17845759 | POLYMER RECYCLATE PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS | RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD | 1759 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | 20d | Pending | Jun 21, 2022 |
| 17845636 | POLYMER RECYCLATE PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS | RIETH, STEPHEN EDWARD | 1759 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | 20d | Pending | Jun 21, 2022 |
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