Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals • Chemistry & Materials
11 pending office actions • 4 art units • 10 examiners • 0 of 11 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 1 patents granted in the last 365 days
Firmenich Incorporated is currently navigating 11 pending office actions within the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These actions are spread across 10 distinct examiners, which indicates a high degree of individual examiner interaction for the company's legal team. This broad distribution means that the company is managing nearly as many examiner relationships as it has pending matters.
The prosecution workload is concentrated within 4 distinct art units. Given the total number of pending office actions, this suggests that multiple examiners are working within the same groups, potentially allowing for some consistency in the technical examination of the company's chemistry-related filings. The focus on 4 distinct art units provides a more centralized administrative environment than if the filings were more widely dispersed.
LIU, DEBORAH YANG-HAO is the busiest examiner for the portfolio, currently managing 2 busiest examiner pending actions. While most of the 10 distinct examiners are likely handling a single case, this examiner's responsibility for 2 of the total pending office actions makes her a key figure in the company's current prosecution landscape. The overall structure of 11 actions points to a focused technical strategy within the Chemistry & Materials sector.
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 |
|---|---|
| §101 + other | 1 (9%) |
| §103 only | 6 (55%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 1 (9%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 3 (27%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| LIU, DEBORAH YANG-HAO | 2 | 8.9% | +12.3% |
| PRAKASH, SUBBALAKSHMI | 1 | 45.7% | +36.1% |
| LI, CHANGQING | 1 | 29.3% | +33.6% |
| MORNHINWEG, JEFFREY P | 1 | 36.3% | +32.1% |
| MERCHLINSKY, JOSEPH CULLEN | 1 | 5.9% | -6.3% |
| ROBERTS, LEZAH | 1 | 48.4% | +35.1% |
| KAUFMAN, CLAIRE M | 1 | 63.5% | +50.7% |
| MCNEIL, JENNIFER C | 1 | 23.9% | +19.1% |
| CHAWLA, JYOTI | 1 | 52.7% | +30.3% |
| JACOBSON, MICHELE LYNN | 1 | 28.0% | +32.9% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18254146 | KOKUMI TASTE ENHANCEMENT AND RELATED SCREENING METHODS | LIU, DEBORAH YANG-HAO | 17d overdue |
| 18562730 | POLYCATIONIC SALTS OF PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS AND USES THEREOF | MERCHLINSKY, JOSEPH CULLEN | 5d |
| 18271414 | SWEETENER COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING MOGROSIDES AND USES THEREOF | JACOBSON, MICHELE LYNN | 50d |
| 18862600 | SATURATED FATTY ACIDS AND THEIR USE TO MODIFY TASTE | LIU, DEBORAH YANG-HAO | — |
| 18293221 | Use of Vanillyl Ethers to Modify Flavor of Distilled Spirits | LI, CHANGQING | — |
| 18558528 | CELLS EXPRESSING BITTER TASTE RECEPTORS AND USES THEREOF | KAUFMAN, CLAIRE M | — |
| 18271406 | SWEETENER COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING MOGROSIDES AND USES THEREOF | MCNEIL, JENNIFER C | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18562250 | COMPOSITIONS THAT ENHANCE THE COOLING EFFECT | ROBERTS, LEZAH | 24d overdue |
| 18254146 | KOKUMI TASTE ENHANCEMENT AND RELATED SCREENING METHODS | LIU, DEBORAH YANG-HAO | 17d overdue |
| 18271414 | SWEETENER COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING MOGROSIDES AND USES THEREOF | JACOBSON, MICHELE LYNN | 50d |
| 18862600 | SATURATED FATTY ACIDS AND THEIR USE TO MODIFY TASTE | LIU, DEBORAH YANG-HAO | — |
| 18835419 | FLAVANONE COMPOUNDS AND THEIR USE AS FLAVOR MODIFIERS | PRAKASH, SUBBALAKSHMI | — |
| 18293221 | Use of Vanillyl Ethers to Modify Flavor of Distilled Spirits | LI, CHANGQING | — |
| 18563462 | MOGROSIDE COMPOUNDS AND THEIR COMESTIBLE USE | MORNHINWEG, JEFFREY P | — |
| 18558528 | CELLS EXPRESSING BITTER TASTE RECEPTORS AND USES THEREOF | KAUFMAN, CLAIRE M | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1791 | 4 |
| 1793 | 3 |
| 1612 | 1 |
| 1674 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18862600 | SATURATED FATTY ACIDS AND THEIR USE TO MODIFY TASTE | LIU, DEBORAH YANG-HAO | — | §101§102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 04, 2024 |
| 18835419 | FLAVANONE COMPOUNDS AND THEIR USE AS FLAVOR MODIFIERS | PRAKASH, SUBBALAKSHMI | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 02, 2024 |
| 18293221 | Use of Vanillyl Ethers to Modify Flavor of Distilled Spirits | LI, CHANGQING | 1791 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 29, 2024 |
| 18563462 | MOGROSIDE COMPOUNDS AND THEIR COMESTIBLE USE | MORNHINWEG, JEFFREY P | 1793 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 22, 2023 |
| 18562730 | POLYCATIONIC SALTS OF PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS AND USES THEREOF | MERCHLINSKY, JOSEPH CULLEN | 1791 | §103 | Final Rejection | 5d | Pending | Nov 20, 2023 |
| 18562250 | COMPOSITIONS THAT ENHANCE THE COOLING EFFECT | ROBERTS, LEZAH | 1612 | §103 | Final Rejection | 24d overdue | Pending | Nov 17, 2023 |
| 18558528 | CELLS EXPRESSING BITTER TASTE RECEPTORS AND USES THEREOF | KAUFMAN, CLAIRE M | 1674 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 01, 2023 |
| 18271406 | SWEETENER COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING MOGROSIDES AND USES THEREOF | MCNEIL, JENNIFER C | 1793 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 07, 2023 |
| 18271412 | SWEETENER COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING MOGROSIDES AND USES THEREOF | CHAWLA, JYOTI | 1791 | §103§112DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 07, 2023 |
| 18271414 | SWEETENER COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING MOGROSIDES AND USES THEREOF | JACOBSON, MICHELE LYNN | 1793 | §103Other | Non-Final OA | 50d | Pending | Jul 07, 2023 |
| 18254146 | KOKUMI TASTE ENHANCEMENT AND RELATED SCREENING METHODS | LIU, DEBORAH YANG-HAO | 1791 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 17d overdue | Pending | May 23, 2023 |
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