Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026

Grapheal

Technology areas: Chemistry & Materials • Communications

2 pending office actions • 2 art units • 2 examiners • 0 of 2 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready

Analysis

Grapheal currently has 2 pending office actions within the Communications technology area. These actions are distributed across 2 distinct examiners, which means that each pending matter is being reviewed by a different individual. For a practitioner, this distribution of actions to examiners requires a tailored approach for each application, as there is no overlap in the personnel making the decisions on these specific cases.

The portfolio's activity is further divided among 2 distinct art units. This separation into the Communications sector indicates that the company's technology may span different technical niches or administrative categories at the patent office. Managing prosecution across multiple art units often involves addressing different sets of examination guidelines or technical precedents, even when the applications fall under the same broad technology area.

BROWN, VERNAL U is identified as the busiest examiner for Grapheal, currently handling 1 pending office action. While BROWN, VERNAL U is the busiest, they only manage 1 of the company's 2 active matters. This distribution suggests that the company's prosecution risks are spread across the available examiners, as no single examiner controls the majority of the pending workload. Practitioners should maintain distinct strategies for BROWN, VERNAL U and the other examiner involved in the portfolio.

Written from this page's own data; every figure is computed from USPTO records and verified before publication.

Portfolio Summary

2
Total Pending OAs
1
Non-Final OAs
1
Final Rejections
0
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 1 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

1
Overdue
0
Due this week
0
Due this month
0
Due in next 60 days
0
Due later

Case Difficulty Mix

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.

1
Hard (50%)
1
Medium (50%)
0
Easy (0%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§103 only1 (50%)
Multi-statute (no §101)1 (50%)

Industry Mix

How the docket's pending cases split across USPTO tech-center bands.

1
Life Sciences
50% of docket
0
Information Tech
0% of docket
1
Communications
50% of docket
0
Semiconductors
0% of docket
0
Mechanical / Eng
0% of docket
0
Business / Other
0% of docket

Time-on-OA Estimate

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.

20 h
Manual time on pending OAs
4 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
7 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
0.2 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
BROWN, VERNAL U 1 69.5% +13.6%
WALTERS JR, ROBERT S 1 51.6% +50.4%

Hard Cases (1)

Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 1 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
18722712 METHOD FOR FORMING A DEVICE COMPRISING GRAPHENE WALTERS JR, ROBERT S —

Interview Candidates (2)

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 2 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
18973912 PORTABLE AND SINGLE-USE DEVICE FOR ACCESSING AN AREA WITH RESTRICTED ACCESS, ASSOCIATED ACCESS KEY GENERATION SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED ACCESS CONTROL METHOD BROWN, VERNAL U 28d overdue
18722712 METHOD FOR FORMING A DEVICE COMPRISING GRAPHENE WALTERS JR, ROBERT S —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
2686 1
1717 1

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
18973912 PORTABLE AND SINGLE-USE DEVICE FOR ACCESSING AN AREA WITH RESTRICTED ACCESS, ASSOCIATED ACCESS KEY GENERATION SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED ACCESS CONTROL METHOD BROWN, VERNAL U 2686 §103 Final Rejection 28d overdue Pending Dec 09, 2024
18722712 METHOD FOR FORMING A DEVICE COMPRISING GRAPHENE WALTERS JR, ROBERT S 1717 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 21, 2024

Managing Grapheal's Patent Portfolio?

IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.

Start Free Trial

Frequently Asked Questions

How many pending USPTO office actions does Grapheal have?

Grapheal has 2 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 2 art units and 2 examiners.

Which USPTO examiner handles the most Grapheal applications?

Vernal U Brown has the most, with 1 of Grapheal's pending office actions.

What technology area are Grapheal's patent applications in?

Mostly Communications (USPTO Tech Center 2600), based on where its pending office actions are examined.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month