Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
23 pending office actions • 7 art units • 14 examiners • 0 of 23 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 60 patents granted in the last 365 days
Graphic Packaging International Inc. currently manages 23 pending office actions in the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. These matters are assigned to 14 distinct examiners, suggesting some level of overlap in examiner assignments. The portfolio's activity is concentrated within 7 distinct art units, which is a relatively small number given the total volume of pending office actions. This concentration suggests that the company's innovations fall into a few closely related technical categories.
CHRISTOPHER R DEMEREE is the busiest examiner, overseeing 4 pending office actions. This is a notable portion of the 23 total pending actions, especially when compared to the distinct examiners involved. The fact that an examiner handles 4 actions while there are the total number of distinct examiners indicates that several examiners are likely handling multiple cases. This can lead to a more predictable prosecution environment if the company can identify patterns in how these examiners review their applications.
The use of 7 distinct art units for the pending office actions shows a focused approach within the broader mechanical engineering field. With a busiest examiner pending count of 4, the company has a significant point of contact with a single individual, which is different from portfolios where every action has a unique examiner. This structure allows for a more specialized understanding of the requirements within those specific art units.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 9 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. 9 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 |
|---|---|
| §103 only | 8 (35%) |
| §102 only | 6 (26%) |
| Double-patenting only | 2 (9%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 7 (30%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEMEREE, CHRISTOPHER R | 4 | 68.9% | +14.1% |
| COLLINS, RAVEN | 4 | 62.5% | +10.4% |
| BRADEN, SHAWN M | 2 | 66.7% | +32.4% |
| PERREAULT, ANDREW D | 2 | 46.6% | +18.4% |
| SPICER, JENINE MARIE | 2 | 51.1% | +19.0% |
| PALMER, LUCAS E A | 1 | 80.2% | +16.7% |
| ATTEL, NINA KAY | 1 | 41.4% | +27.8% |
| WITTENSCHLAEGER, THOMAS M | 1 | 71.5% | +11.8% |
| REYNOLDS, STEVEN ALAN | 1 | 65.9% | +23.3% |
| HELVEY, PETER N. | 1 | 54.6% | +19.1% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19394954 | A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FORMING A CONTAINER WITH INSULATING FEATURES | PALMER, LUCAS E 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18513823 | Carton With Dispenser | KUMAR, RAKESH | 29d |
| 19048033 | Method And System For Forming Articles | WITTENSCHLAEGER, THOMAS M | — |
| 18932792 | Container With Flange | DEMEREE, CHRISTOPHER R | — |
| 18912820 | Container With Liner | HELVEY, PETER N. | — |
| 18769574 | Tray For Food Products | NEWHOUSE, NATHAN JEFFREY | — |
| 18215945 | Composite Containers For Bulk Solids, Related Systems And Methods | COLLINS, RAVEN | — |
| 18126681 | Carrier For Containers | PERREAULT, ANDREW D | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18228875 | Package for Containers | SPICER, JENINE MARIE | 81d overdue |
| 18806947 | Tray For Food Products | COLLINS, RAVEN | 3d overdue |
| 18941443 | Carton With Locking Features | REYNOLDS, STEVEN ALAN | 1d overdue |
| 18583968 | Container With Lid | DEMEREE, CHRISTOPHER R | 12d |
| 18121121 | Trays For Food Products And Related Systems And Methods | COLLINS, RAVEN | 16d |
| 17856333 | Composite Containers For Bulk Solids, Related Systems And Methods | COLLINS, RAVEN | 28d |
| 19394954 | A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FORMING A CONTAINER WITH INSULATING FEATURES | PALMER, LUCAS E A | — |
| 19171939 | Method And System For Forming A Container With Insulating Features | BRADEN, SHAWN M | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3735 | 7 |
| 3736 | 4 |
| 3734 | 4 |
| 3731 | 2 |
| 3754 | 1 |
| 3651 | 1 |
| 1717 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19394954 | A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FORMING A CONTAINER WITH INSULATING FEATURES | PALMER, LUCAS E A | 3731 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 20, 2025 |
| 19171939 | Method And System For Forming A Container With Insulating Features | BRADEN, SHAWN M | — | §102Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 07, 2025 |
| 19103401 | Divider Construct For Trays, Related Systems And Methods | ATTEL, NINA KAY | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 12, 2025 |
| 19048033 | Method And System For Forming Articles | WITTENSCHLAEGER, THOMAS M | 3731 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 07, 2025 |
| 19042076 | Carton With Lid | BRADEN, SHAWN M | 3736 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 31, 2025 |
| 18967807 | Container With Liner | DEMEREE, CHRISTOPHER R | 3736 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 04, 2024 |
| 18941443 | Carton With Locking Features | REYNOLDS, STEVEN ALAN | 3735 | §102 | Final Rejection | 1d overdue | Pending | Nov 08, 2024 |
| 18932792 | Container With Flange | DEMEREE, CHRISTOPHER R | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 31, 2024 |
| 18912820 | Container With Liner | HELVEY, PETER N. | 3734 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 11, 2024 |
| 18905571 | Carton With Dispenser Features | PERREAULT, ANDREW D | 3735 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 03, 2024 |
| 18806940 | Container With Lid | DEMEREE, CHRISTOPHER R | 3734 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 16, 2024 |
| 18806947 | Tray For Food Products | COLLINS, RAVEN | 3735 | §103 | Final Rejection | 3d overdue | Pending | Aug 16, 2024 |
| 18769574 | Tray For Food Products | NEWHOUSE, NATHAN JEFFREY | 3734 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 11, 2024 |
| 18672269 | Carton With Article Retention Features | SPICER, JENINE MARIE | 3736 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | May 23, 2024 |
| 18583968 | Container With Lid | DEMEREE, CHRISTOPHER R | 3734 | §102 | Final Rejection | 12d | Pending | Feb 22, 2024 |
| 18411268 | Container With Dispenser Features, Related Systems And Methods | GRUBY, RANDALL A | 3754 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 26d | Pending | Jan 12, 2024 |
| 18513823 | Carton With Dispenser | KUMAR, RAKESH | 3651 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 29d | Pending | Nov 20, 2023 |
| 18228875 | Package for Containers | SPICER, JENINE MARIE | 3736 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 81d overdue | Pending | Aug 01, 2023 |
| 18226376 | System And Method For Applying A Coating Material To A Web | HERNANDEZ-KENNEY, JOSE | 1717 | §103 | Final Rejection | 30d overdue | Pending | Jul 26, 2023 |
| 18215945 | Composite Containers For Bulk Solids, Related Systems And Methods | COLLINS, RAVEN | 3735 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 29, 2023 |
| 18126681 | Carrier For Containers | PERREAULT, ANDREW D | 3735 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 27, 2023 |
| 18121121 | Trays For Food Products And Related Systems And Methods | COLLINS, RAVEN | 3735 | §103 | Final Rejection | 16d | Pending | Mar 14, 2023 |
| 17856333 | Composite Containers For Bulk Solids, Related Systems And Methods | COLLINS, RAVEN | 3735 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 28d | Pending | Jul 01, 2022 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free Trial