Technology area: Chemistry & Materials
24 pending office actions • 8 art units • 20 examiners • 0 of 24 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 22 patents granted in the last 365 days
Imperial Tobacco Limited has 23 pending office actions in Chemistry & Materials. The portfolio spans 19 examiners and 8 art units, showing both substantial action volume and broad allocation across examination groups.
BIEGER, VIRGINIA RUTH is the busiest examiner, with 3 pending matters. That concentration is limited relative to the full docket, so prosecution management should not depend on a single examiner relationship.
The difference between examiner and art-unit coverage also indicates that multiple matters may share an art-unit environment while still receiving examiner-specific treatment. Counsel should coordinate recurring claim language, prior-art positions, and amendment themes without assuming identical examination outcomes.
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 (4%) |
| §103 only | 13 (54%) |
| §102 only | 1 (4%) |
| Double-patenting only | 1 (4%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 8 (33%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BIEGER, VIRGINIA RUTH | 3 | 42.9% | +15.8% |
| MOORE, STEPHANIE LYNN | 2 | 60.9% | +38.9% |
| SPARKS, RUSSELL E | 2 | 64.1% | +14.0% |
| CHAMBERS, TRAVIS SLOAN | 1 | 86.2% | +11.1% |
| KESSIE, JENNIFER A | 1 | 65.2% | +20.2% |
| SZEWCZYK, CYNTHIA | 1 | 73.7% | +10.1% |
| PAUDEL, PRADEEP | 1 | — | — |
| DAVISON, CHARLOTTE INKERI | 1 | 46.8% | +29.2% |
| WILL, KATHERINE A | 1 | 67.4% | +20.1% |
| SCHNEIDER, THOMAS FRANK | 1 | 47.4% | +37.2% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18811426 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE | CHAMBERS, TRAVIS SLOAN | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17679852 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD | DIYAN, OLUWATOSIN OLUWATUMININ | 4d overdue |
| 18717316 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE SYSTEM | KESSIE, JENNIFER A | — |
| 18697437 | VAPORISABLE LIQUID FOR A SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS | SZEWCZYK, CYNTHIA | — |
| 18696994 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE SYSTEM | PAUDEL, PRADEEP | — |
| 18695341 | AEROSOL DELIVERY COMPONENT | DAVISON, CHARLOTTE INKERI | — |
| 18694248 | AEROSOL DELIVERY DEVICE | NGUYEN, SONNY V | — |
| 18692283 | AEROSOL DELIVERY DEVICE/SYSTEM | SPARKS, RUSSELL E | — |
| 17698542 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE COMPONENT | FULTON, MICHAEL TIMOTHY | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17243074 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE CONSUMABLE | BIEGER, VIRGINIA RUTH | 28d |
| 18811426 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE | CHAMBERS, TRAVIS SLOAN | — |
| 18717316 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE SYSTEM | KESSIE, JENNIFER A | — |
| 18697437 | VAPORISABLE LIQUID FOR A SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS | SZEWCZYK, CYNTHIA | — |
| 18696356 | VAPOUR DELIVERY APPARATUS | MOORE, STEPHANIE LYNN | — |
| 18695341 | AEROSOL DELIVERY COMPONENT | DAVISON, CHARLOTTE INKERI | — |
| 18695336 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS | WILL, KATHERINE A | — |
| 18694950 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS | SCHNEIDER, THOMAS FRANK | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1755 | 9 |
| 1747 | 6 |
| 1749 | 3 |
| 2831 | 2 |
| 1741 | 1 |
| 1745 | 1 |
| 1700 | 1 |
| 2685 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18811426 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE | CHAMBERS, TRAVIS SLOAN | 2831 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 21, 2024 |
| 18717316 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE SYSTEM | KESSIE, JENNIFER A | 1747 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 06, 2024 |
| 18697437 | VAPORISABLE LIQUID FOR A SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS | SZEWCZYK, CYNTHIA | 1741 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 29, 2024 |
| 18696994 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE SYSTEM | PAUDEL, PRADEEP | 1749 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 28, 2024 |
| 18696356 | VAPOUR DELIVERY APPARATUS | MOORE, STEPHANIE LYNN | 1747 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 27, 2024 |
| 18695341 | AEROSOL DELIVERY COMPONENT | DAVISON, CHARLOTTE INKERI | 1755 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 25, 2024 |
| 18695336 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS | WILL, KATHERINE A | 1747 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 25, 2024 |
| 18694950 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS | SCHNEIDER, THOMAS FRANK | 1749 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 22, 2024 |
| 18694248 | AEROSOL DELIVERY DEVICE | NGUYEN, SONNY V | 1755 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 21, 2024 |
| 18694406 | AEROSOL DELIVERY ARTICLE WITH AN INFRARED HEATER | JUENGST, BRENDON THOMAS | 1749 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 21, 2024 |
| 18693150 | FLAVOURANT PROVIDER AND SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE | MOORE, STEPHANIE LYNN | 1747 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 18, 2024 |
| 18692284 | AEROSOL DELIVERY DEVICE/SYSTEM | YAARY, ERIC | 1755 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 14, 2024 |
| 18692279 | A SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE | BIEGER, VIRGINIA RUTH | 1755 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 14, 2024 |
| 18692283 | AEROSOL DELIVERY DEVICE/SYSTEM | SPARKS, RUSSELL E | 1755 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 14, 2024 |
| 18573280 | AEROSOL GENERATING SYSTEM | EFTA, ALEX B | 1745 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 21, 2023 |
| 17698542 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE COMPONENT | FULTON, MICHAEL TIMOTHY | 1747 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 18, 2022 |
| 17697136 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE COMPONENT | CULBERT, COURTNEY GUENTHER | 1747 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 17, 2022 |
| 17696467 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS | BIEGER, VIRGINIA RUTH | 1755 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 16, 2022 |
| 17679852 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD | DIYAN, OLUWATOSIN OLUWATUMININ | 1700 | §101§102§112 | Non-Final OA | 4d overdue | Pending | Feb 24, 2022 |
| 17242791 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE CONSUMABLE | BUCKMAN, JEFFREY ALAN | 1755 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 28, 2021 |
| 17243074 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE CONSUMABLE | BIEGER, VIRGINIA RUTH | 1755 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 28d | Pending | Apr 28, 2021 |
| 17211135 | SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE WITH MULTIPLE USER SETTABLE MODES OF OPERATION | KRATT, JUSTIN M | 2831 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 4d overdue | Pending | Mar 24, 2021 |
| 17126404 | METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING RECONSTITUTED PLANT MATERIAL | SPARKS, RUSSELL E | 1755 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 18, 2020 |
| 17002139 | SYSTEMS FOR MANAGING SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICES AND ASSOCIATED METHODS | PHAM, QUANG | 2685 | §103 | Final Rejection | 3d overdue | Pending | Aug 25, 2020 |
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Start Free TrialImperial Tobacco Limited has 24 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 8 art units and 20 examiners.
Virginia Ruth Bieger has the most, with 3 of Imperial Tobacco Limited's pending office actions.
Mostly Chemistry & Materials (USPTO Tech Center 1700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
