Prosecution Insights
Last updated: September 29, 2026

Imperial Tobacco Limited

Technology area: Chemistry & Materials

26 pending office actions • 6 art units • 19 examiners • 0 of 26 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 23 patents granted in the last 365 days

Portfolio Summary

26
Total Pending OAs
18
Non-Final OAs
6
Final Rejections
2
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 6 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

4
Overdue
0
Due this week
2
Due this month
0
Due in next 60 days
0
Due later

Deadline Fire Line

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. 6 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (4)Due ≤ 30 days (2)

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.

8
Hard (31%)
16
Medium (62%)
2
Easy (8%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 + other1 (4%)
§103 only14 (54%)
§102 only2 (8%)
§112 only1 (4%)
Double-patenting only1 (4%)
Multi-statute (no §101)7 (27%)

Industry Mix

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

11
Life Sciences
42% of docket
0
Information Tech
0% of docket
1
Communications
4% of docket
2
Semiconductors
8% of docket
0
Mechanical / Eng
0% of docket
12
Business / Other
46% 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.

260 h
Manual time on pending OAs
52 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
91 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
2.3 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
BIEGER, VIRGINIA RUTH 4 42.9% +15.8%
CULBERT, COURTNEY GUENTHER 3 26.9% +8.2%
MOORE, STEPHANIE LYNN 2 60.8% +38.2%
SPARKS, RUSSELL E 2 63.4% +14.8%
CHAMBERS, TRAVIS SLOAN 1 86.4% +11.4%
KESSIE, JENNIFER A 1 64.9% +20.3%
SZEWCZYK, CYNTHIA 1 73.7% +10.1%
PAUDEL, PRADEEP 1 — —
WILL, KATHERINE A 1 67.0% +20.6%
DAVISON, CHARLOTTE INKERI 1 45.7% +26.8%

Quick Wins (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 #TitleExaminerDue in
18811426 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE CHAMBERS, TRAVIS SLOAN —

Hard Cases (11)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
17679852 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD DIYAN, OLUWATOSIN OLUWATUMININ 4d overdue
18648047 AEROSOL DELIVERY 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 —
18692275 A SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE BIEGER, VIRGINIA RUTH —
17698542 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE COMPONENT FULTON, MICHAEL TIMOTHY —

Interview Candidates (13)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
17686020 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS SPARKS, RUSSELL E 30d overdue
17243074 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE CONSUMABLE BIEGER, VIRGINIA RUTH 28d
18811426 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE CHAMBERS, TRAVIS SLOAN —
18648047 AEROSOL DELIVERY SYSTEM KESSIE, JENNIFER A —
18697437 VAPORISABLE LIQUID FOR A SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS SZEWCZYK, CYNTHIA —
18696356 VAPOUR DELIVERY APPARATUS MOORE, STEPHANIE LYNN —
18695336 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS WILL, KATHERINE A —
18695341 AEROSOL DELIVERY COMPONENT DAVISON, CHARLOTTE INKERI —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
1755 5
1747 4
2831 2
1745 1
1700 1
2685 1

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
18811426 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE CHAMBERS, TRAVIS SLOAN 2831 DP Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 21, 2024
18648047 AEROSOL DELIVERY SYSTEM KESSIE, JENNIFER A — §102§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 26, 2024
18697437 VAPORISABLE LIQUID FOR A SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS SZEWCZYK, CYNTHIA — §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 29, 2024
18696994 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE SYSTEM PAUDEL, PRADEEP — §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 28, 2024
18696356 VAPOUR DELIVERY APPARATUS MOORE, STEPHANIE LYNN — §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 27, 2024
18695336 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS WILL, KATHERINE A — §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 25, 2024
18695341 AEROSOL DELIVERY COMPONENT DAVISON, CHARLOTTE INKERI — §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 25, 2024
18694957 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS SCHNEIDER, THOMAS FRANK — §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 22, 2024
18694248 AEROSOL DELIVERY DEVICE NGUYEN, SONNY V — §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 21, 2024
18694406 AEROSOL DELIVERY ARTICLE WITH AN INFRARED HEATER JUENGST, BRENDON THOMAS — §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 21, 2024
18693150 FLAVOURANT PROVIDER AND SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE MOORE, STEPHANIE LYNN — §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 18, 2024
18692279 A SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE BIEGER, VIRGINIA RUTH — §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 14, 2024
18692275 A SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE BIEGER, VIRGINIA RUTH — §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 14, 2024
18573280 AEROSOL GENERATING SYSTEM EFTA, ALEX B 1745 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Dec 21, 2023
17923553 A SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE YAARY, ERIC 1755 §103 Non-Final OA 23d Pending May 09, 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
17696368 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS CULBERT, COURTNEY GUENTHER 1747 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 16, 2022
17695423 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS CULBERT, COURTNEY GUENTHER 1747 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 15, 2022
17686020 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE APPARATUS SPARKS, RUSSELL E 1755 §112 Final Rejection 30d overdue Pending Mar 03, 2022
17679852 SMOKING SUBSTITUTE DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD DIYAN, OLUWATOSIN OLUWATUMININ 1700 §101§102§112 Non-Final OA 4d overdue Pending Feb 24, 2022
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 Final Rejection 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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