Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
151 pending office actions • 37 art units • 135 examiners • 0 of 151 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 272 patents granted in the last 365 days
Intuitive Surgical Operations Inc. has 153 pending office actions within the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. These matters are distributed across 137 distinct examiners, suggesting that most examiners are responsible for individual applications. The portfolio spans 37 distinct art units, which indicates a variety of technical specializations within the company's medical device innovations.
The examiner LAU, MICHAEL J is currently handling 3 pending office actions. This is the highest number of actions for any examiner in the portfolio, but it represents a fraction of the 153 pending office actions. Practitioners must coordinate across 137 distinct examiners to ensure consistency in legal arguments across the 37 distinct art units.
The distribution of the current workload across the assigned art units requires the company to manage different procedural standards and technical interpretations. Because so many examiners are involved, the legal team faces many individual examination styles. Success depends on navigating the specific requirements of each art unit and the 3 actions assigned to LAU, MICHAEL J.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 27 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. 27 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 only | 1 (1%) |
| §101 + other | 16 (11%) |
| §103 only | 56 (37%) |
| §102 only | 15 (10%) |
| §112 only | 3 (2%) |
| Double-patenting only | 11 (7%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 5 (3%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 43 (28%) |
| No statute on record | 1 (1%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAU, MICHAEL J | 3 | 72.0% | +23.4% |
| MALDONADO, STEVEN | 2 | 26.9% | +42.9% |
| LYNCH, ROBERT A | 2 | 80.3% | +12.9% |
| HODGE, LINDA J | 2 | 87.6% | +26.9% |
| MANCHO, RONNIE M | 2 | 75.8% | +1.6% |
| LONG, ROBERT FRANKLIN | 2 | 72.2% | +20.3% |
| LY, TOMMY TAI | 2 | 80.6% | +22.7% |
| FANG, MICHAEL YIMING | 2 | 62.4% | +39.9% |
| JAFFRI, ZEHRA | 2 | 58.0% | +49.1% |
| CATTUNGAL, SANJAY | 2 | 83.4% | +10.1% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 4 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19265011 | SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS WITH SWITCHES FOR DEACTIVATING AND/OR IDENTIFYING STAPLER CARTRIDGES | HODGE, LINDA J | — |
| 19025799 | SURGICAL SYSTEM WITH MULTI-MODALITY IMAGE DISPLAY | CATTUNGAL, SANJAY | — |
| 19025822 | SURGICAL SYSTEM WITH MULTI-MODALITY IMAGE DISPLAY | CATTUNGAL, SANJAY | — |
| 18725235 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INTEGRATING INTRA-OPERATIVE IMAGE DATA WITH MINIMALLY INVASIVE MEDICAL TECHNIQUES | LY, TOMMY TAI | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18038902 | MEDICAL DEVICE INSUFFLATION ADAPTOR | ULSH, DUNG T | 38d overdue |
| 18553058 | DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING SUTURING PROCEDURES | KHANDKER, RAIHAN R | 30d overdue |
| 18259833 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRACKING OBJECTS CROSSING BODY WALLFOR OPERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH A COMPUTER-ASSISTED SYSTEM | RUDOLPH, VINCENT M | 30d overdue |
| 18255352 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GENERATING AND EVALUATING A MEDICAL PROCEDURE | LAGOY, KYRA RAND | 28d overdue |
| 18643081 | DEVICES FOR INSTRUMENT USE RECORDING, DEVICES FOR RECORDING INSTRUMENT REPROCESSING EVENTS, AND RELATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS | LONG, ROBERT FRANKLIN | 16d overdue |
| 18684105 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SIMULATING STRING MANIPULATION | BULLINGTON, ROBERT P | 9d |
| 17634024 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMANCE OF EXTERNAL BODY WALL DATA AND INTERNAL DEPTH DATA-BASED PERFORMANCE OF OPERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH A COMPUTER-ASSISTED SURGICAL SYSTEM | ROBINSON, NICHOLAS A | 26d |
| 19064448 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR NAVIGATING HIDDEN ANATOMIC PASSAGEWAYS | PEHLKE, CAROLYN A | 39d |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18808518 | SUTURING NEEDLES AND RELATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS | JAFFRI, ZEHRA | 49d overdue |
| 18643081 | DEVICES FOR INSTRUMENT USE RECORDING, DEVICES FOR RECORDING INSTRUMENT REPROCESSING EVENTS, AND RELATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS | LONG, ROBERT FRANKLIN | 16d overdue |
| 19112395 | SURGICAL INSTRUMENT KINEMATICS PROCESSING, NAVIGATION, AND FEEDBACK | FANG, MICHAEL YIMING | 41d |
| 19440445 | WAVEBAND-SELECTIVE IMAGING SYSTEMS AND METHODS | MALDONADO, STEVEN | — |
| 19410331 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MINIMALLY INVASIVE SUTURING | LYNCH, ROBERT A | — |
| 19360199 | STAPLER RELOAD ASSEMBLIES AND RELATED DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS | HODGE, LINDA J | — |
| 19265011 | SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS WITH SWITCHES FOR DEACTIVATING AND/OR IDENTIFYING STAPLER CARTRIDGES | HODGE, LINDA J | — |
| 19247795 | STAPLER CARTRIDGE WITH AN INTEGRAL KNIFE | LONG, ROBERT FRANKLIN | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3771 | 12 |
| 3797 | 10 |
| 3798 | 10 |
| 3795 | 10 |
| 3731 | 7 |
| 3792 | 6 |
| 3658 | 5 |
| 3657 | 4 |
| 3794 | 4 |
| 3783 | 4 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19538693 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS RELATED TO ELONGATE DEVICES | TALTY, MARIA CHRISTINA | 3797 | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 12, 2026 |
| 19440445 | WAVEBAND-SELECTIVE IMAGING SYSTEMS AND METHODS | MALDONADO, STEVEN | 3797 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 05, 2026 |
| 19428932 | SURGICAL CANNULAS AND RELATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF IDENTIFYING SURGICAL CANNULAS | ST CYR, DANIEL | 2876 | §103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 22, 2025 |
| 19410597 | DEVICES AND METHODS FOR MINIMALLY INVASIVE SUTURING | NGUYEN, VI X | 3771 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 05, 2025 |
| 19410331 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MINIMALLY INVASIVE SUTURING | LYNCH, ROBERT A | 3771 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 05, 2025 |
| 19402247 | STAPLER CARTRIDGE ASSEMBLIES AND RELATED DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS | LOPEZ, MICHELLE | 3731 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 26, 2025 |
| 19393131 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UPDATING A TARGET LOCATION USING INTRAOPERATIVE IMAGE DATA | REMALY, MARK DONALD | 3797 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 18, 2025 |
| 19480333 | COMPONENTS OF SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | FRY, PATRICK B | 3731 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 30, 2025 |
| 19360199 | STAPLER RELOAD ASSEMBLIES AND RELATED DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS | HODGE, LINDA J | 3731 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 16, 2025 |
| 19348137 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR COORDINATING USER ASSISTANCE | SCHNEIDER, JOSHUA D | 3626 | §101§103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 02, 2025 |
| 19344087 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ASSESSING SURGICAL ABILITY | EZEWOKO, MICHAEL I | 3682 | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 29, 2025 |
| 19325130 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENHANCED IMAGE SENSOR TIMING | SHAHNAMI, AMIR | 2483 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 10, 2025 |
| 19297391 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING CONTROL POINTS DURING REACTIVE MOTION | MANCHO, RONNIE M | — | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 12, 2025 |
| 19293139 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATED SURGICAL TABLE MOTION | MANCHO, RONNIE M | — | §112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 07, 2025 |
| 19286704 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONFIGURING COMPONENTS IN A MINIMALLY INVASIVE INSTRUMENT | BRUTUS, JOEL F | — | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 31, 2025 |
| 19277090 | CATHETERS WITH CONTROL MODES FOR INTERCHANGEABLE PROBES | ALDARRAJI, ZAINAB MOHAMMED | 3797 | §112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 22, 2025 |
| 19271074 | CONFIGURING SURGICAL SYSTEM WITH SURGICAL PROCEDURES ATLAS | JOHNSON, KYLE T | — | §102Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 16, 2025 |
| 19270064 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATICALLY GENERATING AN ANATOMICAL BOUNDARY | CELESTINE, NYROBI I | 3798 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 15, 2025 |
| 19265011 | SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS WITH SWITCHES FOR DEACTIVATING AND/OR IDENTIFYING STAPLER CARTRIDGES | HODGE, LINDA J | 3731 | §112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 10, 2025 |
| 19264599 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SPECULAR REFLECTION DETECTION AND REDUCTION | SHENG, CHAO | — | §102§103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 09, 2025 |
| 19259415 | AUTOMATED ROTATION OF A NEEDLE IN A COMPUTER-ASSISTED SYSTEM | LE, KHOA TAN | 3771 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 03, 2025 |
| 19255709 | SYSTEMS AND A METHOD FOR DIRECTING AN IMAGING DEVICE TO DETECT FLOURESCENCE AND FOR DETERMINING A LIFETIME OF THE FLOURESCENCE | PARK, PATRICIA JOO YOUNG | 3793 | §103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 30, 2025 |
| 19249905 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING REGISTRATION OF ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS OR ASSOCIATED TOOLS AND CONTROL | BROSH, BENJAMIN J | 3658 | §112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 25, 2025 |
| 19247795 | STAPLER CARTRIDGE WITH AN INTEGRAL KNIFE | LONG, ROBERT FRANKLIN | 3731 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 24, 2025 |
| 19140489 | TRANSLATIONAL LOCKING OF AN OUT-OF-VIEW CONTROL POINT IN A COMPUTER-ASSISTED SYSTEM | HANNAN, B M M | 3657 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 18, 2025 |
| 19236170 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR BIFURCATED NAVIGATION CONTROL OF A MANIPULATOR CART INCLUDED WITHIN A COMPUTER-ASSISTED MEDICAL SYSTEM | CAMBY, RICHARD M | — | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 12, 2025 |
| 19235403 | ALERTING AND MITIGATING DIVERGENCE OF ANATOMICAL FEATURE LOCATIONS FROM PRIOR IMAGES TO REAL-TIME INTERROGATION | VARGAS MONTALVO, DIXOMARA | 3798 | DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 11, 2025 |
| 19214681 | CLOSED-LOOP FEEDBACK BASED ON MIXED DIMENSIONALITY IMAGING | LY, TOMMY TAI | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 21, 2025 |
| 19205652 | BASE POSITIONING SYSTEM FOR A REMOTELY CONTROLLABLE ARM AND RELATED METHODS | SAMPLE, JONATHAN L | 3657 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 12, 2025 |
| 19203827 | MEDICAL VIDEO STREAMING WITH MACHINE LEARNING | MISIASZEK, AMBER ALTSCHUL | 3682 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 09, 2025 |
| 19202037 | SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS FOR APPLYING MULTIPLE CLIPS | POLAND, CHERIE MICHELLE | 3771 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 08, 2025 |
| 19201545 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING A HYDRATION CONDITION OF A FLEXBILE ELONGATED DEVICE | BARKER, DAYTON HYUN JIN | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 07, 2025 |
| 19199658 | MOTOR ASSEMBLY | NGUYEN, THUY-VI THI | — | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 06, 2025 |
| 19200507 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR BREAKAWAY CLUTCHING IN AN ARTICULATED ARM | FIGUEROA, JAIME | — | DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | May 06, 2025 |
| 19196395 | OPERATION PROFILE SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR A COMPUTER-ASSISTED SURGICAL SYSTEM | KOLOSOWSKI-GAGER, KATHERINE | — | §101DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 01, 2025 |
| 19176027 | ELONGATE DEVICE REFERENCES FOR IMAGE-GUIDED PROCEDURES | HOANG, PHI | — | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 10, 2025 |
| 19119536 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTROL OF A SURGICAL SYSTEM | EL SAYAH, MOHAMAD O | 3658 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 09, 2025 |
| 19098396 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MASKING A RECOGNIZED OBJECT DURING AN APPLICATION OF A SYNTHETIC ELEMENT TO AN ORIGINAL IMAGE | WANG, YI | — | §103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 02, 2025 |
| 19093820 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR IMPROVING TELEOPERATIONAL CONTROL | CAIN, AARON G | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 28, 2025 |
| 19086832 | SURGICAL FIXATION DEVICES, AND RELATED DELIVERY SYSTEMS AND METHODS | DORNBUSCH, DIANNE | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 21, 2025 |
| 19086808 | MODULAR CLAMPS FOR MOUNTING SURGICAL MANIPULATORS | KING, ANITA M | 3632 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 21, 2025 |
| 19112395 | SURGICAL INSTRUMENT KINEMATICS PROCESSING, NAVIGATION, AND FEEDBACK | FANG, MICHAEL YIMING | 3798 | §101§102§103§112 | Final Rejection | 41d | Pending | Mar 17, 2025 |
| 19073796 | APPARATUSES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS FOR MANAGING AUTO-EXPOSURE OF IMAGE FRAMES DEPICTING COLOR-BIASED CONTENT | ADAMS, EILEEN M | 2481 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 07, 2025 |
| 19070366 | Surgical Instruments Having Mechanisms For Identifying And/Or Deactivating Stapler Cartridges | CHUKWURAH, NATHANIEL C | 3731 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 04, 2025 |
| 19068972 | AI-BASED INVENTORY PREDICTION AND OPTIMIZATION FOR MEDICAL PROCEDURES | MONTICELLO, WILLIAM THOMAS | 3682 | §101§103 | Final Rejection | 41d | Pending | Mar 03, 2025 |
| 19064448 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR NAVIGATING HIDDEN ANATOMIC PASSAGEWAYS | PEHLKE, CAROLYN A | 3799 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | 39d | Pending | Feb 26, 2025 |
| 19100030 | ADAPTER FOR MANUAL ACTUATION OF SURGICAL INSTRUMENT | JAFFRI, ZEHRA | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 30, 2025 |
| 18997303 | SHAPE LOCALIZED FLEXIBLE INSTRUMENT | KOLKIN, ADAM D. | 3798 | §103 | Final Rejection | 2d overdue | Pending | Jan 21, 2025 |
| 19025799 | SURGICAL SYSTEM WITH MULTI-MODALITY IMAGE DISPLAY | CATTUNGAL, SANJAY | 3798 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2025 |
| 19023906 | OPERATING SELF-ANTAGONISTIC DRIVES OF MEDICAL INSTRUMENTS | ROANE, AARON F | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2025 |
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Start Free TrialIntuitive Surgical Operations Inc. has 151 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 37 art units and 135 examiners.
Michael J Lau has the most, with 3 of Intuitive Surgical Operations Inc.'s pending office actions.
Mostly Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering (USPTO Tech Center 3700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.