Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Chemistry & Materials
144 pending office actions • 42 art units • 86 examiners • 0 of 144 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 193 patents granted in the last 365 days
JFE Steel Corporation has 145 pending office actions in the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These actions are distributed across 29 distinct art units, showing a focused but substantial technical presence. The prosecution involves 87 distinct examiners, which indicates that many examiners are handling more than one application for the company. This ratio of 87 distinct examiners for 145 pending office actions suggests a moderate level of examiner concentration within the portfolio.
LIANG, ANTHONY M is the busiest examiner, currently overseeing 7 of the 145 pending office actions. While this is the highest individual count, the 87 distinct examiners ensure a variety of perspectives across the portfolio. The 29 distinct art units suggest that the company 145 pending office actions are grouped into several technical clusters, which may help in developing consistent prosecution strategies. Managing 145 pending office actions across 29 art units and 87 distinct examiners requires a coordinated effort to ensure that arguments remain consistent across related technologies.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 29 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. 29 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 | 2 (1%) |
| §101 + other | 14 (10%) |
| §103 only | 66 (46%) |
| §102 only | 5 (3%) |
| §112 only | 5 (3%) |
| Double-patenting only | 1 (1%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 11 (8%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 40 (28%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| LIANG, ANTHONY M | 7 | 83.5% | +9.5% |
| PATEL, DEVANG R | 6 | 65.6% | +39.1% |
| SU, XIAOWEI | 6 | 71.7% | +12.8% |
| YANG, JIE | 5 | 62.5% | +19.2% |
| HILL, STEPHANI A | 5 | 29.3% | +44.2% |
| WANG, NICHOLAS A | 4 | 53.2% | +22.7% |
| JANSSEN, REBECCA | 4 | 60.4% | +28.3% |
| DICUS, TAMRA | 3 | 30.5% | +21.4% |
| SMITH, CATHERINE P | 3 | 15.7% | +15.8% |
| STILES, JACOB BENJAMIN | 3 | 0.0% | +0.0% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 6 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18847357 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING HIGH-STRENGTH HOT-DIP GALVANIZED STEEL SHEET | LIANG, ANTHONY M | — |
| 18846843 | HIGH STRENGTH STEEL SHEET AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | LIANG, ANTHONY M | — |
| 18846854 | HIGH STRENGTH STEEL SHEET AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | LIANG, ANTHONY M | — |
| 18846819 | HIGH STRENGTH STEEL SHEET AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | LIANG, ANTHONY M | — |
| 18846913 | HIGH STRENGTH STEEL SHEET AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | LIANG, ANTHONY M | — |
| 18546428 | GALVANIZED STEEL SHEET AND MEMBER, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME | LIANG, ANTHONY M | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17798772 | SHAPE CHANGE PREDICTION METHOD FOR PRESS FORMED PART | MOLL, NITHYA JANAKIRAMAN | 97d overdue |
| 18289072 | SUPPLY HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATING METHOD, SUPPLY HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATING DEVICE, SUPPLY HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATING PROGRAM, AND BLAST FURNACE OPERATING METHOD | PATEL, DEVANG R | 16d overdue |
| 18289076 | SUPPLIED HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATION METHOD, SUPPLIED HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATION DEVICE, SUPPLIED HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATION PROGRAM, AND BLAST FURNACE OPERATION METHOD | PATEL, DEVANG R | 16d overdue |
| 18289170 | SUPPLIED HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATION METHOD, SUPPLIED HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATION DEVICE, SUPPLIED HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATION PROGRAM, AND BLAST FURNACE OPERATION METHOD | PATEL, DEVANG R | 15d overdue |
| 18716790 | FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH SUPPRESSING METHOD FOR BENT PORTION OF METAL SHEET, AND AUTOMOTIVE PART | SULLIVAN, DEBRA M | 1d overdue |
| 18272474 | TOP-BLOWING LANCE FOR CONVERTER, METHOD FOR ADDING AUXILIARY RAW MATERIAL, AND METHOD FOR REFINING OF MOLTEN IRON | MCGUTHRY BANKS, TIMA MICHELE | 9d |
| 18289918 | METHOD FOR REFINING MOLTEN IRON | O'KEEFE, SEAN P | 20d |
| 18005057 | RESISTANCE SPOT WELDING METHOD AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING WELD JOINT | ISKRA, JOSEPH W | 21d |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18289072 | SUPPLY HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATING METHOD, SUPPLY HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATING DEVICE, SUPPLY HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATING PROGRAM, AND BLAST FURNACE OPERATING METHOD | PATEL, DEVANG R | 16d overdue |
| 18289076 | SUPPLIED HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATION METHOD, SUPPLIED HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATION DEVICE, SUPPLIED HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATION PROGRAM, AND BLAST FURNACE OPERATION METHOD | PATEL, DEVANG R | 16d overdue |
| 18289170 | SUPPLIED HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATION METHOD, SUPPLIED HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATION DEVICE, SUPPLIED HEAT QUANTITY ESTIMATION PROGRAM, AND BLAST FURNACE OPERATION METHOD | PATEL, DEVANG R | 15d overdue |
| 18257178 | HOT-DIP GALVANIZED STEEL SHEET AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREFOR | WANG, NICHOLAS A | 12d |
| 18283052 | HIGH-STRENGTH HOT-ROLLED STEEL SHEET AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | YANG, JIE | 16d |
| 18683857 | STEEL SHEET, MEMBER, AND METHODS FOR MANUFACTURING SAME | YANG, JIE | 29d |
| 18284109 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING GRAIN-ORIENTED ELECTRICAL STEEL SHEET | YANG, JIE | 46d |
| 18567848 | MOLTEN STEEL DENITRIFICATION METHOD AND STEEL PRODUCTION METHOD | HILL, STEPHANI A | 69d |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1733 | 25 |
| 1735 | 19 |
| 1734 | 16 |
| 3725 | 12 |
| 3761 | 10 |
| 1738 | 9 |
| 1784 | 4 |
| 1787 | 3 |
| 1788 | 3 |
| 2186 | 3 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19473951 | MEANDERING CORRECTION APPARATUS FOR METAL STRIP AND MEANDERING CORRECTION METHOD FOR METAL STRIP | SANDERS, HOWARD J | 3653 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 09, 2025 |
| 19137925 | INFORMATION SEARCH METHOD AND INFORMATION SEARCH SYSTEM | TORGRIMSON, TYLER J | 2165 | §101§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 11, 2025 |
| 19119061 | METHOD OF MANUFACTURING PRESS-FORMED PRODUCT | DANIELS, MATTHEW J | 1742 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 07, 2025 |
| 19169010 | RESIN-COATED DRAWN AND IRONED CAN | LOUGHRAN, RYAN PATRICK | 1731 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 03, 2025 |
| 19113656 | METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING PRESS-FORMED PRODUCT | DANIELS, MATTHEW J | 1742 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 20, 2025 |
| 19079943 | NEEDLE-PEENING METHOD | TOLAN, EDWARD THOMAS | 3725 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 14, 2025 |
| 19109129 | SURFACE DEFECT DETECTING METHOD AND SURFACE DEFECT DETECTING DEVICE | MENDEZ MUNIZ, DYLAN JOHN | 2675 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 06, 2025 |
| 19106478 | HIGH-STRENGTH HOT-DIP GALVANIZED STEEL SHEET AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE SAME | DUMBRIS, SETH M | 1784 | §103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 25, 2025 |
| 18995402 | WELDED JOINT AND PRODUCTION METHOD THEREFOR | HORGER, KIM S. | 1784 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2025 |
| 18994758 | STEEL SHEET FOR HOT PRESSING, HOT-PRESSED MEMBER, AND HOT-PRESSED MEMBER PRODUCTION METHOD | CHRISTY, KATHERINE A | 1784 | §103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 15, 2025 |
| 18994806 | RESIN-COATED METAL SHEET | DICUS, TAMRA | 1787 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 15, 2025 |
| 18994250 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING IRON-BASED SOFT MAGNETIC COMPOSITE POWDER AND IRON-BASED SOFT MAGNETIC COMPOSITE POWDER | FERRE, ALEXANDRE F | 1788 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 14, 2025 |
| 18992715 | MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT FOR METAL BAND, ACCEPTABILITY DETERMINATION METHOD FOR METAL BAND, AND MANUFACTURING METHOD FOR METAL BAND | IBEKWE, DARLINGTON NDUKA | 3725 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 09, 2025 |
| 18879298 | PLATE MEMBER POSITION DETECTION DEVICE, PLATE MEMBER TRANSPORT METHOD, AND PLATE MEMBER MANUFACTURING METHOD | BROTHERS, LAURENCE RAPHAEL | 3655 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 27, 2024 |
| 18874242 | COLD ROLLING EQUIPMENT, STEEL PLATE MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT, COLD ROLLING METHOD, AND STEEL PLATE MANUFACTURING METHOD | IBEKWE, DARLINGTON NDUKA | 3725 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 12, 2024 |
| 18870934 | MANUFACTURING METHOD OF PRESS FORMED PART | EKIERT, TERESA M | 3725 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 02, 2024 |
| 18867270 | ABNORMAL-VIBRATION-PREDICTING METHOD FOR ROLL GRINDER, ROLLING-ROLL-GRINDING METHOD, METAL-STRIP-ROLLING METHOD, ABNORMAL-VIBRATION-PREDICTING DEVICE FOR ROLL GRINDER, AND ROLL-GRINDING APPARATUS | SIDDIQUEE, TAMEEM | 2116 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 19, 2024 |
| 18863195 | AUTOMOTIVE BODY SIDE STRUCTURE | BLANKENSHIP, GREGORY A | 3612 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 05, 2024 |
| 18861603 | COATED STEEL SHEET AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME | GOLDEN, CHINESSA T | 1788 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 30, 2024 |
| 18858749 | HIGH STRENGTH STEEL PLATE FOR SOUR GAS APPARATUSES AND HIGH STRENGTH STEEL PIPE OR TUBE USING THE SAME | SMITH, CATHERINE P | 1735 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 22, 2024 |
| 18855741 | TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT METHOD, TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT APPARATUS, TEMPERATURE CONTROL METHOD, TEMPERATURE CONTROL APPARATUS, METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING STEEL MATERIAL, AND FACILITY FOR MANUFACTURING STEEL MATERIAL | LIN, JASON | 2117 | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 10, 2024 |
| 18853478 | ROLLING MILL, COLD ROLLING METHOD, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING STEEL SHEET | KIM, BOBBY YEONJIN | 3725 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 02, 2024 |
| 18849311 | IMMERSION NOZZLE FOR CONTINUOUS CASTING AND CONTINUOUS CASTING METHOD FOR STEEL | YUEN, JACKY | 1735 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 20, 2024 |
| 18848912 | METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING HOT-DIP GALVANIZED STEEL SHEET, AND EQUIPMENT FOR MANUFACTURING HOT-DIP GALVANIZED STEEL SHEET | WALTERS JR, ROBERT S | 1717 | §112 | Final Rejection | 76d | Pending | Sep 20, 2024 |
| 18849026 | IMMERSION NOZZLE, MOLD, AND CONTINUOUS CASTING METHOD OF STEEL | YUEN, JACKY | 1735 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 20, 2024 |
| 18848620 | PRE-TREATMENT LIQUID AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING ELECTROMAGNETIC STEEL SHEET PROVIDED WITH INSULATING FILM | GATES, BRADFORD M | 1713 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 27d | Pending | Sep 19, 2024 |
| 18848572 | STEEL SHEET AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | FERRE, ALEXANDRE F | 1788 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 19, 2024 |
| 18847357 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING HIGH-STRENGTH HOT-DIP GALVANIZED STEEL SHEET | LIANG, ANTHONY M | 1734 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 16, 2024 |
| 18846843 | HIGH STRENGTH STEEL SHEET AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | LIANG, ANTHONY M | 1734 | §112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 13, 2024 |
| 18846854 | HIGH STRENGTH STEEL SHEET AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | LIANG, ANTHONY M | 1734 | §112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 13, 2024 |
| 18846819 | HIGH STRENGTH STEEL SHEET AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | LIANG, ANTHONY M | 1734 | §112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 13, 2024 |
| 18846913 | HIGH STRENGTH STEEL SHEET AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | LIANG, ANTHONY M | 1734 | §112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 13, 2024 |
| 18844196 | DEHYDROGENATION APPARATUS, STEEL SHEET PRODUCTION SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF PRODUCING STEEL SHEET | BOWMAN, ANDREW J | 1717 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 05, 2024 |
| 18843789 | COATING MATERIAL FOR USE IN DIRECT-REDUCTION IRON PRODUCTION, AND PRODUCTION METHOD THEREFOR | FLORES, JAVIER | 1735 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 04, 2024 |
| 18842140 | STEEL SHEET, MEMBER, AND METHODS OF PRODUCING SAME | WU, JENNY R | 1733 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 28, 2024 |
| 18841894 | ORGANIC RESIN-COATED STEEL SHEET | DICUS, TAMRA | 1787 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Aug 27, 2024 |
| 18835348 | METHOD OF PRODUCING GRAIN-ORIENTED ELECTRICAL STEEL SHEET | STILES, JACOB BENJAMIN | 1733 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 02, 2024 |
| 18681601 | DRIVING FORCE TRANSMISSION MECHANISM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING DRIVING FORCE TRANSMISSION MECHANISM | RIEGELMAN, MICHAEL A | 3725 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 19, 2024 |
| 18729961 | PRE-TREATMENT LIQUID AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING ELECTROMAGNETIC STEEL SHEET PROVIDED WITH INSULATING FILM | YANG, JIE | 1734 | §102§103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 18, 2024 |
| 18729888 | GRAIN-ORIENTED ELECTRICAL STEEL SHEET | DICUS, TAMRA | 1787 | §102 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 18, 2024 |
| 18729887 | STEEL SHEET FOR HOT PRESSING, HOT-PRESSED MEMBER, AND HOT-PRESSED MEMBER PRODUCTION METHOD | DUMBRIS, SETH M | 3725 | §103Other | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 18, 2024 |
| 18729272 | PRESS FORMING METHOD AND PRESS FORMED PART MANUFACTURING METHOD | STEPHENS, MATTHEW | 3725 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 16, 2024 |
| 18726019 | GRAIN-ORIENTED ELECTRICAL STEEL SHEET | PATEL, DEVANG R | 1735 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 01, 2024 |
| 18720757 | METHOD, DEVICE, AND PROGRAM OF EVALUATING PERIPHERAL SHAPE OF PRESS FORMED PART, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING PRESS FORMED PART | ALAM, ROKEYA SHAWALI | 2118 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 17, 2024 |
| 18719451 | PRESS FORMING ANALYSIS METHOD, PRESS FORMING ANALYSIS APPARATUS, AND PRESS FORMING ANALYSIS PROGRAM | NGUYEN, LAM S | 2853 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 13, 2024 |
| 18718434 | METHOD FOR QUANTIFYING CARBON IN CARBIDES | FRITCHMAN, REBECCA M | 1758 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 11, 2024 |
| 18718435 | METHOD FOR EVALUATING SUSCEPTIBILITY TO LIQUID METAL EMBRITTLEMENT CRACKING IN RESISTANCE SPOT WELDED PORTION OF STEEL SHEET | VILLALUNA, ERIKA J | 2852 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 11, 2024 |
| 18717036 | GRAIN-ORIENTED ELECTRICAL STEEL SHEET AND METHODS FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | DILLON, DANIEL P | 1783 | §103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 06, 2024 |
| 18716629 | HARDLY GRAPHITIZABLE CARBON, MIXED CARBON POWDER, NEGATIVE ELECTRODE FOR LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERIES, AND LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY | DIAMOND, BRIAN GWYN | 1744 | §103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 05, 2024 |
| 18716790 | FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH SUPPRESSING METHOD FOR BENT PORTION OF METAL SHEET, AND AUTOMOTIVE PART | SULLIVAN, DEBRA M | 3725 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 1d overdue | Pending | Jun 05, 2024 |
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Start Free TrialJFE Steel Corporation has 144 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 42 art units and 86 examiners.
Anthony M Liang has the most, with 7 of JFE Steel Corporation's pending office actions.
Mostly Chemistry & Materials (USPTO Tech Center 1700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.