Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals • Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics
30 pending office actions • 17 art units • 30 examiners • 0 of 30 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 36 patents granted in the last 365 days
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven currently has 30 pending office actions in the Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics technology area. These actions are spread across 17 distinct art units, indicating a variety of specialized technical focuses. Prosecution involves 30 distinct examiners, resulting in a unique examiner for every pending action. Farouk A Bruce is the busiest examiner for the portfolio, though his workload consists of only 1 pending office action.
This distribution highlights a lack of examiner concentration, as the 30 actions are entirely decentralized. The involvement of 17 distinct art units suggests that the university is pursuing patents across many different sub-sectors of semiconductor technology. With 30 distinct examiners to manage, the prosecution strategy must be adaptable to a wide array of individual styles. Farouk A Bruce handles 1 of the active matters. The number of examiners is higher than the 17 distinct art units involved.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 11 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. 11 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 | 4 (13%) |
| §103 only | 9 (30%) |
| §102 only | 3 (10%) |
| §112 only | 1 (3%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 1 (3%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 11 (37%) |
| No statute on record | 1 (3%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BRUCE, FAROUK A | 1 | 48.8% | +38.4% |
| HERRMANN, JOSEPH S | 1 | 63.7% | +40.4% |
| SHAMEEM, ASIF ISLAM | 1 | 87.5% | +15.0% |
| CHAI, RAYMOND REI-YANG | 1 | 74.7% | +16.2% |
| NGUYEN, HUNG | 1 | 90.7% | +9.0% |
| NGUYEN, TUAN DUC | 1 | 82.8% | +16.8% |
| BERMUDEZ LOZADA, ALFREDO | 1 | 89.4% | +1.9% |
| TRAN, TRAN M. | 1 | 74.8% | +23.4% |
| NGUYEN, NIKI HOANG | 1 | 90.9% | +5.1% |
| LAU, JONATHAN S | 1 | 63.7% | -17.3% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 3 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19107129 | MILLIMETRE-WAVE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM | SHAMEEM, ASIF ISLAM | — |
| 18988407 | 3D DRAM WITH CMOS-BETWEEN-ARRAY ARCHITECTURE | NGUYEN, TUAN DUC | — |
| 18654367 | HIGH PERFORMANCE AND LOW POWER THREE-DIMENSIONAL STATIC RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY AND METHOD OF FORMING SAME | NGUYEN, NIKI HOANG | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17904432 | MONITORING OF A PLANT CONDITION | MANG, LAL C | 97d overdue |
| 18282138 | PREECLAMPSIA DIAGNOSIS | WILDER, CYNTHIA B | 30d overdue |
| 18012798 | PROGNOSIS OF CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DEMYELINATING POLY-NEUROPATHY | IVICH, FERNANDO NMN | 4d overdue |
| 18007498 | A DEVICE, A SURFACE, AND A BIOSENSOR | HERON, VELVET ELIZABETH | 7d |
| 18228153 | COMPUTER IMPLEMENTED METHOD FOR TRANSFORMING A PRE TRAINED NEURAL NETWORK AND A DEVICE THEREFOR | MAHARAJ, DEVIKA S | 26d |
| 19150642 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VISUAL IMAGE GUIDANCE DURING A MEDICAL PROCEDURE | BRUCE, FAROUK A | — |
| 19064047 | Plasma Etching Method | CHAI, RAYMOND REI-YANG | — |
| 19056047 | SUB-RESOLUTION GRATINGS IN EUV IMAGING | NGUYEN, HUNG | — |
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 6 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19150642 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VISUAL IMAGE GUIDANCE DURING A MEDICAL PROCEDURE | BRUCE, FAROUK A | — |
| 19220459 | ACOUSTIC MICROPUMP DEVICE USING PIEZOELECTRIC TRANSDUCERS TO CREATE A DIRECTIONAL FLUID FLOW | HERRMANN, JOSEPH S | — |
| 19107129 | MILLIMETRE-WAVE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM | SHAMEEM, ASIF ISLAM | — |
| 19064047 | Plasma Etching Method | CHAI, RAYMOND REI-YANG | — |
| 18988407 | 3D DRAM WITH CMOS-BETWEEN-ARRAY ARCHITECTURE | NGUYEN, TUAN DUC | — |
| 18852781 | DIFFUSION DISCRIMINATING GAS SENSORS | TRAN, TRAN M. | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1626 | 2 |
| 3797 | 1 |
| 3746 | 1 |
| 2877 | 1 |
| 2812 | 1 |
| 2649 | 1 |
| 2893 | 1 |
| 2818 | 1 |
| 1622 | 1 |
| 1681 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19150642 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VISUAL IMAGE GUIDANCE DURING A MEDICAL PROCEDURE | BRUCE, FAROUK A | 3797 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 24, 2025 |
| 19220459 | ACOUSTIC MICROPUMP DEVICE USING PIEZOELECTRIC TRANSDUCERS TO CREATE A DIRECTIONAL FLUID FLOW | HERRMANN, JOSEPH S | 3746 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 28, 2025 |
| 19107129 | MILLIMETRE-WAVE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM | SHAMEEM, ASIF ISLAM | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 27, 2025 |
| 19064047 | Plasma Etching Method | CHAI, RAYMOND REI-YANG | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 26, 2025 |
| 19056047 | SUB-RESOLUTION GRATINGS IN EUV IMAGING | NGUYEN, HUNG | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 18, 2025 |
| 18988407 | 3D DRAM WITH CMOS-BETWEEN-ARRAY ARCHITECTURE | NGUYEN, TUAN DUC | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 19, 2024 |
| 18972441 | 3D DRAM WITH BIT LINE SELECT AND PRE-CHARGE TRANSISTORS | BERMUDEZ LOZADA, ALFREDO | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 06, 2024 |
| 18852781 | DIFFUSION DISCRIMINATING GAS SENSORS | TRAN, TRAN M. | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 30, 2024 |
| 18654367 | HIGH PERFORMANCE AND LOW POWER THREE-DIMENSIONAL STATIC RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY AND METHOD OF FORMING SAME | NGUYEN, NIKI HOANG | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 03, 2024 |
| 18699983 | SHORT AMORPHOUS CELLULOSE POLYMERS | LAU, JONATHAN S | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 10, 2024 |
| 18544947 | DEVICE AND A METHOD FOR POLARIZATION DEPENDENT IMAGING | AMARA, MOHAMED K | 2877 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 9d overdue | Pending | Dec 19, 2023 |
| 18543933 | Method for Forming a Semiconductor Device | ROBERTSON, NOAH CHRISTOPHER | 2812 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 18, 2023 |
| 18531186 | System and Method for Joint Communication and Radar Sensing | DWYER, MATTHEW JAMES | 2649 | §103 | Final Rejection | 67d overdue | Pending | Dec 06, 2023 |
| 18527152 | CHALCOGEN-CONTAINING THRESHOLD SWITCH | ROLAND, CHRISTOPHER M | 2893 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 01, 2023 |
| 18527116 | CHALCOGEN-CONTAINING THRESHOLD SWITCH | HENRY, CALEB E | 2818 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 01, 2023 |
| 18564505 | MIXTURE OF MONOBRANCHED AND POLYBRANCHED FATTY ACIDS | BONAPARTE, AMY C | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 27, 2023 |
| 18559034 | Porous Electrode | BROWN, MADISON ELIZABETH | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 03, 2023 |
| 18487809 | ANTI-VIRAL COMPOUNDS | LEESER, ERICH A | 1622 | Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 16, 2023 |
| 18282138 | PREECLAMPSIA DIAGNOSIS | WILDER, CYNTHIA B | 1681 | §101§103§112 | Final Rejection | 30d overdue | Pending | Sep 14, 2023 |
| 18228153 | COMPUTER IMPLEMENTED METHOD FOR TRANSFORMING A PRE TRAINED NEURAL NETWORK AND A DEVICE THEREFOR | MAHARAJ, DEVIKA S | 2123 | §101§103 | Final Rejection | 26d | Pending | Jul 31, 2023 |
| 18335310 | Bit Cell for Static Random Access Memory | RAHMAN, MOIN M | 2898 | §102 | Final Rejection | 30d overdue | Pending | Jun 15, 2023 |
| 18035279 | SOLID FORMULATION | BAUER, BRIANNA LEE | 1623 | §103DP | Final Rejection | 2d overdue | Pending | May 03, 2023 |
| 18250798 | ARYL DERIVATIVES FOR TREATING TRPM3 MEDIATED DISORDERS | SHIM, DAVID M. | 1626 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 27, 2023 |
| 18007498 | A DEVICE, A SURFACE, AND A BIOSENSOR | HERON, VELVET ELIZABETH | 1798 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 7d | Pending | Jan 31, 2023 |
| 18012798 | PROGNOSIS OF CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DEMYELINATING POLY-NEUROPATHY | IVICH, FERNANDO NMN | 1678 | §101§102§103 | Non-Final OA | 4d overdue | Pending | Dec 23, 2022 |
| 17906138 | TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY | FETTEROLF, BRANDON J | 1626 | §112 | Final Rejection | 27d | Pending | Sep 12, 2022 |
| 17904432 | MONITORING OF A PLANT CONDITION | MANG, LAL C | 2857 | §101§112 | Non-Final OA | 97d overdue | Pending | Aug 17, 2022 |
| 17293982 | COPPER, GOLD, OR SILVER POWDER FOR POWDER BED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SUCH POWDER | SMITH, CATHERINE P | 1735 | §103 | Final Rejection | 61d | Pending | May 14, 2021 |
| 18970119 | 3D DRAM WITH VERTICAL WORD LINES | BRASWELL, DONALD H.B. | — | §102§103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 05, 2024 |
| 18969177 | 3D DRAM with Vertical Bit Lines | AGGER, ELIZABETH ROSE | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 04, 2024 |
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