Technology area: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
17 pending office actions • 14 art units • 17 examiners • 0 of 17 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 15 patents granted in the last 365 days
Kite Pharma Inc. is managing a high-volume portfolio with 17 pending office actions in the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals technology area. These actions are distributed across 15 distinct art units, reflecting a broad variety of specialized technical focuses within the pharmaceutical field. The company is dealing with 17 distinct examiners, meaning that each pending office action is being reviewed by a different person at the patent office. This wide distribution across 15 distinct art units suggests that the company's research and development efforts span multiple biological disciplines.
WESTON, ALYSSA G is the busiest examiner for the company, currently overseeing 1 pending office action. Since all 17 distinct examiners are handling exactly one case each, the prosecution effort is extremely decentralized. For a practitioner, this requires a highly adaptable strategy to address the specific requirements of 17 different examiners. The large volume of 17 pending actions indicates a very active prosecution phase where success is dependent on 17 independent sets of negotiations. Managing such a decentralized portfolio requires careful coordination to ensure that arguments made before 17 distinct examiners remain consistent across the 15 distinct art units.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 5 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. 5 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 | 5 (29%) |
| §103 only | 4 (24%) |
| §112 only | 1 (6%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 4 (24%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 3 (18%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WESTON, ALYSSA G | 1 | 59.5% | +49.0% |
| ZHU, JIANJIAN | 1 | 58.1% | +82.5% |
| POHNERT, STEVEN C | 1 | 12.5% | +18.2% |
| LEE, YIE CHIA | 1 | 69.2% | +46.6% |
| DAUNER, JOSEPH G | 1 | 57.0% | +35.3% |
| WEN, SHARON X | 1 | 56.8% | +32.6% |
| LI, RUIXIANG | 1 | 59.5% | +18.7% |
| GU, QINHUA | 1 | 76.2% | +27.1% |
| FISHER, BRITTANY I | 1 | 84.5% | +12.4% |
| BATES, KEENAN ALEXANDER | 1 | 44.9% | +79.8% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18038888 | CULTURE VESSEL FOR A BIOPROCESSING SYSTEM | FISHER, BRITTANY I | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17852918 | CLOSED-SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOLOGOUS AND ALLOGENEIC CELL THERAPY MANUFACTURING | SKELDING, ZACHARY S | 60d overdue |
| 17816076 | MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT OF CELL THERAPY-INDUCED TOXICITIES | FRITCHMAN, REBECCA M | 8d overdue |
| 18496588 | FACTORS FOR OPTIMIZING IMMUNOTHERAPY | DAUNER, JOSEPH G | 13d |
| 18604854 | IMPACT OF TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT ON EFFICACY OF IMMUNOTHERAPY | POHNERT, STEVEN C | — |
| 18292254 | DNVSIG3 AND DNVSIG8 RECEPTORS AND METHODS OF USING THE SAME | LEE, YIE CHIA | — |
| 18495499 | EXPEDITED ADMINISTRATION OF ENGINEERED LYMPHOCYTES | WEN, SHARON X | — |
| 17853708 | METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING VARIANTS IN GENE PRODUCTS FROM GENE CONSTRUCTS USED IN CELL THERAPY APPLICATIONS | LU, FRANK WEI MIN | — |
| 17774720 | CHIMERIC ANTIGEN RECEPTOR T CELL THERAPY | JOHANSEN, PETER N. | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18496588 | FACTORS FOR OPTIMIZING IMMUNOTHERAPY | DAUNER, JOSEPH G | 13d |
| 19049581 | CHIMERIC ANTIGEN RECEPTOR T CELL THERAPY | WESTON, ALYSSA G | — |
| 18738550 | PROSTATE CANCER CHIMERIC ANTIGEN RECEPTORS | ZHU, JIANJIAN | — |
| 18604854 | IMPACT OF TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT ON EFFICACY OF IMMUNOTHERAPY | POHNERT, STEVEN C | — |
| 18292254 | DNVSIG3 AND DNVSIG8 RECEPTORS AND METHODS OF USING THE SAME | LEE, YIE CHIA | — |
| 18495499 | EXPEDITED ADMINISTRATION OF ENGINEERED LYMPHOCYTES | WEN, SHARON X | — |
| 18495531 | EFFICACY AND DURABLE RESPONSE OF IMMUNOTHERAPY | LI, RUIXIANG | — |
| 18377685 | LARGE SCALE CAR-T IMMUNE CELL MANUFACTURING METHOD UTILIZING LENTIVIRAL VECTOR TRANSFECTION | GU, QINHUA | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1631 | 2 |
| 1643 | 2 |
| 1644 | 2 |
| 1632 | 1 |
| 1683 | 1 |
| 1642 | 1 |
| 1682 | 1 |
| 1641 | 1 |
| 1674 | 1 |
| 1633 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19049581 | CHIMERIC ANTIGEN RECEPTOR T CELL THERAPY | WESTON, ALYSSA G | 1632 | §102§103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 10, 2025 |
| 18738550 | PROSTATE CANCER CHIMERIC ANTIGEN RECEPTORS | ZHU, JIANJIAN | 1631 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 10, 2024 |
| 18604854 | IMPACT OF TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT ON EFFICACY OF IMMUNOTHERAPY | POHNERT, STEVEN C | 1683 | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 14, 2024 |
| 18292254 | DNVSIG3 AND DNVSIG8 RECEPTORS AND METHODS OF USING THE SAME | LEE, YIE CHIA | 1642 | §101§102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 25, 2024 |
| 18496588 | FACTORS FOR OPTIMIZING IMMUNOTHERAPY | DAUNER, JOSEPH G | 1682 | §101§102§103§112 | Final Rejection | 13d | Pending | Oct 27, 2023 |
| 18495499 | EXPEDITED ADMINISTRATION OF ENGINEERED LYMPHOCYTES | WEN, SHARON X | 1641 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 26, 2023 |
| 18495531 | EFFICACY AND DURABLE RESPONSE OF IMMUNOTHERAPY | LI, RUIXIANG | 1674 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 26, 2023 |
| 18377685 | LARGE SCALE CAR-T IMMUNE CELL MANUFACTURING METHOD UTILIZING LENTIVIRAL VECTOR TRANSFECTION | GU, QINHUA | 1633 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 06, 2023 |
| 18038888 | CULTURE VESSEL FOR A BIOPROCESSING SYSTEM | FISHER, BRITTANY I | 1796 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | May 25, 2023 |
| 18038858 | METHODS FOR CELL ACTIVATION, TRANSDUCTION AND EXPANSION | BATES, KEENAN ALEXANDER | 1631 | §103DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | May 25, 2023 |
| 18175049 | ALLOGENEIC THERAPEUTIC CELLS | SHUPE, ELIZABETH A | 1643 | §103DP | Final Rejection | 4d overdue | Pending | Feb 27, 2023 |
| 17816076 | MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT OF CELL THERAPY-INDUCED TOXICITIES | FRITCHMAN, REBECCA M | 1758 | §101§103§112 | Final Rejection | 8d overdue | Pending | Jul 29, 2022 |
| 17814811 | SPLIT CHIMERIC ANTIGEN RECEPTORS AND METHODS OF USE | FAUST, AMBER KATHLEEN | 1643 | §103DP | Final Rejection | 23d overdue | Pending | Jul 25, 2022 |
| 17852918 | CLOSED-SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOLOGOUS AND ALLOGENEIC CELL THERAPY MANUFACTURING | SKELDING, ZACHARY S | 1644 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | 60d overdue | Pending | Jun 29, 2022 |
| 17853708 | METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING VARIANTS IN GENE PRODUCTS FROM GENE CONSTRUCTS USED IN CELL THERAPY APPLICATIONS | LU, FRANK WEI MIN | 1600 | §101§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 29, 2022 |
| 17774720 | CHIMERIC ANTIGEN RECEPTOR T CELL THERAPY | JOHANSEN, PETER N. | 1644 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 05, 2022 |
| 17675294 | IMMUNOTHERAPIES | DONOGHUE, BRITTNEY ERIN | 1675 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 18, 2022 |
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Start Free TrialKite Pharma Inc. has 17 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 14 art units and 17 examiners.
Alyssa G Weston has the most, with 1 of Kite Pharma Inc.'s pending office actions.
Mostly Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals (USPTO Tech Center 1600), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
