Technology area: Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics
65 pending office actions • 32 art units • 58 examiners • 0 of 65 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 108 patents granted in the last 365 days
KLA Corporation has 67 pending office actions in Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics. The portfolio spans 57 examiners and 32 art units, creating a wide prosecution network across both technical groupings and individual examination assignments.
SCHNASE, PAUL DANIEL is the busiest examiner, with 3 pending matters. That concentration is modest relative to the overall portfolio, so a single-examiner strategy would not address the broader docket. Counsel should organize work by art unit and track examiner-specific treatment within each group. The number of examiners also supports maintaining a centralized record of claim amendments, cited references, and recurring objections, while preserving flexibility for responses tailored to individual examiners.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 24 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. 24 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 (3%) |
| §101 + other | 4 (6%) |
| §103 only | 30 (46%) |
| §102 only | 3 (5%) |
| §112 only | 2 (3%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 1 (2%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 23 (35%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SCHNASE, PAUL DANIEL | 3 | 67.7% | +7.7% |
| STOCK JR, GORDON J | 3 | 81.6% | +17.4% |
| GUNBERG, EDWIN C | 2 | 78.2% | +6.9% |
| KALISZEWSKI, ALINA ROSE | 2 | 84.6% | +23.3% |
| FABIAN JR, ROBERTO | 2 | 71.0% | +28.5% |
| RAHMAN, MOHAMMAD J | 1 | 80.0% | +9.1% |
| NAH, JONGBONG | 1 | 76.0% | +17.5% |
| YAZBACK, MAHER | 1 | 77.8% | +21.2% |
| LYONS, MICHAEL A | 1 | 86.5% | +9.9% |
| TRAN, JUDY DAO | 1 | 80.0% | +16.5% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 2 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19064208 | OVERLAY METROLOGY TARGET | RAHMAN, MOHAMMAD J | — |
| 18612383 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DEVICE-LIKE OVERLAY TARGETS MEASUREMENT | STOCK JR, GORDON J | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18401569 | CALIBRATION FOR IN-PLANE DISTORTION TOOL-TO-TOOL MATCHING | SCHNASE, PAUL DANIEL | 154d overdue |
| 17762030 | CALIBRATED MEASUREMENT OF OVERLAY ERROR USING SMALL TARGETS | SCHNASE, PAUL DANIEL | 97d overdue |
| 18467371 | ANGLE RESOLVED REFLECTOMETRY FOR THICK FILMS AND HIGH ASPECT RATIO STRUCTURES | STOCK JR, GORDON J | 72d overdue |
| 18375512 | IMAGING THOUSANDS OF ELECTRON BEAMS DURING WORKPIECE INSPECTION | KALISZEWSKI, ALINA ROSE | 70d overdue |
| 18587703 | SIDE-BY-SIDE OFF-CENTER DIE OVERLAY TARGET | LAPAGE, MICHAEL P | 58d overdue |
| 16935432 | Systems and Methods for MOKE Metrology with Consistent MRAM Die Orientation | SCHINDLER, DAVID M | 24d overdue |
| 18128125 | MULTI-MODE OPTICAL INSPECTION | DULANEY, KATHLEEN YUAN | 10d overdue |
| 17887078 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FEATURE SIGNAL ENHANCEMENT USING A SELECTIVELY BONDED PHOTOLUMINESCENT MATERIAL | PHILLIPS, RUFUS L | 4d overdue |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18467371 | ANGLE RESOLVED REFLECTOMETRY FOR THICK FILMS AND HIGH ASPECT RATIO STRUCTURES | STOCK JR, GORDON J | 72d overdue |
| 18375512 | IMAGING THOUSANDS OF ELECTRON BEAMS DURING WORKPIECE INSPECTION | KALISZEWSKI, ALINA ROSE | 70d overdue |
| 18387015 | Methods And Systems For Measurement Of Semiconductor Structures With Active Tilt Correction | FABIAN JR, ROBERTO | 1d overdue |
| 18343390 | EUV In-Situ Linearity Calibration for TDI Image Sensors Using Test Photomasks | FABIAN JR, ROBERTO | 57d |
| 19051999 | VISION FOUNDATION MODEL FOR MULTIMODE IMAGING | NAH, JONGBONG | — |
| 19018943 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING POST BONDING OVERLAY | STOCK JR, GORDON J | — |
| 19012641 | DYNAMIC RANGE EXTENSION OF OPTICAL SYSTEMS WITH MULTIPLE LOW INTENSITY BEAMS | YAZBACK, MAHER | — |
| 18977795 | Methods And Systems For Reflectometry Based Measurements Of Deep, Large Pitch Semiconductor Structures | TRAN, JUDY DAO | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 2877 | 19 |
| 2881 | 6 |
| 2884 | 5 |
| 2663 | 3 |
| 2878 | 2 |
| 2669 | 2 |
| 2665 | 2 |
| 2857 | 2 |
| 2487 | 1 |
| 2674 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19064208 | OVERLAY METROLOGY TARGET | RAHMAN, MOHAMMAD J | 2487 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 26, 2025 |
| 19062979 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENHANCING PHOTOLUMINESCENCE | GUNBERG, EDWIN C | 2884 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 25, 2025 |
| 19062941 | OPTICAL METHOD TO ENHANCE DETECTION VISIBILITY USING BRIGHT EMISSIVE PROBE | GUNBERG, EDWIN C | 2884 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 25, 2025 |
| 19051999 | VISION FOUNDATION MODEL FOR MULTIMODE IMAGING | NAH, JONGBONG | 2674 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Feb 12, 2025 |
| 19040176 | CALIBRATED MEASUREMENT OF OVERLAY ERROR USING SMALL TARGETS | SCHNASE, PAUL DANIEL | 2877 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 29, 2025 |
| 19018943 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING POST BONDING OVERLAY | STOCK JR, GORDON J | 2877 | §101§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 13, 2025 |
| 19012641 | DYNAMIC RANGE EXTENSION OF OPTICAL SYSTEMS WITH MULTIPLE LOW INTENSITY BEAMS | YAZBACK, MAHER | 2877 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 07, 2025 |
| 18999512 | ULTRA-HIGH SENSITIVITY HYBRID INSPECTION WITH FULL WAFER COVERAGE CAPABILITY WITH STEP AND SETTLE STAGE | LYONS, MICHAEL A | 2877 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 23, 2024 |
| 18977795 | Methods And Systems For Reflectometry Based Measurements Of Deep, Large Pitch Semiconductor Structures | TRAN, JUDY DAO | 2877 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 11, 2024 |
| 18974372 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MITIGATING OVERLAY DISTORTION PATTERNS CAUSED BY A WAFER BONDING TOOL | HARTMAN JR, RONALD D | 2119 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 09, 2024 |
| 18972428 | Measurements Of Complex Semiconductor Structures Based On Component Measurement Signals | HANSEN, JONATHAN M | 2877 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 06, 2024 |
| 18970542 | REDUCED FLUCTUATIONS AND INCREASED BRIGHTNESS UNIFORMITY OF LASER SUSTAINED PLASMA SOURCES | LUU, THANH X | 2878 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 05, 2024 |
| 18959278 | ENCODING DESIGN INFORMATION FOR A SPECIMEN FOR RUNTIME USE IN INSPECTION AND OTHER PROCESSES | ISLAM, PROMOTTO TAJRIAN | 2669 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 25, 2024 |
| 18936993 | TRANSISTOR CHANNEL STRESS AND MOBILITY METROLOGY USING MULTIPASS SPECTROSCOPIC ELLIPSOMETRY AND RAMAN JOINT MEASUREMENT | HUANG, DAVID Z | 2855 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 04, 2024 |
| 18909820 | ULTRA-HIGH SENSITIVITY HYBRID INSPECTION WITH FULL WAFER COVERAGE CAPABILITY | KALISZEWSKI, ALINA ROSE | 2881 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 08, 2024 |
| 18907563 | SEGMENTATION-BASED CARE AREA SETUP FOR INSPECTION OF A SPECIMEN USING EDGE DETECTION | SILVA-AVINA, EMMANUEL | 2673 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 06, 2024 |
| 18896205 | FEATURE PLACEMENT ERROR (FPE) METROLOGY AND CORRECTION | TRAN, VINCENT HUY | 2115 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 25, 2024 |
| 18887461 | Electrical Performance Prediction Based On Structural Measurements Of Partially Fabricated Semiconductor Devices | MENDOZA, ALEXANDRIA ARELLANO | 2877 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 17, 2024 |
| 18827828 | CONCENTRICITY OFFSET MEASUREMENT FOR HYBRID BONDING | LEE, BENEDICT E | 2665 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 08, 2024 |
| 18796860 | METROLOGY MEASUREMENTS ON SMALL TARGETS WITH CONTROL OF ZERO-ORDER SIDE LOBES | CHILTON, CLARA GRACE | 3645 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 07, 2024 |
| 18756439 | METROLOGY METHOD OF CALIBRATING AND MONITORING RADIATION IN EUV LITHOGRAPHIC SYSTEMS | MALEVIC, DJURA | 2884 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 27, 2024 |
| 18755644 | WAVEPLATE COMPENSATOR DESIGN | UNDERWOOD, JARREAS C | 2877 | §103 | Final Rejection | 60d overdue | Pending | Jun 26, 2024 |
| 18752650 | GROWTH OF STRONTIUM TETRABORATE CRYSTALS | KUNEMUND, ROBERT M | 1714 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 24, 2024 |
| 18743048 | Measurements Of Semiconductor Structures Based On Data Collected At Prior Process Steps | QUIGLEY, KYLE ROBERT | 2857 | §101§102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 13, 2024 |
| 18738393 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF SEM INSPECTION USING SELECTIVE SCAN APPROACH | NGUYEN, KIET TUAN | 2881 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 10, 2024 |
| 18671172 | Back-Illuminated Sensor With Boron Layer Deposited Using Plasma Atomic Layer Deposition | AMER, MOUNIR S | 2818 | §102Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 22, 2024 |
| 18652438 | DYNAMIC FREEFORM OPTICS FOR LITHOGRAPHY ILLUMINATION BEAM SHAPING | KIM, PETER B | 2882 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 01, 2024 |
| 18630417 | FOCUS POSITION MEASUREMENT WHILE SCANNING | HANEY, NOAH JAMES | 2877 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 09, 2024 |
| 18612383 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DEVICE-LIKE OVERLAY TARGETS MEASUREMENT | STOCK JR, GORDON J | 2877 | §112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 21, 2024 |
| 18611299 | FLUORESCENCE MODE FOR WORKPIECE INSPECTION | COOK, JONATHON | 2877 | §103 | Final Rejection | 44d overdue | Pending | Mar 20, 2024 |
| 18597581 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC RETRAINING OF MACHINE LEARNING MODELS FOR METROLOGY METRIC ESTIMATION | MOORE, URIAH VENDELL | 2142 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 06, 2024 |
| 18594991 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR BONDING HIGH FLUENCE OPTICS TO OPTOMECHANICAL ASSEMBLIES | STONER, KILEY SHAWN | 1735 | §103 | Final Rejection | 16d overdue | Pending | Mar 04, 2024 |
| 18587703 | SIDE-BY-SIDE OFF-CENTER DIE OVERLAY TARGET | LAPAGE, MICHAEL P | 2877 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 58d overdue | Pending | Feb 26, 2024 |
| 18438165 | VUV LASER-SUSTAINED PLASMA LIGHT SOURCE WITH LONG-PASS FILTERING | EINHORN, MICA JILLIAN | 2881 | §102§103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 09, 2024 |
| 18438122 | METROLOGY WITH PARALLEL SUBSYSTEMS AND MUELLER SIGNALS TRAINING | BYCER, ERIC J | 2141 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 09, 2024 |
| 18421454 | OVERLAY METROLOGY TARGET FOR DIE-TO-WAFER OVERLAY METROLOGY | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 1759 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | 13d | Pending | Jan 24, 2024 |
| 18416113 | X-Ray Scatterometry Based Measurements Of Memory Array Structures Stacked With Complex Logic Structures | LU, ZHIYU | 2665 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 18, 2024 |
| 18404530 | IMAGE SENSORS WITH A TUNABLE FLOATING DIFFUSION STRUCTURE | TRICE III, WILLIAM CLARENCE | 2893 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 04, 2024 |
| 18401569 | CALIBRATION FOR IN-PLANE DISTORTION TOOL-TO-TOOL MATCHING | SCHNASE, PAUL DANIEL | 2877 | §101§102§103 | Final Rejection | 154d overdue | Pending | Dec 31, 2023 |
| 18535159 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF FINDING PIXEL-TO-DESIGN TARGET FOR DRAM INSPECTION | CONNER, SEAN M | 2663 | §103 | Final Rejection | 49d overdue | Pending | Dec 11, 2023 |
| 18387015 | Methods And Systems For Measurement Of Semiconductor Structures With Active Tilt Correction | FABIAN JR, ROBERTO | 2877 | §101 | Non-Final OA | 1d overdue | Pending | Nov 04, 2023 |
| 18375512 | IMAGING THOUSANDS OF ELECTRON BEAMS DURING WORKPIECE INSPECTION | KALISZEWSKI, ALINA ROSE | 2881 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 70d overdue | Pending | Sep 30, 2023 |
| 18374106 | INSPECTION OF ADAPTIVE PATTERNED WORKPIECES WITH DYNAMIC DESIGN AND DEEP LEARNING-BASED RENDERING | MORSE, GREGORY ALLAN | 2663 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 28, 2023 |
| 18368242 | FRICTIONLESS DESIGN OF HIGH-PRESSURE RECIRCULATION THERMO-PUMP | BRANDT, DAVID NELSON | 3783 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 14, 2023 |
| 18467371 | ANGLE RESOLVED REFLECTOMETRY FOR THICK FILMS AND HIGH ASPECT RATIO STRUCTURES | STOCK JR, GORDON J | 2877 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | 72d overdue | Pending | Sep 14, 2023 |
| 18234773 | MULTI-PITCH GRID OVERLAY TARGET FOR SCANNING OVERLAY METROLOGY | XING, CHRISTINA ILONA | 2877 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 10d overdue | Pending | Aug 16, 2023 |
| 18229606 | Methods And Systems For Systematic Error Compensation Across A Fleet Of Metrology Systems Based On A Trained Error Evaluation Model | GAVIA, NYLA EMANI ANN | 2857 | §101 | Non-Final OA | 35d | Pending | Aug 02, 2023 |
| 18228643 | PUPIL FILTER WITH SPATIALLY-VARYING TRANSMISSION | ARTMAN, THOMAS R | 2884 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 34d | Pending | Jul 31, 2023 |
| 18358841 | PHOTOLUMINESCENCE FOR SEMICONDUCTOR YIELD RELATED APPLICATIONS | TANINGCO, MARCUS H | 2884 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 25, 2023 |
| 18343390 | EUV In-Situ Linearity Calibration for TDI Image Sensors Using Test Photomasks | FABIAN JR, ROBERTO | 2877 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 57d | Pending | Jun 28, 2023 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free TrialKLA Corporation has 65 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 32 art units and 58 examiners.
Paul Daniel Schnase has the most, with 3 of KLA Corporation's pending office actions.
Mostly Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics (USPTO Tech Center 2800), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
