Technology areas: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals • Chemistry & Materials
7 pending office actions • 6 art units • 7 examiners • 0 of 7 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 4 patents granted in the last 365 days
Lightcast Discovery Ltd. is managing 7 pending office actions within the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These matters are distributed across 7 distinct examiners and 6 distinct art units, indicating a broad and active prosecution landscape. SODERQUIST, ARLEN is identified as the busiest examiner, though he is responsible for only 1 pending office action.
The portfolio's activity spans 6 distinct art units, which requires the company to navigate multiple sets of examination standards. Because the 7 pending office actions are handled by 7 distinct examiners, there is no single point of concentration in the review process. This variety suggests that the company is pursuing several different chemical or material technologies simultaneously. Practitioners should be prepared to manage multiple prosecution timelines and examiner styles across these 6 art units.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 2 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.
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 |
|---|---|
| §103 only | 1 (14%) |
| §112 only | 1 (14%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 5 (71%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SODERQUIST, ARLEN | 1 | 59.7% | +26.2% |
| LUSI, ELLIS FOLLETT | 1 | 64.0% | +53.7% |
| CHIU, MAY LEUNG | 1 | 43.3% | +26.1% |
| HERON, VELVET ELIZABETH | 1 | 52.4% | +43.3% |
| MUI, CHRISTINE T | 1 | 78.4% | +19.8% |
| XU, QING | 1 | 50.9% | +55.2% |
| AFREMOVA, VERA | 1 | 50.5% | +29.4% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 5 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17925238 | IMPROVEMENTS TO APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR MANIPULATING MICRODROPLETS | XU, QING | 42d overdue |
| 18577441 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A METHOD OR AN APPARATUS FOR DETECTING AN INTERACTION BETWEEN A BIOLOGICAL ENTITY AND A MOLECULE | SODERQUIST, ARLEN | — |
| 18030136 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A DEVICE AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING MANIPULATION OF MICRODROPLETS | HERON, VELVET ELIZABETH | — |
| 18030132 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A DEVICE AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING MANIPULATION OF MICRODROPLETS | MUI, CHRISTINE T | — |
| 17767730 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CLINICAL TESTING | AFREMOVA, VERA | — |
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 7 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17925238 | IMPROVEMENTS TO APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR MANIPULATING MICRODROPLETS | XU, QING | 42d overdue |
| 18030130 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A DEVICE AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING MANIPULATION OF MICRODROPLETS | CHIU, MAY LEUNG | 27d |
| 18577441 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A METHOD OR AN APPARATUS FOR DETECTING AN INTERACTION BETWEEN A BIOLOGICAL ENTITY AND A MOLECULE | SODERQUIST, ARLEN | — |
| 18282396 | METHOD OF SELECTING CELLS | LUSI, ELLIS FOLLETT | — |
| 18030136 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A DEVICE AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING MANIPULATION OF MICRODROPLETS | HERON, VELVET ELIZABETH | — |
| 18030132 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A DEVICE AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING MANIPULATION OF MICRODROPLETS | MUI, CHRISTINE T | — |
| 17767730 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CLINICAL TESTING | AFREMOVA, VERA | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1797 | 2 |
| 1636 | 1 |
| 1758 | 1 |
| 1798 | 1 |
| 1656 | 1 |
| 1653 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18577441 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A METHOD OR AN APPARATUS FOR DETECTING AN INTERACTION BETWEEN A BIOLOGICAL ENTITY AND A MOLECULE | SODERQUIST, ARLEN | 1797 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 08, 2024 |
| 18282396 | METHOD OF SELECTING CELLS | LUSI, ELLIS FOLLETT | 1636 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 15, 2023 |
| 18030130 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A DEVICE AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING MANIPULATION OF MICRODROPLETS | CHIU, MAY LEUNG | 1758 | §103 | Final Rejection | 27d | Pending | Apr 04, 2023 |
| 18030136 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A DEVICE AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING MANIPULATION OF MICRODROPLETS | HERON, VELVET ELIZABETH | 1798 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Apr 04, 2023 |
| 18030132 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A DEVICE AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING MANIPULATION OF MICRODROPLETS | MUI, CHRISTINE T | 1797 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Apr 04, 2023 |
| 17925238 | IMPROVEMENTS TO APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR MANIPULATING MICRODROPLETS | XU, QING | 1656 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 42d overdue | Pending | Nov 14, 2022 |
| 17767730 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CLINICAL TESTING | AFREMOVA, VERA | 1653 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 08, 2022 |
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Start Free TrialLightcast Discovery Ltd. has 7 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 6 art units and 7 examiners.
Arlen Soderquist has the most, with 1 of Lightcast Discovery Ltd.'s pending office actions.
Mostly Chemistry & Materials (USPTO Tech Center 1700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
