Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
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. maintains a portfolio with 7 pending office actions in the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals technology area. These actions are distributed among 7 distinct examiners, indicating a high level of examiner diversity. The workload spans 6 distinct art units, suggesting a broad technical footprint within the biotechnology sector. SODERQUIST, ARLEN is identified as the busiest examiner, though they are responsible for only 1 busiest examiner pending action.
This distribution means that each of the 7 pending office actions is assigned to a different individual, with no single examiner handling multiple cases. The use of 6 distinct art units for 7 pending office actions reflects a wide-ranging prosecution strategy across various technical sub-groups. Because the company engages 7 distinct examiners, it benefits from a variety of perspectives during the examination process. The involvement of 6 distinct art units further confirms that the current filings are not confined to a single technical niche. SODERQUIST, ARLEN and the other examiners each manage 1 busiest examiner pending action, ensuring that the 7 pending office actions are processed independently.
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% | +26.3% |
| LUSI, ELLIS FOLLETT | 1 | 63.5% | +53.4% |
| MUI, CHRISTINE T | 1 | 78.3% | +19.9% |
| CHIU, MAY LEUNG | 1 | 44.8% | +24.4% |
| HERON, VELVET ELIZABETH | 1 | 47.4% | +52.6% |
| XU, QING | 1 | 50.9% | +55.2% |
| AFREMOVA, VERA | 1 | 50.5% | +29.1% |
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 | — |
| 18030132 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A DEVICE AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING MANIPULATION OF MICRODROPLETS | MUI, CHRISTINE T | — |
| 18030136 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A DEVICE AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING MANIPULATION OF MICRODROPLETS | HERON, VELVET ELIZABETH | — |
| 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 | — |
| 18030132 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A DEVICE AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING MANIPULATION OF MICRODROPLETS | MUI, CHRISTINE T | — |
| 18030136 | IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A DEVICE AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING MANIPULATION OF MICRODROPLETS | HERON, VELVET ELIZABETH | — |
| 17767730 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CLINICAL TESTING | AFREMOVA, VERA | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1636 | 1 |
| 1797 | 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 | — | §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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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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