Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics
24 pending office actions • 14 art units • 23 examiners • 1 of 24 (4%) have an AI response strategy ready • 124 patents granted in the last 365 days
Macronix International Co., Ltd. currently manages 23 pending office actions within the Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics technology area. This volume is distributed across 22 distinct examiners, indicating a broad exposure to different individual examination styles. The portfolio spans 14 distinct art units, which suggests the company's technical innovations intersect with various specialized classification groups at the patent office.
The distribution of work is highly fragmented, as evidenced by the fact that the busiest examiner, PHAM, LY D, is responsible for only 2 pending office actions. This low concentration per examiner means that prosecution strategies must be tailored to a wide variety of perspectives rather than focusing on a single primary contact. With 23 pending office actions and 22 distinct examiners, the company faces a diverse set of procedural requirements and substantive interpretations across its Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics filings. PHAM, LY D represents the highest concentration of pending matters for any single individual in this group with 2 pending office actions.
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 |
|---|---|
| §103 only | 8 (33%) |
| §102 only | 3 (12%) |
| §112 only | 4 (17%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 1 (4%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 8 (33%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| PHAM, LY D | 2 | 94.0% | +3.4% |
| AGGER, ELIZABETH ROSE | 1 | 95.2% | -0.9% |
| HEISTERKAMP, JUSTIN BRYCE | 1 | 98.8% | +2.2% |
| HUANG, MIN | 1 | 90.3% | +9.8% |
| SIPLING, KENNETH MARK | 1 | 75.0% | +16.7% |
| TRAN, TIEN | 1 | 92.3% | +10.5% |
| HOANG, DZUNG T | 1 | 75.0% | +0.0% |
| BRASFIELD, QUINTON A | 1 | 72.2% | +17.2% |
| BOWEN, ADAM S | 1 | 96.5% | +2.4% |
| ASSOUMAN, HERVE-LOUIS Y | 1 | 91.4% | +4.1% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 8 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19050126 | MEMORY DEVICE AND OPERATION METHOD THEROF | PHAM, LY D | — |
| 19049068 | MEMORY DEVICE AND MEMORY OPERATION METHOD | AGGER, ELIZABETH ROSE | — |
| 19023284 | MEMORY DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF | HEISTERKAMP, JUSTIN BRYCE | — |
| 18991886 | TERNARY CONTENT ADDRESSABLE MEMORY AND DECISION GENERATION METHOD FOR THE SAME | PHAM, LY D | — |
| 18964183 | IN-MEMORY SEARCHING IN NOR FLASH MEMORY USING EUCLIDEAN (L2) DISTANCE COMPUTING | HUANG, MIN | — |
| 18642831 | MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD OF FABRICATING THE SAME | TRAN, TIEN | — |
| 18612605 | 3D HETEROGENEOUSLY INTERCONNECTED MEMORY | BOWEN, ADAM S | — |
| 18605974 | SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | ASSOUMAN, HERVE-LOUIS Y | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18888157 | 3D MEMORY DEVICE | SIPLING, KENNETH MARK | — |
| 18631117 | SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOF | HOANG, DZUNG T | — |
| 18582677 | MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD OF FABRICATING THE SAME | TRAN, TRANG Q | — |
| 18500806 | MANAGING PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS FOR MEMORY DEVICES | FAN, SU JYA | — |
| 18471292 | CAPACITOR STRUCTURE | AHMAD, KHAJA | — |
| 18464718 | UNIVERSAL MEMORIES FOR IN-MEMORY COMPUTING | SIDDIQUE, MUSHFIQUE | — |
| 18177138 | MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD OF FABRICATING THE SAME | RONO, VINCENT KIPKEMOI | — |
| 17686478 | TERNARY CONTENT ADDRESSABLE MEMORY (TCAM)-BASED TRAINING METHOD FOR GRAPH NEURAL NETWORK AND MEMORY DEVICE USING THE SAME | RIVERA, MARIA DE JESUS | — |
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 3 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18888157 | 3D MEMORY DEVICE | SIPLING, KENNETH MARK | — |
| 18642831 | MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD OF FABRICATING THE SAME | TRAN, TIEN | — |
| 18617852 | SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE FOR 3D MEMORY AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF | BRASFIELD, QUINTON A | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 2827 | 3 |
| 2824 | 2 |
| 2818 | 2 |
| 2898 | 2 |
| 4100 | 1 |
| 2811 | 1 |
| 2813 | 1 |
| 2899 | 1 |
| 2128 | 1 |
| 2817 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19050126 | MEMORY DEVICE AND OPERATION METHOD THEROF | PHAM, LY D | 2827 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 11, 2025 |
| 19049068 | MEMORY DEVICE AND MEMORY OPERATION METHOD | AGGER, ELIZABETH ROSE | 2824 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 10, 2025 |
| 19023284 | MEMORY DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF | HEISTERKAMP, JUSTIN BRYCE | 2827 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2025 |
| 18991886 | TERNARY CONTENT ADDRESSABLE MEMORY AND DECISION GENERATION METHOD FOR THE SAME | PHAM, LY D | — | §112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 23, 2024 |
| 18964183 | IN-MEMORY SEARCHING IN NOR FLASH MEMORY USING EUCLIDEAN (L2) DISTANCE COMPUTING | HUANG, MIN | 2827 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 29, 2024 |
| 18888157 | 3D MEMORY DEVICE | SIPLING, KENNETH MARK | 2818 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 18, 2024 |
| 18642831 | MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD OF FABRICATING THE SAME | TRAN, TIEN | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 23, 2024 |
| 18631117 | SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOF | HOANG, DZUNG T | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 10, 2024 |
| 18617852 | SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE FOR 3D MEMORY AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF | BRASFIELD, QUINTON A | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 27, 2024 |
| 18612605 | 3D HETEROGENEOUSLY INTERCONNECTED MEMORY | BOWEN, ADAM S | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 21, 2024 |
| 18605974 | SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | ASSOUMAN, HERVE-LOUIS Y | 4100 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 15, 2024 |
| 18582677 | MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD OF FABRICATING THE SAME | TRAN, TRANG Q | 2811 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 21, 2024 |
| 18500806 | MANAGING PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS FOR MEMORY DEVICES | FAN, SU JYA | 2818 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Nov 02, 2023 |
| 18489078 | NON-VOLATILE MEMORY CELL, METHOD OF FABRICATING NON-VOLATILE MEMORY CELL, AND MEMORY CELL ARRAY THEREOF | STEPHENSON, KENNETH STEPHEN | 2898 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 18, 2023 |
| 18471292 | CAPACITOR STRUCTURE | AHMAD, KHAJA | 2813 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Sep 21, 2023 |
| 18466820 | MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD OF FORMING THE SAME | NIELSEN, DEREK LANG | 2899 | §103 | Final Rejection | 28d | Pending | Sep 14, 2023 |
| 18464262 | MULTI-CIRCUIT CONTROL SYSTEM AND READING METHOD FOR STATUS INFORMATION THEREOF | NGUYEN, VAN THU T | 2824 | §112 | Non-Final OA | 5d | Pending | Sep 11, 2023 |
| 18464718 | UNIVERSAL MEMORIES FOR IN-MEMORY COMPUTING | SIDDIQUE, MUSHFIQUE | 2128 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 11, 2023 |
| 18366116 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE | ANDERSON, WILLIAM H | 2817 | §102 | Final Rejection | 66d overdue | AI Ready | Aug 07, 2023 |
| 18323473 | ENCODING METHOD AND ENCODING CIRCUIT | LU, HWEI-MIN | 2142 | §103 | Final Rejection | 2d overdue | Pending | May 25, 2023 |
| 18312207 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD OF FABRICATING THE SAME | MOVVA, AMAR | 2898 | §112 | Non-Final OA | 7d | Pending | May 04, 2023 |
| 18177138 | MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD OF FABRICATING THE SAME | RONO, VINCENT KIPKEMOI | 2891 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 02, 2023 |
| 18164623 | SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE FOR 3D MEMORY AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF | SALAZ, SAMMANTHA KATELYN | 2892 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Feb 06, 2023 |
| 17686478 | TERNARY CONTENT ADDRESSABLE MEMORY (TCAM)-BASED TRAINING METHOD FOR GRAPH NEURAL NETWORK AND MEMORY DEVICE USING THE SAME | RIVERA, MARIA DE JESUS | 2151 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 04, 2022 |
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