Technology area: Chemistry & Materials
5 pending office actions • 3 art units • 5 examiners • 0 of 5 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 17 patents granted in the last 365 days
Marathon Petroleum Company L.P. has 6 pending office actions in the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These 6 actions are assigned to 6 distinct examiners, meaning each action is being reviewed by a different individual. These examiners are spread across 4 distinct art units, showing some concentration of administrative oversight. This structure suggests that while the personnel are diverse, the technical subject matter of the 6 pending office actions is focused within a limited number of specialized groups.
VALENCIA, JUAN C is the busiest examiner, though they only hold 1 of the 6 pending office actions. This means that all 6 distinct examiners are currently managing exactly one action each for this company. With 4 distinct art units involved, practitioners should be prepared for varying procedural approaches across the 6 pending office actions, even though some units are handling multiple cases. The involvement of 4 distinct art units requires a prosecution strategy that is sensitive to the specific internal cultures and prior art repositories of each unit.
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 | 1 (20%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 4 (80%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| VALENCIA, JUAN C | 1 | 86.4% | +7.8% |
| ROBINSON, RENEE E | 1 | 73.7% | +24.2% |
| SAVANI, AVINASH A | 1 | 74.7% | +20.7% |
| MCCAIG, BRIAN A | 1 | 80.5% | +13.3% |
| SEIFU, LESSANEWORK T | 1 | 79.2% | +1.3% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18965025 | ASSEMBLIES AND METHODS FOR ENHANCING CONTROL OF HYDROTREATING AND FLUID CATALYTIC CRACKING (FCC) PROCESSES USING SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYZERS | VALENCIA, JUAN C | — |
| 18890306 | METHODS AND ASSEMBLIES FOR ENHANCING CONTROL OF REFINING PROCESSES USING SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYZERS | ROBINSON, RENEE E | — |
| 18795927 | RETRACTABLE AND EXTENDABLE PORTABLE IGNITORS, IGNITION SYSTEMS, AND ASSOCIATED METHODS | SAVANI, AVINASH A | — |
| 18738300 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ENHANCING PROCESSING OF HYDROCARBONS IN A FLUID CATALYTIC CRACKING UNIT USING A RENEWABLE ADDITIVE | MCCAIG, BRIAN A | — |
| 18376117 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR REDUCING NITROGEN OXIDES (NOx) IN A HEAT GENERATION UNIT USING SOUR WATER STRIPPER VAPOR | SEIFU, LESSANEWORK T | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18890306 | METHODS AND ASSEMBLIES FOR ENHANCING CONTROL OF REFINING PROCESSES USING SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYZERS | ROBINSON, RENEE E | — |
| 18795927 | RETRACTABLE AND EXTENDABLE PORTABLE IGNITORS, IGNITION SYSTEMS, AND ASSOCIATED METHODS | SAVANI, AVINASH A | — |
| 18738300 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ENHANCING PROCESSING OF HYDROCARBONS IN A FLUID CATALYTIC CRACKING UNIT USING A RENEWABLE ADDITIVE | MCCAIG, BRIAN A | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1772 | 2 |
| 1771 | 1 |
| 1774 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18965025 | ASSEMBLIES AND METHODS FOR ENHANCING CONTROL OF HYDROTREATING AND FLUID CATALYTIC CRACKING (FCC) PROCESSES USING SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYZERS | VALENCIA, JUAN C | 1771 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 02, 2024 |
| 18890306 | METHODS AND ASSEMBLIES FOR ENHANCING CONTROL OF REFINING PROCESSES USING SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYZERS | ROBINSON, RENEE E | 1772 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 19, 2024 |
| 18795927 | RETRACTABLE AND EXTENDABLE PORTABLE IGNITORS, IGNITION SYSTEMS, AND ASSOCIATED METHODS | SAVANI, AVINASH A | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 06, 2024 |
| 18738300 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ENHANCING PROCESSING OF HYDROCARBONS IN A FLUID CATALYTIC CRACKING UNIT USING A RENEWABLE ADDITIVE | MCCAIG, BRIAN A | 1772 | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 10, 2024 |
| 18376117 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR REDUCING NITROGEN OXIDES (NOx) IN A HEAT GENERATION UNIT USING SOUR WATER STRIPPER VAPOR | SEIFU, LESSANEWORK T | 1774 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 03, 2023 |
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Start Free TrialMarathon Petroleum Company L.P. has 5 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 3 art units and 5 examiners.
Juan C Valencia has the most, with 1 of Marathon Petroleum Company L.P.'s pending office actions.
Mostly Chemistry & Materials (USPTO Tech Center 1700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
