Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Chemistry & Materials • Computing & Software • Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems
7 pending office actions • 4 art units • 7 examiners • 0 of 7 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 16 patents granted in the last 365 days
Marathon Petroleum Company L.P. manages 7 pending office actions within the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These actions are spread across 4 distinct art units, reflecting a diverse range of chemical and material science applications. The prosecution involves 7 distinct examiners, which means every one of the 7 pending office actions is being reviewed by a different individual. This decentralized approach requires the company to manage seven unique examiner relationships simultaneously.
RODZIWICZ, AARON M is the busiest examiner with 1 pending office action. Since there are 7 distinct examiners for the 7 pending office actions, the company must navigate seven different examination styles. This distribution across 4 distinct art units suggests a prosecution environment where no single examiner or art unit dominates the current portfolio. Practitioners should prepare for a wide variety of feedback, as the 7 distinct examiners may have different interpretations of the technology across the 4 distinct art units.
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 (14%) |
| §103 only | 1 (14%) |
| §112 only | 1 (14%) |
| Double-patenting only | 1 (14%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 3 (43%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| RODZIWICZ, AARON M | 1 | 70.4% | +17.2% |
| AVILA, STEPHEN P | 1 | 80.3% | +10.3% |
| VALENCIA, JUAN C | 1 | 86.5% | +7.7% |
| ROBINSON, RENEE E | 1 | 73.6% | +24.2% |
| MCCAIG, BRIAN A | 1 | 80.4% | +13.3% |
| SAAVEDRA, EMILIO J | 1 | 69.2% | +26.4% |
| SEIFU, LESSANEWORK T | 1 | 79.2% | +0.9% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 1 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18970870 | EXHAUST VENT HOODS FOR MARINE VESSELS AND RELATED METHODS | AVILA, STEPHEN P | — |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 4 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 | — |
| 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 5 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19226818 | APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS TO MANAGE VEGETATION ALONG A RIGHT-OF-WAY | RODZIWICZ, AARON M | — |
| 18970870 | EXHAUST VENT HOODS FOR MARINE VESSELS AND RELATED METHODS | AVILA, STEPHEN P | — |
| 18890306 | METHODS AND ASSEMBLIES FOR ENHANCING CONTROL OF REFINING PROCESSES USING SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYZERS | ROBINSON, RENEE E | — |
| 18738300 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ENHANCING PROCESSING OF HYDROCARBONS IN A FLUID CATALYTIC CRACKING UNIT USING A RENEWABLE ADDITIVE | MCCAIG, BRIAN A | — |
| 18516412 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR A MOBILE PRODUCTIVITY PLATFORM | SAAVEDRA, EMILIO J | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3642 | 1 |
| 1772 | 1 |
| 2117 | 1 |
| 1736 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19226818 | APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS TO MANAGE VEGETATION ALONG A RIGHT-OF-WAY | RODZIWICZ, AARON M | 3642 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 03, 2025 |
| 18970870 | EXHAUST VENT HOODS FOR MARINE VESSELS AND RELATED METHODS | AVILA, STEPHEN P | — | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 05, 2024 |
| 18965025 | ASSEMBLIES AND METHODS FOR ENHANCING CONTROL OF HYDROTREATING AND FLUID CATALYTIC CRACKING (FCC) PROCESSES USING SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYZERS | VALENCIA, JUAN C | — | §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 | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 19, 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 |
| 18516412 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR A MOBILE PRODUCTIVITY PLATFORM | SAAVEDRA, EMILIO J | 2117 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 21, 2023 |
| 18376117 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR REDUCING NITROGEN OXIDES (NOx) IN A HEAT GENERATION UNIT USING SOUR WATER STRIPPER VAPOR | SEIFU, LESSANEWORK T | 1736 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 03, 2023 |
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