Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals • Chemistry & Materials
17 pending office actions • 7 art units • 12 examiners • 0 of 17 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 8 patents granted in the last 365 days
Meiji Co., Ltd. maintains an active prosecution presence with 17 pending office actions in the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These matters are spread across 12 distinct examiners and 7 distinct art units, reflecting a portfolio with broad reach across different chemical and material science disciplines. The high number of 7 distinct art units indicates that the company's innovations touch upon multiple specialized examination groups within the patent office. Managing 17 pending office actions requires a coordinated effort to ensure consistency across these various groups.
The busiest examiner for the portfolio is HOFFMAN, SUSAN COE, who is responsible for 3 pending office actions. While this examiner handles the largest individual share of the workload, the 17 total pending office actions are distributed such that no single examiner controls the bulk of the prosecution. This spread across 12 distinct examiners may require a more varied strategy to address the different preferences and tendencies of a large group of patent office personnel. The presence of 7 distinct art units further suggests that the company must navigate a wide array of technical expertise.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 9 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. 9 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 |
|---|---|
| §101 only | 1 (6%) |
| §101 + other | 2 (12%) |
| §103 only | 2 (12%) |
| §112 only | 1 (6%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 2 (12%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 9 (53%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| HOFFMAN, SUSAN COE | 3 | 54.2% | +25.6% |
| DUBOIS, PHILIP A | 3 | 25.5% | +26.3% |
| MERRIAM, ANDREW E | 2 | 26.8% | +32.4% |
| CHO, DAVID H | 1 | 31.9% | +67.0% |
| BEKKER, KELLY JO | 1 | 16.7% | +35.4% |
| BERKE-SCHLESSEL, DAVID W | 1 | 66.7% | +31.8% |
| DICKENS, AMELIA NICOLE | 1 | 47.6% | +21.1% |
| TSAY, MARSHA M | 1 | 45.7% | +52.7% |
| TURNER, FELICIA C | 1 | 26.3% | +30.1% |
| RODGERS, ARIEL M | 1 | 15.4% | +26.9% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18018672 | SOLID FOOD AND SOLID MILK | DUBOIS, PHILIP A | 134d overdue |
| 18021897 | LACTIC ACID BACTERIA STARTER, METHOD FOR PRODUCING FERMENTED MILK, AND FERMENTED MILK | TURNER, FELICIA C | 42d overdue |
| 18564842 | CACAO FRUIT GROUND PRODUCT AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE SAME | BEKKER, KELLY JO | 8d overdue |
| 17789045 | LACTIC ACID BACTERIUM FERMENTATION PROMOTER | GOUGH, TIFFANY MAUREEN | 6d |
| 18286680 | METHOD FOR DETECTING EXOPOLYSACCHARIDE | BERKE-SCHLESSEL, DAVID W | 8d |
| 17790826 | SOLID FOOD, COMPRESSION MOLDED BODY OF FOOD POWDER, SOLID MILK, AND COMPRESSION MOLDED BODY OF POWDERED MILK | RODGERS, ARIEL M | 12d |
| 18018648 | SOLID MILK | DUBOIS, PHILIP A | 14d |
| 18872126 | CACAO DERIVED COMPOSITION, AS WELL AS MOISTURIZING AGENT, SKIN QUALITY IMPROVING AGENT, HAIR QUALITY IMPROVING AGENT, COSMETIC FOR SKIN, COSMETIC FOR HAIR, PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOSITION AND FOOD COMPOSITION EACH CONTAINING THE CACAO DERIVED COMPOSITION | HOFFMAN, SUSAN COE | — |
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 8 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18018672 | SOLID FOOD AND SOLID MILK | DUBOIS, PHILIP A | 134d overdue |
| 18021897 | LACTIC ACID BACTERIA STARTER, METHOD FOR PRODUCING FERMENTED MILK, AND FERMENTED MILK | TURNER, FELICIA C | 42d overdue |
| 18031301 | PROTEIN HAVING FERMENTED MILK VISCOSITY IMPROVING EFFECT, FERMENTED MILK USING THE SAME AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE SAME | TSAY, MARSHA M | 9d overdue |
| 18564842 | CACAO FRUIT GROUND PRODUCT AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE SAME | BEKKER, KELLY JO | 8d overdue |
| 18286680 | METHOD FOR DETECTING EXOPOLYSACCHARIDE | BERKE-SCHLESSEL, DAVID W | 8d |
| 17790826 | SOLID FOOD, COMPRESSION MOLDED BODY OF FOOD POWDER, SOLID MILK, AND COMPRESSION MOLDED BODY OF POWDERED MILK | RODGERS, ARIEL M | 12d |
| 18018648 | SOLID MILK | DUBOIS, PHILIP A | 14d |
| 18872126 | CACAO DERIVED COMPOSITION, AS WELL AS MOISTURIZING AGENT, SKIN QUALITY IMPROVING AGENT, HAIR QUALITY IMPROVING AGENT, COSMETIC FOR SKIN, COSMETIC FOR HAIR, PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOSITION AND FOOD COMPOSITION EACH CONTAINING THE CACAO DERIVED COMPOSITION | HOFFMAN, SUSAN COE | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1791 | 5 |
| 1792 | 2 |
| 1651 | 2 |
| 1793 | 2 |
| 1655 | 1 |
| 1645 | 1 |
| 1656 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18872126 | CACAO DERIVED COMPOSITION, AS WELL AS MOISTURIZING AGENT, SKIN QUALITY IMPROVING AGENT, HAIR QUALITY IMPROVING AGENT, COSMETIC FOR SKIN, COSMETIC FOR HAIR, PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOSITION AND FOOD COMPOSITION EACH CONTAINING THE CACAO DERIVED COMPOSITION | HOFFMAN, SUSAN COE | — | §101§103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 05, 2024 |
| 18872093 | CACAO DERIVED COMPOSITION, AS WELL AS MOISTURIZING AGENT, SKIN QUALITY IMPROVING AGENT, HAIR QUALITY IMPROVING AGENT, COSMETIC FOR SKIN, COSMETIC FOR HAIR, PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOSITION AND FOOD COMPOSITION EACH CONTAINING THE CACAO DERIVED COMPOSITION | HOFFMAN, SUSAN COE | — | §101§102DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 05, 2024 |
| 18720268 | COMPOSITIONS FOR PREVENTING OR FOR REDUCING RISK OF DEVELOPING SECONDARY INFECTIOUS DISEASES | CHO, DAVID H | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 14, 2024 |
| 18578588 | COMPOSITION FOR INDUCING AUTOPHAGY | HOFFMAN, SUSAN COE | 1655 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 11, 2024 |
| 18564842 | CACAO FRUIT GROUND PRODUCT AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE SAME | BEKKER, KELLY JO | 1792 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | 8d overdue | Pending | Nov 28, 2023 |
| 18564313 | PUFFED FOOD | MERRIAM, ANDREW E | 1791 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 27, 2023 |
| 18286680 | METHOD FOR DETECTING EXOPOLYSACCHARIDE | BERKE-SCHLESSEL, DAVID W | 1651 | §101 | Final Rejection | 8d | Pending | Oct 12, 2023 |
| 18266167 | COMPOSITION COMPRISING BACTERIUM OF THE GENUS ACIDIPROPIONIBACTERIUM OR PROCESSED PRODUCT THEREOF | DICKENS, AMELIA NICOLE | 1645 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 08, 2023 |
| 18031301 | PROTEIN HAVING FERMENTED MILK VISCOSITY IMPROVING EFFECT, FERMENTED MILK USING THE SAME AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE SAME | TSAY, MARSHA M | 1656 | §103 | Final Rejection | 9d overdue | Pending | Apr 11, 2023 |
| 18021897 | LACTIC ACID BACTERIA STARTER, METHOD FOR PRODUCING FERMENTED MILK, AND FERMENTED MILK | TURNER, FELICIA C | 1793 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | 42d overdue | Pending | Feb 17, 2023 |
| 18018672 | SOLID FOOD AND SOLID MILK | DUBOIS, PHILIP A | 1791 | §102DP | Final Rejection | 134d overdue | Pending | Jan 30, 2023 |
| 18018673 | SOLID FOOD AND SOLID MILK | DUBOIS, PHILIP A | 1791 | §102DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 30, 2023 |
| 18018648 | SOLID MILK | DUBOIS, PHILIP A | 1791 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 14d | Pending | Jan 30, 2023 |
| 17928983 | OILY SOLID FOOD | MERRIAM, ANDREW E | 1791 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 01, 2022 |
| 17790826 | SOLID FOOD, COMPRESSION MOLDED BODY OF FOOD POWDER, SOLID MILK, AND COMPRESSION MOLDED BODY OF POWDERED MILK | RODGERS, ARIEL M | 1792 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 12d | Pending | Jul 05, 2022 |
| 17789045 | LACTIC ACID BACTERIUM FERMENTATION PROMOTER | GOUGH, TIFFANY MAUREEN | 1651 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | 6d | Pending | Jun 24, 2022 |
| 17288175 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING HIGH-PROTEIN MILK RAW MATERIAL | MCCLAIN, TYNESHA L. | 1793 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 202d overdue | Pending | Apr 23, 2021 |
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