Technology areas: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals • Chemistry & Materials
91 pending office actions • 50 art units • 75 examiners • 0 of 91 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 102 patents granted in the last 365 days
Merck Patent GmbH has 92 pending office actions in Chemistry & Materials. The portfolio spans 75 distinct examiners and 50 distinct art units, showing a wide examination footprint. That distribution supports a coordinated docket framework, but it also requires matter-level review because prosecution conditions can vary substantially across technical groups.
VISCONTI, GERALDINA is the busiest identified examiner, with 5 pending matters. The cluster may support targeted examiner research and consistent preparation for related interactions. It does not, however, represent the dominant structure of the portfolio, which is dispersed across many examiners and art units. Counsel should combine centralized oversight with examiner-specific claim and response analysis.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 23 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. 23 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 + other | 2 (2%) |
| §103 only | 18 (20%) |
| §102 only | 3 (3%) |
| §112 only | 11 (12%) |
| Double-patenting only | 1 (1%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 10 (11%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 44 (48%) |
| No statute on record | 2 (2%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| VISCONTI, GERALDINA | 5 | 86.5% | +1.6% |
| EDWARDS, LYDIA E | 4 | 60.1% | +6.0% |
| YANG, JAY LEE | 3 | 73.8% | +2.2% |
| GARRETT, DAWN L | 2 | 72.7% | +10.2% |
| CHU, JOHN S Y | 2 | 76.8% | +5.4% |
| JEON, SEOKMIN | 2 | 59.4% | +52.3% |
| SIMBANA, RACHEL A | 2 | 62.0% | +45.2% |
| RAMIREZ, ALEX | 2 | 81.1% | +20.8% |
| MALLOY, ANNA E | 2 | 46.7% | -4.0% |
| CHAMPION, RICHARD DAVID | 2 | 46.2% | +11.1% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 5 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18033195 | TRANSFER DEVICE FOR TRANFERRING A PLURALITY OF OBJECTS THROUGH A TRANSFER PORT | RAMIREZ, ALEX | 4d overdue |
| 18868036 | FERROELECTRIC SMECTIC LIQUID CRYSTALLINE MEDIUM | VISCONTI, GERALDINA | 30d |
| 19457364 | LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE MEDIUM | VISCONTI, GERALDINA | — |
| 19457941 | LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE MEDIUM | VISCONTI, GERALDINA | — |
| 18702248 | ELECTRO-MECHANICAL CONVERTERS USING FERROELECTRIC NEMATIC MATERIAL | VISCONTI, GERALDINA | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18033724 | COMPOUNDS FOR THE TREATMENT OF VIRAL INFECTIONS | FETTEROLF, BRANDON J | 190d overdue |
| 18042040 | PROCESS SYSTEM FOR BIOREACTOR-BASED CLEAN MEAT PRODUCTION | STAVROU, CONSTANTINA E | 59d overdue |
| 17613524 | HOLDING DEVICE AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATED STOPCOCK ACTUATION | DIPERT, FORREST BLAKE | 30d overdue |
| 17612058 | A NEGATIVE TONE LIFT OFF RESIST COMPOSITION COMPRISING AN ALKALI SOLUBLE RESIN AND A PHOTO ACID GENERATOR, AND A METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING METAL FILM PATTERNS ON A SUBSTRATE. | MALLOY, ANNA E | 8d overdue |
| 18033209 | TRANSPORT PACKAGING FOR A PLURALITY OF PETRI-DISHES AND BLISTER PACKAGING WITH A PLURALITY OF PETRI-DISHES | RAMIREZ, ALEX | 4d overdue |
| 17611500 | TREATMENT OF ISCHEMIC STROKE WITH APTAMERS TARGETING TLR-4 | CORDAS, EMILY ANN | 1d overdue |
| 18031470 | POLOXAMERS FOR CELL CULTURE | SPENCER, ANDREA LYNNE MORRIS | 6d |
| 18888536 | LIQUID-CRYSTAL MEDIUM | VISCONTI, GERALDINA | 16d |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17599093 | POSITIVE TYPE RESIST COMPOSITION AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING RESIST PATTERN USING THE SAME | CHAMPION, RICHARD DAVID | 66d overdue |
| 16092860 | HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS COMPRISING DIBENZOFURAN AND/OR DIBENZOTHIOPHENE STRUCTURES | GARRETT, DAWN L | 28d overdue |
| 18033209 | TRANSPORT PACKAGING FOR A PLURALITY OF PETRI-DISHES AND BLISTER PACKAGING WITH A PLURALITY OF PETRI-DISHES | RAMIREZ, ALEX | 4d overdue |
| 18033195 | TRANSFER DEVICE FOR TRANFERRING A PLURALITY OF OBJECTS THROUGH A TRANSFER PORT | RAMIREZ, ALEX | 4d overdue |
| 18556948 | NITROGENOUS HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS FOR ORGANIC ELECTROLUMINESCENT DEVICES | GARRETT, DAWN L | — |
| 18039988 | MATERIALS FOR ORGANIC ELECTROLUMINESCENT DEVICES | JEON, SEOKMIN | — |
| 18034891 | MATERIALS FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICES | SIMBANA, RACHEL A | — |
| 18032358 | ORGANIC ELECTROLUMINESCENT DEVICE | JEON, SEOKMIN | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1737 | 12 |
| 1786 | 10 |
| 1626 | 4 |
| 1796 | 4 |
| 1798 | 3 |
| 2855 | 2 |
| 1628 | 2 |
| 1623 | 2 |
| 1779 | 2 |
| 1722 | 2 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19457364 | LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE MEDIUM | VISCONTI, GERALDINA | 1737 | §102§103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 23, 2026 |
| 19457941 | LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE MEDIUM | VISCONTI, GERALDINA | 1737 | §102§103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 23, 2026 |
| 19099935 | POLYMER BRUSHES WITH CHAIN-ENDS FUNCTIONALIZED WITH METAL COORDINATING TWO HETERO ELEMENTS FOR SELECTIVE SURFACE MODIFICATION | PROCTOR, CACHET I | 1712 | — | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 30, 2025 |
| 19019712 | SOLAR CELLS | DAM, DUSTIN Q | 1721 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 14, 2025 |
| 18881175 | SAMPLING LID ASSEMBLY FOR PARTICLE MONITORING SYSTEM | LARKIN, DANIEL SEAN | 2855 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 03, 2025 |
| 18881183 | Pharmaceutical composition and method for enhancing solubility of poorly soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients | ALAWADI, SARAH | 1619 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 03, 2025 |
| 18872672 | COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING DISODIUM 5,10-METHYLENE-(6R)-TETRAHYDROFOLATE | SZNAIDMAN, MARCOS L | 1628 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | 34d | Pending | Dec 06, 2024 |
| 18869139 | CONCENTRATED SOLUTIONS COMPRISING SODIUM 5,10-METHYLENE-(6R)-TETRAHYDROFOLATE | ROSENTHAL, ANDREW S | 1615 | §103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 25, 2024 |
| 18868036 | FERROELECTRIC SMECTIC LIQUID CRYSTALLINE MEDIUM | VISCONTI, GERALDINA | 1737 | §102§103§112DP | Non-Final OA | 30d | Pending | Nov 21, 2024 |
| 18927285 | SILICON PRECURSOR COMPOUND AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREFOR, AND SILICON-CONTAINING THIN FILM PREPARATION METHOD USING SILICON PRECURSOR | BAKSHI, PANCHAM | 1623 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 25, 2024 |
| 18853691 | Multi-Use Sensor Holder | EYASSU, MARRIT | 2855 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 02, 2024 |
| 18848961 | NEGATIVELY CHARGED SILICA PARTICLES, METHOD OF PRODUCING SUCH PARTICLES, COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING SUCH PARTICLES, AND A METHOD OF CHEMICAL-MECHANICAL POLISHING USING SUCH PARTICLES | DUCLAIR, STEPHANIE P. | 1713 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 20, 2024 |
| 18888536 | LIQUID-CRYSTAL MEDIUM | VISCONTI, GERALDINA | 1737 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | 16d | Pending | Sep 18, 2024 |
| 18847937 | METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR PURIFYING ADENO ASSOCIATED VIRUS PARTICLES | ZOU, NIANXIANG | 1671 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 17, 2024 |
| 18827292 | MANUFACTURING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE USING SELECTIVE DIELECTRIC ON DIELECTRIC (DOD) DEPOSITION PROCESS | LEE, DA WEI | 2817 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 06, 2024 |
| 18835879 | METAL EFFECT PIGMENTS WITH SURFACE-TREATMENTS, PREPARING METHOD AND USE OF SAME | ALLEY, GENEVIEVE S | 1617 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 05, 2024 |
| 18834637 | THERAGNOSTIC FOLATE CONJUGATES | LEWOCZKO, EVAN MICHAEL | 1612 | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 31, 2024 |
| 18834636 | THERAGNOSTIC FOLATE CONJUGATES | MEJIAS, SAMANTHA LEE | 1618 | §103§112DPOther | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 31, 2024 |
| 18767505 | ARYLQUINAZOLINES | ANDERSON, REBECCA L | 1626 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 09, 2024 |
| 18708273 | MATERIAL AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING A SEPARATION BASED ON BORON CLUSTERS | KIEFER, DALTON EDWARD | 1652 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 08, 2024 |
| 18705770 | HETEROBIFUNCTIONAL MOLECULES AS TEAD INHIBITORS | ENGLISH, CONNOR KENNEDY | 1625 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 29, 2024 |
| 18702248 | ELECTRO-MECHANICAL CONVERTERS USING FERROELECTRIC NEMATIC MATERIAL | VISCONTI, GERALDINA | 1737 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 17, 2024 |
| 18694468 | STIRRING DEVICE FOR STIRRING A BIPHASIC LIQUID | HOWELL, MARC C | 1774 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 22, 2024 |
| 18692965 | INTEGRATED SOLUTION FOR PROCESS INTENSIFICATION USING INLINE CONSTANTLY PRESSURIZED TANK: "ICPT" | PERRIN, CLARE M | 1779 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 18, 2024 |
| 18691484 | POLYSILOXANE FORMULATION | YOON, TAE H | 1762 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 13, 2024 |
| 18687109 | SELECTIVE SELF-ASSEMBLED MONOLAYERS VIA SPIN-COATING METHOD FOR USE IN DSA | AHVAZI, BIJAN | 1763 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 27, 2024 |
| 18684228 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING SILICA PARTICLES, SILICA PARTICLES PRODUCED BY SUCH METHOD, COMPOSITIONS AND USES OF SUCH SILICA PARTICLES | MCCRACKEN, DANIEL | 1736 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 16, 2024 |
| 18682850 | LAYER CONTAINING EFFECT PIGMENTS AND SCATTERING ADDITIVES | CHERN, CHRISTINA | 1722 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 09, 2024 |
| 18292046 | WATER SOLUBLE PRODRUG, CONJUGATES AND USES THEREOF | KIM, SEONG JONG | 1621 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 25, 2024 |
| 18291529 | SRPK INHIBITORS | CLARK, AMY LYNN | 1628 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 23, 2024 |
| 18291526 | DEPTH FILTER MEDIA | ROTONDI, CONNOR JON | 1779 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 23, 2024 |
| 18578342 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE MANUFACTURING AQUEOUS SOLUTION, METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING RESIST PATTERN AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING DEVICE | FRASER, STEWART A | 1724 | §102§103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 11, 2024 |
| 18576805 | PRODUCTION OF DIORGANOTIN DIHALIDES | BONAPARTE, AMY C | 1692 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 05, 2024 |
| 18565554 | METHOD FOR USING COMPOSITION COMPRISING ORGANIC ACID COMPOUND, LITHOGRAPHY COMPOSITION COMPRISING ORGANIC ACID COMPOUND, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING RESIST PATTERN | EOFF, ANCA | 1722 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Nov 30, 2023 |
| 18561506 | EGFR TARGETING FC ANTIGEN BINDING FRAGMENT-DRUG CONJUGATES | CHASE, CAROL ANN | 1646 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 16, 2023 |
| 18559906 | DIGITAL SELECTION OF VISCOSITY REDUCING EXCIPIENTS FOR PROTEIN FORMULATIONS | SMITH, JENNIFER JOY | 1685 | §101§102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 09, 2023 |
| 18557706 | PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF FLAKE-FORM, CRYSTALLINE PARTICLES HAVING AN AURIVILLIUS STRUCTURE AND THE USE THEREOF AS EFFECT PIGMENTS OR SUBSTRATES THEREOF | GREEN, ANTHONY J | 1731 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 27, 2023 |
| 18557492 | AN AIR OR BREATH SAMPLING DEVICE CAPTURING BOTH AEROSOL AND VAPOR FRACTIONS | MCCORMACK, ERIN KATHLEEN | 3791 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 26, 2023 |
| 18556948 | NITROGENOUS HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS FOR ORGANIC ELECTROLUMINESCENT DEVICES | GARRETT, DAWN L | — | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 24, 2023 |
| 18287507 | DIELECTRIC MATERIALS BASED ON OLIGOAMIDE-EXTENDED BISMALEIMIDES | HEINCER, LIAM J | 1767 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 19, 2023 |
| 18554651 | HYDROPHOBIC CROSSLINKABLE PINNING UNDERLAYERS WITH IMPROVED DRY ETCH CAPABILITIES FOR PATTERNING DIRECTED SELF-ASSEMBLY OF PS-B-PMMA TYPE BLOCK COPOLYMERS | CHU, JOHN S Y | 1737 | §103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 10, 2023 |
| 18376872 | MATERIALS FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICES | YANG, JAY LEE | 1786 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 05, 2023 |
| 18550587 | MULTI-PITCH TOLERABLE BLOCK COPOLYMERS WITH ENHANCED KINETICS FOR DIRECTED SELF-ASSEMBLY APPLICATIONS | FOSS, DAVID ROGER | 1764 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 14, 2023 |
| 18280081 | DIELECTRIC MATERIALS BASED ON AMIDE-IMIDE-EXTENDED BISMALEIMIDES | DU, SURBHI M | 1765 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 01, 2023 |
| 18039988 | MATERIALS FOR ORGANIC ELECTROLUMINESCENT DEVICES | JEON, SEOKMIN | 1786 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 02, 2023 |
| 18038265 | Water Purification System With Inline Measurement Of Total Organic Carbon And Method Of Operating Such System | KEYWORTH, PETER | 1777 | §103 | Final Rejection | 33d | Pending | May 23, 2023 |
| 18036977 | COVER FOR A THIN-LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY DEVELOPMENT CHAMBER | WRIGHT, PATRICIA KATHRYN | 1798 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 15, 2023 |
| 18034891 | MATERIALS FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICES | SIMBANA, RACHEL A | 1786 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 02, 2023 |
| 18033724 | COMPOUNDS FOR THE TREATMENT OF VIRAL INFECTIONS | FETTEROLF, BRANDON J | 1626 | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | 190d overdue | Pending | Apr 25, 2023 |
| 18033209 | TRANSPORT PACKAGING FOR A PLURALITY OF PETRI-DISHES AND BLISTER PACKAGING WITH A PLURALITY OF PETRI-DISHES | RAMIREZ, ALEX | 1798 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 4d overdue | Pending | Apr 21, 2023 |
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Start Free TrialMerck Patent GmbH has 91 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 50 art units and 75 examiners.
Geraldina Visconti has the most, with 5 of Merck Patent GmbH's pending office actions.
Mostly Chemistry & Materials (USPTO Tech Center 1700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
