Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Chemistry & Materials • Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics
4 pending office actions • 2 art units • 4 examiners • 0 of 4 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 14 patents granted in the last 365 days
Mettler-Toledo GmbH currently has 4 pending office actions within the Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics technology area. These 4 actions are being reviewed by 4 distinct examiners, indicating a lack of examiner concentration. However, these matters are grouped within 2 distinct art units, suggesting some technical overlap in the company's current pending workload despite the variety of individual examiners involved.
The busiest examiner for the portfolio is SULTANA, DILARA, who is responsible for 1 pending office action. Because each of the 4 pending actions is assigned to a different examiner, no single individual handles a majority of the workload. This distribution requires practitioners to adapt to four different examination styles across the 4 pending matters. The absence of examiner concentration means that the company's immediate patent prospects are spread across multiple independent reviews.
The use of 2 distinct art units within the Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics field shows that the company's innovations are being scrutinized by at least two different technical groups. With 4 distinct examiners involved, the prosecution landscape is relatively diverse for a portfolio of this size. Practitioners must manage four separate timelines and sets of examiner requirements to move these 4 pending office actions forward. Success depends on navigating the specific technical and procedural hurdles presented by each of the 4 distinct examiners.
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 (25%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 3 (75%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SULTANA, DILARA | 1 | 80.9% | +16.1% |
| HULS, NATALIE F | 1 | 76.9% | +21.8% |
| LE, THANH TAM T | 1 | 86.4% | +13.8% |
| KRCHA, MATTHEW D | 1 | 64.7% | +35.3% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18721071 | COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR THERMAL ANALYSIS OF A SAMPLE OF A SUBSTANCE | SULTANA, DILARA | — |
| 18740825 | DRAFT SHIELD FOR A BALANCE | HULS, NATALIE F | — |
| 18536361 | CONNECTOR ELEMENT FOR A CONNECTOR SYSTEM | LE, THANH TAM T | — |
| 18371683 | SAMPLE CHANGER, CRUCIBLE AND TRAY FOR A THERMOANALYTICAL INSTRUMENT | KRCHA, MATTHEW D | — |
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 4 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18721071 | COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR THERMAL ANALYSIS OF A SAMPLE OF A SUBSTANCE | SULTANA, DILARA | — |
| 18740825 | DRAFT SHIELD FOR A BALANCE | HULS, NATALIE F | — |
| 18536361 | CONNECTOR ELEMENT FOR A CONNECTOR SYSTEM | LE, THANH TAM T | — |
| 18371683 | SAMPLE CHANGER, CRUCIBLE AND TRAY FOR A THERMOANALYTICAL INSTRUMENT | KRCHA, MATTHEW D | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 2831 | 1 |
| 1796 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18721071 | COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR THERMAL ANALYSIS OF A SAMPLE OF A SUBSTANCE | SULTANA, DILARA | — | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 17, 2024 |
| 18740825 | DRAFT SHIELD FOR A BALANCE | HULS, NATALIE F | — | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 12, 2024 |
| 18536361 | CONNECTOR ELEMENT FOR A CONNECTOR SYSTEM | LE, THANH TAM T | 2831 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 12, 2023 |
| 18371683 | SAMPLE CHANGER, CRUCIBLE AND TRAY FOR A THERMOANALYTICAL INSTRUMENT | KRCHA, MATTHEW D | 1796 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 22, 2023 |
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