Technology area: Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems
6 pending office actions • 4 art units • 5 examiners • 0 of 6 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 10 patents granted in the last 365 days
MSA Safety Incorporated has 7 pending office actions in the Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems technology area. These matters are distributed across 4 distinct art units and involve 6 distinct examiners. MCFARLAND, KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN is the busiest examiner, currently overseeing 2 pending office actions. This distribution indicates that most examiners are handling few applications for the company among the 7 pending actions.
The 4 art units provide a moderate range of technical review environments for the portfolio. Practitioners should be prepared to engage with 6 distinct examiners to advance the company's 7 pending matters. Managing 7 pending office actions across 4 distinct art units requires a focused approach to the specific standards of those groups. Success in this portfolio depends on the ability to coordinate across 4 art units and address the individual tendencies of 6 different examiners. The involvement of 6 distinct examiners suggests that success depends on addressing individual reviewer preferences.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 1 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.
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 |
|---|---|
| §103 only | 3 (50%) |
| §112 only | 1 (17%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 2 (33%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MCFARLAND, KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN | 2 | 59.9% | +12.5% |
| LOPEZ, ERICK I | 1 | 53.4% | +29.7% |
| NGUYEN, CHUONG P | 1 | 79.2% | +13.3% |
| PEZZLO, BENJAMIN ALEXANDER | 1 | 50.0% | +21.4% |
| MATTEI, BRIAN DAVID | 1 | 67.3% | +15.5% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 2 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18527925 | SELF-RETRACTING DEVICE HARNESS TUNNEL ADAPTER | MATTEI, BRIAN DAVID | — |
| 16599908 | Harness With Adjustable Belt Strap | MCFARLAND, KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN | — |
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 6 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18584323 | Systems and Methods for Tracking Lifeline Payout and Retraction | PEZZLO, BENJAMIN ALEXANDER | 9d |
| 19415939 | Safety Helmet | LOPEZ, ERICK I | — |
| 18822947 | Safety Device for Providing Output to an Individual Associated with a Hazardous Environment | NGUYEN, CHUONG P | — |
| 18527925 | SELF-RETRACTING DEVICE HARNESS TUNNEL ADAPTER | MATTEI, BRIAN DAVID | — |
| 17213520 | Two-Part Locking Polymer Hub for Cable Self-Retracting Device | MCFARLAND, KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN | — |
| 16599908 | Harness With Adjustable Belt Strap | MCFARLAND, KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3635 | 3 |
| 3732 | 1 |
| 3646 | 1 |
| 3634 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19415939 | Safety Helmet | LOPEZ, ERICK I | 3732 | §103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 11, 2025 |
| 18822947 | Safety Device for Providing Output to an Individual Associated with a Hazardous Environment | NGUYEN, CHUONG P | 3646 | §112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Sep 03, 2024 |
| 18584323 | Systems and Methods for Tracking Lifeline Payout and Retraction | PEZZLO, BENJAMIN ALEXANDER | 3634 | §103 | Final Rejection | 9d | Pending | Feb 22, 2024 |
| 18527925 | SELF-RETRACTING DEVICE HARNESS TUNNEL ADAPTER | MATTEI, BRIAN DAVID | 3635 | §102§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 04, 2023 |
| 17213520 | Two-Part Locking Polymer Hub for Cable Self-Retracting Device | MCFARLAND, KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN | 3635 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 26, 2021 |
| 16599908 | Harness With Adjustable Belt Strap | MCFARLAND, KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN | 3635 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 11, 2019 |
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Start Free TrialMSA Safety Incorporated has 6 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 4 art units and 5 examiners.
Kathleen Mavourneen Mcfarland has the most, with 2 of MSA Safety Incorporated's pending office actions.
Mostly Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems (USPTO Tech Center 3600), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
