Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026

National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC

Technology area: Chemistry & Materials

19 pending office actions • 15 art units • 19 examiners • 0 of 19 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 60 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC has 3 pending office actions in Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals. The matters involve 3 distinct examiners and 3 distinct art units.

CUTLIFF, YATE KAI RENE is the busiest examiner, with 1 pending action. The distributed assignments favor application-specific responses, supported by a portfolio review for consistent technical terminology and disclosure positions.

Written from this page's own data; every figure is computed from USPTO records and verified before publication.

Portfolio Summary

19
Total Pending OAs
12
Non-Final OAs
7
Final Rejections
0
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 7 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

3
Overdue
1
Due this week
1
Due this month
2
Due in next 60 days
0
Due later

Deadline Fire Line

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. 7 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (3)Due ≤ 7 days (1)Due ≤ 30 days (1)Due ≤ 60 days (2)

Case Difficulty Mix

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.

14
Hard (74%)
4
Medium (21%)
1
Easy (5%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 + other1 (5%)
§103 only3 (16%)
§102 only1 (5%)
Double-patenting only1 (5%)
Multi-statute (no §101)13 (68%)

Industry Mix

How the docket's pending cases split across USPTO tech-center bands.

9
Life Sciences
47% of docket
2
Information Tech
11% of docket
0
Communications
0% of docket
3
Semiconductors
16% of docket
4
Mechanical / Eng
21% of docket
1
Business / Other
5% of docket

Time-on-OA Estimate

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.

190 h
Manual time on pending OAs
38 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
66 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
1.7 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
UPCHURCH, DAVID M 1 73.7% +18.0%
WIEHE, NATHANIEL EDWARD 1 52.3% +33.6%
HA, NATHAN W 1 91.3% +7.7%
MORALES, RICARDO D 1 81.4% +16.9%
CRUM, VIVIAN FLORENCE 1 100.0% +0.0%
RAHLL, JERRY T 1 89.9% +8.3%
WHITE, JAY MICHAEL 1 47.1% +100.0%
KARST, DAVID THOMAS 1 64.8% +9.7%
GONZALES, VICENTE ROLANDO 1 100.0% +0.0%
FAYETTE, NATHALIE RENEE 1 94.5% -1.1%

Quick Wins (1)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
18444882 High silicon electrical steel alloys using directed energy deposition MORALES, RICARDO D —

Hard Cases (14)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
18898090 Systems, Methods and Tools for Active Wake Control of Wind Turbines WIEHE, NATHANIEL EDWARD 9d overdue
18243453 CHARGE-SENSING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE WITH DELTA LAYER TUNNEL JUNCTION FAYETTE, NATHALIE RENEE 8d overdue
18371531 DELTA-LAYER TUNNEL JUNCTION DEVICE WITH TWO OHMIC CONDUCTIVITY REGIMES GONZALES, VICENTE ROLANDO 4d overdue
18069047 WEARABLE HEALTH MONITORING DEVICE AGAHI, PUYA 29d
17743160 PHYSICS-INFORMED MULTIMODAL AUTOENCODER MAC, GARY 33d
18393392 Heterogeneous Integrated UV-IR Ultra-Low Loss Multi-Layer Platform with Electrical Interconnects, Gain, Modulation, Detection, and Nonlinear Optics RAHLL, JERRY T 60d
18613895 SINGLE PHOTON COLOR IMAGE SENSOR HA, NATHAN W —
18403863 Method for preparation of supervalent metal hydrides CRUM, VIVIAN FLORENCE —

Interview Candidates (4)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
18898090 Systems, Methods and Tools for Active Wake Control of Wind Turbines WIEHE, NATHANIEL EDWARD 9d overdue
19059376 Dissimilar material joining via interlocking metasurfaces UPCHURCH, DAVID M —
18444882 High silicon electrical steel alloys using directed energy deposition MORALES, RICARDO D —
18513711 REDUCTION OF THIN VOLUME ASSEMBLIES USING REINFORCEMENT LEARNING WHITE, JAY MICHAEL —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
1738 2
1767 2
3791 2
3677 1
3745 1
2874 1
2188 1
2899 1
2812 1
1795 1

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
19059376 Dissimilar material joining via interlocking metasurfaces UPCHURCH, DAVID M 3677 §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 21, 2025
18898090 Systems, Methods and Tools for Active Wake Control of Wind Turbines WIEHE, NATHANIEL EDWARD 3745 §102§103§112 Final Rejection 9d overdue Pending Sep 26, 2024
18613895 SINGLE PHOTON COLOR IMAGE SENSOR HA, NATHAN W — §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 22, 2024
18444882 High silicon electrical steel alloys using directed energy deposition MORALES, RICARDO D 1738 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Feb 19, 2024
18403863 Method for preparation of supervalent metal hydrides CRUM, VIVIAN FLORENCE 1738 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 04, 2024
18393392 Heterogeneous Integrated UV-IR Ultra-Low Loss Multi-Layer Platform with Electrical Interconnects, Gain, Modulation, Detection, and Nonlinear Optics RAHLL, JERRY T 2874 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA 60d Pending Dec 21, 2023
18513711 REDUCTION OF THIN VOLUME ASSEMBLIES USING REINFORCEMENT LEARNING WHITE, JAY MICHAEL 2188 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 20, 2023
18483617 CHELATOR-MEDIATED FENTON (CMF) PROCESSES TO MODIFY LIGNIN KARST, DAVID THOMAS 1767 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 10, 2023
18371531 DELTA-LAYER TUNNEL JUNCTION DEVICE WITH TWO OHMIC CONDUCTIVITY REGIMES GONZALES, VICENTE ROLANDO 2899 §102§112 Final Rejection 4d overdue Pending Sep 22, 2023
18243453 CHARGE-SENSING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE WITH DELTA LAYER TUNNEL JUNCTION FAYETTE, NATHALIE RENEE 2812 §102§103§112 Final Rejection 8d overdue Pending Sep 07, 2023
18141591 SOLAR-THERMAL CATALYTIC REACTOR AKRAM, IMRAN 1795 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending May 01, 2023
18298790 DEEP SMOOTH ETCHING TO REALIZE SCALABLE DEVICES HAVING PIEZOELECTRIC CRYSTALS DEO, DUY VU NGUYEN 1700 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 11, 2023
18069047 WEARABLE HEALTH MONITORING DEVICE AGAHI, PUYA 3791 §102§103 Final Rejection 29d Pending Dec 20, 2022
17900584 Selective Dual-Wavelength Olefin Metathesis Polymerization for Additive Manufacturing ROSWELL, JESSICA MARIE 1767 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 31, 2022
17895285 Ridged 3-dimensional battery electrodes for enhancing rate capability BAKHTIARI, NIKI 1722 §103 Non-Final OA 7d Pending Aug 25, 2022
17888846 Interlocking Metasurfaces UTT, ETHAN A 1783 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 16, 2022
17743160 PHYSICS-INFORMED MULTIMODAL AUTOENCODER MAC, GARY 2127 §101§103 Final Rejection 33d Pending May 12, 2022
17650056 MICRONEEDLE ARRAYS FOR BIOSENSING AND DRUG DELIVERY WEARE, MEREDITH H 3791 DP Final Rejection — Pending Feb 04, 2022
17190050 CONVERSION OF SUGARS TO IONIC LIQUIDS IANNUZO, NATALIE NMN 1653 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 02, 2021

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many pending USPTO office actions does National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC have?

National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC has 19 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 15 art units and 19 examiners.

Which USPTO examiner handles the most National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC applications?

David M Upchurch has the most, with 1 of National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC's pending office actions.

What technology area are National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC's patent applications in?

Mostly Chemistry & Materials (USPTO Tech Center 1700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.

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