Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Chemistry & Materials
2 pending office actions • 2 art units • 2 examiners • 0 of 2 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 19 patents granted in the last 365 days
Next Level Ventures LLC currently manages 3 pending office actions within the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These actions are distributed among 3 distinct examiners, providing a variety of perspectives on the company's patent applications. Michael Patrick Mullen is the busiest examiner for the portfolio, overseeing 1 pending office action. The portfolio also spans 3 distinct art units.
For a practitioner, the distribution of 3 pending office actions across different examiners suggests that the portfolio is not dependent on a single individual's interpretation. The focus on the Chemistry & Materials technology area indicates a specialized technical direction. Because 3 distinct art units are involved, the company may encounter varying examination standards, which requires a coordinated prosecution approach.
Managing the distinct examiners requires a proactive approach to ensure that responses are aligned with the overall strategic goals of the company. Practitioners should analyze the allowance rates and prosecution timelines for each assigned examiner to better predict the outcomes for these pending matters. This approach helps in navigating the complexities of the materials patent landscape where examiner discretion can be significant. Maintaining a unified legal position across different examiners is essential for a strong intellectual property portfolio.
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 |
|---|---|
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 2 (100%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MULLEN, MICHAEL PATRICK | 1 | 55.0% | +54.5% |
| SZUMIGALSKI, NICOLE ASHLEY | 1 | 56.5% | +23.8% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18412081 | VAPING DEVICE | MULLEN, MICHAEL PATRICK | — |
| 18386955 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LIGHTING A VAPING DEVICE | SZUMIGALSKI, NICOLE ASHLEY | — |
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 2 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18412081 | VAPING DEVICE | MULLEN, MICHAEL PATRICK | — |
| 18386955 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LIGHTING A VAPING DEVICE | SZUMIGALSKI, NICOLE ASHLEY | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 4100 | 1 |
| 1755 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18412081 | VAPING DEVICE | MULLEN, MICHAEL PATRICK | 4100 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 12, 2024 |
| 18386955 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LIGHTING A VAPING DEVICE | SZUMIGALSKI, NICOLE ASHLEY | 1755 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 03, 2023 |
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