Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
4 pending office actions • 3 art units • 3 examiners • 0 of 4 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 5 patents granted in the last 365 days
Nexus Spine, LLC is currently managing 3 pending office actions within the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. These actions are distributed across 2 distinct art units, indicating that the company's spinal innovations fall into at least 2 different technical categories at the USPTO. The involvement of 2 art units requires a prosecution strategy that can adapt to the different standards of each division.
The workload is shared by 2 distinct examiners for the 3 pending office actions. This means that at least one examiner is handling multiple cases for the company. Having 2 distinct examiners for the 3 actions provides some diversification in the prosecution experience while still maintaining a small pool of USPTO contacts.
WOODALL, NICHOLAS W is the busiest examiner for the company, with 2 pending office actions currently under review. Since the busiest examiner handles 2 of the 3 pending office actions, his individual review process has a significant impact on the company's portfolio. This concentration requires the company to pay close attention to the specific preferences of WOODALL, NICHOLAS W to ensure the success of these active cases.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 3 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. 3 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 |
|---|---|
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 4 (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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | 2 | 82.1% | +13.3% |
| COMSTOCK, DAVID C | 1 | 86.6% | -8.3% |
| BATES, DAVID W | 1 | 76.4% | +16.7% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18781393 | POROUS INTERBODY SPACER | WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | 188d overdue |
| 18284802 | STABLENEC STANDALONE INTERBODY | BATES, DAVID W | 100d overdue |
| 19056478 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FLEXURE-BASED STANDALONE INTERBODY FUSION | WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | 30d |
| 19190307 | PRESSON PEDICLE SCREW VARIATIONS | COMSTOCK, DAVID C | — |
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 3 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18781393 | POROUS INTERBODY SPACER | WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | 188d overdue |
| 18284802 | STABLENEC STANDALONE INTERBODY | BATES, DAVID W | 100d overdue |
| 19056478 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FLEXURE-BASED STANDALONE INTERBODY FUSION | WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | 30d |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3775 | 2 |
| 3773 | 1 |
| 3799 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19190307 | PRESSON PEDICLE SCREW VARIATIONS | COMSTOCK, DAVID C | 3773 | §102§103Other | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Apr 25, 2025 |
| 19056478 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FLEXURE-BASED STANDALONE INTERBODY FUSION | WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | 3775 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | 30d | Pending | Feb 18, 2025 |
| 18284802 | STABLENEC STANDALONE INTERBODY | BATES, DAVID W | 3799 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 100d overdue | Pending | Jan 31, 2025 |
| 18781393 | POROUS INTERBODY SPACER | WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | 3775 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | 188d overdue | Pending | Jul 23, 2024 |
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Start Free TrialNexus Spine, LLC has 4 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 3 art units and 3 examiners.
Nicholas W Woodall has the most, with 2 of Nexus Spine, LLC's pending office actions.
Mostly Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering (USPTO Tech Center 3700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.