Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Chemistry & Materials • Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
81 pending office actions • 21 art units • 74 examiners • 0 of 81 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 169 patents granted in the last 365 days
Ngk Insulators Ltd. maintains 74 pending office actions in the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These matters are spread across 67 distinct examiners. The portfolio's reach extends through 21 distinct art units. Such a distribution across 21 units indicates that the company's innovations touch many different specialized sub-fields within the chemistry sector. Practitioners should note that the number of art units requires familiarity with a wide range of administrative preferences.
The busiest examiner is GAMBLE JR, RANDALL LEE, who is managing 4 pending office actions. While this is the highest individual count among the 67 distinct examiners involved, it represents a small fraction of the 74 total pending office actions. Many examiners are likely handling a portion of the workload. This indicates that prosecution outcomes are dependent on a wide variety of individual examiner perspectives across the art units. The company must manage the 4 pending office actions with GAMBLE JR, RANDALL LEE while also addressing the other matters.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 14 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. 14 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 |
|---|---|
| §103 only | 33 (41%) |
| §102 only | 5 (6%) |
| §112 only | 7 (9%) |
| Double-patenting only | 2 (2%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 4 (5%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 30 (37%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| GAMBLE JR, RANDALL LEE | 4 | 51.4% | +27.6% |
| OMORI, MARY I | 2 | 50.9% | +57.3% |
| GIORDANO, MICHAEL JAMES | 2 | 77.6% | +19.3% |
| MATHEW, ISWARYA | 2 | 0.0% | +0.0% |
| TRAN, LEN | 2 | 14.9% | +23.6% |
| TRINH, THANH TRUC | 1 | 22.1% | +10.8% |
| SULLENS, TAVIA L | 1 | 50.0% | +46.6% |
| MOORE, ADAM DORREL | 1 | 65.8% | +40.6% |
| NGUYEN, HUNG | 1 | 90.7% | +9.0% |
| ZHANG, MICHAEL N | 1 | 54.2% | +23.3% |
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 # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19082502 | EUV TRANSMISSIVE MEMBRANE, PELLICLE, AND EXPOSURE METHOD | NGUYEN, HUNG | — |
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 # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18147251 | REFINING METHOD | HAVLIN, ROBERT H | 29d overdue |
| 18646910 | METHOD FOR RECYCLING LITHIUM-ION SECONDARY BATTERY | MATHEW, ISWARYA | 14d |
| 18350080 | METHOD FOR RECYCLING LITHIUM-ION SECONDARY BATTERY | MATHEW, ISWARYA | 14d |
| 18663219 | SYSTEM FOR SUPPORTING REUSE OF LITHIUM-ION SECONDARY BATTERY | CHEN, XUEMEI G | 33d |
| 19211443 | METHOD OF PRODUCING PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION ELEMENT AND PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION ELEMENT | TRINH, THANH TRUC | — |
| 19204721 | EVAPORATOR | SULLENS, TAVIA L | — |
| 19077266 | GROUP-III ELEMENT NITRIDE SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATE AND BONDED SUBSTRATE | ZHANG, MICHAEL N | — |
| 19071970 | AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM | SHAIKH, MERAJ A | — |
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 8 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18602459 | SENSOR ELEMENT | GAMBLE JR, RANDALL LEE | 5d overdue |
| 18602469 | SENSOR ELEMENT | GAMBLE JR, RANDALL LEE | 5d overdue |
| 18635191 | HONEYCOMB FILTER | OMORI, MARY I | 2d overdue |
| 19211443 | METHOD OF PRODUCING PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION ELEMENT AND PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION ELEMENT | TRINH, THANH TRUC | — |
| 19204721 | EVAPORATOR | SULLENS, TAVIA L | — |
| 19087804 | VEHICLE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USING HUMIDITY CONTROLLING DEVICE | MOORE, ADAM DORREL | — |
| 19077266 | GROUP-III ELEMENT NITRIDE SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATE AND BONDED SUBSTRATE | ZHANG, MICHAEL N | — |
| 19060949 | GAS SENSOR AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING GAS SENSOR | GAMBLE JR, RANDALL LEE | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3761 | 4 |
| 1726 | 3 |
| 1795 | 3 |
| 1777 | 3 |
| 1788 | 2 |
| 3763 | 2 |
| 1729 | 2 |
| 1794 | 2 |
| 3722 | 2 |
| 2843 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19211443 | METHOD OF PRODUCING PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION ELEMENT AND PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION ELEMENT | TRINH, THANH TRUC | 1726 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | May 19, 2025 |
| 19204721 | EVAPORATOR | SULLENS, TAVIA L | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 12, 2025 |
| 19087804 | VEHICLE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USING HUMIDITY CONTROLLING DEVICE | MOORE, ADAM DORREL | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 24, 2025 |
| 19082502 | EUV TRANSMISSIVE MEMBRANE, PELLICLE, AND EXPOSURE METHOD | NGUYEN, HUNG | — | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 18, 2025 |
| 19077266 | GROUP-III ELEMENT NITRIDE SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATE AND BONDED SUBSTRATE | ZHANG, MICHAEL N | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 12, 2025 |
| 19071970 | AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM | SHAIKH, MERAJ A | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 06, 2025 |
| 19060949 | GAS SENSOR AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING GAS SENSOR | GAMBLE JR, RANDALL LEE | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 24, 2025 |
| 19058151 | HEAT EXCHANGER | WEILAND, HANS R. | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 20, 2025 |
| 19023830 | WAVEGUIDE DEVICE | TRA, ANH QUAN | 2843 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2025 |
| 19004891 | COMPOSITE SUBSTRATE, AND SUBSTRATE FOR EPITAXIALLY GROWING GROUP 13 ELEMENT NITRIDE | LA VILLA, MICHAEL EUGENE | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 30, 2024 |
| 18999047 | WAFER PLACEMENT TABLE | COMBER, KEVIN J | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 23, 2024 |
| 18976838 | SINTERED BODY | MILLER, CAMERON KENNETH | — | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 11, 2024 |
| 18953551 | SENSOR ELEMENT AND GAS SENSOR | QIAN, SHIZHI | — | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 20, 2024 |
| 18926473 | GAS SENSOR | PHAN, TRUONG D | — | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 25, 2024 |
| 18897279 | GROUP 13 NITRIDE SINGLE CRYSTAL SUBSTRATE | QI, HUA | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 26, 2024 |
| 18801894 | CERAMIC BASE MATERIAL, CERAMIC SUPPORT, AND SEPARATION MEMBRANE COMPLEX | POPOVICS, ROBERT J | — | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 13, 2024 |
| 18797959 | LAMINATE HAVING GROUP 13 ELEMENT NITRIDE SINGLE CRYSTAL SUBSTRATE | TURNER, BRIAN | — | §103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 08, 2024 |
| 18796376 | VEHICLE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM | CARTER, AMY ELIZABETH | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 07, 2024 |
| 18782131 | VEHICLE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM | SPAMER, DONALD R | — | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 24, 2024 |
| 18770840 | MOISTURE ABSORBING DEVICE FOR DEHUMIDIFIER AND DEHUMIDIFIER | DIETERLE, JENNIFER M | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 12, 2024 |
| 18769525 | MEMBRANE ASSEMBLY AND SEPARATION MEMBRANE MODULE | NORRIS, CLAIRE A | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 11, 2024 |
| 18760081 | BONDED BODY | OMORI, MARY I | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 01, 2024 |
| 18754464 | GROUP III ELEMENT NITRIDE SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATE, EPITAXIAL SUBSTRATE, AND FUNCTIONAL ELEMENT | RIRIE, EVERETT TRAJAN | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 26, 2024 |
| 18751540 | GROUP III ELEMENT NITRIDE SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATE AND BONDED SUBSTRATE | XU, ZHIJUN | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 24, 2024 |
| 18745019 | HONEYCOMB-TYPE CERAMIC POSITIVE ELECTRODE AND LITHIUM-ION SECONDARY BATTERY PROVIDED WITH SAME | OWUSU-ANSAH, KAZIAH | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 17, 2024 |
| 18738374 | MEMBRANE MODULE | MCKENZIE, THOMAS B | — | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 10, 2024 |
| 18734055 | HEAT TREATMENT FURNACE | WOLFORD, KURT JOSEPH | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 05, 2024 |
| 18731606 | HEAT TREATMENT SYSTEM | GIORDANO, MICHAEL JAMES | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 03, 2024 |
| 18731575 | HEAT TREATMENT SYSTEM | WILSON, GREGORY A | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 03, 2024 |
| 18675495 | SAGGAR | GIORDANO, MICHAEL JAMES | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 28, 2024 |
| 18663219 | SYSTEM FOR SUPPORTING REUSE OF LITHIUM-ION SECONDARY BATTERY | CHEN, XUEMEI G | 2661 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | 33d | Pending | May 14, 2024 |
| 18646910 | METHOD FOR RECYCLING LITHIUM-ION SECONDARY BATTERY | MATHEW, ISWARYA | 1788 | §103Other | Final Rejection | 14d | Pending | Apr 26, 2024 |
| 18636352 | CERAMIC HEATER | TRAN, THIEN S | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 16, 2024 |
| 18635191 | HONEYCOMB FILTER | OMORI, MARY I | 1784 | §103 | Final Rejection | 2d overdue | Pending | Apr 15, 2024 |
| 18602459 | SENSOR ELEMENT | GAMBLE JR, RANDALL LEE | 1795 | §112 | Non-Final OA | 5d overdue | Pending | Mar 12, 2024 |
| 18602469 | SENSOR ELEMENT | GAMBLE JR, RANDALL LEE | 1795 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 5d overdue | Pending | Mar 12, 2024 |
| 18601127 | CERAMIC HEATER | LEE JR, WOODY A | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 11, 2024 |
| 18601197 | METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING CIRCUIT BOARD ASSEMBLY | STONER, KILEY SHAWN | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 11, 2024 |
| 18601093 | HEATER ELEMENT ASSEMBLY | NGUYEN, PHUONG T | — | §103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 11, 2024 |
| 18581539 | HONEYCOMB STRUCTURE FOR HEAT EXCHANGER AND HEAT EXCHANGER | TRAN, LEN | 3763 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 20, 2024 |
| 18442280 | REMOTE MONITORING SYSTEM AND MAINTENANCE METHOD FOR ITEM AND/OR BATTERY | MERSHON, JAYNE L | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 15, 2024 |
| 18579103 | ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE | AMPONSAH, OSEI K | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 12, 2024 |
| 18411685 | ELECTRICALLY HEATED CATALYST SYSTEM | TRAN, BINH Q | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 12, 2024 |
| 18410216 | SiC SINGLE CRYSTAL SUBSTRATE AND PRODUCTION METHOD THEREFOR | SONG, MATTHEW J | 1714 | §103 | Final Rejection | 28d | Pending | Jan 11, 2024 |
| 18410122 | DRYING DEVICE | GRAVINI, STEPHEN MICHAEL | — | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 11, 2024 |
| 18407526 | HEAT EXCHANGER | TRAN, LEN | 3763 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 09, 2024 |
| 18390114 | METHOD OF REGENERATING ACID GAS ADSORPTION DEVICE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING ACID GAS ADSORPTION DEVICE | MCCLAIN, STARFARI TESHAWN | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 20, 2023 |
| 18529030 | HEATER ELEMENT FOR VEHICLE AIR CONDITIONING | ECKARDT, ADAM MICHAEL | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 05, 2023 |
| 18527771 | HEATER ELEMENT, HEATER UNIT, AND HEATER SYSTEM FOR HEATING VEHICLE INTERIOR | CHOU, JIMMY | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 04, 2023 |
| 18524770 | METHOD OF MANUFACTURING BONDED SUBSTRATE, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING CIRCUIT SUBSTRATE, AND CIRCUIT SUBSTRATE | MAIGA, SIDI MOHAMED | 2847 | §103 | Final Rejection | 60d overdue | Pending | Nov 30, 2023 |
| 18524808 | NICKEL ZINC SECONDARY BATTERY | BROWN, SANDRA LASHAUN | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 30, 2023 |
| 18520655 | LAYERED DOUBLE HYDROXIDE, METHOD FOR PRODUCING LAYERED DOUBLE HYDROXIDE, AIR ELECTRODE, AND METAL-AIR SECONDARY BATTERY | TAN, ESTHER JIESI | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 28, 2023 |
| 18508510 | HEATER ELEMENT AND VEHICLE INTERIOR PURIFICATION SYSTEM | HE, QIANPING | 1776 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 14, 2023 |
| 18474322 | REACTOR | KUYKENDALL, ALYSSA LEE | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 26, 2023 |
| 18474352 | REACTOR MODULE, LIQUID FUEL SYNTHESIS METHOD, SEPARATION MEMBRANE MODULE, AND SEPARATION METHOD | VALENCIA, JUAN C | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 26, 2023 |
| 18472490 | ZINC SECONDARY BATTERY | DAULTON, CHRISTINA RENEE | 1729 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Sep 22, 2023 |
| 18467809 | HONEYCOMB STRUCTURE, INDUCTION HEATING DEVICE AND HONEYCOMB UNIT | VAN, QUANG T | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 15, 2023 |
| 18466145 | SEPARATION MEMBRANE COMPLEX AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SEPARATION MEMBRANE COMPLEX | PATEL, PRANAV N | 1777 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 13, 2023 |
| 18449019 | AIR ELECTRODE/SEPARATOR ASSEMBLY AND METAL-AIR SECONDARY BATTERY | LIANG, JACKIE | 1726 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 14, 2023 |
| 18361954 | COMPOSITE SUBSTRATE, SURFACE ACOUSTIC WAVE ELEMENT, AND METHOD OF PRODUCING COMPOSITE SUBSTRATE | GORDON, BRYAN P | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 31, 2023 |
| 18354123 | METHANE PRODUCTION SYSTEM AND METHANE PRODUCTION METHOD | MENDEZ, ZULMARIAM | 1794 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 18, 2023 |
| 18354185 | METHANE PRODUCTION SYSTEM | PARENT, ALEXANDER RENE | — | §102§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 18, 2023 |
| 18352377 | MEMBRANE HEAT TREATMENT METHOD | HUANG, RYAN | 1777 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 14, 2023 |
| 18350080 | METHOD FOR RECYCLING LITHIUM-ION SECONDARY BATTERY | MATHEW, ISWARYA | 1788 | §103Other | Final Rejection | 14d | Pending | Jul 11, 2023 |
| 18349345 | HEATER ELEMENT FOR HEATING VEHICLE CABIN, HEATER UNIT, HEATER SYSTEM, AND HEATER ELEMENT FOR PURIFYING VEHICLE CABIN | NGUYEN, VY T | 3761 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 10, 2023 |
| 18194684 | NEGATIVE ELECTRODE AND ZINC SECONDARY BATTERY | DARBY, BRENDON CHARLES | 1749 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 03, 2023 |
| 18180231 | LDH-LIKE COMPOUND SEPARATOR AND SECONDARY ZINC BATTERY | HARRIS, MARY GRACE | 1729 | §112DP | Non-Final OA | 81d overdue | Pending | Mar 08, 2023 |
| 18168032 | WAFER PLACEMENT TABLE | SNYDER, ALAN W | 3722 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 13, 2023 |
| 18167176 | LDH-LIKE COMPOUND SEPARATOR AND ZINC SECONDARY BATTERY | ESSEX, STEPHAN J | 1727 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 10, 2023 |
| 18164824 | FEEDER MEMBER AND WAFER PLACEMENT TABLE | SREEVATSA, SREEYA | 2838 | DP | Non-Final OA | 15d overdue | Pending | Feb 06, 2023 |
| 18147251 | REFINING METHOD | HAVLIN, ROBERT H | 1626 | §102§103§112Other | Final Rejection | 29d overdue | Pending | Dec 28, 2022 |
| 18058490 | GAS SENSOR AND SENSOR ELEMENT | OSMAN, SOMMER YOUSEF | 1794 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 23, 2022 |
| 18048967 | MEMBER FOR SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING APPARATUS | GATES, ERIC ANDREW | 3722 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 24, 2022 |
| 18045485 | SEPARATION MEMBRANE MODULE | MENON, KRISHNAN S | 1777 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 11, 2022 |
| 17950631 | SENSOR ELEMENT | GAMBLE JR, RANDALL LEE | 1795 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Sep 22, 2022 |
| 17817682 | HEATER ELEMENT FOR HEATING VEHICLE INTERIOR, AND HEATER FOR HEATING VEHICLE INTERIOR | WARD, THOMAS JOHN | 3761 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 34d | Pending | Aug 05, 2022 |
| 17816022 | CERAMIC HEATER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE CERAMIC HEATER | MILLS JR., JOE E | 3761 | §103 | Final Rejection | 42d overdue | Pending | Jul 29, 2022 |
| 17805239 | LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY | NEWELL, ANNA GOULD | 1726 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 03, 2022 |
| 17301773 | CERAMIC HEATER | RHUE, ABIGAIL H | 3761 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Apr 14, 2021 |
| 17186198 | COIN-TYPE SECONDARY CELL | ORTIZ, ARYANA YASMINE | 1751 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 26, 2021 |
| 17132323 | EXTRUSION MOLDING MACHINE, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING MOLDED BODY | LEYSON, JOSEPH S | 1744 | §103 | Final Rejection | 33d | Pending | Dec 23, 2020 |
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