Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
2 pending office actions • 1 art units • 2 examiners • 0 of 2 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 5 patents granted in the last 365 days
Nibco Inc. has 2 pending office actions within the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering sector. These actions are split between 2 distinct examiners, including REID, MICHAEL ROBERT, who is the busiest examiner with 1 pending action. All prosecution activity occurs within 1 distinct art unit, providing a centralized technical environment for these 2 pending actions despite the involvement of 2 different examiners.
The presence of 2 distinct examiners for 2 pending actions means that each examiner is currently reviewing 1 case. Because the company is working within 1 distinct art unit, they can apply a uniform technical approach even when communicating with different individuals. This structure requires the applicant to balance the specific feedback from REID, MICHAEL ROBERT with the requirements of the other examiner, all while adhering to the guidelines of the 1 distinct art unit involved.
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 |
|---|---|
| §112 only | 1 (50%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 1 (50%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| REID, MICHAEL ROBERT | 1 | 78.9% | +19.7% |
| AFZALI, SARANG | 1 | 73.4% | +44.6% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 1 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18768310 | PIPING COMPONENT AND SEALING ELEMENT FOR INSERTION THEREIN | AFZALI, SARANG | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18809411 | WATER HEATER DRAIN VALVE | REID, MICHAEL ROBERT | — |
| 18768310 | PIPING COMPONENT AND SEALING ELEMENT FOR INSERTION THEREIN | AFZALI, SARANG | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3753 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18809411 | WATER HEATER DRAIN VALVE | REID, MICHAEL ROBERT | 3753 | §112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Aug 20, 2024 |
| 18768310 | PIPING COMPONENT AND SEALING ELEMENT FOR INSERTION THEREIN | AFZALI, SARANG | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 10, 2024 |
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