Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Communications • Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics
122 pending office actions • 53 art units • 99 examiners • 1 of 122 (1%) have an AI response strategy ready • 120 patents granted in the last 365 days
NIKON Corporation maintains 126 pending office actions within the Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics technology area. These actions are distributed among 45 distinct art units, showing a broad presence in these technical fields. The company works with 106 distinct examiners, creating a scenario where many examiners handle only one or two applications for the firm.
Darryl J. Collins is the busiest examiner for the portfolio, currently overseeing 5 pending office actions. While Collins has the highest individual count, the 106 distinct examiners involved across the 126 actions indicate a significant diversity in the prosecution environment. This volume of 126 pending actions across 45 distinct art units suggests a consistent filing strategy in specific technological domains. Practitioners can anticipate a wide range of examiner interactions while navigating the norms of these 45 art units.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 26 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. 26 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 |
|---|---|
| §101 only | 16 (13%) |
| §101 + other | 6 (5%) |
| §103 only | 26 (21%) |
| §102 only | 18 (15%) |
| §112 only | 1 (1%) |
| Double-patenting only | 5 (4%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 7 (6%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 42 (34%) |
| No statute on record | 1 (1%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| COLLINS, DARRYL J | 5 | 89.1% | +5.0% |
| CUTLER, ALBERT H | 4 | 79.4% | +21.1% |
| SELBY, GEVELL V | 3 | 90.4% | +4.9% |
| BERHAN, AHMED A | 2 | 87.6% | +11.4% |
| SIPES, JOHN CURTIS | 2 | 77.8% | +19.4% |
| BERARDESCA, PAUL M | 2 | 79.4% | +17.0% |
| YODER III, CHRISS S | 2 | 75.2% | +21.7% |
| RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A | 2 | 81.0% | +13.8% |
| HANCOCK, DIANA ROBERT | 2 | 81.3% | +6.0% |
| LIU, SHAN | 2 | 72.3% | +39.3% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 5 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19026324 | VARIABLE MAGNIFICATION OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING VARIABLE MAGNIFICATION OPTICAL SYSTEM | COLLINS, DARRYL J | — |
| 18958813 | ZOOM OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE ZOOM OPTICAL SYSTEM | COLLINS, DARRYL J | — |
| 18924454 | CAMERA ACCESSORY | HANCOCK, DIANA ROBERT | — |
| 18891529 | VARIABLE MAGNIFICATION OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING VARIABLE MAGNIFICATION OPTICAL SYSTEM | COLLINS, DARRYL J | — |
| 18886111 | ZOOM OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE ZOOM OPTICAL SYSTEM | COLLINS, DARRYL J | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18635376 | FOCUS ADJUSTMENT APPARATUS, IMAGING APPARATUS AND LENS BARREL | PHAN, MINH Q | 89d overdue |
| 18027825 | OPERATION METHOD AND OPERATION DEVICE FOR LIVING BODY | BOWERS, NATHAN ANDREW | 77d overdue |
| 18276028 | ZOOM OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE ZOOM OPTICAL SYSTEM | SAHLE, MAHIDERE S | 46d overdue |
| 18938676 | ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, AND CONTROL PROGRAM | JERABEK, KELLY L | 43d overdue |
| 18780663 | EXPOSURE METHOD, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, EXPOSURE DEVICE, AND EXPOSURE SYSTEM | KIM, PETER B | 38d overdue |
| 17311331 | OPTICAL DEVICE, PROGRAM, CONTROL DEVICE, AND IMAGING SYSTEM | SRIDHAR, SAMANVITHA | 3d overdue |
| 17814255 | APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING THREE DIMENSIONAL SHAPED OBJECT, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING STRUCTURE | WANG, ALEXANDER A | 5d |
| 18618703 | MAGNIFICATION-VARIABLE OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING MAGNIFICATION-VARIABLE OPTICAL SYSTEM | NGUYEN, THONG Q | 6d |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18413408 | ZOOM LENS, OPTICAL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE ZOOM LENS | SIPES, JOHN CURTIS | 44d overdue |
| 19309868 | ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, AND CONTROL PROGRAM | BERHAN, AHMED A | — |
| 19259464 | IMAGE SENSOR | CUTLER, ALBERT H | — |
| 19245665 | OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING OPTICAL SYSTEM | SIPES, JOHN CURTIS | — |
| 19208893 | ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, REPRODUCTION DEVICE, REPRODUCTION METHOD, RECORDING MEDIUM, AND RECORDING METHOD | BERHAN, AHMED A | — |
| 19176255 | ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, CAMERA, AND PROGRAM | BERARDESCA, PAUL M | — |
| 19093602 | IMAGE-CAPTURING DEVICE AND IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE | YODER III, CHRISS S | — |
| 19026876 | IMAGE SENSOR ELEMENT AND IMAGING DEVICE | CUTLER, ALBERT H | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 2872 | 20 |
| 2639 | 9 |
| 2637 | 8 |
| 2638 | 6 |
| 3761 | 6 |
| 2882 | 5 |
| 2871 | 5 |
| 2877 | 4 |
| 2484 | 3 |
| 2852 | 3 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19388350 | INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE | TZENG, FRED | 2625 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 13, 2025 |
| 19309868 | ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, AND CONTROL PROGRAM | BERHAN, AHMED A | 2639 | §101Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 26, 2025 |
| 19310298 | MICROSCOPE, OBSERVATION METHOD, AND PROGRAM | NGUYEN, KATHLEEN V | 2486 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 26, 2025 |
| 19297734 | IMAGING DEVICE INCLUDING AN IMAGING ELEMENT, A MOUNT, AND MEMBERS | CALDERON, CYNTHIA | 2639 | §102Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 12, 2025 |
| 19291119 | IMAGE SENSOR AND IMAGE CAPTURING DEVICE | ALJUNDI, MOUHAMMAD AWNI | 2639 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 05, 2025 |
| 19261368 | IMAGING DEVICE | ZHAO, DAQUAN | 2484 | §103Other | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 07, 2025 |
| 19259464 | IMAGE SENSOR | CUTLER, ALBERT H | 2637 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 03, 2025 |
| 19259839 | IMAGE CAPTURE DEVICE AND VEHICLE | MUNG, ON S | 2486 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 03, 2025 |
| 19245665 | OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING OPTICAL SYSTEM | SIPES, JOHN CURTIS | 2872 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 23, 2025 |
| 19225420 | IMAGE CAPTURING DEVICE, IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND DISPLAY DEVICE FOR SETTING DIFFERENT EXPOSURE CONDITIONS | SELBY, GEVELL V | 2638 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 02, 2025 |
| 19223150 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE | HUNTER, MISHAWN N | 2484 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 30, 2025 |
| 19220961 | QUANTITATIVE PHASE IMAGE GENERATING METHOD, QUANTITATIVE PHASE IMAGE GENERATING DEVICE, AND PROGRAM | AMARA, MOHAMED K | 2877 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 28, 2025 |
| 19208893 | ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, REPRODUCTION DEVICE, REPRODUCTION METHOD, RECORDING MEDIUM, AND RECORDING METHOD | BERHAN, AHMED A | 2639 | §101Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 15, 2025 |
| 18870753 | MEASUREMENT SYSTEM, PROCESSING SYSTEM, MEASUREMENT METHOD, AND PROCESSING METHOD | CAMERON, ATTICUS A | 3658 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 13, 2025 |
| 19177722 | FOCUS DETECTION DEVICE, IMAGING DEVICE, AND INTERCHANGEABLE LENS | SELBY, GEVELL V | 2638 | §101DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 14, 2025 |
| 19176255 | ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, CAMERA, AND PROGRAM | BERARDESCA, PAUL M | 2637 | §102Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 11, 2025 |
| 19170257 | IMAGE SENSOR AND IMAGE-CAPTURING DEVICE | MOREHEAD III, JOHN H | 2639 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 04, 2025 |
| 19169404 | IMAGE SENSOR AND IMAGE-CAPTURING DEVICE | SELBY, GEVELL V | 2638 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 03, 2025 |
| 19169127 | BACKSIDE ILLUMINATION IMAGE SENSOR AND IMAGE-CAPTURING DEVICE | TRAN, NHAN T | — | Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 03, 2025 |
| 19093602 | IMAGE-CAPTURING DEVICE AND IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE | YODER III, CHRISS S | 2638 | §101DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 28, 2025 |
| 19086621 | IMAGE-CAPTURING DEVICE AND IMAGE TRANSMISSION RECORDING SYSTEM | PRABHAKHER, PRITHAM DAVID | 2638 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 21, 2025 |
| 19109189 | LENS BARREL AND IMAGING DEVICE | HANCE, ROBERT J | 3992 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 06, 2025 |
| 19068751 | CONTROL APPARATUS, CONTROL SYSTEM, AND CONTROL PROGRAM | DANIELS, ANTHONY J | 2637 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 03, 2025 |
| 19102468 | DETECTION DEVICE | GARBER, ERIN R | 2878 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 10, 2025 |
| 19026876 | IMAGE SENSOR ELEMENT AND IMAGING DEVICE | CUTLER, ALBERT H | 2637 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 17, 2025 |
| 19027154 | IMAGING ELEMENT AND IMAGING DEVICE | CUTLER, ALBERT H | 2637 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 17, 2025 |
| 19026324 | VARIABLE MAGNIFICATION OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING VARIABLE MAGNIFICATION OPTICAL SYSTEM | COLLINS, DARRYL J | 2872 | §102Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2025 |
| 19021978 | BACKSIDE ILLUMINATION IMAGE SENSOR, MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF AND IMAGE-CAPTURING DEVICE | LAM, HUNG H | 2639 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 15, 2025 |
| 19020215 | VARIABLE MAGNIFICATION OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING VARIABLE MAGNIFICATION OPTICAL SYSTEM | BEATTY, COLLIN X | 2872 | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 14, 2025 |
| 18704673 | IMAGING CONTROL DEVICE, IMAGING DEVICE, AND PROGRAM | LEE, Y YOUNG | 2485 | §102 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 09, 2025 |
| 19011459 | OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING OPTICAL SYSTEM | KING, GEORGE G | 2872 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 06, 2025 |
| 19005395 | VIBRATION CONTROL OF STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS OF EXPOSURE APPARATUS | RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A | 2882 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 30, 2024 |
| 19001817 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMBINING FUNDUS IMAGES OF AN EYE | KRETZER, CASEY L | 2635 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 26, 2024 |
| 18991869 | MICROSCOPE DEVICE AND DATA GENERATION METHOD | CROCKETT, RYAN M | 2878 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 23, 2024 |
| 18981929 | ACCESSORY | HANCOCK, DIANA ROBERT | 2852 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 16, 2024 |
| 18970907 | METROLOGY FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING | STAFIRA, MICHAEL PATRICK | 2877 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 06, 2024 |
| 18965289 | IMAGE DETERMINING DEVICE TO DETERMINE THE STATE OF A SUBJECT | HARANDI, SIAMAK | 2662 | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 02, 2024 |
| 18958813 | ZOOM OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE ZOOM OPTICAL SYSTEM | COLLINS, DARRYL J | 2872 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 25, 2024 |
| 18958265 | IMAGE SENSOR, IMAGE-CAPTURING APPARATUS, AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE | YODER III, CHRISS S | 2638 | §103Other | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Nov 25, 2024 |
| 18952952 | ZOOM OPTICAL SYSTEM, IMAGING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE ZOOM OPTICAL SYSTEM | WILKES, ZACHARY W | 2872 | §102§103§112DPOther | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 19, 2024 |
| 18951505 | ZOOM LENS, OPTICAL APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING ZOOM LENS | PICHLER, MARIN | 2872 | §102§103DPOther | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 18, 2024 |
| 18940650 | ZOOM LENS, OPTICAL APPARATUS, AND A MANUFACTURING METHOD OF THE ZOOM LENS | COLLINS, DARRYL J | 2872 | §101§102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 07, 2024 |
| 18938676 | ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, AND CONTROL PROGRAM | JERABEK, KELLY L | 2699 | §101 | Final Rejection | 43d overdue | Pending | Nov 06, 2024 |
| 18936276 | MAGNIFICATION-VARIABLE OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING MAGNIFICATION-VARIABLE OPTICAL SYSTEM | LIU, SHAN | 2871 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 04, 2024 |
| 18934934 | IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE | LE, MICHAEL | 2614 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 01, 2024 |
| 18933209 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATOR (SLM) FLARE | RIDDLE, CHRISTINA A | 2882 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 31, 2024 |
| 18924454 | CAMERA ACCESSORY | HANCOCK, DIANA ROBERT | 2852 | §112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 23, 2024 |
| 18910779 | IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE, AND PROGRAM | YAO, JULIA ZHI-YI | 2666 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 09, 2024 |
| 18853415 | Flexible Microelectrode Arrays | LEE, DAVINA EN-YIN | 3794 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 02, 2024 |
| 18691055 | PROCESSING SYSTEM | BEHRENS JR., ANDRES E | 1741 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 01, 2024 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free TrialNIKON Corporation has 122 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 53 art units and 99 examiners.
Darryl J Collins has the most, with 5 of NIKON Corporation's pending office actions.
Mostly Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics (USPTO Tech Center 2800), based on where its pending office actions are examined.