Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Chemistry & Materials • Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems
23 pending office actions • 8 art units • 14 examiners • 0 of 23 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 36 patents granted in the last 365 days
NTN Corporation operates within the Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems technology area with a total of 24 pending office actions. These 24 pending office actions are distributed across 8 distinct art units. This distribution shows that the number of pending actions is higher than the number of 8 distinct art units involved in the prosecution process. The company interacts with 15 distinct examiners to manage these filings.
The busiest examiner identified in the data is PILKINGTON, JAMES, who is currently handling 6 busiest examiner pending office actions. These 6 busiest examiner pending office actions are a subset of the total pending office actions currently active for the company. The 15 distinct examiners assigned to the portfolio are more numerous than the 8 distinct art units where the cases are being reviewed. This indicates that many art units contain multiple examiners working on the company's matters.
Practitioners should note that PILKINGTON, JAMES manages 6 busiest examiner pending office actions, while the other actions are spread among the other distinct examiners. The Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems technology area serves as the primary classification for this work. With 15 distinct examiners, the portfolio shows engagement with the patent office staff across the various art units identified in the data.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 9 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. 9 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 + other | 2 (9%) |
| §103 only | 10 (43%) |
| §112 only | 2 (9%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 9 (39%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| PILKINGTON, JAMES | 6 | 70.2% | +35.7% |
| WAITS, ALAN B | 4 | 68.8% | +29.8% |
| NGUYEN, AIMEE TRAN | 2 | 78.8% | +16.8% |
| SHEIKH, ASFAND M | 1 | 46.1% | +48.3% |
| OMORI, MARY I | 1 | 50.9% | +57.3% |
| ALDAZ CERVANTES, MAYELA RENATA | 1 | 70.0% | +39.4% |
| COLGAN, LAUREN ROBINSON | 1 | 69.9% | +16.1% |
| BELLINGER, JASON R | 1 | 70.0% | +18.7% |
| COMINO, EVA L | 1 | 70.4% | +32.3% |
| RIVERA VARGAS, MANUEL A | 1 | 81.1% | +11.9% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18872695 | Controller, Terminal Device, Management System, and Management Method | SHEIKH, ASFAND M | 16d overdue |
| 18263822 | VIBRATION ANALYSIS APPARATUS AND VIBRATION ANALYSIS SYSTEM | RIVERA VARGAS, MANUEL A | 5d overdue |
| 18871307 | ROLLING BEARING | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 7d |
| 19228089 | BALL BEARING | WAITS, ALAN B | — |
| 19120094 | BEARING DEVICE AND SPINDLE DEVICE WITH BEARING DEVICE | PILKINGTON, JAMES | — |
| 19169324 | ROLLING BEARING | PILKINGTON, JAMES | — |
| 19111176 | BEARING WITH SENSOR | NGUYEN, AIMEE TRAN | — |
| 18975363 | TAPERED ROLLER BEARING | PILKINGTON, JAMES | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18283200 | SEALED ROLLING BEARING | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 23d overdue |
| 18872695 | Controller, Terminal Device, Management System, and Management Method | SHEIKH, ASFAND M | 16d overdue |
| 18263822 | VIBRATION ANALYSIS APPARATUS AND VIBRATION ANALYSIS SYSTEM | RIVERA VARGAS, MANUEL A | 5d overdue |
| 18851394 | CAGE AND DEEP GROOVE BALL BEARING | NGUYEN, AIMEE TRAN | 5d |
| 18871307 | ROLLING BEARING | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 7d |
| 18576960 | BEARING DEVICE FOR VEHICLE WHEEL | BELLINGER, JASON R | 27d |
| 19228089 | BALL BEARING | WAITS, ALAN B | — |
| 19120094 | BEARING DEVICE AND SPINDLE DEVICE WITH BEARING DEVICE | PILKINGTON, JAMES | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3617 | 9 |
| 3615 | 2 |
| 1717 | 2 |
| 3626 | 1 |
| 1784 | 1 |
| 2857 | 1 |
| 1731 | 1 |
| 1771 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19228089 | BALL BEARING | WAITS, ALAN B | — | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 04, 2025 |
| 19120094 | BEARING DEVICE AND SPINDLE DEVICE WITH BEARING DEVICE | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 3617 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 10, 2025 |
| 19169324 | ROLLING BEARING | PILKINGTON, JAMES | — | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 03, 2025 |
| 19111176 | BEARING WITH SENSOR | NGUYEN, AIMEE TRAN | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 12, 2025 |
| 19106376 | SHELL TYPE NEEDLE ROLLER BEARING | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 3617 | §112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Feb 25, 2025 |
| 18995525 | BEARING DEVICE FOR VEHICLE WHEEL | WAITS, ALAN B | 3617 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2025 |
| 18975363 | TAPERED ROLLER BEARING | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 3617 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 10, 2024 |
| 18872695 | Controller, Terminal Device, Management System, and Management Method | SHEIKH, ASFAND M | 3626 | §101§103 | Final Rejection | 16d overdue | Pending | Dec 06, 2024 |
| 18871307 | ROLLING BEARING | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 3617 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 7d | Pending | Dec 03, 2024 |
| 18864781 | HARD FILM FORMED BODY, MACHINE COMPONENT, AND BEARING | OMORI, MARY I | 1784 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 11, 2024 |
| 18859832 | BALL BEARING | WAITS, ALAN B | 3617 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 24, 2024 |
| 18851394 | CAGE AND DEEP GROOVE BALL BEARING | NGUYEN, AIMEE TRAN | 3617 | §103 | Final Rejection | 5d | Pending | Sep 26, 2024 |
| 18283200 | SEALED ROLLING BEARING | PILKINGTON, JAMES | 3617 | §103 | Final Rejection | 23d overdue | Pending | Aug 15, 2024 |
| 18696036 | MECHANICAL COMPONENT AND ROLLING BEARING | ALDAZ CERVANTES, MAYELA RENATA | — | §112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 27, 2024 |
| 18684815 | SILICON NITRIDE SINTERED BODY, MACHINE PART, AND BEARING | COLGAN, LAUREN ROBINSON | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 19, 2024 |
| 18576960 | BEARING DEVICE FOR VEHICLE WHEEL | BELLINGER, JASON R | 3615 | §103 | Final Rejection | 27d | Pending | Jan 05, 2024 |
| 18403126 | CLAMPING RING AND BEARING UNIT COMPRISING THE RING | WAITS, ALAN B | 3617 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 03, 2024 |
| 18281609 | WHEEL BEARING DEVICE | COMINO, EVA L | 3615 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 12, 2023 |
| 18263822 | VIBRATION ANALYSIS APPARATUS AND VIBRATION ANALYSIS SYSTEM | RIVERA VARGAS, MANUEL A | 2857 | §101§103 | Final Rejection | 5d overdue | Pending | Aug 01, 2023 |
| 18263738 | APPLICATION MECHANISM AND APPLICATION APPARATUS | PENCE, JETHRO M | 1717 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Aug 01, 2023 |
| 18022163 | SILICON NITRIDE SINTERED BODY, ROLLING ELEMENT USING THE SAME, AND BEARING | ABU ALI, SHUANGYI | 1731 | §103 | Final Rejection | 16d overdue | Pending | Feb 19, 2023 |
| 17910737 | LIQUID MATERIAL APPLICATION UNIT, LIQUID MATERIAL APPLICATION DEVICE, AND LIQUID MATERIAL APPLICATION METHOD | KITT, STEPHEN A | 1717 | §103 | Final Rejection | 54d | Pending | Sep 09, 2022 |
| 17794250 | GREASE COMPOSITION AND GREASE-SEALED BEARING | OLADAPO, TAIWO | 1771 | §103 | Final Rejection | 5d overdue | Pending | Jul 20, 2022 |
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