Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
165 pending office actions • 47 art units • 107 examiners • 0 of 165 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 316 patents granted in the last 365 days
Olympus Corporation manages a large portfolio with 159 pending office actions in the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. These 159 pending office actions are spread across 105 distinct examiners and 33 distinct art units. The 33 distinct art units reflect the technical range of the company's medical and mechanical innovations, requiring engagement with many different USPTO divisions. This diversity of 105 distinct examiners indicates that the company's prosecution outcomes are subject to a broad array of individual examiner perspectives. This breadth of examiners requires a robust strategy to maintain consistency across the portfolio.
LUU, TIMOTHY TUAN is the busiest examiner for Olympus, currently managing 7 pending office actions. This is a small concentration given the 159 total pending office actions, as the workload is distributed among many different individuals. This distribution requires a highly coordinated prosecution strategy to maintain consistency across the 33 distinct art units involved in reviewing the company's medical devices. With 105 distinct examiners, the company must navigate a wide variety of procedural approaches to secure its intellectual property. Practitioners should monitor the specific requirements of the 33 distinct art units to ensure a unified approach.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 52 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. 52 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 | 1 (1%) |
| §101 + other | 9 (5%) |
| §103 only | 51 (31%) |
| §102 only | 8 (5%) |
| §112 only | 6 (4%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 8 (5%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 80 (48%) |
| No statute on record | 2 (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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| LUU, TIMOTHY TUAN | 7 | 47.9% | +40.6% |
| BOCK, ABIGAIL MARIE | 6 | 91.0% | +7.3% |
| ABBASI, ABDUL HADI | 6 | 0.0% | +0.0% |
| SHARPLESS, CHRISTEN ALICIA | 5 | 50.4% | +27.2% |
| BOICE, JAMES EDWARD | 5 | 75.7% | +9.9% |
| BARKER, DAYTON HYUN JIN | 4 | 71.4% | +40.0% |
| LANCASTER, LINDSAY REGAN | 4 | 53.3% | +21.5% |
| FLANAGAN, BEVERLY MEINDL | 4 | 73.2% | +20.5% |
| GEIGER, RACHAEL L | 3 | 82.3% | +18.3% |
| HENDERSON, RYAN N | 3 | 64.0% | +18.6% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18411596 | BENDABLE CLIP DEVICE | GEIGER, RACHAEL L | 14d |
| 18540534 | METHOD FOR OPERATING AN ELECTRO SURGICAL GENERATOR | BOCK, ABIGAIL MARIE | 15d |
| 18928294 | TREATMENT DEVICE | BOCK, ABIGAIL MARIE | — |
| 19072516 | CARTRIDGE SYSTEM | GEIGER, RACHAEL L | — |
| 18541886 | ELECTRO SURGICAL GENERATOR FOR FEEDING AND CONTROLLING ELECTRO SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS | BOCK, ABIGAIL MARIE | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18392000 | ELECTROSURGICAL GENERATOR HAVING A MODULAR OUTPUT SOCKET | FLANAGAN, BEVERLY MEINDL | 91d overdue |
| 18213394 | METHOD FOR TREATING RHINOSINUSITIS | BOICE, JAMES EDWARD | 51d overdue |
| 18762807 | BILE DUCT/PANCREATIC DUCT TREATMENT METHOD AND ENDOSCOPIC INSTRUMENT | SONG, LI-TING | 44d overdue |
| 18533826 | MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING CONTACT STATE | FLANAGAN, BEVERLY MEINDL | 28d overdue |
| 18738973 | HAND SURGICAL INSTRUMENT AND BRIDGE FOR A HANDHELD SURGICAL INSTRUMENT | ABBASI, ABDUL HADI | 23d overdue |
| 18742467 | ELECTRODE FOR AN ELECTROSURGICAL HANDHELD INSTRUMENT | TEMPLETON, MARINA DELANEY | 15d overdue |
| 18176030 | ULTRASONIC TREATMENT TOOL | MILLER, SERENITY A | 10d overdue |
| 18408980 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING FLUORESCENT IMAGE GUIDED SURGICAL OR DIAGNOSTICS IMAGERY | OAKES, JUSTIN MONTGOMERY | 10d overdue |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18392000 | ELECTROSURGICAL GENERATOR HAVING A MODULAR OUTPUT SOCKET | FLANAGAN, BEVERLY MEINDL | 91d overdue |
| 17677044 | ELECTROSURGICAL HANDHELD DEVICE, AND CONTACT BODY FOR AN ELECTROSURGICAL HANDHELD DEVICE | LANCASTER, LINDSAY REGAN | 43d overdue |
| 18533826 | MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING CONTACT STATE | FLANAGAN, BEVERLY MEINDL | 28d overdue |
| 18411596 | BENDABLE CLIP DEVICE | GEIGER, RACHAEL L | 14d |
| 18460102 | ESTIMATION METHOD AND ESTIMATION DEVICE | FLANAGAN, BEVERLY MEINDL | 16d |
| 17954683 | ENDOSCOPE | LUU, TIMOTHY TUAN | 23d |
| 18796848 | IMAGE PICKUP UNIT AND ENDOSCOPE | BARKER, DAYTON HYUN JIN | 28d |
| 17719687 | ELECTRODE INSTRUMENT, SURGICAL HANDHELD DEVICE, AND THEIR PRODUCTION METHODS | LANCASTER, LINDSAY REGAN | 34d |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3795 | 51 |
| 3794 | 34 |
| 3771 | 18 |
| 3797 | 6 |
| 3798 | 3 |
| 3799 | 3 |
| 2667 | 2 |
| 2676 | 2 |
| 3792 | 2 |
| 3774 | 2 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19307683 | IMAGE GUIDANCE DURING CANNULATION | ROBINSON, NICHOLAS A | 3798 | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 22, 2025 |
| 19244199 | CLIP UNIT, MEDICAL INSTRUMENT, AND ATTACHING METHOD OF MEDICAL INSTRUMENT | FISHBACK, ASHLEY LAUREN | 3771 | §102§103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 20, 2025 |
| 19232961 | NEEDLE HOLDER FOR ENDOSCOPE AND OPERATING METHOD OF SUTURE NEEDLE | GEIGER, RACHAEL L | 3771 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 10, 2025 |
| 19216297 | HEAT INVASION OBSERVATION APPARATUS, ENDOSCOPE SYSTEM, HEAT INVASION OBSERVATION SYSTEM, AND HEAT INVASION OBSERVATION METHOD | SABOKTAKIN, MARJAN | 3797 | §101§102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 22, 2025 |
| 19189555 | INSERTION DEVICE HAVING OPERATION LEVER MORE EASILY BENDABLE IN PREDETERMINED DIRECTION AND OPERATION PORTION OF INSERTION DEVICE | BOLER, RYNAE E | 3795 | §102Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 25, 2025 |
| 19183127 | DRIVE DEVICE | GIBSON, ERIC SHANE | 3775 | Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 18, 2025 |
| 19179308 | ENDOSCOPE SYSTEM AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD | WOO, JAE KYUN | 3795 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 15, 2025 |
| 19175235 | LIGATION DEVICE AND ENGAGEMENT METHOD | HOLLM, JONATHAN ADAM | 3771 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Apr 10, 2025 |
| 19074725 | MEDICAL MANIPULATOR AND MEDICAL MANIPULATOR | COOK, WILLIAM J | 3618 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 10, 2025 |
| 19074787 | MEDICAL MANIPULATOR AND MEDICAL MANIPULATOR SYSTEM | BARKER, DAYTON HYUN JIN | 3795 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 10, 2025 |
| 19074748 | MEDICAL MANIPULATOR AND MEDICAL MANIPULATOR SYSTEM | HENDERSON, RYAN N | 3795 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 10, 2025 |
| 19074766 | MEDICAL MANIPULATOR AND MEDICAL MANIPULATOR SYSTEM | BARKER, DAYTON HYUN JIN | 3795 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 10, 2025 |
| 19072279 | ENDOSCOPE CONTROL DEVICE, METHOD OF CHANGING WAVELENGTH CHARACTERISTICS OF ILLUMINATION LIGHT, AND INFORMATION STORAGE MEDIUM | WOO, JAE KYUN | 3795 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 06, 2025 |
| 19069448 | MEDICAL SYSTEM AND SUTURE DEVICE | HOAG, MITCHELL BRAIN | 3771 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 04, 2025 |
| 19057350 | ULTRASOUND PROBE AND ULTRASOUND ENDOSCOPE | LY, TOMMY TAI | 3797 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 15d | Pending | Feb 19, 2025 |
| 19057268 | ENDOSCOPIC IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, ENDOSCOPIC IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM | FAIRCHILD, AARON BENJAMIN | 3795 | §101§102§103§112DPOther | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 19, 2025 |
| 19056092 | ENDOSCOPE CLIP | RIVERS, LINDSEY RAE | 3771 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 18, 2025 |
| 19037840 | MEDICAL DEVICE, APPLICATOR, AND CLIP UNIT | DANG, PHONG SON H | 3771 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 27, 2025 |
| 19019910 | MEDICAL SYSTEM, ENERGY CONTROL METHOD, AND PROCESSOR | WU, PAMELA F | 3795 | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 14, 2025 |
| 19015608 | ENDOSCOPE TREATMENT TOOL | LANCASTER, LINDSAY REGAN | 3794 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 09, 2025 |
| 19002042 | ENDOSCOPIC TREATMENT METHOD | RHODES, NORA W | 3794 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 26, 2024 |
| 18971221 | ENDOSCOPE APPARATUS AND METHOD OF OPERATING ENDOSCOPE APPARATUS | HENDERSON, RYAN N | 3795 | §102DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 06, 2024 |
| 18969586 | INFORMATION ASSISTANCE DEVICE, ENDOSCOPE SYSTEM, INFORMATION ASSISTANCE METHOD, AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM | VAZ, JANICE EZVI | 2667 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 05, 2024 |
| 18968141 | GAS FEEDING APPARATUS, SUPPLY METHOD AND GAS FEEDING SYSTEM | HUYNH, AN SON PHI | 3795 | §102DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 04, 2024 |
| 18960364 | MEDICAL SYSTEM, CONTROL SYSTEM, AND WATER SUPPLY CONTROL METHOD | MONAHAN, MEGAN ELIZABETH | 3795 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 26, 2024 |
| 18953478 | IMAGE RECORDING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM | FLORES, LEON | 2676 | §101DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 20, 2024 |
| 18952311 | ENDOSCOPE BENDING PORTION AND ENDOSCOPE | HUYNH, AN SON PHI | 3795 | §102DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 19, 2024 |
| 18928575 | ENDOSCOPE, GROUNDING METHOD AND METHOD FOR GROUNDING DISTAL END PORTION OF ENDOSCOPE | EGOAVIL, GUILLERMO J | 2847 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 28, 2024 |
| 18928294 | TREATMENT DEVICE | BOCK, ABIGAIL MARIE | 3794 | §102§103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 28, 2024 |
| 18911552 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, ENDOSCOPE SYSTEM, AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD | RHIM, WOO CHUL | 2676 | §102§103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 10, 2024 |
| 18894685 | MEDICAL DEVICE REPAIR SUPPORT | BARR, MARY EVANGELINE | 3682 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 56d | Pending | Sep 24, 2024 |
| 18812037 | TREATMENT INSTRUMENT WITH VIBRATION GENERATING DEVICE | RABAGLIA, BRIDGET ELIZABETH | 3771 | §102§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Aug 22, 2024 |
| 18765980 | PUNCTURE NEEDLE AND METHOD OF USING GUIDE WIRE | DEAK, LESLIE R | 3799 | §101DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 08, 2024 |
| 18762807 | BILE DUCT/PANCREATIC DUCT TREATMENT METHOD AND ENDOSCOPIC INSTRUMENT | SONG, LI-TING | 3795 | §102§112 | Final Rejection | 44d overdue | Pending | Jul 03, 2024 |
| 18760417 | STENT DELIVERY DEVICE, STENT DELIVERY SYSTEM, AND METHOD | DUBOSE, LAUREN | 3771 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 01, 2024 |
| 18738750 | ENDOSCOPE SYSTEM | GHIMIRE, SHANKAR RAJ | 3795 | §102§112 | Final Rejection | 30d | Pending | Jun 10, 2024 |
| 18612092 | INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, MEDICAL SYSTEM, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD | BHATNAGAR, ANAND P | 2668 | §102§103Other | Final Rejection | 3d overdue | Pending | Mar 21, 2024 |
| 18585401 | MOLD FOR AN OPTICAL ELEMENT | SNELTING, ERIN LYNN | 1741 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Feb 23, 2024 |
| 18533826 | MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING CONTACT STATE | FLANAGAN, BEVERLY MEINDL | 3794 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 28d overdue | Pending | Dec 08, 2023 |
| 18386047 | TREATMENT TOOL GENERATOR, TREATMENT SYSTEM, CONTROL METHOD, AND TREATMENT METHOD | BLAISE, BRADFORD CHRISTOPHER | 3794 | §103 | Final Rejection | 22d | Pending | Nov 01, 2023 |
| 18385564 | CONTROL DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD | HUYNH, AN SON PHI | 3795 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 31, 2023 |
| 18200207 | ENDOSCOPE CAP, LIGHT TREATMENT ENDOSCOPE SYSTEM, AND LIGHT TREATMENT METHOD | LUKJAN, SEBASTIAN X | 3792 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 40d | Pending | May 22, 2023 |
| 18196508 | STENT DELIVERY SYSTEM AND STENT DELIVERY METHOD | VARGAS MONTALVO, DIXOMARA | 3774 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 12, 2023 |
| 18313689 | WIRE PUNCTURE OF STRICTURE FOR PANCREATICOBILIARY ACCESS | SHOULDERS, ANNIE LEE | 3794 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 9d | Pending | May 08, 2023 |
| 18295441 | VIBRATION TRANSMISSION MEMBER AND TREATMENT TOOL | MENDEZ, KATHERINE H | 3771 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 04, 2023 |
| 18176030 | ULTRASONIC TREATMENT TOOL | MILLER, SERENITY A | 3771 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | 10d overdue | Pending | Feb 28, 2023 |
| 18096097 | MANAGEMENT DEVICE, EXAMINATION IMAGE EVALUATION METHOD, AND MEDICAL SYSTEM | GEBRESLASSIE, WINTA | 2677 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 26d | Pending | Jan 12, 2023 |
| 17989146 | MEDICAL SYSTEM AND CANNULATION METHOD | STARKEY, OLIVIA GRACE | 3795 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 29d | Pending | Nov 17, 2022 |
| 17989126 | MEDICAL SYSTEM AND CANNULATION METHOD | STARKEY, OLIVIA GRACE | 3795 | §101§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Nov 17, 2022 |
| 17969128 | ENDOSCOPE SYSTEM AND CONTROLLER | LUU, TIMOTHY TUAN | 3795 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 19, 2022 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free TrialOlympus Corporation has 165 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 47 art units and 107 examiners.
Timothy Tuan Luu has the most, with 7 of Olympus Corporation's pending office actions.
Mostly Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering (USPTO Tech Center 3700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.