Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
10 pending office actions • 1 art units • 8 examiners • 0 of 10 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 3 patents granted in the last 365 days
Ontex Group N.V. currently has 12 pending office actions in the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. These actions are handled by 9 distinct examiners, indicating some overlap in examiner assignments. ANDERSON, CATHARINE L is the busiest examiner for this applicant, managing 2 busiest examiner pending actions. The 12 pending office actions show a focused effort in the medical and mechanical fields.
A striking feature of this portfolio is that all 12 pending office actions are concentrated within 1 distinct art unit. This high level of concentration suggests a very specific technological niche for the company's current filings. Despite being in 1 distinct art unit, the matters are still spread across 9 distinct examiners, requiring the applicant to address 9 different individual styles. Managing 12 pending office actions in 1 distinct art unit allows for a highly specialized prosecution strategy, even with the involvement of 9 distinct examiners.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 2 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.
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 | 5 (50%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 5 (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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| STEPHENS, JACQUELINE F | 2 | 75.6% | +14.8% |
| ARBLE, JESSICA R | 2 | 66.3% | +25.4% |
| ANDERSON, CATHARINE L | 1 | 65.3% | +20.9% |
| BURNETTE, GABRIELLA E | 1 | 54.6% | +32.4% |
| WENG, KAI H | 1 | 70.2% | +17.2% |
| DAKKAK, JIHAD | 1 | 49.3% | +46.0% |
| MENSH, ANDREW J | 1 | 64.3% | +19.2% |
| HAN, SETH | 1 | 59.6% | +28.8% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 5 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18381513 | ABSORBENT ARTICLES AND METHODS OF MAKING | STEPHENS, JACQUELINE F | 31d overdue |
| 19057194 | ABSORBENT ARTICLE WITH IMPROVED ABSORBENT CORE | ANDERSON, CATHARINE L | — |
| 18715854 | ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY ABSORBENT ARTICLE AND PROCESS OF MAKING | WENG, KAI H | — |
| 18639841 | ABSORBENT ARTICLE WITH FUNCTIONAL CORE MATRIX | ARBLE, JESSICA R | — |
| 17624298 | SUBSTRATE, ABSORBENT ARTICLE AND METHOD FOR WETNESS MONITORING | HAN, SETH | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18027434 | ABSORBENT ARTICLE WITH IMPROVED MULTI-LAYERED CORE | ARBLE, JESSICA R | 44d overdue |
| 18381513 | ABSORBENT ARTICLES AND METHODS OF MAKING | STEPHENS, JACQUELINE F | 31d overdue |
| 19057194 | ABSORBENT ARTICLE WITH IMPROVED ABSORBENT CORE | ANDERSON, CATHARINE L | — |
| 19102004 | ABSORBENT ARTICLE WITH TRANSVERSAL BARRIER AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING SUCH ABSORBENT ARTICLE | STEPHENS, JACQUELINE F | — |
| 18928677 | SMART ABSORBENT ARTICLES WITH AUTOMATED EXUDATE DETECTION | BURNETTE, GABRIELLA E | — |
| 18715854 | ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY ABSORBENT ARTICLE AND PROCESS OF MAKING | WENG, KAI H | — |
| 18715612 | WRAPPER FOR ABSORBENT ARTICLE | DAKKAK, JIHAD | — |
| 18639841 | ABSORBENT ARTICLE WITH FUNCTIONAL CORE MATRIX | ARBLE, JESSICA R | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3781 | 8 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19057194 | ABSORBENT ARTICLE WITH IMPROVED ABSORBENT CORE | ANDERSON, CATHARINE L | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 19, 2025 |
| 19102004 | ABSORBENT ARTICLE WITH TRANSVERSAL BARRIER AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING SUCH ABSORBENT ARTICLE | STEPHENS, JACQUELINE F | 3781 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 07, 2025 |
| 18928677 | SMART ABSORBENT ARTICLES WITH AUTOMATED EXUDATE DETECTION | BURNETTE, GABRIELLA E | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 28, 2024 |
| 18715854 | ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY ABSORBENT ARTICLE AND PROCESS OF MAKING | WENG, KAI H | 3781 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 03, 2024 |
| 18715612 | WRAPPER FOR ABSORBENT ARTICLE | DAKKAK, JIHAD | 3781 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 31, 2024 |
| 18639841 | ABSORBENT ARTICLE WITH FUNCTIONAL CORE MATRIX | ARBLE, JESSICA R | 3781 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 18, 2024 |
| 18381513 | ABSORBENT ARTICLES AND METHODS OF MAKING | STEPHENS, JACQUELINE F | 3781 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 31d overdue | Pending | Oct 18, 2023 |
| 18027434 | ABSORBENT ARTICLE WITH IMPROVED MULTI-LAYERED CORE | ARBLE, JESSICA R | 3781 | §103 | Final Rejection | 44d overdue | Pending | Mar 21, 2023 |
| 17915915 | SMART ABSORBENT ARTICLES | MENSH, ANDREW J | 3781 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Sep 29, 2022 |
| 17624298 | SUBSTRATE, ABSORBENT ARTICLE AND METHOD FOR WETNESS MONITORING | HAN, SETH | 3781 | §102§103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 31, 2021 |
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