Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
18 pending office actions • 5 art units • 14 examiners • 0 of 18 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 26 patents granted in the last 365 days
Paragon 28 Inc. currently manages 16 pending office actions within the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. This portfolio is distributed across 5 distinct art units, indicating a multi-disciplinary examination path. The involvement of 13 distinct examiners suggests that the prosecution is distributed among various individuals.
NICHOLAS W WOODALL serves as the busiest examiner for this company, currently handling 3 pending office actions. This workload represents a portion of the total 16 pending actions. The remaining actions are spread among the other distinct examiners, requiring a strategy that accounts for diverse examiner behaviors across the 5 art units.
The presence of 5 distinct art units within the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering sector indicates that the company's innovations are categorized into several specialized sub-fields. With 13 distinct examiners involved, the company must maintain consistency across a range of individual perspectives. Practitioners should monitor the 3 pending actions under NICHOLAS W WOODALL for trends that might influence the broader portfolio.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 6 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. 6 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 | 3 (17%) |
| §103 only | 2 (11%) |
| §102 only | 1 (6%) |
| §112 only | 1 (6%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 4 (22%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 7 (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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | 3 | 82.0% | +13.3% |
| GIBSON, ERIC SHANE | 2 | 85.4% | +17.2% |
| LAWSON, MATTHEW JAMES | 2 | 73.7% | +29.9% |
| JOHANAS, JACQUELINE T | 1 | 63.8% | +30.0% |
| CARTER, TARA ROSE E | 1 | 80.7% | +9.7% |
| SEVILLA, CHRISTIAN ANTHONY | 1 | 75.9% | +19.4% |
| COLEY, ZADE JAMES | 1 | 72.2% | +26.0% |
| MATHEW, SEEMA | 1 | 71.4% | +26.1% |
| JONES, DIANA S | 1 | 75.1% | +20.2% |
| KAMIKAWA, TRACY L | 1 | 58.4% | +37.3% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 4 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19183905 | ALIGNMENT GUIDE APPARATUS, METHODS AND SYSTEMS | WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | — |
| 19183866 | BONE FIXATION SYSTEM, ASSEMBLY, IMPLANTS, DEVICES, ALIGNMENT GUIDES, AND METHODS OF USE | WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | — |
| 19036435 | SOFT TISSUE RETENTION DEVICE, INSTRUMENTATION AND RELATED METHODS | WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | — |
| 19031768 | INTRAMEDULLARY NAIL FIXATION GUIDES, DEVICES, AND METHODS OF USE | CARTER, TARA ROSE E | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18482496 | SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS, GUIDES, AND METHODS OF USE | KAMIKAWA, TRACY L | 19d overdue |
| 18477170 | ORTHOPEDIC IMPLANTS AND METHODS | PRESTON, REBECCA STRASZHEIM | 15d overdue |
| 18480105 | INSTRUMENTATION AND METHODS FOR TOTAL ANKLE ARTHROPLASTY | SIPP, AMY R. | 19d |
| 18931929 | ORTHOPEDIC INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS | GIBSON, ERIC SHANE | 47d |
| 19290811 | INSTRUMENTS AND SURGICAL METHODS FOR BUNION PROCEDURES | JOHANAS, JACQUELINE T | — |
| 19183896 | ALIGNMENT GUIDES, CUT GUIDES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF USE AND ASSEMBLY | GIBSON, ERIC SHANE | — |
| 18983207 | INSTRUMENTS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS OF USING | LAWSON, MATTHEW JAMES | — |
| 18776417 | SYSTEM, IMPLANT, AND METHODS FOR ARTHROPLASTY | MATHEW, SEEMA | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18923361 | ORTHOPEDIC INSTRUMENTS | LAWSON, MATTHEW JAMES | 49d overdue |
| 18482496 | SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS, GUIDES, AND METHODS OF USE | KAMIKAWA, TRACY L | 19d overdue |
| 18602627 | IMPLANT, ALIGNMENT GUIDES, SYSTEM AND METHODS OF USE | JONES, DIANA S | 5d overdue |
| 18931929 | ORTHOPEDIC INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS | GIBSON, ERIC SHANE | 47d |
| 19290811 | INSTRUMENTS AND SURGICAL METHODS FOR BUNION PROCEDURES | JOHANAS, JACQUELINE T | — |
| 19183905 | ALIGNMENT GUIDE APPARATUS, METHODS AND SYSTEMS | WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | — |
| 19183866 | BONE FIXATION SYSTEM, ASSEMBLY, IMPLANTS, DEVICES, ALIGNMENT GUIDES, AND METHODS OF USE | WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | — |
| 19183896 | ALIGNMENT GUIDES, CUT GUIDES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF USE AND ASSEMBLY | GIBSON, ERIC SHANE | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3775 | 7 |
| 3619 | 2 |
| 3774 | 2 |
| 3773 | 1 |
| 3771 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19290811 | INSTRUMENTS AND SURGICAL METHODS FOR BUNION PROCEDURES | JOHANAS, JACQUELINE T | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 05, 2025 |
| 19183905 | ALIGNMENT GUIDE APPARATUS, METHODS AND SYSTEMS | WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | — | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 20, 2025 |
| 19183866 | BONE FIXATION SYSTEM, ASSEMBLY, IMPLANTS, DEVICES, ALIGNMENT GUIDES, AND METHODS OF USE | WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | — | §102Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 20, 2025 |
| 19183896 | ALIGNMENT GUIDES, CUT GUIDES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF USE AND ASSEMBLY | GIBSON, ERIC SHANE | — | §101§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 20, 2025 |
| 19036435 | SOFT TISSUE RETENTION DEVICE, INSTRUMENTATION AND RELATED METHODS | WOODALL, NICHOLAS W | 3775 | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 24, 2025 |
| 19031768 | INTRAMEDULLARY NAIL FIXATION GUIDES, DEVICES, AND METHODS OF USE | CARTER, TARA ROSE E | 3773 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 18, 2025 |
| 19012393 | OSTEOTOMY SYSTEMS, DEVICES AND METHODS | SEVILLA, CHRISTIAN ANTHONY | 3775 | §102§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 07, 2025 |
| 18983207 | INSTRUMENTS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS OF USING | LAWSON, MATTHEW JAMES | 3619 | §101§102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 16, 2024 |
| 18937825 | TOTAL ANKLE REPLACEMENT SURGICAL METHOD | COLEY, ZADE JAMES | 3775 | §103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 05, 2024 |
| 18931929 | ORTHOPEDIC INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS | GIBSON, ERIC SHANE | 3775 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | 47d | Pending | Oct 30, 2024 |
| 18923361 | ORTHOPEDIC INSTRUMENTS | LAWSON, MATTHEW JAMES | 3619 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 49d overdue | Pending | Oct 22, 2024 |
| 18776417 | SYSTEM, IMPLANT, AND METHODS FOR ARTHROPLASTY | MATHEW, SEEMA | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 18, 2024 |
| 18602627 | IMPLANT, ALIGNMENT GUIDES, SYSTEM AND METHODS OF USE | JONES, DIANA S | 3775 | §112 | Final Rejection | 5d overdue | Pending | Mar 12, 2024 |
| 18482496 | SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS, GUIDES, AND METHODS OF USE | KAMIKAWA, TRACY L | 3775 | §101§102§103§112 | Final Rejection | 19d overdue | Pending | Oct 06, 2023 |
| 18480105 | INSTRUMENTATION AND METHODS FOR TOTAL ANKLE ARTHROPLASTY | SIPP, AMY R. | 3775 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 19d | Pending | Oct 03, 2023 |
| 18477170 | ORTHOPEDIC IMPLANTS AND METHODS | PRESTON, REBECCA STRASZHEIM | 3774 | §102§112 | Final Rejection | 15d overdue | Pending | Sep 28, 2023 |
| 17815750 | KNOTLESS SOFT TISSUE IMPLANT SYSTEMS AND RELATED METHODS | MCEVOY, THOMAS M | 3771 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 28, 2022 |
| 17361847 | SOFT TISSUE RETENTION DEVICES, INSTRUMENTATION AND RELATED METHODS | DUDDEN, TERESA MARIE | 3774 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 29, 2021 |
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