Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
2 pending office actions • 1 art units • 2 examiners • 0 of 2 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 2 patents granted in the last 365 days
Pentair Water Pool & Spa Inc. has 2 pending office actions in the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. Both of these matters are located within 1 distinct art unit, though they are assigned to 2 distinct examiners. ZOLLINGER, NATHAN C is the busiest examiner, currently overseeing 1 pending office action. The concentration of 2 pending office actions in 1 distinct art unit suggests a focused patenting effort within a specific sub-sector of Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering.
While there are 2 distinct examiners, the shared 1 distinct art unit means they likely operate under the same supervisory policies. ZOLLINGER, NATHAN C is responsible for 1 pending office action, which represents a portion of the current active workload. Practitioners can benefit from the 1 distinct art unit by identifying consistent patterns in how this group handles the company's applications. The 2 pending office actions provide a clear and manageable set of active matters for the company's patent strategy. Managing 2 distinct examiners within 1 distinct art unit allows for a more unified approach than portfolios spread across multiple units.
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 |
|---|---|
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 2 (100%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZOLLINGER, NATHAN C | 1 | 69.6% | +40.2% |
| LITTLE, DALE L | 1 | 62.5% | +42.9% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 2 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19245839 | A PERISTALTIC PUMP AND A METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME | ZOLLINGER, NATHAN C | — |
| 18948384 | CONNECTED ECOSYSTEM COMMUNICATION FOR AQUATIC EQUIPMENT | LITTLE, DALE L | — |
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 2 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19245839 | A PERISTALTIC PUMP AND A METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME | ZOLLINGER, NATHAN C | — |
| 18948384 | CONNECTED ECOSYSTEM COMMUNICATION FOR AQUATIC EQUIPMENT | LITTLE, DALE L | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3746 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19245839 | A PERISTALTIC PUMP AND A METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME | ZOLLINGER, NATHAN C | 3746 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 23, 2025 |
| 18948384 | CONNECTED ECOSYSTEM COMMUNICATION FOR AQUATIC EQUIPMENT | LITTLE, DALE L | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 14, 2024 |
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