Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
22 pending office actions • 12 art units • 20 examiners • 0 of 22 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 8 patents granted in the last 365 days
Qiagen N.V. maintains a large portfolio in the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals technology area with 22 pending office actions. These actions are spread across 20 distinct examiners and 12 distinct art units, reflecting a wide range of technical sub-specialties. This level of dispersion indicates a decentralized prosecution environment where the company's innovations are scrutinized by many different technical groups at the patent office.
The busiest examiner for the portfolio is BAUSCH, SARAE L, who is currently managing 2 pending office actions. With 20 distinct examiners involved in total, the workload is distributed such that many examiners are reviewing only a single application. This requires a sophisticated management strategy to ensure consistency in legal arguments and technical disclosures across the 20 different examiners currently engaged with the company's filings.
The involvement of 12 distinct art units highlights the technical breadth of the 22 pending office actions. While BAUSCH, SARAE L has the highest individual count with 2 pending actions, the overall portfolio is not concentrated under any single individual or administrative unit. Practitioners must navigate a complex landscape, coordinating with 20 different examiners across 12 different office divisions to move the pending matters toward allowance. The diversity of the portfolio necessitates a flexible approach to address the unique requirements of each art unit.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 7 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. 7 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 | 6 (27%) |
| §102 only | 1 (5%) |
| §112 only | 1 (5%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 4 (18%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 8 (36%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAUSCH, SARAE L | 2 | 29.8% | +44.7% |
| LU, FRANK WEI MIN | 2 | 62.7% | +67.7% |
| KWAK, DEAN P | 1 | 58.7% | +37.1% |
| BELLAH, JEFFREY LAWRENCE | 1 | 100.0% | +0.0% |
| LAU, JONATHAN S | 1 | 63.7% | -17.3% |
| CROW, ROBERT THOMAS | 1 | 41.7% | +32.7% |
| KIM, YOUNG J | 1 | 64.8% | +18.1% |
| HORLICK, KENNETH R | 1 | 78.9% | +15.3% |
| PARKIN, JEFFREY S | 1 | 63.7% | +21.7% |
| KRISHNAN, GANAPATHY | 1 | 52.8% | +1.1% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17344792 | METHOD FOR ISOLATING POLY(A) NUCLEIC ACIDS | HANEY, AMANDA MARIE | 42d overdue |
| 18029408 | PATHOGEN DETECTION METHOD | HORLICK, KENNETH R | 65d |
| 18749049 | DRY CHEMISTRY CONTAINER | KWAK, DEAN P | — |
| 18717806 | SIGNAL NORMALIZATION OF NUCLEIC ACID AMPLIFICATION REACTION PRODUCTS | BAUSCH, SARAE L | — |
| 18702656 | HIGH STOKES SHIFT FLUORESCENCE DYES FOR MULTIPLEX DETECTION | BELLAH, JEFFREY LAWRENCE | — |
| 18697458 | METHOD OF EXAMINING A NUCLEIC ACID AMPLIFICATION PRODUCT | BAUSCH, SARAE L | — |
| 18029937 | METHOD FOR VIRUS DETECTION | KIM, YOUNG J | — |
| 17620615 | METHOD FOR SEPARATING NUCLEIC ACID MOLECULES BY SIZE | LAFAVE, ELIZABETH ROSE | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13703309 | METHOD FOR DETERMINATION OF TARGET CELLS OR TISSUE FOR EXTRACTION OF BIOMOLECULES FROM FIXED BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES | LU, FRANK WEI MIN | 105d overdue |
| 18029408 | PATHOGEN DETECTION METHOD | HORLICK, KENNETH R | 65d |
| 18749049 | DRY CHEMISTRY CONTAINER | KWAK, DEAN P | — |
| 18717806 | SIGNAL NORMALIZATION OF NUCLEIC ACID AMPLIFICATION REACTION PRODUCTS | BAUSCH, SARAE L | — |
| 18697458 | METHOD OF EXAMINING A NUCLEIC ACID AMPLIFICATION PRODUCT | BAUSCH, SARAE L | — |
| 18533836 | METHOD FOR ISOLATING NUCLEIC ACIDS FROM A FORMALDEHYDE RELEASER STABILIZED SAMPLE | CROW, ROBERT THOMAS | — |
| 18029937 | METHOD FOR VIRUS DETECTION | KIM, YOUNG J | — |
| 18029538 | EXTRACTION SOLUTION FOR PREPARING A BIOLOGICAL SAMPLE FOR AMPLIFICATION BASED PATHOGEN DETECTION | PARKIN, JEFFREY S | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1693 | 2 |
| 1681 | 2 |
| 1682 | 2 |
| 1683 | 2 |
| 1684 | 2 |
| 1656 | 2 |
| 1798 | 1 |
| 1671 | 1 |
| 1633 | 1 |
| 1672 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18749049 | DRY CHEMISTRY CONTAINER | KWAK, DEAN P | 1798 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 20, 2024 |
| 18717806 | SIGNAL NORMALIZATION OF NUCLEIC ACID AMPLIFICATION REACTION PRODUCTS | BAUSCH, SARAE L | — | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 07, 2024 |
| 18702656 | HIGH STOKES SHIFT FLUORESCENCE DYES FOR MULTIPLEX DETECTION | BELLAH, JEFFREY LAWRENCE | — | §101§102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 18, 2024 |
| 18697458 | METHOD OF EXAMINING A NUCLEIC ACID AMPLIFICATION PRODUCT | BAUSCH, SARAE L | — | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 30, 2024 |
| 18570344 | METHOD FOR ISOLATING NON-VESICULAR MIRNA | LAU, JONATHAN S | 1693 | §103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 14, 2023 |
| 18533836 | METHOD FOR ISOLATING NUCLEIC ACIDS FROM A FORMALDEHYDE RELEASER STABILIZED SAMPLE | CROW, ROBERT THOMAS | — | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 08, 2023 |
| 18029937 | METHOD FOR VIRUS DETECTION | KIM, YOUNG J | 1681 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 03, 2023 |
| 18029408 | PATHOGEN DETECTION METHOD | HORLICK, KENNETH R | 1681 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | 65d | Pending | Mar 30, 2023 |
| 18029538 | EXTRACTION SOLUTION FOR PREPARING A BIOLOGICAL SAMPLE FOR AMPLIFICATION BASED PATHOGEN DETECTION | PARKIN, JEFFREY S | 1671 | §102§103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 30, 2023 |
| 17785251 | METHOD FOR ENRICHING VESICULAR RNA | KRISHNAN, GANAPATHY | 1693 | §103DP | Final Rejection | 118d overdue | Pending | Jun 14, 2022 |
| 17762565 | MULTIMODAL ANALYSIS OF STABILIZED CELL-CONTAINING BODILY FLUID SAMPLES | BUCHANAN, BAILEY CHEYENNE | 1682 | §103Other | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 22, 2022 |
| 17636582 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR AMPLIFICATION OF STR LOCI | LU, FRANK WEI MIN | 1683 | §102 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Feb 18, 2022 |
| 17620615 | METHOD FOR SEPARATING NUCLEIC ACID MOLECULES BY SIZE | LAFAVE, ELIZABETH ROSE | 1684 | §102§103Other | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 17, 2021 |
| 17416814 | URINE STABILIZATION | TSAY, MARSHA M | 1656 | §103DP | Non-Final OA | 74d overdue | Pending | Jun 21, 2021 |
| 17344792 | METHOD FOR ISOLATING POLY(A) NUCLEIC ACIDS | HANEY, AMANDA MARIE | 1682 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | 42d overdue | Pending | Jun 10, 2021 |
| 15125863 | STABILIZATION AND ISOLATION OF EXTRACELLULAR NUCLEIC ACIDS | POPA, ILEANA | 1633 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 13, 2016 |
| 13703309 | METHOD FOR DETERMINATION OF TARGET CELLS OR TISSUE FOR EXTRACTION OF BIOMOLECULES FROM FIXED BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES | LU, FRANK WEI MIN | 1683 | §103 | Final Rejection | 105d overdue | Pending | Dec 10, 2012 |
| 18255308 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR DIAGNOSING SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) AND FOR MONITORING SARS-COV-2-SPECIFIC IMMUNOLOGICAL MEMORY | CHEN, STACY BROWN | 1672 | §101§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 31, 2023 |
| 17421617 | Methods of Detecting Analytes and Compositions Thereof | RAYMONDA, MATTHEW HAROLD | 1684 | §103 | Final Rejection | 49d overdue | Pending | Jul 08, 2021 |
| 17276619 | DEPLETING UNWANTED RNA SPECIES | LEE, JAE W | 1656 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 16, 2021 |
| 17056393 | PROTECTION OF BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE MOLECULES DURING RADIATION STERILIZATION | HENSEL, BRENDAN A | 1758 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 4d overdue | Pending | Nov 17, 2020 |
| 17049748 | BIOMOLECULE ISOLATION AND INHIBITOR REMOVAL | HIBBERT, CATHERINE S | 1658 | §112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 22, 2020 |
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