Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Chemistry & Materials
4 pending office actions • 2 art units • 3 examiners • 0 of 4 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 1 patents granted in the last 365 days
Schweitzer-Mauduit International Inc. has 4 pending office actions within the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These matters are handled by 3 distinct examiners, indicating some level of consolidation in the prosecution process. The portfolio is active across 2 distinct art units, which suggests that the technical subject matter is concentrated within a few specialized groups at the USPTO. This structure allows for a more focused legal strategy compared to portfolios spread across many different departments. The 4 pending office actions are thus contained within a relatively narrow technical and administrative scope.
The busiest examiner for this portfolio is KRINKER, YANA B, who is currently overseeing 2 pending office actions. This concentration is notable because the busiest examiner pending count of 2 represents a significant portion of the 4 total pending office actions. With 3 distinct examiners in total, the remaining workload is split among others, but the influence of the busiest examiner is prominent. Practitioners should note that the outcomes in the 2 distinct art units will be heavily influenced by the specific examination styles of these 3 distinct examiners. The 2 pending office actions assigned to the busiest examiner require particular attention.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 3 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. 3 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 |
|---|---|
| §103 only | 3 (75%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 1 (25%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| KRINKER, YANA B | 2 | 58.5% | +31.6% |
| WORRELL, KEVIN | 1 | 12.5% | -3.1% |
| PHAM, VU PHI | 1 | 46.2% | +17.1% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 1 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17791273 | Flexible Soft Wipe Comprising Individualized Bast Fibers | WORRELL, KEVIN | 70d |
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 3 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17741987 | Vaping Article Comprising a Functionalized Cooling Zone | PHAM, VU PHI | 96d overdue |
| 18439124 | Filler Containing Blends of Aerosol Generating Materials | KRINKER, YANA B | 7d |
| 16753278 | Reconstituted Plant Sheet For Devices That Heat Tobacco Without Burning It | KRINKER, YANA B | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1755 | 3 |
| 1789 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18439124 | Filler Containing Blends of Aerosol Generating Materials | KRINKER, YANA B | 1755 | §103 | Final Rejection | 7d | Pending | Feb 12, 2024 |
| 17791273 | Flexible Soft Wipe Comprising Individualized Bast Fibers | WORRELL, KEVIN | 1789 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 70d | Pending | Jul 07, 2022 |
| 17741987 | Vaping Article Comprising a Functionalized Cooling Zone | PHAM, VU PHI | 1755 | §103 | Final Rejection | 96d overdue | Pending | May 11, 2022 |
| 16753278 | Reconstituted Plant Sheet For Devices That Heat Tobacco Without Burning It | KRINKER, YANA B | 1755 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 02, 2020 |
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