Technology areas: Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics • Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems
14 pending office actions • 6 art units • 11 examiners • 0 of 14 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 13 patents granted in the last 365 days
Sheltered Wings, Inc. D/b/a Vortex Optics has 17 pending office actions in Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems. The matters involve 12 distinct examiners and 6 distinct art units, indicating recurring assignments at both the examiner and technical-unit levels.
HAYES, BRET C is the busiest examiner, with 2 pending matters. Those applications are a practical starting point for reviewing examiner-specific patterns. The broader concentration in 6 art units also supports coordinated analysis of related mechanical or optical claim issues, while individual response strategies remain necessary.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 5 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. 5 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 | 1 (7%) |
| §103 only | 5 (36%) |
| §102 only | 1 (7%) |
| Double-patenting only | 1 (7%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 6 (43%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| HAYES, BRET C | 2 | 80.3% | +15.3% |
| LEE, BENJAMIN P | 2 | 80.1% | +16.9% |
| BOOHER, ADAM W | 2 | 75.5% | +9.1% |
| TILLMAN, JR, REGINALD S | 1 | 77.8% | +11.4% |
| COOPER, JOHN | 1 | 79.5% | +17.7% |
| FREEMAN, JOSHUA E | 1 | 82.0% | +12.1% |
| PASKO, NICHOLAS R | 1 | 65.1% | +27.1% |
| MERLIN, JESSICA M | 1 | 61.8% | +24.1% |
| THOMAS, BRANDI N | 1 | 82.7% | +7.7% |
| TON, TRI T | 1 | 86.1% | +10.5% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18191547 | PROTECTIVE COVER WITH ALIGNMENT APERTURE | THOMAS, BRANDI N | 53d overdue |
| 19005115 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A DOPE CHART | LEE, BENJAMIN P | — |
| 18991876 | VIEWING OPTIC WITH AN INTEGRATED DISPLAY SYSTEM | FREEMAN, JOSHUA E | — |
| 17743131 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING A READING FROM A RANGEFINDING DEVICE | TON, TRI T | — |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 7 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19055151 | PROTECTIVE LENS COVER ASSEMBLY | COOPER, JOHN | 71d overdue |
| 18779569 | VIEWING OPTIC WITH GRIP TEXTURE | HAYES, BRET C | 21d |
| 18653370 | DIOPTER ADJUSTMENT AND LOCKING MECHANISM USING LEFT AND RIGHT THREADING ON THE SAME PITCH DIAMETER | MERLIN, JESSICA M | 84d |
| 19364046 | MOUNT FOR A WEAPON RAIL | HAYES, BRET C | — |
| 18799872 | VIEWING OPTIC WITH AN INTEGRATED DISPLAY SYSTEM | PASKO, NICHOLAS R | — |
| 18635776 | OPTIC COVER WITH RELEASABLY RETAINED DISPLAY | LEE, BENJAMIN P | — |
| 18601288 | VIEWING OPTIC WITH AN INTEGRATED DISPLAY SYSTEM | BOOHER, ADAM W | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19055151 | PROTECTIVE LENS COVER ASSEMBLY | COOPER, JOHN | 71d overdue |
| 18779569 | VIEWING OPTIC WITH GRIP TEXTURE | HAYES, BRET C | 21d |
| 18653370 | DIOPTER ADJUSTMENT AND LOCKING MECHANISM USING LEFT AND RIGHT THREADING ON THE SAME PITCH DIAMETER | MERLIN, JESSICA M | 84d |
| 19364046 | MOUNT FOR A WEAPON RAIL | HAYES, BRET C | — |
| 19282854 | TURRET WITH A ZERO STOP | TILLMAN, JR, REGINALD S | — |
| 19005115 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A DOPE CHART | LEE, BENJAMIN P | — |
| 18991876 | VIEWING OPTIC WITH AN INTEGRATED DISPLAY SYSTEM | FREEMAN, JOSHUA E | — |
| 18799872 | VIEWING OPTIC WITH AN INTEGRATED DISPLAY SYSTEM | PASKO, NICHOLAS R | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3641 | 7 |
| 2872 | 3 |
| 2896 | 1 |
| 2871 | 1 |
| 2800 | 1 |
| 3632 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19364046 | MOUNT FOR A WEAPON RAIL | HAYES, BRET C | 3641 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 21, 2025 |
| 19282854 | TURRET WITH A ZERO STOP | TILLMAN, JR, REGINALD S | 3641 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 28, 2025 |
| 19055151 | PROTECTIVE LENS COVER ASSEMBLY | COOPER, JOHN | 3641 | §101DP | Final Rejection | 71d overdue | Pending | Feb 17, 2025 |
| 19005115 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A DOPE CHART | LEE, BENJAMIN P | 3641 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 30, 2024 |
| 18991876 | VIEWING OPTIC WITH AN INTEGRATED DISPLAY SYSTEM | FREEMAN, JOSHUA E | 3641 | DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 23, 2024 |
| 18885097 | DUAL FOCAL PLANE RETICLES FOR OPTICAL SIGHTING DEVICES | BOOHER, ADAM W | 2872 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 13, 2024 |
| 18799872 | VIEWING OPTIC WITH AN INTEGRATED DISPLAY SYSTEM | PASKO, NICHOLAS R | 2896 | §102§103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 09, 2024 |
| 18779569 | VIEWING OPTIC WITH GRIP TEXTURE | HAYES, BRET C | 3641 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 21d | Pending | Jul 22, 2024 |
| 18653370 | DIOPTER ADJUSTMENT AND LOCKING MECHANISM USING LEFT AND RIGHT THREADING ON THE SAME PITCH DIAMETER | MERLIN, JESSICA M | 2871 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | 84d | Pending | May 02, 2024 |
| 18635776 | OPTIC COVER WITH RELEASABLY RETAINED DISPLAY | LEE, BENJAMIN P | 3641 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 15, 2024 |
| 18601288 | VIEWING OPTIC WITH AN INTEGRATED DISPLAY SYSTEM | BOOHER, ADAM W | 2872 | §102§103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 11, 2024 |
| 18191547 | PROTECTIVE COVER WITH ALIGNMENT APERTURE | THOMAS, BRANDI N | 2872 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 53d overdue | Pending | Mar 28, 2023 |
| 17743131 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING A READING FROM A RANGEFINDING DEVICE | TON, TRI T | 2800 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | May 12, 2022 |
| 17727976 | COLUMN AND LEG LOCKING ASSEMBLIES FOR STATIONARY PLATFORMS | GARFT, CHRISTOPHER | 3632 | §103 | Final Rejection | 66d overdue | Pending | Apr 25, 2022 |
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Start Free TrialSheltered Wings, Inc. D/b/a Vortex Optics has 14 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 6 art units and 11 examiners.
Bret C Hayes has the most, with 2 of Sheltered Wings, Inc. D/b/a Vortex Optics's pending office actions.
Mostly Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems (USPTO Tech Center 3600), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
