Technology area: Chemistry & Materials
239 pending office actions • 96 art units • 196 examiners • 0 of 239 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 324 patents granted in the last 365 days
SK Inc. has 247 pending office actions in Chemistry & Materials. The portfolio spans 203 distinct examiners and 98 distinct art units, creating a broad and layered prosecution structure across examination personnel and technical groups.
WALLS, CYNTHIA KYUNG SOO is the busiest examiner, with 5 pending matters. That assignment is a focal point for examiner-specific review, but the larger examiner distribution means it represents only one part of the overall management challenge.
The examiner count substantially exceeds the art-unit count, indicating that some technical groups include matters handled by multiple examiners. Counsel should distinguish art-unit trends from individual examiner practices when evaluating claim scope, prior-art responses, and interview opportunities.
At this scale, centralized docket governance is important for consistent disclosures, related applications, and response timing. It should be paired with matter-level analysis because the same chemistry or materials grouping may still present different procedural and substantive issues before different examiners.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 56 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. 56 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 only | 4 (2%) |
| §101 + other | 10 (4%) |
| §103 only | 86 (36%) |
| §102 only | 11 (5%) |
| §112 only | 4 (2%) |
| Double-patenting only | 5 (2%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 13 (5%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 104 (44%) |
| No statute on record | 2 (1%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WALLS, CYNTHIA KYUNG SOO | 5 | 71.7% | -0.9% |
| JACOBSON, SARAH JORDAN | 5 | 51.9% | +76.5% |
| CAMMARATA, MICHAEL ROBERT | 3 | 69.8% | +34.6% |
| ALBAN, FELICITY BERNARD | 3 | 56.4% | +34.6% |
| BARCENA, CARLOS | 3 | 80.6% | +12.3% |
| FEHR, JULIA MARIE | 3 | 51.6% | -2.0% |
| CASERTO, JULIA SHARON | 3 | 71.4% | +28.9% |
| LEONARD, MICHAEL L | 2 | 63.7% | +8.3% |
| BERRO, ADAM JOSEPH | 2 | 52.5% | +45.8% |
| NGUYEN, HOAI AN D | 2 | 86.0% | +11.8% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 2 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18991734 | SEPARATOR DEFECT INSPECTION APPARATUS FOR SECONDARY BATTERY | NGUYEN, HOAI AN D | — |
| 18738074 | ELECTROLYTE SOLUTION FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY AND LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY INCLUDING THE SAME | BARCENA, CARLOS | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18074287 | CATHODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY AND LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY INCLUDING THE SAME | OROZCO, MARIA F | 86d overdue |
| 17876668 | RECHARGABLE BATTERY CELL | KENLAW, GRACE A | 60d overdue |
| 18747460 | BATTERY BONDING DEVICE | CAILLOUET, CHRISTOPHER C | 52d overdue |
| 18079448 | ANODE FOR SECONDARY BATTERY, METHOD OF FABRICATING THE SAME AND LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY INCLUDING THE SAME | CORNO JR, JAMES ANTHONY JOHN | 32d overdue |
| 18559640 | DEVICE FOR PREDICTION PURPOSE OF STAY AND METHOD FOR PREDICTING PURPOSE OF STAY | TRUONG, BENJAMIN LY | 31d overdue |
| 18101453 | POUCH TYPE SECONDARY BATTERY, AND SECONDARY BATTERY MODULE AND DEVICE INCLUDING THE SAME | FEHR, JULIA MARIE | 17d overdue |
| 17736477 | ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM | WALLS, CYNTHIA KYUNG SOO | 17d overdue |
| 18645391 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INSPECTING FOLDING PORTION OF POUCH TYPE SECONDARY BATTERY | CAMMARATA, MICHAEL ROBERT | 10d overdue |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17740916 | Electrode Structure and Lithium Secondary Battery Including the Same | CASERTO, JULIA SHARON | 51d overdue |
| 18645391 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INSPECTING FOLDING PORTION OF POUCH TYPE SECONDARY BATTERY | CAMMARATA, MICHAEL ROBERT | 10d overdue |
| 18188533 | Anode Active Material for Lithium Secondary Battery and Lithium Secondary Battery Including the Same | JACOBSON, SARAH JORDAN | 7d |
| 17897597 | Anode for Secondary Battery, Method for Preparing the Same, and Secondary Battery Comprising the Anode | CASERTO, JULIA SHARON | 28d |
| 17704201 | Lithium Secondary Battery and Method of Fabricating Cathode for Lithium Secondary Battery | JACOBSON, SARAH JORDAN | 78d |
| 18688860 | METHOD FOR PREPARATION OF POLYTRIMETHYLENE ETHER GLYCOL AND POLYTRIMETHYLENE ETHER GLYCOL USING THE SAME | BERRO, ADAM JOSEPH | — |
| 18577086 | EXTRUSION BLOWN RESIN HAVING EXCELLENT EXTRUSION PROCESSABILITY AND RECYCLABLE AND COMPOSITION COMPRISING THEREOF | BERRO, ADAM JOSEPH | — |
| 18674921 | METHOD AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR MANAGING FOREIGN MATTER IN LIQUID PRODUCT, AND METHOD AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR IMPROVING FOREIGN MATTER DETECTION THROUGH CHANNEL MANAGEMENT | CAMMARATA, MICHAEL ROBERT | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1725 | 17 |
| 1751 | 17 |
| 1723 | 16 |
| 1752 | 9 |
| 1728 | 9 |
| 1729 | 8 |
| 1785 | 7 |
| 1722 | 7 |
| 1721 | 7 |
| 1724 | 6 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19347194 | METHODS FOR TREATING ALZHEIMER DISEASE AND FOR REDUCING AMYLOID BETA FORMATION | GONZALEZ, LUISALBERTO | 1624 | §102DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 01, 2025 |
| 18727107 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING TEREPHTHALIC ACID AND TEREPHTHALIC ACID PRODUCED THEREFROM | DOLETSKI, BLAINE G | 1692 | §103DP | Final Rejection | 30d overdue | Pending | Jul 08, 2024 |
| 18711621 | POLYESTER RESIN AND ARTICLES PREPARED THEREFROM | YOON, TAE H | 1762 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 20, 2024 |
| 18697793 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING POLYESTER COPOLYMER USING REUSED BIS-2-HYDROXYETHYL TEREPHTHALATE | LISTVOYB, GREGORY | 1765 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 02, 2024 |
| 18697544 | POLYESTER COPOLYMER HAVING IMPROVED EXTRUSION PROCESSABILITY, COMPRISING RECYCLED MONOMER | LEONARD, MICHAEL L | 1763 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 01, 2024 |
| 18694260 | POLYLACTIC ACID RESIN, POLYLACTIC ACID RESIN COMPOSITION, POLYLACTIC ACID RESIN FILM, AND MOLDED ARTICLE | LEONARD, MICHAEL L | 1763 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 21, 2024 |
| 18688860 | METHOD FOR PREPARATION OF POLYTRIMETHYLENE ETHER GLYCOL AND POLYTRIMETHYLENE ETHER GLYCOL USING THE SAME | BERRO, ADAM JOSEPH | 1765 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 04, 2024 |
| 18577086 | EXTRUSION BLOWN RESIN HAVING EXCELLENT EXTRUSION PROCESSABILITY AND RECYCLABLE AND COMPOSITION COMPRISING THEREOF | BERRO, ADAM JOSEPH | 1765 | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 05, 2024 |
| 18576008 | POLYTRIMETHYLENE ETHER GLYCOL AND METHOD FOR PREPARATION THEREOF | CUTLIFF, YATE KAI RENE | 1692 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 02, 2024 |
| 17795196 | POLYESTER COPOLYMER COMPRISING RECYCLED MONOMERS | GULAKOWSKI, RANDY P | 1700 | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | 17d overdue | Pending | Jul 25, 2022 |
| 19292762 | Method for Adaptive Utilization of Road Surface Information, and System and Device Supporting Same | CHEUNG, CALVIN K | 3669 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 06, 2025 |
| 18849910 | METHOD FOR PROVIDING VIRTUAL KEYBOARD SERVICE AND APPARATUS THEREFOR | VANDERHORST, MARIA VICTORIA | 3621 | §101§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 18, 2025 |
| 19047631 | Food condition tracking method based on spectral images, food management method, and food management device supporting same | DEPALMA, CAROLINE ELIZABETH | 2675 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 07, 2025 |
| 18957827 | ROAD SURFACE CONDITION DETERMINATION DEVICE AND ROAD SURFACE CONDITION DETERMINATION METHOD | SATANOVSKY, ALEXANDER | 2857 | §101§112 | Final Rejection | 49d | Pending | Nov 24, 2024 |
| 18923771 | Device for Inspecting Defect of Solar Panel and Method for Operating Same | NAKHJAVAN, SHERVIN K | 2672 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 23, 2024 |
| 18829995 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETECTING DANGEROUS DRIVING OR CUTTING-IN VEHICLE | POPE, DARYL C | 2686 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 10, 2024 |
| 18823313 | DEVICE AND SYSTEM FOR COMMUNICATION NETWORK MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION FAILURE RESPONSE SERVICE BASED ON PROCESS INFORMATION AT CONSTRUCTION SITE, METHOD OF PROVIDING SAME SERVICE, AND NON-VOLATILE RECORDING MEDIUM IN WHICH COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR PROVIDING SAME SERVICE IS RECORDED | CHOI, EUNSOOK | 2467 | §101§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 03, 2024 |
| 18763709 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING COUPON AND PROVIDING COUPON-BASED TARGETED ADVERTISEMENT BY USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | CARVALHO, ERROL A | 3622 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 03, 2024 |
| 18674921 | METHOD AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR MANAGING FOREIGN MATTER IN LIQUID PRODUCT, AND METHOD AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR IMPROVING FOREIGN MATTER DETECTION THROUGH CHANNEL MANAGEMENT | CAMMARATA, MICHAEL ROBERT | 2667 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 27, 2024 |
| 18646808 | Context Recognition-based Apparatus for Interpolating Missing Value of Sensor, and Method therefor | LUDWIG, PETER L | 3627 | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 26, 2024 |
| 18632327 | ANOMALY DETECTION APPARATUS AND ANOMALY DETECTION METHOD | CAMMARATA, MICHAEL ROBERT | 2667 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Apr 11, 2024 |
| 18633453 | Device for Clustering-based Labeling, Device for Anomaly Detection, and Methods therefor | KOSSEK, MAGDALENA IZABELLA | 2117 | §101§102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 11, 2024 |
| 18629992 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR MUTUALLY INFERRING COMPOSITE CHARACTERISTICS AND COMPOSITE PRODUCTION CONDITIONS THROUGH AUTOENCODER FEATURE EXTRACTION | CAMPOS, ALFREDO | 2129 | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 09, 2024 |
| 18455355 | Method for Generating Data Set for Training and Electronic Device Supporting the Same | ELLIOTT, JORDAN MCKENZIE | 2666 | §102 | Final Rejection | 33d | Pending | Aug 24, 2023 |
| 18186101 | Method and Apparatus for Continuous Learning of Object Anomaly Detection and State Classification Model | JONES, CHARLES JEFFREY | 2122 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 8d | Pending | Mar 17, 2023 |
| 19217102 | DUAL SLOT DIE COATER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ELECTRODES USING SAME | THOMAS, BINU | 1712 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 23, 2025 |
| 19098172 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING ELECTRODE | LEONG, NATHAN T | 1718 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 02, 2025 |
| 19084758 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING DRY ELECTRODE SHEET | KIM, YUNJU | 1742 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 20, 2025 |
| 19070525 | RAW MATERIAL INPUT APPARATUS AND RAW MATERIAL INPUT METHOD | MAUST, TIMOTHY LEWIS | 3753 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 05, 2025 |
| 19051171 | NOTCHING APPARATUS FOR SECONDARY BATTERIES | MACHNESS, ARIELLA | 1743 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 12, 2025 |
| 19033498 | WELDING INSPECTION APPARATUS AND WELDING INSPECTION METHOD | BONANSINGA, AARON TIMOTHY | 2673 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 22, 2025 |
| 19025916 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING MEANDERING FAULT OF ELECTRODE TABS IN SECONDARY BATTERY | HWANG, JINSU | 2667 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2025 |
| 19010189 | SYSTEM FOR PACKAGING SECONDARY BATTERY AND METHOD FOR DETECTING FAULT THEREOF | YANG, QIAN | 2677 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 06, 2025 |
| 18879252 | BATTERY CELL INSPECTION APPARATUS, BATTERY CELL INSPECTION METHOD, AND BATTERY CELL INSPECTION SYSTEM | FAYE, MAMADOU | 2884 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 27, 2024 |
| 18991841 | Apparatus for Introducing Active Material for Use in Secondary Battery | MYERS, GLENN F | 3652 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 23, 2024 |
| 18991734 | SEPARATOR DEFECT INSPECTION APPARATUS FOR SECONDARY BATTERY | NGUYEN, HOAI AN D | 2858 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 23, 2024 |
| 18985598 | Fire Extinguishing System for Electric Vehicle and Fire Extinguishing Method for Electric Vehicle | SUTHERLAND, STEVEN M | 3752 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 18, 2024 |
| 18981914 | Roller Cleaning Apparatus | CARTER, MONICA SMITH | 3723 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 16, 2024 |
| 18977933 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR INSPECTING BATTERY DEFECT BASED-ON CHARGING PROFILE | ASTACIO-OQUENDO, GIOVANNI | 2858 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 12, 2024 |
| 18974791 | FUSION TIP, HEAT FUSION MACHINE INCLUDING THE SAME, AND HEAT FUSION METHOD USING THE SAME | NELSON, JAMEL M | 1743 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 10, 2024 |
| 18959610 | FEEDING DEVICE AND FEEDING SYSTEM INCLUDING THE SAME | IGBOKWE, NICHOLAS E | 3731 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | 84d | Pending | Nov 26, 2024 |
| 18954543 | APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING POWDER | CRAWFORD, GENE O | 3754 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 21, 2024 |
| 18949381 | BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME | NGUYEN, HOAI AN D | 2858 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 15, 2024 |
| 18932526 | GAS INJECTION NOZZLE FOR DRYING ELECTRODE PLATE AND DRYING APPARATUS FOR ELECTRODE PLATE INCLUDING THE SAME | LIEUWEN, CODY J | 3752 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 30, 2024 |
| 18918538 | BATTERY CELL TRAY FOR TRANSPORTING BATTERY CELL | STEVENS, ALLAN D | 3736 | §112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 17, 2024 |
| 18918060 | MULTILAYER ELECTRODE FOR SECONDARY BATTERY AND FABRICATION METHOD THEREOF | MELFI, OLIVIA MASON | 1729 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 17, 2024 |
| 18884180 | Drying Apparatus | YUEN, JESSICA JIPING | 3762 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 13, 2024 |
| 18843301 | X-RAY INSPECTION DEVICE AND X-RAY INSPECTION METHOD | BRYANT, MICHAEL CASEY | 2884 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Sep 02, 2024 |
| 18817808 | Pouch Type Battery Cell and Battery Pack Including the Same | HARRIS, MARY GRACE | 1729 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Aug 28, 2024 |
| 18802220 | Anode for Secondary Battery and Lithium Secondary Battery Including the Same | TAKEUCHI, YOSHITOSHI | 1723 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 13, 2024 |
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Start Free TrialSK Inc. has 239 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 96 art units and 196 examiners.
Cynthia Kyung Soo Walls has the most, with 5 of SK Inc.'s pending office actions.
Mostly Chemistry & Materials (USPTO Tech Center 1700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
