Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
3 pending office actions • 2 art units • 3 examiners • 0 of 3 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 10 patents granted in the last 365 days
Sloan Valve Company is managing 3 pending office actions within the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. These actions are distributed across 3 distinct examiners and 2 distinct art units. Christopher D Ballman is the busiest examiner for the portfolio, currently handling 1 pending office action. The data shows that while the actions are spread across 3 examiners, they are concentrated within 2 art units.
The 3 pending office actions in Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering are each assigned to a different distinct examiner. With 2 distinct art units involved, multiple pending actions are being reviewed within the same technical group. Christopher D Ballman is the busiest examiner with 1 pending office action, indicating an even distribution of work among the 3 distinct examiners. This arrangement means the company is interacting with multiple points of review across the 2 art 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 |
|---|---|
| §103 only | 1 (33%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 2 (67%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BALLMAN, CHRISTOPHER D | 1 | 77.0% | +20.7% |
| KIM, KIHO | 1 | 85.4% | +4.5% |
| NGUYEN, TUAN N | 1 | 68.1% | +26.3% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19034816 | MINIATURIZED DIFFUSER-DRIVEN ACTIVE INFRARED (IR) SENSOR | KIM, KIHO | — |
| 18623748 | Pressurized Flush Tank Assembly | NGUYEN, TUAN N | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19061508 | System and Method for Run-On Detection | BALLMAN, CHRISTOPHER D | — |
| 18623748 | Pressurized Flush Tank Assembly | NGUYEN, TUAN N | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3753 | 1 |
| 3754 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19061508 | System and Method for Run-On Detection | BALLMAN, CHRISTOPHER D | 3753 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 24, 2025 |
| 19034816 | MINIATURIZED DIFFUSER-DRIVEN ACTIVE INFRARED (IR) SENSOR | KIM, KIHO | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 23, 2025 |
| 18623748 | Pressurized Flush Tank Assembly | NGUYEN, TUAN N | 3754 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 01, 2024 |
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