Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026

Société Bic

Technology areas: Chemistry & Materials • Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering

9 pending office actions • 7 art units • 9 examiners • 0 of 9 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 14 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

Société Bic manages a robust patent portfolio within the Chemistry & Materials technology area, currently featuring 9 pending office actions. This volume of activity is distributed across 9 distinct examiners, which suggests a broad and diverse range of technological inquiries. The use of 9 distinct examiners indicates that no 1 individual has an outsized influence on the company's overall prosecution outcomes at this time.

The portfolio's activity spans 7 distinct art units, reflecting the multi-faceted nature of the company's innovations in Chemistry & Materials. This distribution across 7 distinct art units requires a management strategy to navigate the different standards and practices of various patent office departments. MCDONOUGH, JAMES E is identified as the busiest examiner, although they are currently managing only 1 pending office action.

The fact that the busiest examiner, MCDONOUGH, JAMES E, has only 1 pending office action out of a total of 9 pending office actions demonstrates a high level of examiner diversity. For practitioners, this means that the prosecution risk is widely dispersed across the 9 distinct examiners. Success in the Chemistry & Materials sector for Société Bic will depend on successfully managing these 9 independent office actions across the 7 distinct art units involved.

Written from this page's own data; every figure is computed from USPTO records and verified before publication.

Portfolio Summary

9
Total Pending OAs
6
Non-Final OAs
3
Final Rejections
0
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 1 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

0
Overdue
0
Due this week
1
Due this month
0
Due in next 60 days
0
Due later

Case Difficulty Mix

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.

5
Hard (56%)
4
Medium (44%)
0
Easy (0%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 + other1 (11%)
§103 only3 (33%)
§102 only1 (11%)
Multi-statute (no §101)4 (44%)

Industry Mix

How the docket's pending cases split across USPTO tech-center bands.

4
Life Sciences
44% of docket
0
Information Tech
0% of docket
1
Communications
11% of docket
0
Semiconductors
0% of docket
3
Mechanical / Eng
33% of docket
1
Business / Other
11% of docket

Time-on-OA Estimate

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.

90 h
Manual time on pending OAs
18 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
31 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
0.8 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
MCDONOUGH, JAMES E 1 71.2% +10.9%
PATEL, OM 1 58.0% +52.6%
GORDON, BRIAN R 1 65.3% +19.0%
COHEN, STEFANIE J 1 75.5% +2.5%
LIN, KO-WEI 1 76.1% +20.1%
TRAN, PHUOC 1 85.4% +8.8%
BARZACH, JEFFREY EUGENE 1 56.9% +39.2%
ZHANG, RUIYUN 1 70.3% +10.7%
KOSANOVIC, HELENA 1 44.9% +14.3%

Hard Cases (5)

Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 5 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
18704837 DEVICE FOR COLLECTING BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES PATEL, OM —
18704641 DEVICE FOR COLLECTING BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES GORDON, BRIAN R —
18699526 LEAD COMPRISING BINDER MADE FROM CELLULOSE ESTERS COHEN, STEFANIE J —
18264164 ON-SKIN CIRCUIT ASSISTANCE TRAN, PHUOC —
17759481 TEMPERATURE WARNING INDICATOR FOR A HANDHELD LIGHTER KOSANOVIC, HELENA —

Interview Candidates (7)

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 7 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
17929025 WRITING GEL INK ZHANG, RUIYUN 28d
18705291 WATER-BASED SOLID MARKING COMPOSITION MCDONOUGH, JAMES E —
18704837 DEVICE FOR COLLECTING BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES PATEL, OM —
18704641 DEVICE FOR COLLECTING BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES GORDON, BRIAN R —
18692184 FLAME PRODUCING ASSEMBLY REDUCING FUEL EVAPORATION LIN, KO-WEI —
18258133 COLOR-CHANGE INK BARZACH, JEFFREY EUGENE —
17759481 TEMPERATURE WARNING INDICATOR FOR A HANDHELD LIGHTER KOSANOVIC, HELENA —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
3762 2
1734 1
3791 1
1798 1
2668 1
1731 1
1782 1

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
18705291 WATER-BASED SOLID MARKING COMPOSITION MCDONOUGH, JAMES E 1734 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 26, 2024
18704837 DEVICE FOR COLLECTING BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES PATEL, OM 3791 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 25, 2024
18704641 DEVICE FOR COLLECTING BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES GORDON, BRIAN R 1798 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 25, 2024
18699526 LEAD COMPRISING BINDER MADE FROM CELLULOSE ESTERS COHEN, STEFANIE J — §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 08, 2024
18692184 FLAME PRODUCING ASSEMBLY REDUCING FUEL EVAPORATION LIN, KO-WEI 3762 §102 Final Rejection — Pending Mar 14, 2024
18264164 ON-SKIN CIRCUIT ASSISTANCE TRAN, PHUOC 2668 §101§102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 03, 2023
18258133 COLOR-CHANGE INK BARZACH, JEFFREY EUGENE 1731 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Jun 16, 2023
17929025 WRITING GEL INK ZHANG, RUIYUN 1782 §103 Final Rejection 28d Pending Aug 10, 2022
17759481 TEMPERATURE WARNING INDICATOR FOR A HANDHELD LIGHTER KOSANOVIC, HELENA 3762 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 26, 2022

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many pending USPTO office actions does Société Bic have?

Société Bic has 9 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 7 art units and 9 examiners.

Which USPTO examiner handles the most Société Bic applications?

James E Mcdonough has the most, with 1 of Société Bic's pending office actions.

What technology area are Société Bic's patent applications in?

Mostly Chemistry & Materials (USPTO Tech Center 1700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.

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