Technology areas: Chemistry & Materials • Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
9 pending office actions • 8 art units • 9 examiners • 0 of 9 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 10 patents granted in the last 365 days
Sonoco Development Inc. currently has 10 pending office actions in the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. These 10 pending office actions are distributed among 10 distinct examiners and 8 distinct art units. This high ratio of art units to pending actions suggests that the company's mechanical and medical innovations are technically diverse and span many different USPTO specialties. The 8 distinct art units indicate that the 10 pending office actions are subject to the varying standards and practices of many different examination groups.
HODGE, LINDA J is the busiest examiner for this portfolio, holding 1 pending office action. With 10 distinct examiners for 10 pending office actions, the company's prosecution outcomes are not tied to any single examiner's habits. This distribution ensures that each of the 10 pending office actions receives a unique review from a different individual. Practitioners should tailor their arguments to the individual preferences of the 10 distinct examiners, as no single official oversees more than 1 pending office action. The 8 distinct art units involved require a flexible strategy to meet the specific requirements of each specialized group.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 6 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. 6 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 | 5 (56%) |
| §112 only | 1 (11%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 3 (33%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IMAM, TANZIM | 1 | 71.2% | +27.2% |
| PARKER, LAURA EBERT | 1 | 57.4% | +25.7% |
| CASTELLANO, STEPHEN J | 1 | 65.1% | +35.7% |
| DEMEREE, CHRISTOPHER R | 1 | 68.9% | +14.2% |
| LAN, YAN | 1 | 63.1% | +22.0% |
| SANGHERA, SYMREN K | 1 | 52.0% | +15.5% |
| STEVENS, ALLAN D | 1 | 41.5% | +50.3% |
| DILLON, DANIEL P | 1 | 26.3% | +30.7% |
| RASHID, FAZLE A | 1 | 55.5% | +48.9% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 4 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18674152 | FOLDABLE CONTAINER | CASTELLANO, STEPHEN J | 6d |
| 18967991 | RIBBED POLYMERIC CONTAINER | PARKER, LAURA EBERT | 20d |
| 17669098 | Embossment Protective Feature for Core Tubes | DILLON, DANIEL P | 27d |
| 18481579 | STACKING FEATURE FOR CONTAINERS | SANGHERA, SYMREN K | 54d |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17014440 | CELLULOSE-BASED ACETATE FILM LINED MOLDED FIBER ARTICLES AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURE | RASHID, FAZLE A | 67d overdue |
| 18421617 | CONTAINER AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | DEMEREE, CHRISTOPHER R | 4d overdue |
| 18674152 | FOLDABLE CONTAINER | CASTELLANO, STEPHEN J | 6d |
| 18967991 | RIBBED POLYMERIC CONTAINER | PARKER, LAURA EBERT | 20d |
| 17669098 | Embossment Protective Feature for Core Tubes | DILLON, DANIEL P | 27d |
| 18481579 | STACKING FEATURE FOR CONTAINERS | SANGHERA, SYMREN K | 54d |
| 19296413 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR THE HIGH-SPEED APPLICATION OF PAPER-BASED END CLOSURES ON COMPOSITE CONTAINERS | IMAM, TANZIM | — |
| 18503475 | HIGH BARRIER COLD SEAL LAMINATE AND METHODS OF MAKING THE SAME | LAN, YAN | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3733 | 2 |
| 3731 | 1 |
| 3734 | 1 |
| 1782 | 1 |
| 3735 | 1 |
| 3736 | 1 |
| 1783 | 1 |
| 1748 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19296413 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR THE HIGH-SPEED APPLICATION OF PAPER-BASED END CLOSURES ON COMPOSITE CONTAINERS | IMAM, TANZIM | 3731 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 11, 2025 |
| 18967991 | RIBBED POLYMERIC CONTAINER | PARKER, LAURA EBERT | 3733 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | 20d | Pending | Dec 04, 2024 |
| 18674152 | FOLDABLE CONTAINER | CASTELLANO, STEPHEN J | 3733 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | 6d | Pending | May 24, 2024 |
| 18421617 | CONTAINER AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | DEMEREE, CHRISTOPHER R | 3734 | §103 | Final Rejection | 4d overdue | Pending | Jan 24, 2024 |
| 18503475 | HIGH BARRIER COLD SEAL LAMINATE AND METHODS OF MAKING THE SAME | LAN, YAN | 1782 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Nov 07, 2023 |
| 18481579 | STACKING FEATURE FOR CONTAINERS | SANGHERA, SYMREN K | 3735 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | 54d | Pending | Oct 05, 2023 |
| 18102266 | MULTIPURPOSE MEMBRANE FOR CONTAINERS | STEVENS, ALLAN D | 3736 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 27, 2023 |
| 17669098 | Embossment Protective Feature for Core Tubes | DILLON, DANIEL P | 1783 | §103 | Final Rejection | 27d | Pending | Feb 10, 2022 |
| 17014440 | CELLULOSE-BASED ACETATE FILM LINED MOLDED FIBER ARTICLES AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURE | RASHID, FAZLE A | 1748 | §103 | Final Rejection | 67d overdue | Pending | Sep 08, 2020 |
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Start Free TrialSonoco Development Inc. has 9 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 8 art units and 9 examiners.
Tanzim Imam has the most, with 1 of Sonoco Development Inc.'s pending office actions.
Mostly Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering (USPTO Tech Center 3700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
