Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 04, 2026

Soochow University

Technology area: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals

16 pending office actions • 13 art units • 16 examiners • 0 of 16 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 49 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

Soochow University maintains an active prosecution presence with 17 pending office actions in the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals technology area. These actions are distributed across 17 distinct examiners and 14 distinct art units. The number of distinct art units relative to the total pending actions suggests a broad research and development focus across various biological and pharmaceutical disciplines. This variety requires a versatile prosecution strategy to address the specific requirements of many different administrative groups within the patent office.

The busiest examiner, DIAZ, MATTHEthW R, is responsible for 1 pending office action. Because each of the 17 distinct examiners handles a portion of the total workload, the university's prosecution risk is distributed. No single examiner's decision-making style dominates the portfolio, as the 17 pending actions are spread across a wide range of personnel. This structure implies that the university's success in the biotechnology sector depends on managing a volume of independent interactions rather than focusing on a few key examiners. Practitioners must be prepared to adapt to the varied preferences of the distinct examiners.

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

Portfolio Summary

16
Total Pending OAs
8
Non-Final OAs
3
Final Rejections
5
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 9 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

4
Overdue
0
Due this week
1
Due this month
1
Due in next 60 days
3
Due later

Deadline Fire Line

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. 9 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (4)Due ≤ 30 days (1)Due ≤ 60 days (1)Due later (3)

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.

6
Hard (38%)
8
Medium (50%)
2
Easy (12%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 + other3 (19%)
§103 only7 (44%)
§112 only2 (12%)
Double-patenting + other1 (6%)
Multi-statute (no §101)3 (19%)

Industry Mix

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

11
Life Sciences
69% of docket
1
Information Tech
6% of docket
0
Communications
0% of docket
0
Semiconductors
0% of docket
1
Mechanical / Eng
6% of docket
3
Business / Other
19% 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.

160 h
Manual time on pending OAs
32 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
56 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
1.4 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
DIAZ, MATTHEW R 1 54.0% +43.4%
TOWNSLEY, SARA ELIZABETH 1 25.5% +49.1%
LANIER, BENJAMIN E 1 69.4% +16.9%
RHOADES, DEREK JAMES 1 71.3% +17.2%
ZENG, LINGWEN R 1 76.6% +20.3%
CUTLIFF, YATE KAI RENE 1 79.8% +24.3%
JAVANMARD, SAHAR 1 64.8% +34.1%
MCGUTHRY BANKS, TIMA MICHELE 1 81.8% +2.5%
RAMPHAL, LATASHA DEVI 1 33.3% +48.3%
AMIN, ALPA NILESH 1 50.0% +0.0%

Quick Wins (1)

Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 1 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
18012645 METHOD FOR SLAG MODIFICATION DURING END PERIOD OF CASTING IN STEEL LADLE HAVING COVER MCGUTHRY BANKS, TIMA MICHELE —

Hard Cases (7)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
17631439 TARGETED EXOSOME BASED ON RBD REGION OF SARS-COV-2 S PROTEIN AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREOF BUCKMASTER, MARLENE VRENI 239d overdue
18012321 SALVIA PLEBIA AND SCUTELLARIAE RADIX COMPOUND ACNE CREAM, PREPARATION METHOD THEREFOR AND APPLICATION THEREOF AMIN, ALPA NILESH 45d overdue
18358237 Fashion Personality Prediction and Clothing Recommendation Method and Device Based on Social Networks RAMPHAL, LATASHA DEVI 36d overdue
18466829 APPLICATION OF SMALL-MOLECULE COMPOUND IN PREPARATION OF ANTITUMOR DRUG JAVANMARD, SAHAR 82d
18672801 B/N ORGANIC ELECTROLUMINESCENT MATERIAL AND PREPARATION METHOD AND USE THEREOF TOWNSLEY, SARA ELIZABETH —
18608048 COMPOSITE POLYMER FILM MATERIAL BASED ON TUNGSTEN/COPPER/SULFUR CLUSTER COMPOUND, PREPARATION METHOD AND USE THEREOF IN THIRD-ORDER NONLINEAR OPTICS RHOADES, DEREK JAMES —
18012388 LAYERED METAL OXIDE/AMINE COMPOSITE MATERIAL AND PREPARATION METHOD AND APPLICATION THEREOF IN MAGNESIUM ION BATTERY ZENG, LINGWEN R —

Interview Candidates (8)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
18358237 Fashion Personality Prediction and Clothing Recommendation Method and Device Based on Social Networks RAMPHAL, LATASHA DEVI 36d overdue
18617185 GROUP DELEGATION COMPUTING METHOD LANIER, BENJAMIN E 62d
18466829 APPLICATION OF SMALL-MOLECULE COMPOUND IN PREPARATION OF ANTITUMOR DRUG JAVANMARD, SAHAR 82d
18726997 NANO-COMPOSITE MATERIAL-BASED INTELLIGENT FIREPROOF TEXTILE AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREFOR DIAZ, MATTHEW R —
18672801 B/N ORGANIC ELECTROLUMINESCENT MATERIAL AND PREPARATION METHOD AND USE THEREOF TOWNSLEY, SARA ELIZABETH —
18608048 COMPOSITE POLYMER FILM MATERIAL BASED ON TUNGSTEN/COPPER/SULFUR CLUSTER COMPOUND, PREPARATION METHOD AND USE THEREOF IN THIRD-ORDER NONLINEAR OPTICS RHOADES, DEREK JAMES —
18012388 LAYERED METAL OXIDE/AMINE COMPOSITE MATERIAL AND PREPARATION METHOD AND APPLICATION THEREOF IN MAGNESIUM ION BATTERY ZENG, LINGWEN R —
18037553 METHOD FOR PREPARING 2-IODO ARYL ETHER UNDER THE ACTION OF ALKALI METAL HYDRIDE CUTLIFF, YATE KAI RENE —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
1700 1
2437 1
1692 1
1622 1
1733 1
3688 1
1655 1
1618 1
1636 1
1616 1

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
18726997 NANO-COMPOSITE MATERIAL-BASED INTELLIGENT FIREPROOF TEXTILE AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREFOR DIAZ, MATTHEW R 1700 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Jul 05, 2024
18672801 B/N ORGANIC ELECTROLUMINESCENT MATERIAL AND PREPARATION METHOD AND USE THEREOF TOWNSLEY, SARA ELIZABETH — §103 Non-Final OA — Pending May 23, 2024
18617185 GROUP DELEGATION COMPUTING METHOD LANIER, BENJAMIN E 2437 §112 Non-Final OA 62d Pending Mar 26, 2024
18608048 COMPOSITE POLYMER FILM MATERIAL BASED ON TUNGSTEN/COPPER/SULFUR CLUSTER COMPOUND, PREPARATION METHOD AND USE THEREOF IN THIRD-ORDER NONLINEAR OPTICS RHOADES, DEREK JAMES — §101§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 18, 2024
18012388 LAYERED METAL OXIDE/AMINE COMPOSITE MATERIAL AND PREPARATION METHOD AND APPLICATION THEREOF IN MAGNESIUM ION BATTERY ZENG, LINGWEN R — §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 18, 2024
18037553 METHOD FOR PREPARING 2-IODO ARYL ETHER UNDER THE ACTION OF ALKALI METAL HYDRIDE CUTLIFF, YATE KAI RENE 1692 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Oct 31, 2023
18466829 APPLICATION OF SMALL-MOLECULE COMPOUND IN PREPARATION OF ANTITUMOR DRUG JAVANMARD, SAHAR 1622 §101§102§112 Non-Final OA 82d Pending Sep 14, 2023
18012645 METHOD FOR SLAG MODIFICATION DURING END PERIOD OF CASTING IN STEEL LADLE HAVING COVER MCGUTHRY BANKS, TIMA MICHELE 1733 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 21, 2023
18358237 Fashion Personality Prediction and Clothing Recommendation Method and Device Based on Social Networks RAMPHAL, LATASHA DEVI 3688 §101§103§112 Non-Final OA 36d overdue Pending Jul 25, 2023
18012321 SALVIA PLEBIA AND SCUTELLARIAE RADIX COMPOUND ACNE CREAM, PREPARATION METHOD THEREFOR AND APPLICATION THEREOF AMIN, ALPA NILESH 1655 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA 45d overdue Pending Jul 19, 2023
18196929 CAPSAICIN-DERIVED PHOTOSENSITIZER, AND PREPARATION METHOD AND USE THEREOF BAEK, JONGHWAN NMN 1618 §103 Non-Final OA 34d Pending May 12, 2023
18044565 IMMUNOADJUVANT-BASED HYDROGEL COMPOSITION AND USE THEREOF WHITEMAN, BRIAN A 1636 §103 Non-Final OA 63d Pending Mar 08, 2023
18012218 ANTI-TUMOR NANO ADJUVANT BASED ON VESICLE FORMED BY CROSS-LINKED BIODEGRADABLE POLYMER, PREPARATION METHOD THEREFOR AND USE THEREOF ARMSTRONG, SUSANNAH SIPPLE 1616 §103§112DP Final Rejection 26d Pending Dec 21, 2022
17598051 METHOD FOR INDUCING GELATION AND BIOMIMETIC MINERALIZATION OF SILK FIBROIN SOLUTION BY ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE PRAGANI, RAJAN 1614 §103 Non-Final OA 171d overdue Pending Aug 05, 2022
17631478 DIMETHYLMONOTHIOARSINIC ACID-INDUCED MALIGNANTLY TRANSFORMED CELL LINE OF HUMAN KERATINOCYTES AND USE THEREOF EBBINGHAUS, BRIANA NOEL 1632 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 30, 2022
17631439 TARGETED EXOSOME BASED ON RBD REGION OF SARS-COV-2 S PROTEIN AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREOF BUCKMASTER, MARLENE VRENI 1672 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA 239d overdue Pending Jan 28, 2022

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