Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems
6 pending office actions • 1 art units • 5 examiners • 0 of 6 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 11 patents granted in the last 365 days
Southco Inc. is managing 6 pending office actions within the Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems technology area. These actions are concentrated within 1 distinct art unit, which implies a consistent regulatory environment for their current filings. Despite the 1 distinct art unit, the company interacts with 5 distinct examiners, requiring tailored approaches for different individuals within that unit. This ratio of examiners to 6 pending office actions indicates that almost each case is being reviewed by a different person.
EMILY GAIL BROWN is the busiest examiner for the portfolio, responsible for 2 pending office actions. Other actions are spread among the 5 distinct examiners. This distribution within the art unit suggests that while the technical focus is narrow, the prosecution experience may vary based on the specific examiner assigned to each case. Practitioners should focus on the specific preferences of the assigned staff while benefiting from the technical consistency of the art unit.
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 (17%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 1 (17%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 4 (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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BROWN, EMILY GAIL | 2 | 74.5% | +17.7% |
| TULLIA, STEVEN A | 1 | 74.3% | +19.2% |
| LUGO, CARLOS | 1 | 74.9% | +14.0% |
| MERLINO, ALYSON MARIE | 1 | 64.6% | +31.2% |
| MCCALISTER, WILLIAM M | 1 | 69.0% | +19.6% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19216807 | MODULAR LATCH SYSTEM | TULLIA, STEVEN A | — |
| 19059988 | ELECTRONIC LATCH | LUGO, CARLOS | — |
| 19024910 | LEVER COMPRESSION LATCH | MERLINO, ALYSON MARIE | — |
| 19020576 | ELECTRONIC LOCK | BROWN, EMILY GAIL | — |
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 6 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19237674 | ELECTRONICALLY ACTUATED AND LOCKING GLOVE BOX SYSTEM | BROWN, EMILY GAIL | — |
| 19216807 | MODULAR LATCH SYSTEM | TULLIA, STEVEN A | — |
| 19059988 | ELECTRONIC LATCH | LUGO, CARLOS | — |
| 19024910 | LEVER COMPRESSION LATCH | MERLINO, ALYSON MARIE | — |
| 19020576 | ELECTRONIC LOCK | BROWN, EMILY GAIL | — |
| 19018316 | CAPTIVE FASTENER AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING THE SAME | MCCALISTER, WILLIAM M | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3675 | 4 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19237674 | ELECTRONICALLY ACTUATED AND LOCKING GLOVE BOX SYSTEM | BROWN, EMILY GAIL | — | §103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 13, 2025 |
| 19216807 | MODULAR LATCH SYSTEM | TULLIA, STEVEN A | 3675 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 23, 2025 |
| 19059988 | ELECTRONIC LATCH | LUGO, CARLOS | 3675 | §103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 21, 2025 |
| 19024910 | LEVER COMPRESSION LATCH | MERLINO, ALYSON MARIE | 3675 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2025 |
| 19020576 | ELECTRONIC LOCK | BROWN, EMILY GAIL | 3675 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 14, 2025 |
| 19018316 | CAPTIVE FASTENER AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING THE SAME | MCCALISTER, WILLIAM M | — | §102DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 13, 2025 |
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