Technology areas: Chemistry & Materials • Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
11 pending office actions • 10 art units • 10 examiners • 0 of 11 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 12 patents granted in the last 365 days
Southwest Research Institute has 11 pending office actions in the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. These actions are distributed among 10 distinct examiners and 10 distinct art units. MENGESHA, WEBESHET is the busiest examiner, currently managing 2 pending office actions. The portfolio shows a volume of activity with 11 pending office actions. These actions are spread across 10 distinct art units, indicating a broad range of mechanical engineering research being conducted by the institute.
MENGESHA, WEBESHET is the most active examiner, handling 2 of the 11 pending actions. The remaining actions are handled by other distinct examiners, showing that the workload is widely distributed across the 10 total examiners. This number of 10 distinct art units suggests that the institute's innovations are technically diverse and categorized into many specialized groups. Practitioners must manage 10 distinct examiners to navigate the 11 pending office actions, requiring a coordinated effort to ensure consistency across the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering area.
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.
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 (9%) |
| §102 only | 2 (18%) |
| §112 only | 1 (9%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 1 (9%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 6 (55%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MENGESHA, WEBESHET | 2 | 47.2% | +12.7% |
| BEKELE, MEKONEN T | 1 | 79.2% | +13.6% |
| HOLBROOK, TEUTA BAJRAMOVIC | 1 | 72.0% | +26.8% |
| SANGHERA, JAS A | 1 | 94.6% | +4.9% |
| ZHU, JIANJIAN | 1 | 58.1% | +82.5% |
| UNDERWOOD, JARREAS C | 1 | 79.1% | +21.1% |
| KUCKLA, ANNA GRACE | 1 | 53.8% | +51.3% |
| ZHANG, KELING NMN | 1 | 66.8% | +17.6% |
| HASSAN, LIBAN M | 1 | 50.8% | +31.1% |
| FREEMAN, EMILY ELIZABETH | 1 | 72.8% | +13.9% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 6 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18545358 | Heated Work-Extraction Mechanism for a Cryogenic-Based Carbon Dioxide Capture System | MENGESHA, WEBESHET | 31d overdue |
| 19023522 | Polarization Imaging for Defect Detection in Irregular Reflective Surfaces | BEKELE, MEKONEN T | — |
| 18913211 | TEST DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MEASUREMENT OF AERATION IN A FLOW STREAM VIA ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES | SANGHERA, JAS A | — |
| 18545364 | Cryogenic-Based Carbon Dioxide Capture System | MENGESHA, WEBESHET | — |
| 18472472 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL BIOREACTOR INCLUDING FILLED VOID STRUCTURE | HASSAN, LIBAN M | — |
| 17902871 | Thermal Runaway Prevention System | FREEMAN, EMILY ELIZABETH | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18545358 | Heated Work-Extraction Mechanism for a Cryogenic-Based Carbon Dioxide Capture System | MENGESHA, WEBESHET | 31d overdue |
| 19023522 | Polarization Imaging for Defect Detection in Irregular Reflective Surfaces | BEKELE, MEKONEN T | — |
| 18976521 | ENGINE ANOMALY DETECTION AND MITIGATION SYSTEMS | HOLBROOK, TEUTA BAJRAMOVIC | — |
| 18653747 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR T-CELL SEPARATION, ACTIVATION, TRANSDUCTION AND EXPANSION | ZHU, JIANJIAN | — |
| 18398027 | METHOD TO EVALUATE WEAR DEPTH OF NON-METALLIC PARTS | UNDERWOOD, JARREAS C | — |
| 18545364 | Cryogenic-Based Carbon Dioxide Capture System | MENGESHA, WEBESHET | — |
| 18529015 | SYNTHESIS OF BIS-OXIME HETEROCYCLES | KUCKLA, ANNA GRACE | — |
| 18480230 | SELECTIVE REVERSE WATER GAS SHIFT: GROUP 1A ALKALI METAL DOPING OF A METAL-CONTAINING PARTIALLY REDUCED METAL (IV) OXIDE | ZHANG, KELING NMN | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3763 | 2 |
| 2699 | 1 |
| 3747 | 1 |
| 2852 | 1 |
| 1631 | 1 |
| 2877 | 1 |
| 1626 | 1 |
| 1732 | 1 |
| 1799 | 1 |
| 1724 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19023522 | Polarization Imaging for Defect Detection in Irregular Reflective Surfaces | BEKELE, MEKONEN T | 2699 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2025 |
| 18976521 | ENGINE ANOMALY DETECTION AND MITIGATION SYSTEMS | HOLBROOK, TEUTA BAJRAMOVIC | 3747 | §102 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 11, 2024 |
| 18913211 | TEST DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MEASUREMENT OF AERATION IN A FLOW STREAM VIA ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES | SANGHERA, JAS A | 2852 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 11, 2024 |
| 18653747 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR T-CELL SEPARATION, ACTIVATION, TRANSDUCTION AND EXPANSION | ZHU, JIANJIAN | 1631 | §102§103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 02, 2024 |
| 18398027 | METHOD TO EVALUATE WEAR DEPTH OF NON-METALLIC PARTS | UNDERWOOD, JARREAS C | 2877 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 27, 2023 |
| 18545358 | Heated Work-Extraction Mechanism for a Cryogenic-Based Carbon Dioxide Capture System | MENGESHA, WEBESHET | 3763 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | 31d overdue | Pending | Dec 19, 2023 |
| 18545364 | Cryogenic-Based Carbon Dioxide Capture System | MENGESHA, WEBESHET | 3763 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 19, 2023 |
| 18529015 | SYNTHESIS OF BIS-OXIME HETEROCYCLES | KUCKLA, ANNA GRACE | 1626 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 05, 2023 |
| 18480230 | SELECTIVE REVERSE WATER GAS SHIFT: GROUP 1A ALKALI METAL DOPING OF A METAL-CONTAINING PARTIALLY REDUCED METAL (IV) OXIDE | ZHANG, KELING NMN | 1732 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 03, 2023 |
| 18472472 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL BIOREACTOR INCLUDING FILLED VOID STRUCTURE | HASSAN, LIBAN M | 1799 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Sep 22, 2023 |
| 17902871 | Thermal Runaway Prevention System | FREEMAN, EMILY ELIZABETH | 1724 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Sep 04, 2022 |
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Start Free TrialSouthwest Research Institute has 11 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 10 art units and 10 examiners.
Webeshet Mengesha has the most, with 2 of Southwest Research Institute's pending office actions.
Mostly Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering (USPTO Tech Center 3700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
