Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
6 pending office actions • 4 art units • 6 examiners • 0 of 6 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready
Stellenbosch University manages a patent portfolio with 6 pending office actions, primarily situated in the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals technology area. These actions are distributed among 6 distinct examiners, ensuring that each pending matter is subject to an individual review process. The portfolio's reach extends across 4 distinct art units, which indicates a range of technical applications within this sector. This variety suggests that the university's research output is being evaluated by several specialized groups within the patent office.
CONIGLIO, AUDREA JUNE BUCKLEY is the busiest examiner for the university, currently handling 1 pending office action. With the workload dispersed, no examiner is responsible for more than 1 matter. This distribution across multiple examiners and 4 distinct art units suggests that the university's intellectual property strategy involves diverse technical fields, requiring practitioners to navigate varied examination styles and specialized art unit standards. The lack of concentration under a single examiner means that prosecution outcomes are subject to a wide array of individual perspectives and technical requirements.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 2 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 |
|---|---|
| §101 + other | 1 (17%) |
| §103 only | 1 (17%) |
| §112 only | 1 (17%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 3 (50%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CONIGLIO, AUDREA JUNE BUCKLEY | 1 | 52.9% | +21.1% |
| LOUNTOS, GEORGE THEMISTOCLIS | 1 | 57.1% | +60.0% |
| HOFFMAN, ALEXANDER JOSEPH | 1 | — | — |
| BREEN, KIMBERLY CATHERINE | 1 | 23.8% | +56.9% |
| RAVINDRA, KRISHNA NUGGEHALLI | 1 | 50.0% | +33.3% |
| COFFA, SERGIO | 1 | 61.1% | +32.5% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17923659 | METHOD OF MODIFYING A YEAST STRAIN, MODIFIED YEAST STRAINS OBTAINED THEREBY AND USES THEREOF | RAVINDRA, KRISHNA NUGGEHALLI | 30d overdue |
| 18701026 | RECOMBINANT SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE STRAINS FOR ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS OF BIOPLASTIC POLYMERS | LOUNTOS, GEORGE THEMISTOCLIS | — |
| 18699169 | BIOMARKERS FOR DIAGNOSING TUBERCULOSIS | HOFFMAN, ALEXANDER JOSEPH | — |
| 18028396 | COATING OF MATERIALS WITH BIOSURFACTANT COMPOUNDS | BREEN, KIMBERLY CATHERINE | — |
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 5 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17767734 | IFIT Polypeptides and Uses for Treating Tuberculosis Infection | COFFA, SERGIO | 85d overdue |
| 17923659 | METHOD OF MODIFYING A YEAST STRAIN, MODIFIED YEAST STRAINS OBTAINED THEREBY AND USES THEREOF | RAVINDRA, KRISHNA NUGGEHALLI | 30d overdue |
| 18867333 | POLYMER SYSTEM FOR FORMING A HYDROGEL | CONIGLIO, AUDREA JUNE BUCKLEY | — |
| 18701026 | RECOMBINANT SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE STRAINS FOR ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS OF BIOPLASTIC POLYMERS | LOUNTOS, GEORGE THEMISTOCLIS | — |
| 18028396 | COATING OF MATERIALS WITH BIOSURFACTANT COMPOUNDS | BREEN, KIMBERLY CATHERINE | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1652 | 1 |
| 1657 | 1 |
| 1636 | 1 |
| 1658 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18867333 | POLYMER SYSTEM FOR FORMING A HYDROGEL | CONIGLIO, AUDREA JUNE BUCKLEY | — | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 19, 2024 |
| 18701026 | RECOMBINANT SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE STRAINS FOR ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS OF BIOPLASTIC POLYMERS | LOUNTOS, GEORGE THEMISTOCLIS | 1652 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 12, 2024 |
| 18699169 | BIOMARKERS FOR DIAGNOSING TUBERCULOSIS | HOFFMAN, ALEXANDER JOSEPH | — | §101§102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 05, 2024 |
| 18028396 | COATING OF MATERIALS WITH BIOSURFACTANT COMPOUNDS | BREEN, KIMBERLY CATHERINE | 1657 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 24, 2023 |
| 17923659 | METHOD OF MODIFYING A YEAST STRAIN, MODIFIED YEAST STRAINS OBTAINED THEREBY AND USES THEREOF | RAVINDRA, KRISHNA NUGGEHALLI | 1636 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | 30d overdue | Pending | Nov 07, 2022 |
| 17767734 | IFIT Polypeptides and Uses for Treating Tuberculosis Infection | COFFA, SERGIO | 1658 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 85d overdue | Pending | Apr 08, 2022 |
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