Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Chemistry & Materials
37 pending office actions • 15 art units • 33 examiners • 0 of 37 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 39 patents granted in the last 365 days
Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. maintains a large portfolio with 37 pending office actions in the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These actions are distributed among 33 distinct examiners and 16 distinct art units. This high number of examiners and art units indicates a very broad and complex prosecution landscape, requiring the company to manage relationships and strategies across many different sections of the patent office. The diversity of 16 distinct art units suggests that the company's chemistry-related innovations span a wide range of technical classifications.
PIRO, NICHOLAS ANTHONY is the busiest examiner for the company, currently managing 4 pending office actions. While this is the highest number for a single individual, the 33 distinct examiners ensure that most of the 37 pending actions are handled by different people. The 4 pending actions under the busiest examiner are a small portion of the total, as the company's applications are being evaluated by a wide range of specialized groups. This decentralized workload requires a robust management strategy to handle the various examiner preferences and art unit standards across the active cases.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 12 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. 12 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 | 22 (59%) |
| §102 only | 2 (5%) |
| §112 only | 1 (3%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 3 (8%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 9 (24%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| PIRO, NICHOLAS ANTHONY | 4 | 45.9% | +35.9% |
| SMOOT, MORIAH SIMONE MCMIL | 2 | 63.9% | +6.7% |
| NGUYEN, HAIDUNG D | 1 | 64.9% | +28.4% |
| NGUYEN, KHANH TUAN | 1 | 74.6% | +18.7% |
| DUDEK, JAMES A | 1 | 82.2% | +3.1% |
| FLORES, JAVIER | 1 | 0.0% | +0.0% |
| ALDAZ CERVANTES, MAYELA RENATA | 1 | 70.0% | +39.4% |
| MCKINNON, LASHAWNDA T | 1 | 53.9% | +30.2% |
| WALCK, BRIAN D | 1 | 58.7% | +26.9% |
| CARDA, DANIELLE MARIE | 1 | 83.2% | +13.0% |
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 # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18833131 | NEAR-INFRARED ABSORBING PARTICLES, PRODUCTION METHOD FOR NEAR-INFRARED ABSORBING PARTICLES, NEAR-INFRARED ABSORBING PARTICLE DISPERSION LIQUID, NEAR-INFRARED ABSORBING PARTICLE DISPERSION, NEAR-INFRARED ABSORBING STACK, AND NEAR-INFRARED ABSORBING TRANSPARENT BASE | DUDEK, JAMES A | — |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 8 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18681709 | ANTIMOLD EMULSION COATING MATERIAL, ANTIMOLD FINE PARTICLE DISPERSION, AND ARTICLE WITH ANTIMOLD FINE PARTICLE DISPERSION | DICUS, TAMRA | 8d |
| 19124699 | PRODUCTION METHOD OF POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM-ION SECONDARY BATTERY | NGUYEN, HAIDUNG D | — |
| 18690282 | METHOD FOR PROCESSING ALLOY | FLORES, JAVIER | — |
| 18685250 | METHOD FOR RECOVERING VALUABLE METALS | CARDA, DANIELLE MARIE | — |
| 18579520 | METHOD FOR PROCESSING ALLOY | PIRO, NICHOLAS ANTHONY | — |
| 18401946 | NICKEL-CONTAINING COMPOSITE HYDROXIDE AND PRODUCTION PROCESS THEREFOR, POSITIVE-ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR A NONAQUEOUS-ELECTROLYTE SECONDARY BATTERY AND PRODUCTION PROCESS THEREFOR, AND NONAQUEOUS-ELECTROLYTE SECONDARY BATTERY | PIRO, NICHOLAS ANTHONY | — |
| 18567019 | POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY, POSITIVE ELECTRODE FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY, AND LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY | KERNS, KEVIN P | — |
| 18267113 | FLOTATION METHOD AND FLOTATION SYSTEM | PATEL, PRANAV N | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18267054 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING LITHIUM HYDROXIDE | PIRO, NICHOLAS ANTHONY | 67d overdue |
| 18698146 | INFRARED ABSORBING FIBER AND FIBER PRODUCT | MCKINNON, LASHAWNDA T | 16d |
| 19124699 | PRODUCTION METHOD OF POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM-ION SECONDARY BATTERY | NGUYEN, HAIDUNG D | — |
| 18997902 | NEGATIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING NEGATIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY, AND LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY | NGUYEN, KHANH TUAN | — |
| 18739039 | MINERAL PROCESSING METHOD | ALDAZ CERVANTES, MAYELA RENATA | — |
| 18696560 | ALLOY TREATMENT METHOD | WALCK, BRIAN D | — |
| 18685250 | METHOD FOR RECOVERING VALUABLE METALS | CARDA, DANIELLE MARIE | — |
| 18681346 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING LITHIUM CONTAINING SOLUTION AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING LITHIUM HYDROXIDE | PIRO, NICHOLAS ANTHONY | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1729 | 4 |
| 1738 | 3 |
| 1751 | 3 |
| 1788 | 2 |
| 1733 | 2 |
| 1752 | 2 |
| 1761 | 1 |
| 1789 | 1 |
| 1787 | 1 |
| 1785 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19124699 | PRODUCTION METHOD OF POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM-ION SECONDARY BATTERY | NGUYEN, HAIDUNG D | 1761 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 25, 2025 |
| 18997902 | NEGATIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING NEGATIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY, AND LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY | NGUYEN, KHANH TUAN | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 23, 2025 |
| 18833131 | NEAR-INFRARED ABSORBING PARTICLES, PRODUCTION METHOD FOR NEAR-INFRARED ABSORBING PARTICLES, NEAR-INFRARED ABSORBING PARTICLE DISPERSION LIQUID, NEAR-INFRARED ABSORBING PARTICLE DISPERSION, NEAR-INFRARED ABSORBING STACK, AND NEAR-INFRARED ABSORBING TRANSPARENT BASE | DUDEK, JAMES A | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 24, 2024 |
| 18690282 | METHOD FOR PROCESSING ALLOY | FLORES, JAVIER | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 16, 2024 |
| 18739039 | MINERAL PROCESSING METHOD | ALDAZ CERVANTES, MAYELA RENATA | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 10, 2024 |
| 18698146 | INFRARED ABSORBING FIBER AND FIBER PRODUCT | MCKINNON, LASHAWNDA T | 1789 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 16d | Pending | Apr 03, 2024 |
| 18696560 | ALLOY TREATMENT METHOD | WALCK, BRIAN D | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 28, 2024 |
| 18685250 | METHOD FOR RECOVERING VALUABLE METALS | CARDA, DANIELLE MARIE | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 21, 2024 |
| 18684019 | INFRARED CURABLE INK COMPOSITION, INFRARED CURED PRODUCT AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING INFRARED CURED PRODUCT | BARZACH, JEFFREY EUGENE | — | §103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 15, 2024 |
| 18682231 | ORGANIC-INORGANIC HYBRID INFRARED ABSORBING PARTICLES, INFRARED ABSORBING PARTICLE DISPERSION, AND METHOD OF PRODUCING ORGANIC-INORGANIC HYBRID INFRARED ABSORBING PARTICLES | LE, HOA T | 1788 | §102 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Feb 08, 2024 |
| 18681709 | ANTIMOLD EMULSION COATING MATERIAL, ANTIMOLD FINE PARTICLE DISPERSION, AND ARTICLE WITH ANTIMOLD FINE PARTICLE DISPERSION | DICUS, TAMRA | 1787 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | 8d | Pending | Feb 06, 2024 |
| 18681346 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING LITHIUM CONTAINING SOLUTION AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING LITHIUM HYDROXIDE | PIRO, NICHOLAS ANTHONY | — | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 05, 2024 |
| 18579520 | METHOD FOR PROCESSING ALLOY | PIRO, NICHOLAS ANTHONY | 1738 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2024 |
| 18401946 | NICKEL-CONTAINING COMPOSITE HYDROXIDE AND PRODUCTION PROCESS THEREFOR, POSITIVE-ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR A NONAQUEOUS-ELECTROLYTE SECONDARY BATTERY AND PRODUCTION PROCESS THEREFOR, AND NONAQUEOUS-ELECTROLYTE SECONDARY BATTERY | PIRO, NICHOLAS ANTHONY | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 02, 2024 |
| 18568471 | INFRARED ABSORBING COMPOSITE FINE PARTICLES, INFRARED ABSORBING FINE PARTICLE DISPERSION LIQUID, AND INFRARED ABSORBING FINE PARTICLE DISPERSION BODY | MANGOHIG, THOMAS A | — | §103DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Dec 08, 2023 |
| 18567440 | METHOD OF PRODUCING VALUABLE METAL | MCCRACKEN, DANIEL | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 06, 2023 |
| 18567019 | POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY, POSITIVE ELECTRODE FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY, AND LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY | KERNS, KEVIN P | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 04, 2023 |
| 18556133 | MAGNETOSTRICTIVE MEMBER AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING MAGNETOSTRICTIVE MEMBER | CHAU, LISA N | 1785 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Oct 19, 2023 |
| 18272833 | METHOD FOR RECOVERING VALUABLE METAL | SMOOT, MORIAH SIMONE MCMIL | 1733 | §103 | Final Rejection | 1d overdue | Pending | Jul 18, 2023 |
| 18258958 | HEAT RAY SHIELDING RESIN SHEET MATERIAL | WILSON, PAISLEY L | 2871 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 27d | Pending | Jun 22, 2023 |
| 18267113 | FLOTATION METHOD AND FLOTATION SYSTEM | PATEL, PRANAV N | 1777 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 14, 2023 |
| 18267054 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING LITHIUM HYDROXIDE | PIRO, NICHOLAS ANTHONY | 1738 | §103Other | Final Rejection | 67d overdue | Pending | Jun 13, 2023 |
| 18042406 | POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY, POSITIVE ELECTRODE FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY, AND LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY | TRAN, UYEN M | 1726 | §103 | Final Rejection | 53d | Pending | Feb 21, 2023 |
| 18018415 | METHOD FOR RECOVERING LITHIUM AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING LITHIUM CARBONATE | SMOOT, MORIAH SIMONE MCMIL | 1733 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 27, 2023 |
| 18005212 | METHOD OF PRODUCING NICKEL-CONTAINING HYDROXIDE, METHOD OF PRODUCING POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY, POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY, AND LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY | BLACKWELL-RUDASIL, RYAN KENZIE | 1722 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 12, 2023 |
| 17925049 | POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERIES, METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAID POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL, AND LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY | KLINE, SYDNEY LYNN | 1729 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Nov 14, 2022 |
| 17918489 | POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL PARTICLES FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY, POSITIVE ELECTRODE FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY, AND LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY | KASS-MULLET, BENJAMIN ELI | 1752 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 12, 2022 |
| 17917312 | METHOD FOR RECOVERING VALUABLE METAL | MORALES, RICARDO D | 1738 | §103 | Final Rejection | 37d overdue | Pending | Oct 06, 2022 |
| 17797397 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING LITHIUM HYDROXIDE | RIPA, BRYAN D | 1794 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 03, 2022 |
| 17783802 | LITHIUM METAL COMPOSITE OXIDE, POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY, POSITIVE ELECTRODE FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY, AND LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY | AMPONSAH, OSEI K | 1752 | §112 | Final Rejection | 14d | Pending | Jun 09, 2022 |
| 17622485 | POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM-ION SECONDARY BATTERIES, METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAME, AND LITHIUM-ION SECONDARY BATTERY | DAULTON, CHRISTINA RENEE | 1729 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 23, 2021 |
| 17602228 | LITHIUM METAL COMPOSITE OXIDE POWDER, POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING LITHIUM METAL COMPOSITE OXIDE POWDER | PATEL, RONAK C | 1788 | §103 | Final Rejection | 13d | Pending | Oct 07, 2021 |
| 17601882 | LITHIUM COMPOSITE METAL OXIDE POWDER AND LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL | EGGERDING, ALIX ECHELMEYER | 1729 | §103 | Final Rejection | 8d overdue | Pending | Oct 06, 2021 |
| 17310805 | POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY, AND LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY | SON, TAEYOUNG | 1751 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 12d | Pending | Aug 25, 2021 |
| 17425102 | NICKEL COBALT ALUMINUM COMPOSITE HYDROXIDE, METHOD FOR PRODUCING NICKEL COBALT ALUMINUM COMPOSITE HYDROXIDE, LITHIUM NICKEL COBALT ALUMINUM COMPOSITE OXIDE, AND LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY | CARVALHO JR., ARMINDO | 1729 | §103 | Final Rejection | 9d | Pending | Jul 22, 2021 |
| 16982001 | LITHIUM COMPOSITE METAL OXIDE, POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY, POSITIVE ELECTRODE FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY, AND LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY | NEWMAN, DREW C | 1751 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Sep 17, 2020 |
| 16629806 | METAL COMPOSITE HYDROXIDE, METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAME, POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR NONAQUEOUS ELECTROLYTE SECONDARY BATTERIES, METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAID POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL, AND NONAQUEOUS ELECTROLYTE SECONDARY BATTERY USING SAID POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL | CHUO, TONY SHENG HSIANG | 1751 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 09, 2020 |
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