Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals • Chemistry & Materials
13 pending office actions • 9 art units • 11 examiners • 0 of 13 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 14 patents granted in the last 365 days
SUN CHEMICAL Corporation maintains a diverse patent portfolio with 13 pending office actions in the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These actions are handled by 11 distinct examiners, ensuring that the company's innovations are reviewed by a wide range of officials. The portfolio's technical breadth is further evidenced by its activity across 9 distinct art units. This extensive distribution across 9 distinct art units indicates that the company's chemical research is highly varied, requiring engagement with many different specialized divisions within the patent office. Practitioners must develop a highly adaptable prosecution strategy to meet the diverse technical and procedural requirements of each of the 9 distinct art units.
MCDONOUGH, JAMES E is the busiest examiner for the corporation, currently managing 2 pending office actions. While this official has the highest individual workload, the 13 total pending actions are largely decentralized among 11 distinct examiners. This structure reduces the impact of any single examiner's tendencies on the overall portfolio. Practitioners should note that the presence of 9 distinct art units necessitates a tailored approach for each specialized division. The 13 pending office actions reflect a significant and multifaceted effort to protect the company's intellectual property in the chemistry sector. This arrangement provides the company with a broad range of independent reviews from 11 distinct examiners across the various technical fields identified in the data.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 6 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. 6 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 |
|---|---|
| §101 + other | 1 (8%) |
| §103 only | 7 (54%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 5 (38%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MCDONOUGH, JAMES E | 2 | 71.1% | +10.9% |
| LIU, TRACY | 2 | 54.5% | +27.3% |
| COHEN, STEFANIE J | 1 | 75.4% | +2.5% |
| ROSWELL, JESSICA MARIE | 1 | 52.2% | +36.5% |
| HESTER, HOLLEY GRACE | 1 | 66.7% | +40.8% |
| CAI, WENWEN | 1 | 59.8% | +19.4% |
| ZHANG, RUIYUN | 1 | 70.4% | +10.6% |
| MURATA, AUSTIN | 1 | 60.9% | +21.2% |
| FIDLER, SHELBY LEE | 1 | 79.1% | +14.2% |
| PALLAY, MICHAEL B | 1 | 55.8% | +34.0% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17766693 | UV INKJET COMPOSITIONS | FIDLER, SHELBY LEE | 66d overdue |
| 18077301 | COLORED COSMETIC SOLID DISPERSIONS | LIU, TRACY | 43d overdue |
| 18707979 | UV CURABLE INKS AND COATINGS | ROSWELL, JESSICA MARIE | — |
| 18508352 | POLYURETHANE DISPERSANTS, PIGMENT DISPERSIONS AND AQUEOUS INKS | HESTER, HOLLEY GRACE | — |
| 18551657 | Water-based Polymeric Colorant Inks for Cellulosic Substrates | CAI, WENWEN | — |
| 18268807 | PHOTOINITIATOR RESINS WITH DIBENZOYLMETHANE SUBSTRUCTURE | ZHANG, RUIYUN | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17766693 | UV INKJET COMPOSITIONS | FIDLER, SHELBY LEE | 66d overdue |
| 18027813 | A UV PRINTING PROCESS | MURATA, AUSTIN | 51d overdue |
| 18077301 | COLORED COSMETIC SOLID DISPERSIONS | LIU, TRACY | 43d overdue |
| 18119957 | TiO2-FREE PIGMENT | LIU, TRACY | 26d overdue |
| 17195819 | PIGMENT COMPOSITION FOR SEED COATINGS | PALLAY, MICHAEL B | 15d overdue |
| 18707979 | UV CURABLE INKS AND COATINGS | ROSWELL, JESSICA MARIE | — |
| 18690626 | WATER-BORNE HEAT-SEALABLE BARRIER COATINGS | MCDONOUGH, JAMES E | — |
| 18439053 | Printing Inks & Coating Compositions for Polyethylene Coated Board | MCDONOUGH, JAMES E | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1614 | 2 |
| 1732 | 1 |
| 1767 | 1 |
| 1763 | 1 |
| 1782 | 1 |
| 1712 | 1 |
| 2853 | 1 |
| 1617 | 1 |
| 1731 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18843903 | EDIBLE PRIMER LAYER | COHEN, STEFANIE J | 1732 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 04, 2024 |
| 18707979 | UV CURABLE INKS AND COATINGS | ROSWELL, JESSICA MARIE | 1767 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 07, 2024 |
| 18690626 | WATER-BORNE HEAT-SEALABLE BARRIER COATINGS | MCDONOUGH, JAMES E | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 08, 2024 |
| 18439053 | Printing Inks & Coating Compositions for Polyethylene Coated Board | MCDONOUGH, JAMES E | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 12, 2024 |
| 18508352 | POLYURETHANE DISPERSANTS, PIGMENT DISPERSIONS AND AQUEOUS INKS | HESTER, HOLLEY GRACE | — | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 14, 2023 |
| 18551657 | Water-based Polymeric Colorant Inks for Cellulosic Substrates | CAI, WENWEN | 1763 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 21, 2023 |
| 18268807 | PHOTOINITIATOR RESINS WITH DIBENZOYLMETHANE SUBSTRUCTURE | ZHANG, RUIYUN | 1782 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 21, 2023 |
| 18027813 | A UV PRINTING PROCESS | MURATA, AUSTIN | 1712 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 51d overdue | Pending | Mar 22, 2023 |
| 18119957 | TiO2-FREE PIGMENT | LIU, TRACY | 1614 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 26d overdue | Pending | Mar 10, 2023 |
| 18077301 | COLORED COSMETIC SOLID DISPERSIONS | LIU, TRACY | 1614 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | 43d overdue | Pending | Dec 08, 2022 |
| 17766693 | UV INKJET COMPOSITIONS | FIDLER, SHELBY LEE | 2853 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 66d overdue | Pending | Apr 05, 2022 |
| 17195819 | PIGMENT COMPOSITION FOR SEED COATINGS | PALLAY, MICHAEL B | 1617 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 15d overdue | Pending | Mar 09, 2021 |
| 15746863 | DISPERSANT EFFECTS ON ALUMINUM PIGMENTS | ABU ALI, SHUANGYI | 1731 | §103 | Final Rejection | 19d overdue | Pending | Jan 23, 2018 |
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