Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026

Surmodics Inc.

Technology areas: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals • Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering

6 pending office actions • 4 art units • 6 examiners • 0 of 6 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 2 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

Surmodics Inc. has 5 pending office actions in Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering. These matters span 5 examiners and 3 art units, showing that the portfolio’s active prosecution is distributed across multiple examination settings.

RWEGO, KANKINDI is the busiest examiner, with 1 pending matter. Because the examiner count exceeds the art-unit count, at least some prosecution activity is grouped within an art unit while remaining assigned to different examiners. Counsel should coordinate claim strategy across the matters while preserving examiner-specific response analysis.

Written from this page's own data; every figure is computed from USPTO records and verified before publication.

Portfolio Summary

6
Total Pending OAs
2
Non-Final OAs
4
Final Rejections
0
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 4 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

2
Overdue
1
Due this week
0
Due this month
1
Due in next 60 days
0
Due later

Deadline Fire Line

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. 4 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (2)Due ≤ 7 days (1)Due ≤ 60 days (1)

Case Difficulty Mix

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.

4
Hard (67%)
2
Medium (33%)
0
Easy (0%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§103 only2 (33%)
Multi-statute (no §101)4 (67%)

Industry Mix

How the docket's pending cases split across USPTO tech-center bands.

2
Life Sciences
33% of docket
0
Information Tech
0% of docket
0
Communications
0% of docket
0
Semiconductors
0% of docket
4
Mechanical / Eng
67% of docket
0
Business / Other
0% of docket

Time-on-OA Estimate

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.

60 h
Manual time on pending OAs
12 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
21 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
0.5 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
RWEGO, KANKINDI 1 74.7% +34.5%
MEYERS, ELIZABETH ANNE 1 22.2% +93.3%
FARRAR, LAUREN PENG 1 78.7% +15.6%
BECKHARDT, LYNDSEY MARIE 1 27.8% +48.0%
DOUBRAVA, JOHN A 1 76.8% +26.6%
RABAGLIA, BRIDGET ELIZABETH 1 68.9% +15.0%

Hard Cases (5)

Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 5 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
18643329 THROMBECTOMY SYSTEM RWEGO, KANKINDI 35d overdue
17145092 CATHETER WITH BRAID AND RADIOPAQUE SECTION DOUBRAVA, JOHN A 7d
18139125 MEDICAL DEVICE COATINGS WITH MICROCRYSTALLINE ACTIVE AGENTS BECKHARDT, LYNDSEY MARIE 42d
18612034 BIOFOULING RESISTANT COATINGS FOR MEDICAL DEVICES MEYERS, ELIZABETH ANNE —
18405604 LUBRICIOUS COATINGS FOR MEDICAL DEVICES WITH ENHANCED DURABILITY FARRAR, LAUREN PENG —

Interview Candidates (6)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
16414597 CATHETERS WITH STRUCTURALLY SUPPORTED EXPANDABLE ELEMENTS AND METHODS FOR SAME RABAGLIA, BRIDGET ELIZABETH 97d overdue
18643329 THROMBECTOMY SYSTEM RWEGO, KANKINDI 35d overdue
17145092 CATHETER WITH BRAID AND RADIOPAQUE SECTION DOUBRAVA, JOHN A 7d
18139125 MEDICAL DEVICE COATINGS WITH MICROCRYSTALLINE ACTIVE AGENTS BECKHARDT, LYNDSEY MARIE 42d
18612034 BIOFOULING RESISTANT COATINGS FOR MEDICAL DEVICES MEYERS, ELIZABETH ANNE —
18405604 LUBRICIOUS COATINGS FOR MEDICAL DEVICES WITH ENHANCED DURABILITY FARRAR, LAUREN PENG —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
3771 2
3783 2
1617 1
1613 1

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
18643329 THROMBECTOMY SYSTEM RWEGO, KANKINDI 3771 §102§112 Final Rejection 35d overdue Pending Apr 23, 2024
18612034 BIOFOULING RESISTANT COATINGS FOR MEDICAL DEVICES MEYERS, ELIZABETH ANNE 1617 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 21, 2024
18405604 LUBRICIOUS COATINGS FOR MEDICAL DEVICES WITH ENHANCED DURABILITY FARRAR, LAUREN PENG 3783 §102§103 Final Rejection — Pending Jan 05, 2024
18139125 MEDICAL DEVICE COATINGS WITH MICROCRYSTALLINE ACTIVE AGENTS BECKHARDT, LYNDSEY MARIE 1613 §103Other Non-Final OA 42d Pending Apr 25, 2023
17145092 CATHETER WITH BRAID AND RADIOPAQUE SECTION DOUBRAVA, JOHN A 3783 §103§112 Final Rejection 7d Pending Jan 08, 2021
16414597 CATHETERS WITH STRUCTURALLY SUPPORTED EXPANDABLE ELEMENTS AND METHODS FOR SAME RABAGLIA, BRIDGET ELIZABETH 3771 §103 Final Rejection 97d overdue Pending May 16, 2019

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many pending USPTO office actions does Surmodics Inc. have?

Surmodics Inc. has 6 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 4 art units and 6 examiners.

Which USPTO examiner handles the most Surmodics Inc. applications?

Kankindi Rwego has the most, with 1 of Surmodics Inc.'s pending office actions.

What technology area are Surmodics Inc.'s patent applications in?

Mostly Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering (USPTO Tech Center 3700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.

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