Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics
1,571 pending office actions • 118 art units • 609 examiners • 1 of 1,571 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 3,095 patents granted in the last 365 days
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. maintains a portfolio with 1644 pending office actions, focused in the Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics technology area. This volume is distributed across 622 distinct examiners. The workload spans 103 distinct art units, which reflects the technical reach within the semiconductor sector.
KIM, TONG-HO is identified as the busiest examiner for the company, managing 23 pending office actions. These 23 actions are part of the 1644 total pending actions. The portfolio is distributed across the 622 distinct examiners, with many examiners handling multiple cases.
For practitioners, the presence of 103 distinct art units suggests that prosecution strategies must be tailored to the various examining groups. The 1644 pending office actions are assigned to 622 distinct examiners. KIM, TONG-HO handles 23 pending office actions, which is the busiest examiner workload in this portfolio.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 265 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. 265 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 only | 1 (0%) |
| §101 + other | 12 (1%) |
| §103 only | 451 (29%) |
| §102 only | 119 (8%) |
| §112 only | 54 (3%) |
| Double-patenting only | 96 (6%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 71 (5%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 752 (48%) |
| No statute on record | 15 (1%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOO, LAMONT B | 22 | 80.6% | +5.2% |
| KIM, TONG-HO | 20 | 95.2% | +0.7% |
| DINKE, BITEW A | 14 | 72.9% | +12.4% |
| VALENZUELA, PATRICIA D | 14 | 90.3% | +2.0% |
| BOWEN, ADAM S | 14 | 96.5% | +2.4% |
| WILCZEWSKI, MARY A | 13 | 84.8% | +10.2% |
| PARKER, JOHN M | 12 | 92.1% | +0.9% |
| WARD, DAVID WILLIAM | 11 | 63.3% | +35.8% |
| BELOUSOV, ALEXANDER | 11 | 76.6% | +16.3% |
| SEHAR, FAKEHA | 11 | 82.7% | +19.3% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 8 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17663108 | PASSIVATION FOR A DEEP TRENCH ISOLATION STRUCTURE IN A PIXEL SENSOR | SEHAR, FAKEHA | 78d overdue |
| 18219259 | Surface Profile Control Of Passivation Layers In Integrated Circuit Chips | VALENZUELA, PATRICIA D | 56d overdue |
| 18502297 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE STRUCTURE WITH CONDUCTIVE VIA STRUCTURE | KOO, LAMONT B | 50d overdue |
| 18358662 | SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGE REDISTRIBUTION STRUCTURE AND FABRICATION METHOD THEREOF | VALENZUELA, PATRICIA D | 46d overdue |
| 17818785 | Semiconductor Device and Method | KOO, LAMONT B | 46d overdue |
| 18349325 | THROUGH VIA STRUCTURE AND METHOD OF FABRICATION THEREOF | VALENZUELA, PATRICIA D | 42d overdue |
| 18505632 | GATE ISOLATION FEATURES | KOO, LAMONT B | 10d overdue |
| 18361569 | BENT FIN DEVICES | KOO, LAMONT B | 10d overdue |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18232719 | METHOD OF FORMING BIOLOGICAL FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTORS INTEGRATED WITH HEATERS | BAUMAN, SCOTT E | 146d overdue |
| 18596404 | 3D IC POWER GRID | REAMES, MATTHEW L | 119d overdue |
| 17875206 | HARDENED INTERLAYER DIELECTRIC LAYER | CRITE, ANTONIO B | 100d overdue |
| 18498369 | INTEGRATED CIRCUIT, SYSTEM AND METHOD OF FORMING THE SAME | WELLS, JAMES STEVEN | 77d overdue |
| 18366073 | Gate Structure of Semiconductor Device and Method of Forming Same | KOO, LAMONT B | 66d overdue |
| 17220269 | INTEGRATED CIRCUIT STRUCTURE | LIN, ARIC | 58d overdue |
| 18323179 | DIODE-CONTAINING COMPONENT AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | BERRY, PAUL ANTHONY | 53d overdue |
| 18153978 | CHILLER SYSTEM WITH INTELLIGENT CONTROL | AHMED, ISTIAQUE | 46d overdue |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17663108 | PASSIVATION FOR A DEEP TRENCH ISOLATION STRUCTURE IN A PIXEL SENSOR | SEHAR, FAKEHA | 78d overdue |
| 17383299 | INTERCONNECTION STRUCTURE WITH SIDEWALL PROTECTION LAYER | WILCZEWSKI, MARY A | 31d overdue |
| 18475965 | STACKED MULTI-GATE DEVICE WITH AN INSULATING LAYER BETWEEN TOP AND BOTTOM SOURCE/DRAIN FEATURES | DINKE, BITEW A | 28d overdue |
| 17840362 | Molding Structures for Integrated Circuit Packages and Methods of Forming the Same | WARD, DAVID WILLIAM | 10d overdue |
| 17726705 | Metal Interconnects And Method Of Forming The Same | WARD, DAVID WILLIAM | 8d overdue |
| 18329396 | INTERFACE TRAP CHARGE DENSITY REDUCTION | WILCZEWSKI, MARY A | 13d |
| 18346544 | MULTIPLE WAVELENGTH BAND LIGHT SENSOR DEVICE | BELOUSOV, ALEXANDER | 14d |
| 17708348 | SUBSTRATE TRENCH FOR CONTROLLING UNDERFILL FILLET AREA AND METHODS OF FORMING THE SAME | DINKE, BITEW A | 14d |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 2898 | 137 |
| 2818 | 133 |
| 2893 | 130 |
| 2812 | 129 |
| 2817 | 97 |
| 2899 | 91 |
| 2897 | 83 |
| 2813 | 57 |
| 2811 | 56 |
| 2874 | 54 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19290528 | SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING TOOL AND METHODS OF OPERATION | SAAD, ERIN BARRY | 1735 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 05, 2025 |
| 19286970 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME | RAMIREZ, ALEXANDRE XAVIER | 2812 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 31, 2025 |
| 19283746 | INTEGRATED CIRCUIT AND METHOD OF FORMING THE SAME | PARTHASARATHY, ROHIT | 2899 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 29, 2025 |
| 19259508 | FLIP-FLOP CIRCUIT AND METHOD | O NEILL, PATRICK | 2836 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 03, 2025 |
| 19254164 | IMPEDANCE MATCHING CIRCUIT AND METHOD | CHEN, PATRICK C | 2836 | §102DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 30, 2025 |
| 19255872 | INTEGRATED CIRCUIT HAVING LATCH WITH TRANSISTORS OF DIFFERENT GATE WIDTHS | O NEILL, PATRICK | 2842 | §102§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 30, 2025 |
| 19255856 | WAFER PROCESSING METHOD | RODRIGUEZ, MICHAEL P | 1715 | §102§103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 30, 2025 |
| 19252413 | GATED TRI-STATE INVERTER, AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME | JAGER, RYAN C | 2842 | §112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 27, 2025 |
| 19253186 | DATA SEQUENCING CIRCUIT | VERBRUGGE, KEVIN | 2132 | Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 27, 2025 |
| 19252149 | IMAGE SENSOR PIXEL AND METAL SHIELDING OF CHARGE STORAGE DEVICE OF IMAGE SENSOR PIXEL FORMED BY ONE STEP PROCESS | HALIYUR, PADMA | 2637 | §103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 27, 2025 |
| 19250906 | Systems and Methods for Phase Locked Loop Realignment With Skew Cancellation | CHEN, PATRICK C | 2842 | §103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 26, 2025 |
| 19251693 | TEMPERATURE SENSOR CIRCUITS AND CONTROL CIRCUITS AND METHOD FOR TEMPERATURE SENSOR CIRCUITS | O NEILL, PATRICK | 2842 | §102DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 26, 2025 |
| 19247229 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE INCLUDING DECOUPLING SYSTEM | RETEBO, METASEBIA T | 2842 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 24, 2025 |
| 19245452 | ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE SAME | PEREZ, JAMES M | 2631 | §112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 23, 2025 |
| 19243074 | THERMAL BARRIER STRUCTURE IN PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL DEVICE | TAN, DAVE | 2897 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 19, 2025 |
| 19241406 | SHIFT REGISTER HAVING LOW POWER MODE | O NEILL, PATRICK | 2836 | §102§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 18, 2025 |
| 19241088 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE HAVING HYSTERESIS BLOCK | WELLS, KENNETH B | 2836 | §102§103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 17, 2025 |
| 19237327 | METHOD FOR PROCESSING SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER | ROSTAMI, MOHAMMAD S | 2154 | §103Other | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 13, 2025 |
| 19235541 | METHOD OF FORMING PACKAGE STRUCTURE HAVING THERMOELECTRIC COOLER | GOLDEN, ANDREW J | 1726 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 11, 2025 |
| 19230034 | PHYSICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (PVD) WITH TARGET EROSION PROFILE MONITORING | MCDONALD, RODNEY GLENN | 1794 | DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 05, 2025 |
| 19211749 | CHEMICAL DISPENSING SYSTEM | GARDNER, NICOLE | 3753 | §102§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 19, 2025 |
| 19206002 | DE-TAPE TOOL | CAILLOUET, CHRISTOPHER C | 1745 | §102DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 12, 2025 |
| 19200973 | SYSTEM AND SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE THEREIN | JAGER, RYAN C | 2842 | §102DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 07, 2025 |
| 19197279 | Level Shifter With Inside Self-Protection High Bias Generator | RETEBO, METASEBIA T | 2836 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 02, 2025 |
| 19194045 | MEMORY DEVICE, READ CLOCK GENERATION CIRCUIT, AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING READ OPERATION IN MEMORY DEVICE | HIDALGO, FERNANDO N | 2827 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 30, 2025 |
| 19176354 | Overdrive I/O ESD Protection Network | WELLS, KENNETH B | 2842 | §103§112DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Apr 11, 2025 |
| 19176327 | Device and Method for Diagnosis of the Same | BRADEN, GRACE VICTORIA | 2112 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 11, 2025 |
| 19171607 | ION EXPOSURE METHOD AND APPARATUS | ASFAW, MESFIN T | 2882 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 07, 2025 |
| 19089163 | Bio-Detector Device for Bio-Targets | BALL, JOHN C | 1795 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 25, 2025 |
| 19088255 | REDUCE MASK DEFECT IMPACT BY CONTAMINATION DECOMPOSE | WHITESELL, STEVEN H | 1759 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 24, 2025 |
| 19084239 | WIDTH ADJUSTMENT OF EUV RADIATION BEAM | PERSAUD, DEORAM | 2882 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 19, 2025 |
| 19075364 | LOW-DROPOUT (LDO) REGULATOR WITH A FEEDBACK CIRCUIT | GBLENDE, JEFFREY A | 2838 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 10, 2025 |
| 19070730 | Sub-Word Line Driver Placement For Memory Device | YANG, HAN | 2824 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 05, 2025 |
| 19069350 | Programmable Regulator Voltage Controlled Ring Oscillator | GANNON, LEVI | 2849 | §102Other | Non-Final OA | 14d | Pending | Mar 04, 2025 |
| 19069048 | ONE TIME PROGRAMMABLE MEMORY | CHEN, XIAOCHUN L | 2824 | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 03, 2025 |
| 19068296 | METHOD OF USING WAFER STAGE | NGUYEN, HUNG | 2882 | §103DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 03, 2025 |
| 19064599 | LOW DROPOUT REGULATOR CIRCUITS, INPUT/OUTPUT DEVICE, AND METHODS FOR OPERATING A LOW DROPOUT REGULATOR | TIKU, SISAY G | 2838 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 26, 2025 |
| 19064089 | LOW-DROPOUT (LDO) VOLTAGE REGULATOR | QUDDUS, NUSRAT | 2838 | §103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 26, 2025 |
| 19059384 | MEMORY DEVICE WITH ADDITIONAL WRITE BIT LINES | CHO, SUNG IL | 2825 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 21, 2025 |
| 19058345 | DATA RETENTION CIRCUIT AND METHOD | CHEN, SIBIN | 2896 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 20, 2025 |
| 19056851 | MULTIPLE SEMICONDUCTOR DIE CONTAINER LOAD PORT | MCCLAIN, GERALD | 3652 | §102DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 19, 2025 |
| 19055771 | BUFFER CONTROL OF MULTIPLE MEMORY BANKS | HIDALGO, FERNANDO N | 2827 | §112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 18, 2025 |
| 19056022 | CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION FOR UNIFORM TUNGSTEN GROWTH | GAMBETTA, KELLY M | 1718 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Feb 18, 2025 |
| 19056350 | INTEGRATED CIRCUIT AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME | ALHWAMDEH, KAREEM FUAD | 2112 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 18, 2025 |
| 19055872 | MERGED BIT LINES FOR HIGH DENSITY MEMORY ARRAY | TECHANE, MUNA A | 2827 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 18, 2025 |
| 19052420 | Device and Method for Measuring a Duty Cycle of a Clock Signal | MAINI, RAHUL | 2858 | §103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 13, 2025 |
| 19050140 | CAPACITOR-LESS LOW-DROPOUT REGULATOR WITH DYNAMIC FREQUENCY COMPENSATION | PEREZ, BRYAN REYNALDO | 2838 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 11, 2025 |
| 19049935 | Antenna Effect Protection and Electrostatic Discharge Protection for Three-Dimensional Integrated Circuit | JEAN PIERRE, PEGUY | 2845 | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 10, 2025 |
| 19047669 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD OF FORMING THE SAME | SECK, AHMED F | 2834 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 07, 2025 |
| 19045904 | MEMORY DEVICES AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURING THEREOF | CHOI, WOO H | 3992 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 05, 2025 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free TrialTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. has 1,571 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 118 art units and 609 examiners.
Lamont B Koo has the most, with 22 of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.'s pending office actions.
Mostly Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics (USPTO Tech Center 2800), based on where its pending office actions are examined.