Technology area: Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics
3 pending office actions • 3 art units • 3 examiners • 0 of 3 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 1 patents granted in the last 365 days
Taiwan Semicondutor Manufacturing Company Ltd. is currently navigating 3 pending office actions in the Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics technology area. These 3 pending office actions are distributed among 3 distinct examiners, meaning each examiner is reviewing a single application. Furthermore, the prosecution is spread across 3 distinct art units, indicating a variety of technical focuses within the semiconductor field.
The busiest examiner for the company is SALERNO, SARAH KATE, who is responsible for 1 pending office action. Given that there are 3 distinct examiners for the 3 pending office actions, the workload is not concentrated in any one individual. The 3 distinct art units involved suggest that the company's semiconductor innovations are being evaluated by different specialized groups within the patent office.
Practitioners should be prepared to address the specific preferences of 3 distinct examiners across 3 distinct art units. The lack of overlap among the 3 pending office actions means that each case will likely proceed on its own merits without being influenced by a common examiner. SALERNO, SARAH KATE, as the busiest examiner with 1 pending office action, represents a portion of the current active docket in Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 1 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 |
|---|---|
| §103 only | 1 (33%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 2 (67%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SALERNO, SARAH KATE | 1 | 73.7% | +14.8% |
| SALAZ, SAMMANTHA KATELYN | 1 | 87.1% | +10.5% |
| NIELSEN, DEREK LANG | 1 | 70.1% | +40.0% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 2 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18765477 | EMBEDDED METAL INSULATOR METAL STRUCTURE | SALERNO, SARAH KATE | — |
| 17874708 | INTERCONNECT NETWORKS FOR HETEROGENEOUS SYSTEMS | SALAZ, SAMMANTHA KATELYN | — |
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 3 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17846493 | METHODS FOR PREVENTING EPI DAMAGE DURING ISOLATION PROCESSES | NIELSEN, DEREK LANG | 16d |
| 18765477 | EMBEDDED METAL INSULATOR METAL STRUCTURE | SALERNO, SARAH KATE | — |
| 17874708 | INTERCONNECT NETWORKS FOR HETEROGENEOUS SYSTEMS | SALAZ, SAMMANTHA KATELYN | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 2814 | 1 |
| 2892 | 1 |
| 2899 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18765477 | EMBEDDED METAL INSULATOR METAL STRUCTURE | SALERNO, SARAH KATE | 2814 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 08, 2024 |
| 17874708 | INTERCONNECT NETWORKS FOR HETEROGENEOUS SYSTEMS | SALAZ, SAMMANTHA KATELYN | 2892 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jul 27, 2022 |
| 17846493 | METHODS FOR PREVENTING EPI DAMAGE DURING ISOLATION PROCESSES | NIELSEN, DEREK LANG | 2899 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 16d | Pending | Jun 22, 2022 |
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Start Free TrialTaiwan Semicondutor Manufacturing Company Ltd. has 3 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 3 art units and 3 examiners.
Sarah Kate Salerno has the most, with 1 of Taiwan Semicondutor Manufacturing Company Ltd.'s pending office actions.
Mostly Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics (USPTO Tech Center 2800), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
