Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
4 pending office actions • 1 art units • 3 examiners • 0 of 4 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 16 patents granted in the last 365 days
The ESAB Group Inc. maintains a patent portfolio focused on the technology area of Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering. The company currently faces 4 pending office actions. These matters are distributed among 3 distinct examiners, which shows that some examiners are handling multiple filings for the company. All of these proceedings are located within 1 distinct art unit, reflecting a centralized examination environment for their mechanical and medical innovations. This concentration suggests that the company's intellectual property strategy is focused within a specific technical niche at the patent office.
HUNTER, JOHN S is the busiest examiner for this portfolio. This examiner is currently handling 2 pending office actions. Practitioners should note that the concentration in the 1 distinct art unit means that examiner internal consistency is a factor in prosecution strategy. Navigating this portfolio requires attention to the specific preferences of the 3 distinct examiners involved in the 4 pending office actions. The presence of multiple examiners within a single unit suggests that while the technical field is narrow, the individual examiner approaches may vary.
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 |
|---|---|
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 4 (100%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| HUNTER, JOHN S | 2 | 82.9% | +22.7% |
| MERLIN, JESSICA M | 1 | 61.7% | +24.0% |
| ECKARDT, ADAM MICHAEL | 1 | 65.3% | +40.6% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 4 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19038895 | Auto Darkening Filter Lens and Control Panel for Welding Helmet | MERLIN, JESSICA M | — |
| 18459574 | CONSUMABLES FOR PLASMA CUTTING TORCH | ECKARDT, ADAM MICHAEL | — |
| 18449113 | ARC PROCESSING TORCH WITH CONSUMABLE | HUNTER, JOHN S | — |
| 18446921 | ADAPTER MODULE FOR TORCH | HUNTER, JOHN S | — |
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 4 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19038895 | Auto Darkening Filter Lens and Control Panel for Welding Helmet | MERLIN, JESSICA M | — |
| 18459574 | CONSUMABLES FOR PLASMA CUTTING TORCH | ECKARDT, ADAM MICHAEL | — |
| 18449113 | ARC PROCESSING TORCH WITH CONSUMABLE | HUNTER, JOHN S | — |
| 18446921 | ADAPTER MODULE FOR TORCH | HUNTER, JOHN S | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3761 | 3 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19038895 | Auto Darkening Filter Lens and Control Panel for Welding Helmet | MERLIN, JESSICA M | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 28, 2025 |
| 18459574 | CONSUMABLES FOR PLASMA CUTTING TORCH | ECKARDT, ADAM MICHAEL | 3761 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 01, 2023 |
| 18449113 | ARC PROCESSING TORCH WITH CONSUMABLE | HUNTER, JOHN S | 3761 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Aug 14, 2023 |
| 18446921 | ADAPTER MODULE FOR TORCH | HUNTER, JOHN S | 3761 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Aug 09, 2023 |
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