Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
3 pending office actions • 1 art units • 2 examiners • 0 of 3 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 2 patents granted in the last 365 days
The Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Co. Inc. has 3 pending office actions in the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. These cases are handled by 2 distinct examiners within 1 distinct art unit. This represents a highly focused prosecution environment where all matters are concentrated in a single technical group. The busiest examiner is MEILLER, SEAN V, who is responsible for 2 pending office actions.
The concentration of all 3 pending office actions within 1 distinct art unit allows for a very unified technical strategy. Because the busiest examiner handles 2 pending office actions, practitioners have an opportunity to establish a consistent dialogue with a single individual who oversees a majority of the workload. The remaining pending office action is handled by another examiner within the same unit. This structure simplifies the administrative burden of managing the 3 pending office actions. Practitioners should focus on the specific preferences of the 2 distinct examiners while leveraging the technical consistency of the 1 distinct art unit.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEILLER, SEAN V | 2 | 73.9% | +38.1% |
| GANEY, STEVEN J | 1 | 82.2% | +10.4% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19004623 | FLEXIBLE DRY SPRINKLER | GANEY, STEVEN J | — |
| 18620198 | SIDEWALL FIRE PROTECTION SPRINKLER SYSTEM AND RELATED METHODS | MEILLER, SEAN V | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19004623 | FLEXIBLE DRY SPRINKLER | GANEY, STEVEN J | — |
| 18621581 | FOAM-WATER FIRE SPRINKLER | MEILLER, SEAN V | — |
| 18620198 | SIDEWALL FIRE PROTECTION SPRINKLER SYSTEM AND RELATED METHODS | MEILLER, SEAN V | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3741 | 2 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19004623 | FLEXIBLE DRY SPRINKLER | GANEY, STEVEN J | — | §103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 30, 2024 |
| 18621581 | FOAM-WATER FIRE SPRINKLER | MEILLER, SEAN V | 3741 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 29, 2024 |
| 18620198 | SIDEWALL FIRE PROTECTION SPRINKLER SYSTEM AND RELATED METHODS | MEILLER, SEAN V | 3741 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 28, 2024 |
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