Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Chemistry & Materials
7 pending office actions • 6 art units • 7 examiners • 0 of 7 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 5 patents granted in the last 365 days
The University of Akron is managing 6 pending office actions within the Chemistry & Materials technology area. This workload is handled by 6 distinct examiners, creating a broad distribution for the university's current legal strategy. The prosecution is situated within 5 distinct art units, reflecting a diverse technical focus for the pending applications.
The busiest examiner for this portfolio is WISTNER, SARAH CLINKSCALES, who is responsible for 1 busiest examiner pending office action. As there are 6 pending office actions total, this examiner manages a portion of the current activity for The University of Akron. The alignment of 6 distinct examiners and 5 distinct art units suggests that the university is navigating multiple examination paths across different office departments.
Practitioners should note that the prosecution of the pending workload depends on the review of 6 distinct examiners. With 5 distinct art units involved, the prior art landscape is likely varied across different groups. The university's presence in Chemistry & Materials is currently represented by these interactions at the patent office.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 2 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 (14%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 1 (14%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 5 (71%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WISTNER, SARAH CLINKSCALES | 1 | 25.0% | +81.0% |
| SCHNURR, JOHN R | 1 | 72.1% | +10.8% |
| BAREFORD, KATHERINE A | 1 | 13.8% | +28.4% |
| SCHERMERHORN, JON | 1 | 58.1% | +32.8% |
| NERANGIS, VICKEY M | 1 | 56.6% | +29.0% |
| BARZACH, JEFFREY EUGENE | 1 | 57.1% | +40.6% |
| KUMAR, PREETI | 1 | 31.9% | +43.7% |
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 # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18188784 | RUBBER INK FORMULATIONS FOR DIRECT INK WRITING PROCESS | NERANGIS, VICKEY M | 83d |
| 18873457 | CLEANABLE AND SMART AEROGEL WOUND DRESSINGS | WISTNER, SARAH CLINKSCALES | — |
| 18882176 | METHOD OF MAKING WET WIPE FOR RAPID DETECTION OF OPIOIDS | BAREFORD, KATHERINE A | — |
| 18320727 | PROCESS AND SYSTEM FOR HEAT EXCHANGE PROCESS | SCHERMERHORN, JON | — |
| 17549099 | Photothermally Responsive Melanin-Based Nanocomposltes | BARZACH, JEFFREY EUGENE | — |
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 7 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18960123 | OPTICAL IMAGING SYSTEM AND METHODS THEREOF | SCHNURR, JOHN R | 96d overdue |
| 18188784 | RUBBER INK FORMULATIONS FOR DIRECT INK WRITING PROCESS | NERANGIS, VICKEY M | 83d |
| 18873457 | CLEANABLE AND SMART AEROGEL WOUND DRESSINGS | WISTNER, SARAH CLINKSCALES | — |
| 18882176 | METHOD OF MAKING WET WIPE FOR RAPID DETECTION OF OPIOIDS | BAREFORD, KATHERINE A | — |
| 18320727 | PROCESS AND SYSTEM FOR HEAT EXCHANGE PROCESS | SCHERMERHORN, JON | — |
| 17549099 | Photothermally Responsive Melanin-Based Nanocomposltes | BARZACH, JEFFREY EUGENE | — |
| 16258556 | BIOFUNCTIONAL MATERIALS | KUMAR, PREETI | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 2425 | 1 |
| 1718 | 1 |
| 3763 | 1 |
| 1763 | 1 |
| 1731 | 1 |
| 1761 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18873457 | CLEANABLE AND SMART AEROGEL WOUND DRESSINGS | WISTNER, SARAH CLINKSCALES | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 10, 2024 |
| 18960123 | OPTICAL IMAGING SYSTEM AND METHODS THEREOF | SCHNURR, JOHN R | 2425 | §112DP | Final Rejection | 96d overdue | Pending | Nov 26, 2024 |
| 18882176 | METHOD OF MAKING WET WIPE FOR RAPID DETECTION OF OPIOIDS | BAREFORD, KATHERINE A | 1718 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 11, 2024 |
| 18320727 | PROCESS AND SYSTEM FOR HEAT EXCHANGE PROCESS | SCHERMERHORN, JON | 3763 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | May 19, 2023 |
| 18188784 | RUBBER INK FORMULATIONS FOR DIRECT INK WRITING PROCESS | NERANGIS, VICKEY M | 1763 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | 83d | Pending | Mar 23, 2023 |
| 17549099 | Photothermally Responsive Melanin-Based Nanocomposltes | BARZACH, JEFFREY EUGENE | 1731 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 13, 2021 |
| 16258556 | BIOFUNCTIONAL MATERIALS | KUMAR, PREETI | 1761 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 26, 2019 |
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