Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026

The University of Chicago

Technology area: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals

45 pending office actions • 35 art units • 44 examiners • 0 of 45 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 47 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

The University of Chicago has 45 pending office actions in Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals. The matters involve 44 examiners across 35 art units, indicating a large and widely distributed prosecution portfolio with little concentration at the examiner level.

HINES, JANA A is the busiest examiner, handling 2 pending matters. That figure is small relative to the portfolio total, so examiner-specific precedent is likely to be relevant only to a limited portion of the docket.

The art-unit distribution still provides a useful basis for coordination. Counsel can organize technical review around shared biotechnology and pharmaceutical examination groups, while maintaining distinct response strategies for the many individual examiner assignments.

Written from this page's own data; every figure is computed from USPTO records and verified before publication.

Portfolio Summary

45
Total Pending OAs
28
Non-Final OAs
14
Final Rejections
3
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 15 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

8
Overdue
0
Due this week
4
Due this month
2
Due in next 60 days
1
Due later

Deadline Fire Line

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. 15 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (8)Due ≤ 30 days (4)Due ≤ 60 days (2)Due later (1)

Case Difficulty Mix

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.

26
Hard (58%)
17
Medium (38%)
2
Easy (4%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 + other6 (13%)
§103 only11 (24%)
§102 only3 (7%)
§112 only2 (4%)
Double-patenting + other3 (7%)
Multi-statute (no §101)20 (44%)

Industry Mix

How the docket's pending cases split across USPTO tech-center bands.

36
Life Sciences
80% of docket
4
Information Tech
9% of docket
1
Communications
2% of docket
2
Semiconductors
4% of docket
2
Mechanical / Eng
4% of docket
0
Business / Other
0% of docket

Time-on-OA Estimate

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.

450 h
Manual time on pending OAs
90 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
158 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
3.9 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
HINES, JANA A 2 53.2% +39.4%
SHEN, YANXIN NMN 1 84.6% +26.4%
SITTA, GRANT 1 72.5% +13.2%
MERANT, GUERRIER 1 88.7% -2.4%
HADDAD, MAHER M 1 50.6% +53.8%
CONIGLIO, AUDREA JUNE BUCKLEY 1 53.1% +20.6%
MCANANY, JOHN D 1 65.1% +46.4%
EINHORN, MICA JILLIAN 1 80.0% +25.0%
MILO, MICHAEL 1 50.8% +52.5%
VU, VU A 1 92.3% +6.7%

Quick Wins (1)

Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 1 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
19014953 TECHNOLOGIES FOR RESOURCE-EFFICIENT QUANTUM ERROR CORRECTION MERANT, GUERRIER —

Hard Cases (26)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
17833841 INORGANIC POROUS COATINGS AND METHODS OF MAKING THE SAME MCCLURE, CHRISTINA D 45d overdue
17987649 Mechanism and Methods for Quantifying the Tactile Acuity of the Human Breast MCCORMACK, ERIN KATHLEEN 19d overdue
18266404 COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING AND TREATING ORAL CAVITY SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA BAUSCH, SARAE L 12d
18466204 DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES BEISNER, WILLIAM H 41d
19086929 ENGINEERED RNA DEMETHYLASES FOR IMPROVED PLANT GROWTH SHEN, YANXIN NMN —
18971607 LOW-DOSE TOCILIZUMAB FOR THE TREATMENT OR PREVENTION OF SICKLE CELL CRISIS HADDAD, MAHER M —
18867262 VANADYL SULFATE COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS OF USE THEREFOR FOR THE TREATEMENT AND PREVENTION OF AGING-RELATED DISEASES AND CANCER CONIGLIO, AUDREA JUNE BUCKLEY —
18852916 TRANS-VACCENIC ACID (TVA) AND DERIVATIVES THEREOF IN T CELL-BASED CANCER THERAPIES MCANANY, JOHN D —

Interview Candidates (9)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
18425731 PROBIOTICS TO RESCUE MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION-INDUCED NEURODEVELOPMENT DEFICITS HINES, JANA A 119d overdue
19060948 Lip-based user interface system SITTA, GRANT 56d overdue
18847129 TRANSRADIAL APPROACH/ANGIOGRAPHY BOARD MILO, MICHAEL 17d overdue
19086929 ENGINEERED RNA DEMETHYLASES FOR IMPROVED PLANT GROWTH SHEN, YANXIN NMN —
18971607 LOW-DOSE TOCILIZUMAB FOR THE TREATMENT OR PREVENTION OF SICKLE CELL CRISIS HADDAD, MAHER M —
18867262 VANADYL SULFATE COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS OF USE THEREFOR FOR THE TREATEMENT AND PREVENTION OF AGING-RELATED DISEASES AND CANCER CONIGLIO, AUDREA JUNE BUCKLEY —
18852916 TRANS-VACCENIC ACID (TVA) AND DERIVATIVES THEREOF IN T CELL-BASED CANCER THERAPIES MCANANY, JOHN D —
18852333 OPTICAL CAVITY WITH ONE OR MORE INTRACAVITY LENSES, AND ASSOCIATED METHODS EINHORN, MICA JILLIAN —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
1641 3
1645 3
1625 2
1681 2
2122 2
1678 2
1643 2
1687 2
1663 1
2622 1

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
19086929 ENGINEERED RNA DEMETHYLASES FOR IMPROVED PLANT GROWTH SHEN, YANXIN NMN 1663 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 21, 2025
19060948 Lip-based user interface system SITTA, GRANT 2622 §103 Final Rejection 56d overdue Pending Feb 24, 2025
19014953 TECHNOLOGIES FOR RESOURCE-EFFICIENT QUANTUM ERROR CORRECTION MERANT, GUERRIER 2111 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Jan 09, 2025
18971607 LOW-DOSE TOCILIZUMAB FOR THE TREATMENT OR PREVENTION OF SICKLE CELL CRISIS HADDAD, MAHER M 1641 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 06, 2024
18867262 VANADYL SULFATE COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS OF USE THEREFOR FOR THE TREATEMENT AND PREVENTION OF AGING-RELATED DISEASES AND CANCER CONIGLIO, AUDREA JUNE BUCKLEY 1617 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 19, 2024
18852916 TRANS-VACCENIC ACID (TVA) AND DERIVATIVES THEREOF IN T CELL-BASED CANCER THERAPIES MCANANY, JOHN D 1625 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 30, 2024
18852333 OPTICAL CAVITY WITH ONE OR MORE INTRACAVITY LENSES, AND ASSOCIATED METHODS EINHORN, MICA JILLIAN 2881 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 27, 2024
18847129 TRANSRADIAL APPROACH/ANGIOGRAPHY BOARD MILO, MICHAEL 3786 §103 Non-Final OA 17d overdue Pending Sep 13, 2024
18846591 STRETCHABLE LIGHT-EMITTING POLYMERS VU, VU A 2897 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 12, 2024
18723099 METHODS FOR DETECTING OR TREATING INFLUENZA INFECTIONS BOESEN, AGNIESZKA 1672 §112DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 21, 2024
18708530 METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR PKC-DELTA INHIBITION AND CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY JACKSON-TONGUE, LAKIA J 1645 §102§112 Non-Final OA — Pending May 08, 2024
18694220 UNIVERSAL HAIRPIN PRIMER SYSTEM FOR QUANTIFICATION OF MICRORNA CHUNDURU, SURYAPRABHA 1681 §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 21, 2024
18684935 QUANTUM DATA CENTER SMITH, KEVIN LEE 2122 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 20, 2024
18425731 PROBIOTICS TO RESCUE MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION-INDUCED NEURODEVELOPMENT DEFICITS HINES, JANA A 1645 §102 Non-Final OA 119d overdue Pending Jan 29, 2024
18579702 BIOCOMPATIBLE SURFACE FOR QUANTUM SENSING AND METHODS THEREOF RAMADAN, OMAR 1678 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 16, 2024
18577180 METHODS OF TREATING OR PREVENTING PREMATURE OVARIAN INSUFFICIENCY, POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME, OR INFERTILITY USING EXOSOMES OR MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS NOBLE, MARCIA STEPHENS 1632 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 05, 2024
18565970 CHARACTERIZATION AND TREATMENT OF ASTHMA GRAY, JESSICA 1682 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 30, 2023
18558527 METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TARGETING OF ANTIGENS AND OTHER POLYPEPTIDES TO FIRST RESPONDER DENDRITIC CELLS CESARE, JOSEPH DAVID 1641 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 01, 2023
18556006 METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TREATING DISORDERS WITH ORAL SYSTEMICALLY BIOAVAILABLE BUTYRATE CONJUGATES NEAGU, IRINA 1629 §103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Oct 18, 2023
18466204 DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES BEISNER, WILLIAM H 1799 §102§103 Final Rejection 41d Pending Sep 13, 2023
18350089 METHODS AND FORMULATIONS FOR PRENATAL TREATMENT OF ALLAN-HERNDON-DUDLEY SYNDROME LEE, ANDREW P 1691 §103DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 11, 2023
18266404 COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING AND TREATING ORAL CAVITY SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA BAUSCH, SARAE L 1699 §101§102§103DP Final Rejection 12d Pending Jun 10, 2023
18254301 POROUS AND MONOLITHIC CARBON MEMBRANES AND THEIR USE HUANG, RYAN 1777 §103 Final Rejection 30d Pending May 24, 2023
18038633 SYNTHETIC DNA BINDING DOMAINS AND USES THEREOF SABILA, MERCY HELLEN 1654 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending May 24, 2023
18036528 METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR GENOMIC BASED PREDICTION OF VIRUS MUTATION SABOUR, GHAZAL 1686 §101§103 Non-Final OA — Pending May 11, 2023
18191495 SLIDE-LEVEL UNCERTAINTY QUANTIFICATION FOR DEEP LEARNING PREDICTIONS IN DIGITAL HISTOPATHOLOGY AUGER, NOAH ANDREW 2122 §101§102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 28, 2023
18042958 Nucleic Acid-Derivatized Therapeutics VAN DRUFF, SYDNEY 1643 §103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Feb 24, 2023
18006482 Inhibitors of the Artemin Pathway for Treatment of Cancer WEBB, WALTER E 1612 §103 Final Rejection 20d Pending Jan 23, 2023
18156254 Classical Algorithm for Generating Multi-Mode Bosonic Transition Spectra by Phase Space Sampling FUELLING, MICHAEL 2199 §101§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 18, 2023
18155625 COMPUTATIONAL MODELS TO ANALYZE RNA VELOCITY LEVERETT, MARY CHANG 1687 §101§102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 17, 2023
17927168 METAL-ORGANIC FRAMEWORKS DELIVER SMALL MOLECULES AND BIOMACROMOLECULES FOR CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY WORSHAM, JESSICA N 1615 §102§103DP Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 22, 2022
17987649 Mechanism and Methods for Quantifying the Tactile Acuity of the Human Breast MCCORMACK, ERIN KATHLEEN 3791 §103§112 Non-Final OA 19d overdue Pending Nov 15, 2022
17995225 TOCILIZUMAB FOR THE TREATMENT OF VIRAL INFECTIONS NICKOL, GARY B 1643 §102 Non-Final OA 146d overdue Pending Sep 30, 2022
17833841 INORGANIC POROUS COATINGS AND METHODS OF MAKING THE SAME MCCLURE, CHRISTINA D 1718 §103§112 Final Rejection 45d overdue Pending Jun 06, 2022
17763445 METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TREATING SICKLE CELL DISEASE AND THALASSEMIA MAHLUM, JONATHAN DAVIS 1625 §103 Non-Final OA 88d overdue Pending Mar 24, 2022
17762180 PHOTOPROXIMITY PROFILING OF PROTEIN-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS IN CELLS HAQ, SHAFIQUL 1678 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 21, 2022
17597793 COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS COMPRISING PROTEASE-ACTIVATED THERAPEUTIC AGENTS PETERS, ALEC JON 1641 §103Other Final Rejection 16d Pending Jan 24, 2022
17596118 METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TREATING CANCER WITH COLLAGEN BINDING DRUG CARRIERS ALSOMAIRY, SARAH ABDOALATIF 1646 §103 Non-Final OA 8d overdue Pending Dec 03, 2021
17517084 TREATMENT OF CANCER BY MANIPULATION OF COMMENSAL MICROFLORA HINES, JANA A 1645 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Nov 02, 2021
17309936 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MODULATING RNA RAVINDRA, KRISHNA NUGGEHALLI 1636 §102§103 Final Rejection — Pending Jul 01, 2021
17311448 COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS RELATED TO SITE-SPECIFIC IDENTIFICATION OF RNA MODIFICATIONS VALLE, ERNESTO 1623 §103 Final Rejection 79d Pending Jun 07, 2021
17337610 METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING AN NFKB INHIBITOR AND AN ADJUVANT BABSON, NICOLE PLOURDE 1619 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Jun 03, 2021
16713657 COMPOSITION AND METHODS RELATED TO MODIFICATION OF 5 HYDROXYMETHYLCYTOSINE (5-hmC) CROW, ROBERT THOMAS 1683 §112Other Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 13, 2019
18236022 BIOMARKERS OF RISK FOR INFECTION GREENE, CAROLYN LEE 1681 §112 Non-Final OA 34d Pending Aug 21, 2023
18176375 SYSTEM, METHOD, AND COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM FOR AUTO-REGRESSIVE WAVENET VARIATIONAL AUTOENCODERS FOR ALIGNMENT-FREE GENERATIVE PROTEIN DESIGN AND FITNESS PREDICTION ELKINS, BLAKE HARRISON 1687 §101§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 28, 2023

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many pending USPTO office actions does The University of Chicago have?

The University of Chicago has 45 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 35 art units and 44 examiners.

Which USPTO examiner handles the most The University of Chicago applications?

Jana A Hines has the most, with 2 of The University of Chicago's pending office actions.

What technology area are The University of Chicago's patent applications in?

Mostly Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals (USPTO Tech Center 1600), based on where its pending office actions are examined.

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