Technology area: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
12 pending office actions • 12 art units • 12 examiners • 0 of 12 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 4 patents granted in the last 365 days
The University of Manchester has 13 pending office actions in Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals. The matters are distributed across 13 examiners and 13 art units, indicating a separate examiner and art-unit path for each pending matter. This structure limits the value of a single examiner-focused strategy and calls for matter-level prosecution tracking.
HILTUNEN, THOMAS J is the busiest examiner, with 1 pending matter. That figure matches the assignment shown across the examiner set, so no examiner controls a larger portion of the portfolio. Counsel should maintain consistency in technical positions while tailoring each response to its own examination record.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 3 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.
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. 3 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.
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 |
|---|---|
| §101 + other | 2 (17%) |
| §103 only | 1 (8%) |
| §102 only | 1 (8%) |
| §112 only | 1 (8%) |
| Double-patenting only | 1 (8%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 1 (8%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 5 (42%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| HILTUNEN, THOMAS J | 1 | 81.5% | +6.0% |
| SWIER, WAYNE K. | 1 | 67.9% | +19.2% |
| MENON, KRISHNAN S | 1 | 59.7% | +11.3% |
| PAK, YONG D | 1 | 74.7% | +14.2% |
| CRAIG, KAILA ANGELIQUE | 1 | 33.8% | +25.2% |
| NIEBAUER, RONALD T | 1 | 40.8% | +34.0% |
| EIX, EMILY FAY | 1 | 45.7% | +76.0% |
| PIPIC, ALMA | 1 | 54.8% | +54.3% |
| SCHACHERMEYER, SAMANTHA LYNN | 1 | 35.7% | +70.8% |
| LIPPOLIS, ALEXANDRA ROSE | 1 | 47.2% | +63.6% |
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 # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18996676 | GATE DRIVE CIRCUIT FOR A POWER INVERTER LEG IN A POWER INVERTER, POWER INVERTER AND METHODS OF OPERATION THEREOF | HILTUNEN, THOMAS J | — |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 7 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18277434 | ADAMTS13 VARIANT | EIX, EMILY FAY | 34d |
| 18856983 | PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR ASSEMBLY OF VAN DER WAALS HETEROSTRUCTURES | SWIER, WAYNE K. | — |
| 18837581 | Method and Apparatus for Mineral Extraction | MENON, KRISHNAN S | — |
| 18292634 | FUNCTIONALISATION OF CARBOXYMETHYLCELLULOSE | CRAIG, KAILA ANGELIQUE | — |
| 18573067 | Antimicrobial Peptides and Their Use | NIEBAUER, RONALD T | — |
| 18269147 | HYALURONAN IS A DRIVER OF COVID-19 SEVERITY | SCHACHERMEYER, SAMANTHA LYNN | — |
| 17754721 | MODULATING OPSIN SIGNALING LIFETIME FOR OPTOGENETIC APPLICATIONS | LIPPOLIS, ALEXANDRA ROSE | — |
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 # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17926847 | ANTIVIRAL POLYMERS | PIPIC, ALMA | 25d overdue |
| 18277434 | ADAMTS13 VARIANT | EIX, EMILY FAY | 34d |
| 18856983 | PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR ASSEMBLY OF VAN DER WAALS HETEROSTRUCTURES | SWIER, WAYNE K. | — |
| 18837581 | Method and Apparatus for Mineral Extraction | MENON, KRISHNAN S | — |
| 18706219 | ERROR PRONE DNA POLYMERASE FOR ORGANELLE MUTATION | PAK, YONG D | — |
| 18292634 | FUNCTIONALISATION OF CARBOXYMETHYLCELLULOSE | CRAIG, KAILA ANGELIQUE | — |
| 18573067 | Antimicrobial Peptides and Their Use | NIEBAUER, RONALD T | — |
| 18269147 | HYALURONAN IS A DRIVER OF COVID-19 SEVERITY | SCHACHERMEYER, SAMANTHA LYNN | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 2836 | 1 |
| 1748 | 1 |
| 1771 | 1 |
| 1652 | 1 |
| 1618 | 1 |
| 1658 | 1 |
| 1653 | 1 |
| 1617 | 1 |
| 1693 | 1 |
| 1637 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18996676 | GATE DRIVE CIRCUIT FOR A POWER INVERTER LEG IN A POWER INVERTER, POWER INVERTER AND METHODS OF OPERATION THEREOF | HILTUNEN, THOMAS J | 2836 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 17, 2025 |
| 18856983 | PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR ASSEMBLY OF VAN DER WAALS HETEROSTRUCTURES | SWIER, WAYNE K. | 1748 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 15, 2024 |
| 18837581 | Method and Apparatus for Mineral Extraction | MENON, KRISHNAN S | 1771 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 09, 2024 |
| 18706219 | ERROR PRONE DNA POLYMERASE FOR ORGANELLE MUTATION | PAK, YONG D | 1652 | §112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Apr 30, 2024 |
| 18292634 | FUNCTIONALISATION OF CARBOXYMETHYLCELLULOSE | CRAIG, KAILA ANGELIQUE | 1618 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 26, 2024 |
| 18573067 | Antimicrobial Peptides and Their Use | NIEBAUER, RONALD T | 1658 | §101§102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 21, 2023 |
| 18277434 | ADAMTS13 VARIANT | EIX, EMILY FAY | 1653 | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | 34d | Pending | Aug 16, 2023 |
| 17926847 | ANTIVIRAL POLYMERS | PIPIC, ALMA | 1617 | §103 | Final Rejection | 25d overdue | Pending | Jul 19, 2023 |
| 18269147 | HYALURONAN IS A DRIVER OF COVID-19 SEVERITY | SCHACHERMEYER, SAMANTHA LYNN | 1693 | §101§102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 22, 2023 |
| 17754721 | MODULATING OPSIN SIGNALING LIFETIME FOR OPTOGENETIC APPLICATIONS | LIPPOLIS, ALEXANDRA ROSE | 1637 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 21, 2023 |
| 18041141 | NANOPARTICLE-ENABLED ANALYSIS OF CELL-FREE NUCLEIC ACID IN COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL FLUIDS | COUNTS, GARY W | 1678 | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | 67d overdue | Pending | Feb 09, 2023 |
| 18041131 | MULTIOMIC ANALYSIS OF NANOPARTICLE-CORONAS | KENNEDY, SARAH JANE | 1682 | DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Feb 09, 2023 |
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Start Free TrialThe University of Manchester has 12 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 12 art units and 12 examiners.
Thomas J Hiltunen has the most, with 1 of The University of Manchester's pending office actions.
Mostly Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals (USPTO Tech Center 1600), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
