Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals • Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
19 pending office actions • 13 art units • 19 examiners • 0 of 19 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 18 patents granted in the last 365 days
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs currently manages 19 pending office actions in the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals technology area. These actions are distributed across 19 distinct examiners. This prosecution activity spans 13 distinct art units, indicating a range of technical sub-specialties within the biotechnology sector. The department's patent strategy involves a high degree of variety in the personnel reviewing its applications.
JONATHAN K NG is identified as the busiest examiner with 1 pending action. Because the portfolio contains 19 distinct examiners for each pending action, no individual examiner holds a larger share of the workload than any other. The use of 13 distinct art units for the pending actions suggests that several art units are handling multiple filings for the department. This count of examiners and 13 art units relative to the pending actions reflects the scale of the prosecution landscape. Each of the 19 pending office actions is being addressed by a different examiner, which may lead to varied outcomes across the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals portfolio. The pending actions are spread across the art units, showing that the department's innovations are evaluated by different examiners.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 8 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. 8 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 only | 1 (5%) |
| §101 + other | 2 (11%) |
| §103 only | 6 (32%) |
| §112 only | 2 (11%) |
| Double-patenting only | 2 (11%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 6 (32%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NG, JONATHAN K | 1 | 35.6% | +14.0% |
| SCHAETZLE, KENNEDY | 1 | 83.8% | +8.1% |
| ATKINSON, JOSHUA ALEXANDER | 1 | 52.4% | +26.7% |
| LI, LARRY | 1 | 100.0% | +0.0% |
| GINES, GEORGE SAMUEL | 1 | 69.5% | +40.5% |
| HOLTZCLAW, MICHAEL T. | 1 | 77.6% | +16.0% |
| LEE, CHIHYI NMN | 1 | 33.7% | +60.8% |
| KOO, BENJAMIN K | 1 | 57.1% | +49.7% |
| MILLER, WILLIAM L | 1 | 79.0% | +14.8% |
| TOMASZEWSKI, MICHAEL | 1 | 47.9% | +22.2% |
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 # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18276871 | METHODS OF TREATING HYPOGONADOTROPIC HYPOGONADISM AND COGNITION IMPAIRMENT FOLLOWING A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY | JOHNSON, TIRONE DEREK | 6d |
| 18749726 | Combination Therapy for Treating or Preventing Depression or Other Mood Diseases | LEE, CHIHYI NMN | 34d |
| 19225745 | FOUR-COMPARTMENT DIFFUSION MODEL OF INSULIN IN HUMANS | NG, JONATHAN K | — |
| 19027952 | Stereotactic Multifocal Recording And Stimulation Device And Methods Of Use | SCHAETZLE, KENNEDY | — |
| 18907722 | Disinfection System For Wheelchairs | LI, LARRY | — |
| 18826930 | Cuff For Providing Vagus Nerve Stimulation | HOLTZCLAW, MICHAEL T. | — |
| 18737593 | Medication Delivery Device | KOO, BENJAMIN K | — |
| 18502774 | Needle Assembly With Integrated Curvature Mechanism | NICHOLS, CHARLES W | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18406868 | CLINICAL SYSTEM INTEGRATION | TOMASZEWSKI, MICHAEL | 28d |
| 18749726 | Combination Therapy for Treating or Preventing Depression or Other Mood Diseases | LEE, CHIHYI NMN | 34d |
| 19225745 | FOUR-COMPARTMENT DIFFUSION MODEL OF INSULIN IN HUMANS | NG, JONATHAN K | — |
| 18909697 | Magneto-Patterned-Cell-Laden Hydrogel Materials and Methods of Making and Using Same | ATKINSON, JOSHUA ALEXANDER | — |
| 18885039 | Assistive Positioning Device For A Limb Of A Patient | GINES, GEORGE SAMUEL | — |
| 18826930 | Cuff For Providing Vagus Nerve Stimulation | HOLTZCLAW, MICHAEL T. | — |
| 18737593 | Medication Delivery Device | KOO, BENJAMIN K | — |
| 18639153 | Headstone Socket Preserver | MILLER, WILLIAM L | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1617 | 2 |
| 2884 | 1 |
| 3796 | 1 |
| 1628 | 1 |
| 3677 | 1 |
| 3681 | 1 |
| 3783 | 1 |
| 1675 | 1 |
| 1658 | 1 |
| 3798 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19225745 | FOUR-COMPARTMENT DIFFUSION MODEL OF INSULIN IN HUMANS | NG, JONATHAN K | — | §101DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 02, 2025 |
| 19027952 | Stereotactic Multifocal Recording And Stimulation Device And Methods Of Use | SCHAETZLE, KENNEDY | — | §101DP | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 17, 2025 |
| 18909697 | Magneto-Patterned-Cell-Laden Hydrogel Materials and Methods of Making and Using Same | ATKINSON, JOSHUA ALEXANDER | — | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 08, 2024 |
| 18907722 | Disinfection System For Wheelchairs | LI, LARRY | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 07, 2024 |
| 18885039 | Assistive Positioning Device For A Limb Of A Patient | GINES, GEORGE SAMUEL | 2884 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 13, 2024 |
| 18826930 | Cuff For Providing Vagus Nerve Stimulation | HOLTZCLAW, MICHAEL T. | 3796 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Sep 06, 2024 |
| 18749726 | Combination Therapy for Treating or Preventing Depression or Other Mood Diseases | LEE, CHIHYI NMN | 1628 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | 34d | Pending | Jun 21, 2024 |
| 18737593 | Medication Delivery Device | KOO, BENJAMIN K | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 07, 2024 |
| 18639153 | Headstone Socket Preserver | MILLER, WILLIAM L | 3677 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 18, 2024 |
| 18406868 | CLINICAL SYSTEM INTEGRATION | TOMASZEWSKI, MICHAEL | 3681 | §103 | Final Rejection | 28d | Pending | Jan 08, 2024 |
| 18502774 | Needle Assembly With Integrated Curvature Mechanism | NICHOLS, CHARLES W | 3783 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 06, 2023 |
| 18276871 | METHODS OF TREATING HYPOGONADOTROPIC HYPOGONADISM AND COGNITION IMPAIRMENT FOLLOWING A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY | JOHNSON, TIRONE DEREK | 1675 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 6d | Pending | Aug 10, 2023 |
| 18038588 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS OF INHIBITING THE BINDING OF PLASMA IGG AUTOANTIBODIES TO SEROTONIN 2A RECEPTOR | KOMATSU, LI N | 1658 | DP | Final Rejection | 14d | Pending | May 24, 2023 |
| 18009608 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETERMINING AND CORRECTING IMAGING ARTIFACTS | ROBINSON, NICHOLAS A | 3798 | §112 | Final Rejection | 26d | Pending | Dec 09, 2022 |
| 18074364 | EVALUATION OF BRAIN TISSUE AND MATERIAL BASED ON A FRACTION-PRODUCT AND OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY | DO, AN H | 1687 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 02, 2022 |
| 17910637 | A Combined Inhibition of EGFR and NRF2 in The Treatment of Malignant Glioma | HALVORSON, MARK | 1646 | §103Other | Final Rejection | 2d overdue | Pending | Sep 09, 2022 |
| 17779865 | METHODS OF USING SOLUBLE SOLID DISPERSIONS OF RIFAXIMIN | MEYERS, ELIZABETH ANNE | 1617 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 13d | Pending | May 25, 2022 |
| 17639265 | LIPOSOMAL TROPONOID COMPOUND FORMULATIONS | PIPIC, ALMA | 1617 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 28, 2022 |
| 17288849 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR SELECTING BIALLELIC GENE EDITING | DUNN, MCKENZIE A | 1678 | §103 | Final Rejection | 88d overdue | Pending | Apr 26, 2021 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free Trial