Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026

University of South Carolina

Technology areas: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals • Chemistry & Materials

38 pending office actions • 28 art units • 38 examiners • 0 of 38 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 43 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

University of South Carolina has 36 pending office actions in Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals. The matters involve 36 distinct examiners and 28 distinct art units, indicating complete examiner dispersion across a broad examination footprint. Counsel will need detailed tracking and consistent technical support without relying on recurring examiner assignments.

COLE, VICTOR is the busiest examiner, with 1 pending matter. Portfolio-level guidance can promote consistent claim strategy, while each response should remain tailored to its assigned examiner and art unit.

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

Portfolio Summary

38
Total Pending OAs
23
Non-Final OAs
14
Final Rejections
1
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 17 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

6
Overdue
0
Due this week
9
Due this month
1
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. 17 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (6)Due ≤ 30 days (9)Due ≤ 60 days (1)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.

22
Hard (58%)
12
Medium (32%)
3
Easy (8%)
1
Unknown (3%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 only1 (3%)
§101 + other7 (18%)
§103 only12 (32%)
§112 only3 (8%)
Multi-statute (no §101)14 (37%)
No statute on record1 (3%)

Industry Mix

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

22
Life Sciences
58% of docket
3
Information Tech
8% of docket
0
Communications
0% of docket
7
Semiconductors
18% of docket
6
Mechanical / Eng
16% 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.

380 h
Manual time on pending OAs
76 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
133 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
3.3 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
COLE, VICTOR 1 92.0% +10.1%
KWON, JOHN SEUNGJAI 1 44.9% +20.2%
OLSON, JENNIFER MAR B 1 55.4% +21.2%
WERTZ, ASHLEE ELIZABETH 1 52.7% +35.6%
MCCLAIN, STARFARI TESHAWN 1 91.2% -12.5%
PEREZ FUENTES, LUIS M 1 83.9% -17.9%
DOUGHERTY, SEAN PATRICK 1 74.5% +16.1%
PADUA, NICO LAUREN 1 15.4% +35.8%
FETTEROLF, BRANDON J 1 51.6% +18.5%
ROZANSKI, GRACE NMN 1 60.5% +20.7%

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
18748743 THERMODYNAMIC-BASED METHODS FOR FORMATION OF PROMOTED METAL CATALYSTS MCCLAIN, STARFARI TESHAWN —

Hard Cases (22)

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
17717342 Hearing Screening Simulator Application POLLOCK, ZACHARY JOSEPH 43d overdue
17071020 Cell-Based Biosensor for Early Alzheimer's Disease Detection MIANO, JOSEPH PAUL 4d overdue
17971694 Preparation of a Brain Targeted Artificial Nano-Enzyme and Application TAYLOR, JORDAN W 12d
18599450 Using Limited Lead Device EEG to Predict Delirium DOUGHERTY, SEAN PATRICK 20d
18588120 SYSTEM AND METHOD TO MEDIATE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AUTOMATICALLY FOR USER SAFETY PADUA, NICO LAUREN 21d
17370101 DECELLULARIZATION OF TISSUES USING SUPERCRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE WHEELER, THURMAN MICHAEL 56d
18304457 AI METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTION OF REAL-TIME DAMAGE USING AE (ACOUSTIC EMISSIONS) QUIGLEY, KYLE ROBERT 71d
19209183 DESIGN AND STRUCTURES OF HIGH-SPEED INTERCONNECTS FOR IMPROVED SIGNAL INTEGRITY COLE, VICTOR —

Interview Candidates (8)

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
18599450 Using Limited Lead Device EEG to Predict Delirium DOUGHERTY, SEAN PATRICK 20d
18588120 SYSTEM AND METHOD TO MEDIATE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AUTOMATICALLY FOR USER SAFETY PADUA, NICO LAUREN 21d
19209183 DESIGN AND STRUCTURES OF HIGH-SPEED INTERCONNECTS FOR IMPROVED SIGNAL INTEGRITY COLE, VICTOR —
18813465 METHODS AND FORMULATIONS FOR IMPROVING THE PHARMACOKINETIC PROPERTIES OF NUTRACEUTICAL COMPOUNDS KWON, JOHN SEUNGJAI —
18772370 Design of Acoustic Metamaterials Based on Liquid Crystal Skyrmions OLSON, JENNIFER MAR B —
18761018 ISOMER-SPECIFIC NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF NATURAL RESERVATROL WERTZ, ASHLEE ELIZABETH —
18440036 TRIGONELLINE MITIGATES CARDIOMYOPATHY CAUSED BY SARS-COV-2 SPIKE PROTEIN UNDER OBESITY FETTEROLF, BRANDON J —
18429626 SLEEP DISRUPTIONS IDENTIFICATION FROM MILLIMETER-WAVE WIRELESS SYSTEMS ROZANSKI, GRACE NMN —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
3791 3
2843 2
1615 2
1626 2
1736 2
1619 2
2187 2
1631 2
3715 2
2837 1

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
19209183 DESIGN AND STRUCTURES OF HIGH-SPEED INTERCONNECTS FOR IMPROVED SIGNAL INTEGRITY COLE, VICTOR 2843 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending May 15, 2025
18813465 METHODS AND FORMULATIONS FOR IMPROVING THE PHARMACOKINETIC PROPERTIES OF NUTRACEUTICAL COMPOUNDS KWON, JOHN SEUNGJAI 1615 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 23, 2024
18772370 Design of Acoustic Metamaterials Based on Liquid Crystal Skyrmions OLSON, JENNIFER MAR B 2837 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 15, 2024
18761018 ISOMER-SPECIFIC NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF NATURAL RESERVATROL WERTZ, ASHLEE ELIZABETH 1626 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 01, 2024
18748743 THERMODYNAMIC-BASED METHODS FOR FORMATION OF PROMOTED METAL CATALYSTS MCCLAIN, STARFARI TESHAWN 1736 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 20, 2024
18670031 WIRELESS FEDERATED k-MEANS CLUSTERING WITH NON-COHERENT OVER-THE-AIR COMPUTATION PEREZ FUENTES, LUIS M 2474 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending May 21, 2024
18599450 Using Limited Lead Device EEG to Predict Delirium DOUGHERTY, SEAN PATRICK 3791 §103§112 Final Rejection 20d Pending Mar 08, 2024
18588120 SYSTEM AND METHOD TO MEDIATE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AUTOMATICALLY FOR USER SAFETY PADUA, NICO LAUREN 3626 §101§103 Final Rejection 21d Pending Feb 27, 2024
18440036 TRIGONELLINE MITIGATES CARDIOMYOPATHY CAUSED BY SARS-COV-2 SPIKE PROTEIN UNDER OBESITY FETTEROLF, BRANDON J 1626 §112 Final Rejection — Pending Feb 13, 2024
18429626 SLEEP DISRUPTIONS IDENTIFICATION FROM MILLIMETER-WAVE WIRELESS SYSTEMS ROZANSKI, GRACE NMN 3791 §101§102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 01, 2024
18506315 PHASE STABILIZED GROWTH OF MONOCLINIC-GALLIUM OXIDE ON THERMALLY CONDUCTING MATERIALS BRATLAND JR, KENNETH A 1714 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 10, 2023
18559145 BRAIN-TARGETED ANTIBODY NANOPARTICLE FOR NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES THERAPY ROSSI, JULIA ANNE LORRAIN 1615 §103 Non-Final OA 9d overdue Pending Nov 06, 2023
18479393 DUAL RESPONSIVE BRAIN TARGETED NANOPARTICLES FOR USE IN TREATMENT OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE GREENE, IVAN A 1619 §103 Non-Final OA 4d overdue Pending Oct 02, 2023
18464761 VERTICAL ALUMINUM GALLIUM NITRIDE DEVICES ON CRYSTALLINE METALLIC SUBSTRATES SRINIVASAN, SESHA SAIRAMAN 2817 §103 Final Rejection 9d Pending Sep 11, 2023
18458500 ODD CHAIN FATTY ACID THERAPY FOR THE TREATMENT OF MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASES COLE, HOUSTON DAVID 1758 §101§103 Final Rejection — Pending Aug 30, 2023
18366049 COMPUTER-AIDED PROCESS PLANNING (CAPP) FOR AUTOMATED FIBER PLACEMENT (AFP) MANUFACTURING MIRABITO, MICHAEL PAUL 2187 §101§102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 07, 2023
18357658 METHODS OF FORMING COMPOSITIONS CONTAINING COLLAGEN KIM, TAEYOON 1631 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Jul 24, 2023
18304457 AI METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTION OF REAL-TIME DAMAGE USING AE (ACOUSTIC EMISSIONS) QUIGLEY, KYLE ROBERT 2857 §103§112 Final Rejection 71d Pending Apr 21, 2023
18304048 ABBAPOLINS AS INHIBITORS AND DEGRADERS OF POLO-LIKE KINASES GAUGER, PAUL RANDALL 1629 §101§102§103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Apr 20, 2023
18302078 DIELECTRIC BARRIER DISCHARGE PLASMA SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IN-SITU HYDROGEN PEROXIDE PRODUCTION TAI, XIUYU 1795 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 18, 2023
18300533 ELECTRODES FOR FUEL CELLS AND ELECTROLYZERS NEDIALKOVA, LILIA V 1724 §103 Final Rejection 15d Pending Apr 14, 2023
18023070 CO-GENERATION OF HIGH PURITY HYDROGEN AND HALIDE GASES BY ELECTROLYSIS CONTRERAS, CIEL P 1794 §103 Final Rejection 30d Pending Feb 24, 2023
18170062 Dually Electrically Tunable 3-D Compact RF Phase Shifter LEE, BENNY T 2843 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 16, 2023
17986579 TRANSFER OF WIDE AND ULTRAWIDE BANDGAP LAYERS TO ENGINEERED SUBSTRATE VALENZUELA, PATRICIA D 2812 §103 Final Rejection 28d Pending Nov 14, 2022
17971694 Preparation of a Brain Targeted Artificial Nano-Enzyme and Application TAYLOR, JORDAN W 1738 §103§112 Non-Final OA 12d Pending Oct 24, 2022
17839820 TARGETING G3BP PROTEINS TO ACCELERATE NERVE REGENERATION COFFA, SERGIO 1658 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 14, 2022
17781780 STEEL MESH BASED CATALYST WITH SUPERIOR MECHANICAL STABILITY / MAGNETIC SEPARABILITY PHAN, ANNETTE HOANG-ANH 1736 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 02, 2022
17717342 Hearing Screening Simulator Application POLLOCK, ZACHARY JOSEPH 3715 §101§102§103§112 Non-Final OA 43d overdue Pending Apr 11, 2022
17715561 TRANSFORMING CHEAP SPIROMETERS TO ESTIMATE FLOW-VOLUME GRAPH BY DEEP LEARNING FERNANDES, PATRICK M 3791 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 07, 2022
17691262 Regenerative Tissue-Mimetic Multilayer Fused Microgel-Cell Construct HAGOPIAN, CASEY SHEA 1617 Other Final Rejection 46d overdue Pending Mar 10, 2022
17689557 AI METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING CRACK LENGTH FROM HIGH-FREQUENCY AE (ACOUSTIC EMISSION) LEATHERS, EMILY GORMAN 2187 §101 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 08, 2022
17586937 INTERACTIVE EDUCATIONAL AID ANTOINE, LISA HOPE 3715 §103 Non-Final OA 32d overdue Pending Jan 28, 2022
17504700 Approaches for Fabricating N-Polar AlxGa1-xN Templates for Electronic and Optoelectronic Devices NIX, NORA TAYLOR 2891 §103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Oct 19, 2021
17474178 VITRO ASSAY FOR DRUG DISCOVERY OF VALVULAR HEART DISEASE STAVROU, CONSTANTINA E 1632 §103 Final Rejection 14d Pending Sep 14, 2021
17370101 DECELLULARIZATION OF TISSUES USING SUPERCRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE WHEELER, THURMAN MICHAEL 1619 §103§112 Non-Final OA 56d Pending Jul 08, 2021
17242647 Method For The Degradation Of Endogenous Protein BUTTICE, AUDREY L 1647 §103 Non-Final OA 29d Pending Apr 28, 2021
17071020 Cell-Based Biosensor for Early Alzheimer's Disease Detection MIANO, JOSEPH PAUL 1631 §101§103 Non-Final OA 4d overdue Pending Oct 15, 2020
16707449 Method for Tuning Topology of Polymer Particles ROGERS, JAMES WILLIAM 1618 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 09, 2019

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many pending USPTO office actions does University of South Carolina have?

University of South Carolina has 38 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 28 art units and 38 examiners.

Which USPTO examiner handles the most University of South Carolina applications?

Victor Cole has the most, with 1 of University of South Carolina's pending office actions.

What technology area are University of South Carolina's patent applications in?

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

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