Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026

Vanderbilt University

Technology areas: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals • Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering

64 pending office actions • 48 art units • 62 examiners • 0 of 64 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 57 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

Vanderbilt University has 62 pending office actions in Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals. The matters span 61 distinct examiners and 48 distinct art units, reflecting broad distribution across examination personnel and technical groups.

SZNAIDMAN, MARCOS L is the busiest examiner, with 2 pending matters. That assignment creates a limited focal point for targeted review, but the overall profile is distributed across many other examiner relationships.

The examiner count exceeds the art-unit count, indicating that some biotechnology matters share technical groupings while being examined by different personnel. Counsel should distinguish art-unit trends from examiner-specific practices when coordinating scientific disclosures, claim scope, and prior-art responses.

Portfolio-level systems can support consistent treatment of related inventions and deadlines. Individual strategies remain necessary because the data reflects varied examination contexts rather than one uniform prosecution path.

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

Portfolio Summary

64
Total Pending OAs
44
Non-Final OAs
17
Final Rejections
3
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 11 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

6
Overdue
0
Due this week
4
Due this month
0
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. 11 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (6)Due ≤ 30 days (4)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.

32
Hard (50%)
23
Medium (36%)
8
Easy (12%)
1
Unknown (2%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 only1 (2%)
§101 + other10 (16%)
§103 only15 (23%)
§102 only3 (5%)
§112 only7 (11%)
Double-patenting only1 (2%)
Double-patenting + other5 (8%)
Multi-statute (no §101)21 (33%)
No statute on record1 (2%)

Industry Mix

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

35
Life Sciences
55% of docket
0
Information Tech
0% of docket
2
Communications
3% of docket
3
Semiconductors
5% of docket
23
Mechanical / Eng
36% of docket
1
Business / Other
2% 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.

640 h
Manual time on pending OAs
128 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
224 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
5.6 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
SZNAIDMAN, MARCOS L 2 37.4% +16.1%
WOZNICKI, JACQUELINE 2 49.8% +26.2%
DENNIS, KEVIN M 1 37.8% +47.3%
DAVIS, AMELIE R 1 65.1% +33.2%
ROY, BAISAKHI 1 77.9% +18.6%
RAHMAN, MD M 1 92.4% +11.9%
WEHRHEIM, LINDSEY GAIL 1 78.9% +19.5%
LE, QUYNH DAO 1 33.3% +12.1%
OLSON, JENNIFER MAR B 1 55.4% +21.2%
ISLAM, PROMOTTO TAJRIAN 1 76.4% +15.1%

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
19004757 METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR INTRAOPERATIVE ASSESSMENT OF PARATHYROID GLAND VASCULARITY USING LASER SPECKLE CONTRAST IMAGING AND APPLICATIONS OF SAME RAHMAN, MD M —

Hard Cases (32)

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
18223785 SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF OPTICAL NEURAL STIMULATION FOR INTRAOPERATIVE NERVE MONITORING TU, AURELIE H 60d overdue
17993218 SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR ENHANCED LEARNING USING BRAIN-GUIDED NON-INVASIVE BRAIN STIMULATION HUSSAINI, ATTIYA SAYYADA 45d overdue
18567888 COMPOSITE FIBER INKS AND ELECTRODES AND APPLICATIONS OF SAME ALEJANDRO, RAYMOND 23d overdue
18531168 TARGETING ANTI-HUMAN PD 1H/VISTA TO TREAT HEMATOLOGIC DISORDERS NICKOL, GARY B 1d overdue
18268009 CLASS OF BIOMATERIALS FOR PROMOTING LARGE BLOOD VESSEL GROWTH CESARE, JOSEPH DAVID 20d
18379251 SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN PARATHYROID TISSUE AND THYROID TISSUE AND APPLICATIONS OF SAME MUSTANSIR, ABID A 21d
19293012 METHODS OF USING OPTICAL FIBER-BASED FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY FOR SURGICAL GUIDANCE AND/OR TISSUE DIAGNOSTICS AND APPLICATIONS OF SAME DAVIS, AMELIE R —
19118598 MODIFYING EARLY-STAGE PARKINSON'S DISEASE PROGRESSION WITH DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION ROY, BAISAKHI —

Interview Candidates (12)

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
19343098 METABOLIC CAGE COLLECTION ARRAY DENNIS, KEVIN M —
19293012 METHODS OF USING OPTICAL FIBER-BASED FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY FOR SURGICAL GUIDANCE AND/OR TISSUE DIAGNOSTICS AND APPLICATIONS OF SAME DAVIS, AMELIE R —
19118598 MODIFYING EARLY-STAGE PARKINSON'S DISEASE PROGRESSION WITH DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION ROY, BAISAKHI —
19004757 METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR INTRAOPERATIVE ASSESSMENT OF PARATHYROID GLAND VASCULARITY USING LASER SPECKLE CONTRAST IMAGING AND APPLICATIONS OF SAME RAHMAN, MD M —
18879734 SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF IMPROVING SLEEP DISORDERED BREATHING WEHRHEIM, LINDSEY GAIL —
18989242 SMART PROGRAMMABLE BLOOD PUMP FOR CONTROLLING AND AUTOMATING EXTRACORPOREAL LIFE SUPPORT APPLICATIONS LE, QUYNH DAO —
18982030 STEERABLE ACOUSTIC WAVEGUIDE FOR TARGETED FOCUSED ULTRASOUND DELIVERY OLSON, JENNIFER MAR B —
18967022 Systems and Methods for Pathological Image Segmentation via Molecular-Empowered Learning ISLAM, PROMOTTO TAJRIAN —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
3796 3
1628 3
3774 3
3781 2
1629 2
3783 2
1646 2
1672 2
1654 2
1635 2

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
19343098 METABOLIC CAGE COLLECTION ARRAY DENNIS, KEVIN M 3647 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 29, 2025
19293012 METHODS OF USING OPTICAL FIBER-BASED FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY FOR SURGICAL GUIDANCE AND/OR TISSUE DIAGNOSTICS AND APPLICATIONS OF SAME DAVIS, AMELIE R 3798 §101§103§112Other Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 07, 2025
19118598 MODIFYING EARLY-STAGE PARKINSON'S DISEASE PROGRESSION WITH DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION ROY, BAISAKHI 3797 §101§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 04, 2025
19004757 METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR INTRAOPERATIVE ASSESSMENT OF PARATHYROID GLAND VASCULARITY USING LASER SPECKLE CONTRAST IMAGING AND APPLICATIONS OF SAME RAHMAN, MD M 2877 DP Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 30, 2024
18879734 SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF IMPROVING SLEEP DISORDERED BREATHING WEHRHEIM, LINDSEY GAIL 3799 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 27, 2024
18989242 SMART PROGRAMMABLE BLOOD PUMP FOR CONTROLLING AND AUTOMATING EXTRACORPOREAL LIFE SUPPORT APPLICATIONS LE, QUYNH DAO 3781 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 20, 2024
18982030 STEERABLE ACOUSTIC WAVEGUIDE FOR TARGETED FOCUSED ULTRASOUND DELIVERY OLSON, JENNIFER MAR B 2837 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 16, 2024
18967022 Systems and Methods for Pathological Image Segmentation via Molecular-Empowered Learning ISLAM, PROMOTTO TAJRIAN 2669 §101§102 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 03, 2024
18936386 CONFIGURABLE PHANTOM FOR END-TO-END VERIFICATION OF ADAPTIVE RADIOTHERAPY SYSTEMS KAO, CHIH CHENG G 2884 §102§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 04, 2024
18859511 MODEL GENERATION APPARATUS FOR THERAPEUTIC PREDICTION AND ASSOCIATED METHODS AND MODELS BARR, MARY EVANGELINE 3682 §101 Final Rejection — Pending Oct 23, 2024
18922313 ANACARDIC ACID FOR INFLAMMATORY CONDITIONS OH, TAYLOR V 1625 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 21, 2024
18857424 POLYSULFIDE MICROPARTICLES AND USES THEREOF ZHANG SPIERING, DONGXIU 1616 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 16, 2024
18903075 POSITIVE ALLOSTERIC MODULATORS OF THE MUSCARINIC ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTOR M4 WELLS, LAUREN QUINLAN 1622 §112DP Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 01, 2024
18853029 INERTIA-BASED IMPROVEMENTS TO ROBOTS AND ROBOTIC SYSTEMS CAMERON, ATTICUS A 3658 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 30, 2024
18882837 VISCOSITY SENSORS AND WIRELESS SMALL-SCALE SOFT ROBOTS RAEVIS, ROBERT R — §102§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 12, 2024
18882674 USE OF 2-HYDROXYBENZYLAMINE FOR THE TREATMENT OF SYSTEMIC LUPUS NEAGU, IRINA 1629 §101§103§112DP Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 11, 2024
18796266 ANACARDIC ACID FOR NEURAL REPAIR JUSTICE, GINA CHIEUN YU 1617 §101DP Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 06, 2024
18778217 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TREATING SLEEP DISORDERED BREATHING TEJANI, ANKIT D 3796 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 19, 2024
18729768 POSITIVE ALLOSTERIC MODULATORS OF THE MUSCARINIC ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTOR M4 BRAM, STANLEY 1691 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 17, 2024
18760227 Non-Invasive Venous Waveform Analysis For Evaluating A Subject LAU, MICHAEL J 3796 Other Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 01, 2024
18755002 ANNULATED 2-AMINO-3-CYANO THIOPHENES AND DERIVATIVES FOR THE TREATMENT OF CANCER WHITE, DAWANNA SHAR-DAY 1627 §101DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 26, 2024
18715147 ANNULATED 2-AMINO-3-CYANO THIOPHENES AND DERIVATIVES FOR THE TREATMENT OF CANCER MOORE, SUSANNA 1624 §112Other Final Rejection — Pending May 31, 2024
18659086 ERECTOR SPINAE REGIONAL PAIN INDWELLING CATHETER DEVICE VOKES, KATHLEEN PAIGE 3783 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending May 09, 2024
18622134 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR NAVIGATION AND IDENTIFICATION DURING ENDOSCOPIC SURGERY PARK, SOO JIN 2675 §102§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 29, 2024
18695945 PEANUT ALLERGY EPITOPE GUSTILO, ESTELLA M 1646 §101§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 27, 2024
18695574 Supermere Nanoparticles and Methods of Isolation and Use Thereof MONTGOMERY, ANN Y 1678 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 26, 2024
18606343 METHODS OF BOOSTING AN IMMUNE RESPONSE AGAINST HIV USING COMMENSAL MICROBE ANTIGENS KINSEY WHITE, NICOLE ERIN 1672 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 15, 2024
18691617 HETEROARYL-LINKED ANALOGS AS MGLU5 NEGATIVE ALLOSTERIC MODULATORS AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING THE SAME SZNAIDMAN, MARCOS L 1628 §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 13, 2024
18691641 PHENYL CORE COMPOUNDS AS MGLU5 NEGATIVE ALLOSTERIC MODULATORS AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING THE SAME SZNAIDMAN, MARCOS L 1628 §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 13, 2024
18604346 SYSTEMS, COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR TREATING DIABETES LIEB, JEANETTE M 1654 §103DP Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 13, 2024
18688282 LIPOPHILIC OLIGONUCLEOTIDE CONJUGATES TATGE, LEXUS MARC 1637 §103DP Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 29, 2024
18685204 Nucleotides Comprising CasPhi Modified for Nuclear Targeting MCLEOD, AFRICA MHAIRIE 1635 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 20, 2024
18684796 SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF IMPROVING SLEEP DISORDERED BREATHING STICE, PAULA J 3796 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 19, 2024
18575437 FLUID SHEAR STRESS FOR EX VIVO ACTIVATION OF IMMUNE EFFECTOR CELLS BARRON, SEAN C 1653 §103 Non-Final OA 15d Pending Dec 29, 2023
18567888 COMPOSITE FIBER INKS AND ELECTRODES AND APPLICATIONS OF SAME ALEJANDRO, RAYMOND 1752 §102§103§112 Final Rejection 23d overdue Pending Dec 07, 2023
18531168 TARGETING ANTI-HUMAN PD 1H/VISTA TO TREAT HEMATOLOGIC DISORDERS NICKOL, GARY B 1643 §102§103 Final Rejection 1d overdue Pending Dec 06, 2023
18496026 ENGINEERED LIPOSOMES FOR NEUTRALIZATION OF SARS-COV-2 AND OTHER ENVELOPED VIRUSES WANG, RUIXUE 1672 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 27, 2023
18288034 HYDROPHILIC POLY(THIOKETAL) URETHANE SCAFFOLDS AND METHODS OF USE THEREOF LEONARD, MICHAEL L 1763 §102 Non-Final OA 86d Pending Oct 23, 2023
18556407 METHODS OF ATTACHING AZIDE COMPOUNDS TO SURFACES AND COMPOUNDS AND PRODUCTS THEREOF PEPITONE, MICHAEL F 1767 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 20, 2023
18556648 ANTIBODY COCKTAIL FOR TREATMENT OF EBOLAVIRUS INFECTIONS LU, CHENG 1642 §102§103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Oct 20, 2023
18379251 SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN PARATHYROID TISSUE AND THYROID TISSUE AND APPLICATIONS OF SAME MUSTANSIR, ABID A 3791 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA 21d Pending Oct 12, 2023
18550996 NEGATIVE ALLOSTERIC MODULATORS OF METABOTROPIC GLUTAMATE RECEPTOR 2 COPPINS, JANET L 1628 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 18, 2023
18549844 GENERATION OF HUMAN PEANUT ALLERGEN-SPECIFIC IGE MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES FOR DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC USE SANG, HONG 1646 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 08, 2023
18264741 A CONTINUOUS METRIC TO MEASURE ENDOTYPE AND CORTICOSTEROID INTERACTION IN SEPTIC SHOCK CASH, KAILEY ELIZABETH 1683 §102§103 Final Rejection — Pending Aug 08, 2023
18223785 SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF OPTICAL NEURAL STIMULATION FOR INTRAOPERATIVE NERVE MONITORING TU, AURELIE H 3791 §101§103§112 Final Rejection 60d overdue Pending Jul 19, 2023
18212949 METHODS OF TREATING CANCER LIN, JERRY 1685 §101§102§103§112DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 22, 2023
18268009 CLASS OF BIOMATERIALS FOR PROMOTING LARGE BLOOD VESSEL GROWTH CESARE, JOSEPH DAVID 1675 §101§102§103 Final Rejection 20d Pending Jun 16, 2023
18309362 BIOPSY PHANTOM HULL, JAMES B 3715 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 28, 2023
18306466 SELF-BALANCING HARNESS FOR WEARABLE ASSISTANCE DEVICES DAHER, KIRA B 3785 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 25, 2023
18033662 PDE9 INHIBITORS FOR TREATING CARDIAC FAILURE NOLAN, JASON MICHAEL 1623 §103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Apr 25, 2023

View all 64 →

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many pending USPTO office actions does Vanderbilt University have?

Vanderbilt University has 64 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 48 art units and 62 examiners.

Which USPTO examiner handles the most Vanderbilt University applications?

Marcos L Sznaidman has the most, with 2 of Vanderbilt University's pending office actions.

What technology area are Vanderbilt University's patent applications in?

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

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