Technology area: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
7 pending office actions • 6 art units • 6 examiners • 0 of 7 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 17 patents granted in the last 365 days
Virginia Commonwealth University manages 9 pending office actions in the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals technology area. These matters are assigned to 8 distinct examiners across 8 distinct art units. YU, DELPHINUS DOU YI is the busiest examiner for this portfolio, holding 2 pending office actions. The distribution of 9 pending office actions across 8 distinct examiners indicates that most examiners are handling a single matter for the university.
The involvement of 8 distinct art units suggests that the university's innovations span several specialized sub-fields within biotechnology. This diversity requires a multifaceted prosecution strategy, as each of the 8 distinct art units may have its own specific guidelines. With 8 distinct examiners involved, the university must manage a variety of examiner styles. DELPHINUS DOU YI YU is the only examiner identified with a specific count of 2 pending office actions under his review.
This prosecution landscape provides the university with multiple points of contact at the USPTO, as seen in the 8 distinct examiners. However, it also necessitates coordination to ensure consistency across the 9 pending office actions. Practitioners should analyze the 8 distinct art units to identify any common themes that may affect the overall portfolio. The current data shows an active engagement with the patent office across the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals technology area.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 2 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.
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 |
|---|---|
| §103 only | 2 (29%) |
| §102 only | 1 (14%) |
| §112 only | 1 (14%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 3 (43%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| YU, DELPHINUS DOU YI | 2 | 33.3% | +0.0% |
| STOCKTON, LAURA LYNNE | 1 | 75.3% | +33.7% |
| KIM, SANG K | 1 | 81.5% | +10.3% |
| SULTANA, DILARA | 1 | 80.9% | +16.2% |
| GRASER, JENNIFER E | 1 | 76.8% | +23.2% |
| SCHLIENTZ, LEAH H | 1 | 41.8% | +38.7% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18435411 | TEM Orientation Mapping via Dark-Field Vector Images | SULTANA, DILARA | — |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 3 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18030160 | A FACTOR H BINDING PROTEIN B (FHBB) BASED CHIMERIC VACCINE FOR THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF PERIODONTAL DISEASE | GRASER, JENNIFER E | 19d overdue |
| 18727826 | NALTREXAMINE DERIVATIVES BEARING 5-MEMBER HETEROCYCLIC RING SYSTEMS AND OPIOID RECEPTOR MODULATORS | STOCKTON, LAURA LYNNE | — |
| 18638895 | HIGH TEMPERATURE END EFFECTORS FOR ROBOTS | KIM, SANG K | — |
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 5 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18030160 | A FACTOR H BINDING PROTEIN B (FHBB) BASED CHIMERIC VACCINE FOR THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF PERIODONTAL DISEASE | GRASER, JENNIFER E | 19d overdue |
| 17574790 | Methods and Compositions for Two-Stage Microbubble Delivery of Active Agents | SCHLIENTZ, LEAH H | 12d |
| 18727826 | NALTREXAMINE DERIVATIVES BEARING 5-MEMBER HETEROCYCLIC RING SYSTEMS AND OPIOID RECEPTOR MODULATORS | STOCKTON, LAURA LYNNE | — |
| 18638895 | HIGH TEMPERATURE END EFFECTORS FOR ROBOTS | KIM, SANG K | — |
| 18435411 | TEM Orientation Mapping via Dark-Field Vector Images | SULTANA, DILARA | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 1636 | 2 |
| 1626 | 1 |
| 3651 | 1 |
| 4100 | 1 |
| 1645 | 1 |
| 1618 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18727826 | NALTREXAMINE DERIVATIVES BEARING 5-MEMBER HETEROCYCLIC RING SYSTEMS AND OPIOID RECEPTOR MODULATORS | STOCKTON, LAURA LYNNE | 1626 | §102§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 10, 2024 |
| 18638895 | HIGH TEMPERATURE END EFFECTORS FOR ROBOTS | KIM, SANG K | 3651 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 18, 2024 |
| 18435411 | TEM Orientation Mapping via Dark-Field Vector Images | SULTANA, DILARA | 4100 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 07, 2024 |
| 18276140 | MINI CIRCULAR RNA THERAPEUTICS AND VACCINES AND METHODS OF USE THEREOF | YU, DELPHINUS DOU YI | 1636 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 07, 2023 |
| 18253529 | USE OF MICRORNA INHIBITION TO PREVENT AND TREAT OSTEOARTHRITIS AND OTHER INFLAMMATORY DISEASES | YU, DELPHINUS DOU YI | 1636 | §112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | May 18, 2023 |
| 18030160 | A FACTOR H BINDING PROTEIN B (FHBB) BASED CHIMERIC VACCINE FOR THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF PERIODONTAL DISEASE | GRASER, JENNIFER E | 1645 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | 19d overdue | Pending | Apr 04, 2023 |
| 17574790 | Methods and Compositions for Two-Stage Microbubble Delivery of Active Agents | SCHLIENTZ, LEAH H | 1618 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 12d | Pending | Jan 13, 2022 |
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Start Free TrialVirginia Commonwealth University has 7 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 6 art units and 6 examiners.
Delphinus Dou Yi Yu has the most, with 2 of Virginia Commonwealth University's pending office actions.
Mostly Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals (USPTO Tech Center 1600), based on where its pending office actions are examined.
