Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026

VITAL BIOSCIENCES INC.

Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering

2 pending office actions • 1 art units • 2 examiners • 0 of 2 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 4 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

VITAL BIOSCIENCES INC. currently has 2 pending office actions in the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. These actions are concentrated in 1 distinct art unit but are split between 2 distinct examiners.

BERHANU, ETSUB D is the busiest examiner, managing 1 pending office action out of the total cases. This distribution across examiners within the art unit suggests varied examiner perspectives on the technical field.

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

Portfolio Summary

2
Total Pending OAs
2
Non-Final OAs
0
Final Rejections
0
Advisory / Quayle

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.

1
Hard (50%)
1
Medium (50%)
0
Easy (0%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§103 only1 (50%)
Multi-statute (no §101)1 (50%)

Industry Mix

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

0
Life Sciences
0% of docket
0
Information Tech
0% of docket
0
Communications
0% of docket
0
Semiconductors
0% of docket
2
Mechanical / Eng
100% 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.

20 h
Manual time on pending OAs
4 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
7 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
0.2 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
BERHANU, ETSUB D 1 65.1% +24.7%
ROBERTS, ANNA L 1 55.7% +39.8%

Hard Cases (1)

Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 1 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
18855553 BLOOD DRAWING DEVICE BERHANU, ETSUB D —

Interview Candidates (2)

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 2 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
18855553 BLOOD DRAWING DEVICE BERHANU, ETSUB D —
18004696 DEVICE, METHOD, AND SYSTEM FOR COLLECTION OF BLOOD ROBERTS, ANNA L —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
3791 2

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
18855553 BLOOD DRAWING DEVICE BERHANU, ETSUB D 3791 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 09, 2024
18004696 DEVICE, METHOD, AND SYSTEM FOR COLLECTION OF BLOOD ROBERTS, ANNA L 3791 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 09, 2023

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many pending USPTO office actions does VITAL BIOSCIENCES INC. have?

VITAL BIOSCIENCES INC. has 2 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 1 art units and 2 examiners.

Which USPTO examiner handles the most VITAL BIOSCIENCES INC. applications?

Etsub D Berhanu has the most, with 1 of VITAL BIOSCIENCES INC.'s pending office actions.

What technology area are VITAL BIOSCIENCES INC.'s patent applications in?

Mostly Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering (USPTO Tech Center 3700), based on where its pending office actions are examined.

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