Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Communications
8 pending office actions • 3 art units • 8 examiners • 0 of 8 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 14 patents granted in the last 365 days
Vivint Inc. is managing 8 pending office actions within the Communications technology area. These 8 actions are handled by 8 distinct examiners, which means every pending matter is under the review of a different individual. However, these actions are concentrated within only 3 distinct art units, suggesting that multiple examiners are working within the same administrative groups. This structure indicates a high level of technical focus despite the variety of personnel involved.
VAUGHN JR, WILLIAM C is the busiest examiner for the company, with 1 busiest examiner pending action. The fact that 8 distinct examiners are spread across only 3 distinct art units indicates a high level of technical focus within the portfolio. This structure allows the applicant to potentially identify common themes or prior art references used by the 3 distinct art units, even as they navigate the individual styles of the examiners. Practitioners should look for patterns in how these administrative groups handle communications technology to develop a more predictable prosecution strategy. The concentration of the 8 pending office actions within a small number of units may lead to more consistent administrative oversight, which can be leveraged to achieve more uniform outcomes across the portfolio.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 3 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. 3 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 (12%) |
| §101 + other | 3 (38%) |
| §103 only | 2 (25%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 2 (25%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| VAUGHN JR, WILLIAM C | 1 | 33.3% | +51.2% |
| YEN, JASON TAHAI | 1 | 77.0% | +23.6% |
| NGUYEN, AN T | 1 | 67.8% | +18.8% |
| RUSHING, MARK S | 1 | 76.7% | +23.6% |
| YANG, QIAN | 1 | 73.5% | +31.4% |
| HAIDER, SYED | 1 | 83.4% | +7.0% |
| BRAHMACHARI, MANDRITA | 1 | 76.8% | +28.9% |
| ALUNKAL, THOMAS D | 1 | 72.3% | +14.9% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 6 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18177105 | TECHNIQUES FOR A SMART MONITORING SYSTEM | ALUNKAL, THOMAS D | 9d overdue |
| 18926565 | Systems and Methods of Deterrence Using Intruder Mobile Device | RUSHING, MARK S | 22d |
| 19009933 | Systems and Methods to Generate Deterrence Actions | VAUGHN JR, WILLIAM C | — |
| 18972904 | Systems and Methods for Facilitating Yard Games | YEN, JASON TAHAI | — |
| 18617156 | MULTI-SOURCE OBJECT DETECTION AND ESCALATED ACTION | HAIDER, SYED | — |
| 18595240 | MULTI-SOURCE OBJECT DETECTION | BRAHMACHARI, MANDRITA | — |
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 7 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18177105 | TECHNIQUES FOR A SMART MONITORING SYSTEM | ALUNKAL, THOMAS D | 9d overdue |
| 18926565 | Systems and Methods of Deterrence Using Intruder Mobile Device | RUSHING, MARK S | 22d |
| 18937398 | Determining Actions of a System Based on Approaching Entity | NGUYEN, AN T | 76d |
| 19009933 | Systems and Methods to Generate Deterrence Actions | VAUGHN JR, WILLIAM C | — |
| 18972904 | Systems and Methods for Facilitating Yard Games | YEN, JASON TAHAI | — |
| 18924159 | Using Machine-Learning Models to Enforce Restricted Areas | YANG, QIAN | — |
| 18595240 | MULTI-SOURCE OBJECT DETECTION | BRAHMACHARI, MANDRITA | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 2686 | 2 |
| 2689 | 1 |
| 2633 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19009933 | Systems and Methods to Generate Deterrence Actions | VAUGHN JR, WILLIAM C | — | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 04, 2025 |
| 18972904 | Systems and Methods for Facilitating Yard Games | YEN, JASON TAHAI | — | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 07, 2024 |
| 18937398 | Determining Actions of a System Based on Approaching Entity | NGUYEN, AN T | 2686 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 76d | Pending | Nov 05, 2024 |
| 18926565 | Systems and Methods of Deterrence Using Intruder Mobile Device | RUSHING, MARK S | 2689 | §101§102§103 | Final Rejection | 22d | Pending | Oct 25, 2024 |
| 18924159 | Using Machine-Learning Models to Enforce Restricted Areas | YANG, QIAN | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 23, 2024 |
| 18617156 | MULTI-SOURCE OBJECT DETECTION AND ESCALATED ACTION | HAIDER, SYED | 2633 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 26, 2024 |
| 18595240 | MULTI-SOURCE OBJECT DETECTION | BRAHMACHARI, MANDRITA | — | §101§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 04, 2024 |
| 18177105 | TECHNIQUES FOR A SMART MONITORING SYSTEM | ALUNKAL, THOMAS D | 2686 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | 9d overdue | Pending | Mar 01, 2023 |
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