Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026

Waters Technologies Ireland Limited

Technology areas: Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics • Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems

9 pending office actions • 9 art units • 9 examiners • 0 of 9 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 15 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

Waters Technologies Ireland Limited shows a highly distributed prosecution profile in the Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics technology area. The company has 9 pending office actions, each assigned to a different examiner, resulting in 9 distinct examiners. Furthermore, these actions are spread across 9 distinct art units. SMYTH, ANDREW P is the busiest examiner, though they only account for 1 pending office action.

This one-to-one ratio between pending office actions, examiners, and art units indicates a maximum level of diversification in the prosecution landscape. No two applications are being reviewed by the same person or within the same art unit. For practitioners, this means there is no opportunity to consolidate arguments or rely on a single examiner's familiarity with the company's technology. Each of the 9 pending office actions requires a unique strategy tailored to the specific requirements of 9 distinct art units. With SMYTH, ANDREW P handling 1 pending office action, the practitioner must address 9 distinct examiners across 9 distinct art units to resolve the 9 pending office actions.

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

Portfolio Summary

9
Total Pending OAs
4
Non-Final OAs
5
Final Rejections
0
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 5 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

1
Overdue
1
Due this week
1
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. 5 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (1)Due ≤ 7 days (1)Due ≤ 30 days (1)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.

6
Hard (67%)
2
Medium (22%)
1
Easy (11%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 only2 (22%)
§101 + other4 (44%)
§103 only2 (22%)
§112 only1 (11%)

Industry Mix

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

2
Life Sciences
22% of docket
1
Information Tech
11% of docket
0
Communications
0% of docket
4
Semiconductors
44% of docket
2
Mechanical / Eng
22% 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.

90 h
Manual time on pending OAs
18 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
31 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
0.8 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
SMYTH, ANDREW P 1 71.7% +14.6%
NGHIEM, MICHAEL P 1 67.5% +24.3%
SMITH, JENNIFER JOY 1 — —
HAMMOND III, THOMAS M 1 76.1% +29.0%
LESNIEWSKI, VICTOR D 1 58.6% +54.8%
REYES, REGINALD R 1 40.9% +31.5%
OSENBAUGH-STEWART, ELIZA W 1 73.0% +16.8%
HYUN, PAUL SANG HWA 1 69.8% +36.3%
GAVIN, KRISTIN ELIZABETH 1 14.9% +17.3%

Hard Cases (6)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
17552935 METHODS, MEDIUMS, AND SYSTEMS FOR BUILDING AND EXECUTING A CHROMATOGRAPHY WORKFLOW GAVIN, KRISTIN ELIZABETH 99d overdue
18163451 MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES FOR DISCOVERING ERRORS AND SYSTEM READINESS CONDITIONS IN LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY INSTRUMENTS HAMMOND III, THOMAS M 70d
18711470 A METHOD OF CONFIGURING A STRING OF PULSES SMYTH, ANDREW P —
18264217 A METHOD OF ANALYSIS OF MASS SPECTROMETRY DATA NGHIEM, MICHAEL P —
18187792 PROGRAMMATIC PROCESSING OF PROTEIN OR NUCLEIC ACID SEQUENCES TO IDENTIFY MUTATIONS AT PROGRAMMATICALLY DETERMINED SUBSEQUENCES SMITH, JENNIFER JOY —
17843167 METHODS, MEDIUMS, AND SYSTEMS FOR PREDICTING MOLECULE MODIFICATIONS REYES, REGINALD R —

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
17552935 METHODS, MEDIUMS, AND SYSTEMS FOR BUILDING AND EXECUTING A CHROMATOGRAPHY WORKFLOW GAVIN, KRISTIN ELIZABETH 99d overdue
17559013 METHODS, MEDIUMS, AND SYSTEMS FOR STORING AND RETRIEVING CHROMATOGRAPHY DATA HYUN, PAUL SANG HWA 5d
17932845 METHODS, MEDIUMS, AND SYSTEMS FOR ESTABLISHING A QUALITY CONTROL RECORD CHAIN FOR LABORATORY ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS LESNIEWSKI, VICTOR D 26d
17749449 METHODS, MEDIUMS, AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING ASSISTED CALIBRATION FOR A MASS SPECTROMETRY APPARATUS OSENBAUGH-STEWART, ELIZA W 34d
18163451 MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES FOR DISCOVERING ERRORS AND SYSTEM READINESS CONDITIONS IN LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY INSTRUMENTS HAMMOND III, THOMAS M 70d
18711470 A METHOD OF CONFIGURING A STRING OF PULSES SMYTH, ANDREW P —
18264217 A METHOD OF ANALYSIS OF MASS SPECTROMETRY DATA NGHIEM, MICHAEL P —
17843167 METHODS, MEDIUMS, AND SYSTEMS FOR PREDICTING MOLECULE MODIFICATIONS REYES, REGINALD R —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
2878 1
2857 1
1685 1
2855 1
2493 1
3684 1
2881 1
1796 1
3624 1

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
18711470 A METHOD OF CONFIGURING A STRING OF PULSES SMYTH, ANDREW P 2878 §101 Non-Final OA — Pending May 17, 2024
18264217 A METHOD OF ANALYSIS OF MASS SPECTROMETRY DATA NGHIEM, MICHAEL P 2857 §101§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 03, 2023
18187792 PROGRAMMATIC PROCESSING OF PROTEIN OR NUCLEIC ACID SEQUENCES TO IDENTIFY MUTATIONS AT PROGRAMMATICALLY DETERMINED SUBSEQUENCES SMITH, JENNIFER JOY 1685 §101§102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 22, 2023
18163451 MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES FOR DISCOVERING ERRORS AND SYSTEM READINESS CONDITIONS IN LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY INSTRUMENTS HAMMOND III, THOMAS M 2855 §101§102§103§112Other Non-Final OA 70d Pending Feb 02, 2023
17932845 METHODS, MEDIUMS, AND SYSTEMS FOR ESTABLISHING A QUALITY CONTROL RECORD CHAIN FOR LABORATORY ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS LESNIEWSKI, VICTOR D 2493 §103 Final Rejection 26d Pending Sep 16, 2022
17843167 METHODS, MEDIUMS, AND SYSTEMS FOR PREDICTING MOLECULE MODIFICATIONS REYES, REGINALD R 3684 §101Other Final Rejection — Pending Jun 17, 2022
17749449 METHODS, MEDIUMS, AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING ASSISTED CALIBRATION FOR A MASS SPECTROMETRY APPARATUS OSENBAUGH-STEWART, ELIZA W 2881 §103 Final Rejection 34d Pending May 20, 2022
17559013 METHODS, MEDIUMS, AND SYSTEMS FOR STORING AND RETRIEVING CHROMATOGRAPHY DATA HYUN, PAUL SANG HWA 1796 §112 Final Rejection 5d Pending Dec 22, 2021
17552935 METHODS, MEDIUMS, AND SYSTEMS FOR BUILDING AND EXECUTING A CHROMATOGRAPHY WORKFLOW GAVIN, KRISTIN ELIZABETH 3624 §101§112 Final Rejection 99d overdue Pending Dec 16, 2021

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many pending USPTO office actions does Waters Technologies Ireland Limited have?

Waters Technologies Ireland Limited has 9 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 9 art units and 9 examiners.

Which USPTO examiner handles the most Waters Technologies Ireland Limited applications?

Andrew P Smyth has the most, with 1 of Waters Technologies Ireland Limited's pending office actions.

What technology area are Waters Technologies Ireland Limited's patent applications in?

Mostly Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics (USPTO Tech Center 2800), based on where its pending office actions are examined.

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