Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems • Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
13 pending office actions • 4 art units • 13 examiners • 0 of 13 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 9 patents granted in the last 365 days
Willow Laboratories Inc. manages a company patent portfolio in the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area, currently featuring 13 pending office actions. These actions are distributed among 13 distinct examiners, resulting in a one-to-one ratio where each examiner is responsible for a single matter. The prosecution is focused within 4 distinct art units, suggesting that the company's medical device innovations are grouped into a few specific technical classifications.
BLANCHETTE, JOSHUA B is identified as the busiest examiner for this portfolio, currently managing 1 busiest examiner pending office action. This action accounts for a portion of the company's 13 total pending office actions. Since the workload is evenly split among the 13 distinct examiners, the portfolio's progress is subject to a wide range of individual examination styles.
Practitioners should note that while there are 13 distinct examiners, the concentration within 4 distinct art units allows for some consistency in technical arguments. However, the lack of examiner overlap means that each of the 13 pending office actions must be handled as an independent matter. Successfully managing this portfolio requires a strategy that balances the technical standards of the 4 distinct art units with the individual preferences of the 13 distinct examiners.
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 |
|---|---|
| §101 + other | 2 (15%) |
| §103 only | 2 (15%) |
| §102 only | 2 (15%) |
| Double-patenting only | 1 (8%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 2 (15%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 4 (31%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BLANCHETTE, JOSHUA B | 1 | 47.8% | +31.8% |
| SHAH, JAY B | 1 | 57.8% | +6.5% |
| NGUYEN, HIEP VAN | 1 | 55.3% | +28.8% |
| LIU, CHU CHUAN | 1 | 71.2% | +14.8% |
| ABOUELELA, MAY A | 1 | 75.3% | +36.1% |
| TOMBERS, JOSEPH A | 1 | 49.8% | +32.1% |
| MUSTANSIR, ABID A | 1 | 78.5% | +10.3% |
| MURPHY, VICTORIA | 1 | 62.2% | +46.1% |
| OGLES, MATTHEW ERIC | 1 | 50.0% | +57.0% |
| WHITROCK, ZACHARIAH KIRBY | 1 | 100.0% | +0.0% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18605630 | MODULAR DISEASE MANAGEMENT DEVICE AND AUTOMATED NEEDLE AND CANNULA INSERTION DEVICE | WHITROCK, ZACHARIAH KIRBY | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18907326 | NUTRITIVE RECIPE ANALYSIS SYSTEM AND METHODS | NGUYEN, HIEP VAN | 37d overdue |
| 19249750 | MEDICAL DEVICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM | BLANCHETTE, JOSHUA B | — |
| 18840459 | Analyte Sensor Applicator | TOMBERS, JOSEPH A | — |
| 18756330 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SECURING A TISSUE SITE TO A SENSOR | MUSTANSIR, ABID A | — |
| 18431389 | ALLERGEN REACTION BIOFEEDBACK SYSTEMS AND METHODS | PATEL, SHEFALI DILIP | — |
| 17528630 | GLUCOSE SENSORS AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURING | HOFFPAUIR, ANDREW ELI | — |
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 # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18907326 | NUTRITIVE RECIPE ANALYSIS SYSTEM AND METHODS | NGUYEN, HIEP VAN | 37d overdue |
| 18609978 | ASSEMBLY FOR MEDICAL MONITORING DEVICE WITH MULTIPLE PHYSIOLOGICAL SENSORS | OGLES, MATTHEW ERIC | 26d |
| 19249750 | MEDICAL DEVICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM | BLANCHETTE, JOSHUA B | — |
| 18894772 | PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM WITH AUTOMATIC WAVELENGTH ADJUSTMENT | LIU, CHU CHUAN | — |
| 18892979 | SELF-CONTAINED MINIMAL ACTION INVASIVE BLOOD CONSTITUENT SYSTEM | ABOUELELA, MAY A | — |
| 18840459 | Analyte Sensor Applicator | TOMBERS, JOSEPH A | — |
| 18756330 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SECURING A TISSUE SITE TO A SENSOR | MUSTANSIR, ABID A | — |
| 18731708 | COMBINATION SPIROMETER-INHALER | MURPHY, VICTORIA | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3791 | 3 |
| 3684 | 1 |
| 3686 | 1 |
| 4100 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19249750 | MEDICAL DEVICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM | BLANCHETTE, JOSHUA B | 3684 | §101§103§112Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 25, 2025 |
| 18917231 | NON-INVASIVE OPTICAL PHYSIOLOGICAL DIFFERENTIAL PATHLENGTH SENSOR | SHAH, JAY B | — | DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 16, 2024 |
| 18907326 | NUTRITIVE RECIPE ANALYSIS SYSTEM AND METHODS | NGUYEN, HIEP VAN | 3686 | §101§103Other | Final Rejection | 37d overdue | Pending | Oct 04, 2024 |
| 18894772 | PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM WITH AUTOMATIC WAVELENGTH ADJUSTMENT | LIU, CHU CHUAN | — | §112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 24, 2024 |
| 18892979 | SELF-CONTAINED MINIMAL ACTION INVASIVE BLOOD CONSTITUENT SYSTEM | ABOUELELA, MAY A | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 23, 2024 |
| 18840459 | Analyte Sensor Applicator | TOMBERS, JOSEPH A | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 21, 2024 |
| 18756330 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SECURING A TISSUE SITE TO A SENSOR | MUSTANSIR, ABID A | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 27, 2024 |
| 18731708 | COMBINATION SPIROMETER-INHALER | MURPHY, VICTORIA | — | §103§112DP | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 03, 2024 |
| 18609978 | ASSEMBLY FOR MEDICAL MONITORING DEVICE WITH MULTIPLE PHYSIOLOGICAL SENSORS | OGLES, MATTHEW ERIC | 3791 | §103 | Final Rejection | 26d | Pending | Mar 19, 2024 |
| 18605630 | MODULAR DISEASE MANAGEMENT DEVICE AND AUTOMATED NEEDLE AND CANNULA INSERTION DEVICE | WHITROCK, ZACHARIAH KIRBY | — | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 14, 2024 |
| 18598360 | INDICATOR COMPOUNDS, DEVICES COMPRISING INDICATOR COMPOUNDS, AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING THE SAME | FARDANESH, MARJAN | 3791 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 07, 2024 |
| 18431389 | ALLERGEN REACTION BIOFEEDBACK SYSTEMS AND METHODS | PATEL, SHEFALI DILIP | 4100 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 02, 2024 |
| 17528630 | GLUCOSE SENSORS AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURING | HOFFPAUIR, ANDREW ELI | 3791 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 17, 2021 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free Trial