Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 04, 2026

Yield Engineering Systems Inc.

Technology area: Chemistry & Materials

8 pending office actions • 7 art units • 8 examiners • 0 of 8 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 6 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

Yield Engineering Systems Inc. has 8 pending office actions across the Chemistry & Materials technology area. These matters are distributed among 8 distinct examiners, meaning the count of actions matches the count of examiners. The portfolio spans 7 distinct art units, suggesting a broad technical focus within its primary sector. RICE, STEVEN is the busiest examiner, though they are only responsible for 1 pending action.

This distribution shows that no examiner holds a significant portion of the company's active cases. The presence of 8 distinct examiners across 7 distinct art units implies that the prosecution strategy is decentralized, requiring engagement with a variety of USPTO personnel. With 8 pending office actions, the company maintains a steady presence in the Chemistry & Materials area. Because the actions are spread across 7 distinct art units, the company must navigate multiple examination groups simultaneously.

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

Portfolio Summary

8
Total Pending OAs
4
Non-Final OAs
4
Final Rejections
0
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

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.

0
Overdue
0
Due this week
0
Due this month
0
Due in next 60 days
2
Due later

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.

2
Hard (25%)
5
Medium (62%)
1
Easy (12%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§103 only4 (50%)
§102 only1 (12%)
§112 only1 (12%)
Multi-statute (no §101)2 (25%)

Industry Mix

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

6
Life Sciences
75% of docket
0
Information Tech
0% of docket
0
Communications
0% of docket
0
Semiconductors
0% of docket
2
Mechanical / Eng
25% 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.

80 h
Manual time on pending OAs
16 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
28 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
0.7 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
RICE, STEVEN 1 39.3% +43.7%
KURPLE, KARL 1 51.9% +63.6%
MACARTHUR, SYLVIA 1 65.7% +25.9%
REMAVEGE, CHRISTOPHER 1 58.4% +26.0%
SWEELY, KURT D 1 52.8% +33.9%
MOSCOSO, JUAN SALVADOR 1 87.5% +16.7%
LEE, AIDEN Y 1 47.8% +25.3%
SAMUELS, LAWRENCE H 1 56.3% +37.7%

Hard Cases (2)

Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 2 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
18223112 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SEPARATING WAFER SLICES MOSCOSO, JUAN SALVADOR 70d
18227025 DUAL CHANNEL FLOW PLATE FOR WET PROCESSING SWEELY, KURT D —

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
18223112 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SEPARATING WAFER SLICES MOSCOSO, JUAN SALVADOR 70d
18095726 SUBSTRATE HANDLING DEVICE LEE, AIDEN Y 84d
19410608 Sulfur-Containing Surface Polymers RICE, STEVEN —
18975085 WET PROCESSING DEVICE WITH GAS-LIQUID MIXING KURPLE, KARL —
18765916 WET ETCHING SYSTEM FOR SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATES MACARTHUR, SYLVIA —
18373394 WET PROCESSING WITH AUTOMATIC PROCESS CONTROL REMAVEGE, CHRISTOPHER —
18227025 DUAL CHANNEL FLOW PLATE FOR WET PROCESSING SWEELY, KURT D —
18053980 PLATE GAS HEATER SAMUELS, LAWRENCE H —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
1718 2
1787 1
1717 1
1716 1
1713 1
3652 1
3761 1

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
19410608 Sulfur-Containing Surface Polymers RICE, STEVEN 1787 §102 Final Rejection — Pending Dec 05, 2025
18975085 WET PROCESSING DEVICE WITH GAS-LIQUID MIXING KURPLE, KARL 1717 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 10, 2024
18765916 WET ETCHING SYSTEM FOR SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATES MACARTHUR, SYLVIA 1716 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 08, 2024
18373394 WET PROCESSING WITH AUTOMATIC PROCESS CONTROL REMAVEGE, CHRISTOPHER 1713 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 27, 2023
18227025 DUAL CHANNEL FLOW PLATE FOR WET PROCESSING SWEELY, KURT D 1718 §103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Jul 27, 2023
18223112 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SEPARATING WAFER SLICES MOSCOSO, JUAN SALVADOR 3652 §102§103 Final Rejection 70d Pending Jul 18, 2023
18095726 SUBSTRATE HANDLING DEVICE LEE, AIDEN Y 1718 §103 Non-Final OA 84d Pending Jan 11, 2023
18053980 PLATE GAS HEATER SAMUELS, LAWRENCE H 3761 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Nov 09, 2022

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