Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems
166 pending office actions • 40 art units • 126 examiners • 0 of 166 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 341 patents granted in the last 365 days
ZF Friedrichshafen AG manages a large portfolio of 165 pending office actions in the Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems technology area. This work is distributed across 40 distinct art units, indicating a very broad technical scope. The prosecution involves 125 distinct examiners, which requires the company to navigate a wide variety of examiner preferences and office practices across its 165 pending matters. The involvement of 125 distinct examiners highlights the need for a diverse set of prosecution tactics.
The busiest examiner for the portfolio is KING, BRADLEY T, who is currently handling 8 pending office actions. While 125 examiners are involved, the concentration of 8 actions with one individual is significant for the company's strategy. With 165 pending actions across 40 art units, practitioners must maintain high consistency in their arguments while addressing the specific requirements of many different examination groups. Success in this portfolio depends on the ability to coordinate across 40 art units and address the individual tendencies of 125 different examiners. The presence of 165 pending office actions necessitates a highly organized approach to prosecution.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 32 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. 32 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 (1%) |
| §101 + other | 12 (7%) |
| §103 only | 36 (22%) |
| §102 only | 16 (10%) |
| §112 only | 10 (6%) |
| Double-patenting only | 2 (1%) |
| Double-patenting + other | 1 (1%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 88 (53%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| KING, BRADLEY T | 8 | 70.8% | +22.5% |
| LANE, NICHOLAS J | 7 | 65.8% | +6.7% |
| ALGARASH, KAREM AKRAM | 4 | 100.0% | +0.0% |
| AUNG, SAN M | 4 | 77.7% | +20.4% |
| LAGUARDA, GONZALO | 4 | 72.9% | +7.0% |
| WILLIAMS, THOMAS J | 3 | 78.7% | +14.1% |
| HSIAO, JAMES K | 3 | 77.1% | +15.1% |
| BURCH, MELODY M | 2 | 64.3% | +26.3% |
| TAYLOR II, JAMES JOSEPH | 2 | 83.2% | +25.4% |
| TORRES WILLIAMS, MELANIE | 2 | 84.6% | +11.7% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 3 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18660310 | ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY OF AN ELECTROMECHANICAL VEHICLE BRAKE, AND METHOD FOR MOUNTING AND DISMOUNTING A BRAKE PISTON IN AND FROM AN ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY | TORRES WILLIAMS, MELANIE | — |
| 18948679 | MOTOR VEHICLE VIBRATION DAMPER WITH A PROTECTIVE TUBE | ALGARASH, KAREM AKRAM | — |
| 18646229 | ELECTROMECHANICAL BRAKE ACTUATOR | TORRES WILLIAMS, MELANIE | — |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 8 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18493358 | CHECKING AN ACTUAL-PRESSURE SENSOR OF A MOTOR VEHICLE BRAKE SYSTEM | LAGUARDA, GONZALO | 50d overdue |
| 18467525 | Method for Determining a Defect State of a Drive Train of a Vehicle, Monitoring Unit and Vehicle | LAGUARDA, GONZALO | 19d overdue |
| 18552932 | ELECTRIC PARKING BRAKE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCTION THEREOF | IRVIN, THOMAS W | 11d overdue |
| 18538425 | METHOD FOR BRAKE CONTROL OF A VEHICLE COMBINATION AND BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR OPERATING THIS METHOD | KING, BRADLEY T | 9d overdue |
| 17989235 | METHOD FOR OPERATING A BRAKE SYSTEM OF A MOTOR VEHICLE, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT, CONTROL UNIT AND BRAKE SYSTEM | KING, BRADLEY T | 4d overdue |
| 17988466 | ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY FOR A VEHICLE BRAKE AND ELECTROMECHANICAL VEHICLE BRAKE | LANE, NICHOLAS J | 2d overdue |
| 18743706 | ELECTRIC MACHINE FOR DRIVING A MOTOR VEHICLE | JOHNSON, ERIC | 2d overdue |
| 18517013 | AIRBAG MODULE, VEHICLE SEAT HAVING AN AIRBAG MODULE, AND VEHICLE | BECK, KAREN | 22d |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18218194 | TRAILER CONTROL MODULE WITH TRACTOR PROTECTION FUNCTION | AUNG, SAN M | 110d overdue |
| 18458396 | ADAPTING A BRAKE CLEARANCE TO A TRAFFIC SITUATION | HSIAO, JAMES K | 85d overdue |
| 18538425 | METHOD FOR BRAKE CONTROL OF A VEHICLE COMBINATION AND BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR OPERATING THIS METHOD | KING, BRADLEY T | 9d overdue |
| 17989235 | METHOD FOR OPERATING A BRAKE SYSTEM OF A MOTOR VEHICLE, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT, CONTROL UNIT AND BRAKE SYSTEM | KING, BRADLEY T | 4d overdue |
| 18079557 | HYDRAULIC MOTOR VEHICLE BRAKE SYSTEM | BURCH, MELODY M | 14d |
| 18533476 | ELECTROMECHANICAL VEHICLE BRAKE | WILLIAMS, THOMAS J | 20d |
| 18544551 | ACCUMULATOR WITH FAST FILL SUPPLY VALVE AND BRAKE SYSTEM USING SAME | KING, BRADLEY T | 29d |
| 18170942 | BRAKE SYSTEM FOR MOTOR VEHICLE | KING, BRADLEY T | 33d |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3616 | 27 |
| 3747 | 6 |
| 3666 | 5 |
| 2834 | 5 |
| 3611 | 4 |
| 3661 | 4 |
| 3655 | 4 |
| 3614 | 4 |
| 3664 | 3 |
| 3656 | 3 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19413411 | BRAKE PRESSURE GENERATOR | COLLINS, DANIEL S. | 3745 | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 09, 2025 |
| 18911779 | ELECTROMECHANICAL FRAME BRAKE | BURCH, MELODY M | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 10, 2024 |
| 18884696 | BRAKE SYSTEM AND VEHICLE | ALGARASH, KAREM AKRAM | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 13, 2024 |
| 18818943 | BRAKE CALIPER ARRANGEMENT | ALGARASH, KAREM AKRAM | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 29, 2024 |
| 18808154 | ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY | TAYLOR II, JAMES JOSEPH | — | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 19, 2024 |
| 18806005 | BRAKE ACTUATOR UNIT AND ELECTROMECHANICAL BRAKE | TAYLOR II, JAMES JOSEPH | — | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 15, 2024 |
| 18806027 | ELECTROMECHANICAL SERVICE BRAKE, UNLOCKING TOOL AND AN ASSEMBLY | KING, BRADLEY T | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 15, 2024 |
| 18660310 | ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY OF AN ELECTROMECHANICAL VEHICLE BRAKE, AND METHOD FOR MOUNTING AND DISMOUNTING A BRAKE PISTON IN AND FROM AN ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY | TORRES WILLIAMS, MELANIE | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 10, 2024 |
| 18616243 | BALL SCREW DRIVE, METHOD FOR PRODUCING A BALL SCREW DRIVE, AND VEHICLE BRAKE | MORRIS, DAVID R. | 3616 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 26, 2024 |
| 18584506 | ELECTROLYTE COMPOSITION, ELECTROCHEMICAL PROCESS AND ANODIZED COMPONENT | RUFO, LOUIS J | 1795 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Feb 22, 2024 |
| 18419911 | HOUSING AND FRAME FOR EMB ACTUATOR | IRVIN, SHEA WOODROW | 3616 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 23, 2024 |
| 18418712 | FLUID SEPARATION FOR AN ANODIZING PROCESS | JEBUTU, MOFOLUWASO SIMILOLUWA | — | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 22, 2024 |
| 18533476 | ELECTROMECHANICAL VEHICLE BRAKE | WILLIAMS, THOMAS J | 3616 | §103 | Final Rejection | 20d | Pending | Dec 08, 2023 |
| 18552932 | ELECTRIC PARKING BRAKE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCTION THEREOF | IRVIN, THOMAS W | 3616 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | 11d overdue | Pending | Sep 28, 2023 |
| 18458396 | ADAPTING A BRAKE CLEARANCE TO A TRAFFIC SITUATION | HSIAO, JAMES K | 3616 | §102Other | Non-Final OA | 85d overdue | Pending | Aug 30, 2023 |
| 18170942 | BRAKE SYSTEM FOR MOTOR VEHICLE | KING, BRADLEY T | 3616 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 33d | Pending | Feb 17, 2023 |
| 18079557 | HYDRAULIC MOTOR VEHICLE BRAKE SYSTEM | BURCH, MELODY M | 3616 | §103 | Final Rejection | 14d | Pending | Dec 12, 2022 |
| 18070885 | ELECTROHYDRAULIC BRAKE MODULE | KING, BRADLEY T | 3616 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 29, 2022 |
| 17989215 | BRAKE ACTUATOR UNIT, ELECTROMECHANICAL BRAKE, AND SPINDLE DRIVE FOR A BRAKE ACTUATOR UNIT | AUNG, SAN M | 3616 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 17, 2022 |
| 17989235 | METHOD FOR OPERATING A BRAKE SYSTEM OF A MOTOR VEHICLE, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT, CONTROL UNIT AND BRAKE SYSTEM | KING, BRADLEY T | 3616 | §103§112 | Final Rejection | 4d overdue | Pending | Nov 17, 2022 |
| 17988466 | ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY FOR A VEHICLE BRAKE AND ELECTROMECHANICAL VEHICLE BRAKE | LANE, NICHOLAS J | 3616 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | 2d overdue | Pending | Nov 16, 2022 |
| 17987003 | ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY FOR A VEHICLE BRAKE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING AN ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY FOR A VEHICLE BRAKE | LANE, NICHOLAS J | 3616 | §103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Nov 15, 2022 |
| 17892366 | ASSEMBLY FOR A BRAKE BOOSTER AND BRAKE BOOSTER | LANE, NICHOLAS J | 3616 | §112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Aug 22, 2022 |
| 17868273 | BRAKE PEDAL MODULE | TESTARDI, DAVID A | 3664 | §103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 19, 2022 |
| 17729490 | METHOD FOR REDUCING VIBRATIONS IN A FRICTION BRAKE, AND BRAKING SYSTEM AND PROGRAM CODE | LANE, NICHOLAS J | 3616 | §102§103 | Final Rejection | 34d | Pending | Apr 26, 2022 |
| 17726737 | BRAKING SYSTEM FOR A VEHICLE | MEDANI, MOHAMED | 3611 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Apr 22, 2022 |
| 19480582 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR OPERATING AN ANTI-LOCK BRAKING SYSTEM OF A VEHICLE | BUSE, TERRY C | 3666 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 31, 2025 |
| 19475436 | METHOD FOR REDUCING CARGO THEFTS | WALLICK, STEPHANIE SHOSHANA | 3628 | §101§102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 15, 2025 |
| 19329180 | METHOD FOR MONITORING A SPACE TO THE REAR AND/OR A SPACE TO THE SIDES FOR A MULTIPLE-UNIT VEHICLE COMBINATION, COMPUTER PROGRAM AND/OR COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM, CONTROL DEVICE, TRAILER, TRACTOR VEHICLE AND MULTIPLE-UNIT VEHICLE COMBINATION | DANG, HUNG Q | 2484 | §101§102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 15, 2025 |
| 19318185 | METHOD AND CONTROL DEVICE FOR DETERMINING A BRAKE CYLINDER PRESSURE IN A PNEUMATIC BRAKE SYSTEM OF A COMMERCIAL VEHICLE | PECHE, JORGE O | 3656 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 03, 2025 |
| 19272816 | METHOD FOR BRAKING A MULTI-PART VEHICLE, IN PARTICULAR A COMMERCIAL VEHICLE, CONTROL DEVICE FOR A TRAILER, TRAILER, COMPUTER PROGRAM AND/OR COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM | VILAKAZI, SIZO BINDA | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 17, 2025 |
| 19267316 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A VEHICLE BY CARRYING OUT AT LEAST ONE DRIVING DYNAMICS INTERVENTION | LONSBERRY, HUNTER B | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 11, 2025 |
| 19267294 | VEHICLE CONTROL METHOD WITH STEERING ANGLE CORRECTION | LIETHEN, KURT PHILIP | — | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 11, 2025 |
| 19264720 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A VEHICLE | HOANG, JOHNNY H | — | §102§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jul 09, 2025 |
| 19245038 | METHOD FOR APPROXIMATING A FRICTION VALUE | HUYNH, HAI H | — | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 20, 2025 |
| 19139380 | METHOD FOR BRAKING A VEHICLE, EMERGENCY BRAKING SYSTEM AND VEHICLE | CHIN, JAMES BRIAN | 3656 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 16, 2025 |
| 19235677 | METHOD FOR ASSISTING A DOCKING PROCEDURE BY A VEHICLE, CONTROL UNIT, VEHICLE, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM | YANOSKA, JOSEPH ANDERSON | 3664 | §101§102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 12, 2025 |
| 19236045 | METHOD AND OPERATING SYSTEM FOR A VEHICLE | AMIN, BHAVESH V | 3657 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 12, 2025 |
| 19235471 | METHOD FOR IMPROVING A VEHICLE-DYNAMICS-RELATED STABILITY OF A UTILITY VEHICLE HAVING A LIFT AXLE | MANLEY, SHERMAN D | 3661 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 11, 2025 |
| 19235460 | METHOD FOR APPROXIMATING A COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION | CHACE, CHRISTIAN | 3661 | §101§102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 11, 2025 |
| 19221379 | METHOD FOR LIMITING A CONTINUOUS DECELERATION EFFORT OF A CONTINUOUS DECELERATION DEVICE | AMICK, JACOB M | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 28, 2025 |
| 19184641 | METHOD FOR MONITORING A TAILLIGHT, MONITORING SYSTEM AND VEHICLE | SMALL, NAOMI J | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 21, 2025 |
| 19177660 | STEERING SYSTEM HAVING A STEERING DEVICE, VEHICLE HAVING A NUMBER OF STEERING AXLES AND METHOD FOR GENERATING A STEERING WHEEL RESISTANCE IN THE VEHICLE | MANLEY, SHERMAN D | — | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 14, 2025 |
| 19084563 | FOIL BEARING AND BEARING BLOCK FOR RECEIVING A FOIL BEARING | PILKINGTON, JAMES | — | §102§103§112 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Mar 19, 2025 |
| 19111339 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A VEHICLE COMBINATION, AND VEHICLE COMBINATION | AN, IG TAI | 3662 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 13, 2025 |
| 19076671 | TRAILER NETWORK SYSTEM FOR DATA COMMUNICATION IN A TRAILER VEHICLE, TRAILER VEHICLE HAVING SAME, AND METHOD FOR SAME | SHAH, MEHULKUMAR J | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 11, 2025 |
| 19064445 | METHOD FOR REGULATING A GENERATOR BRAKING TORQUE OF AN ELECTRIC DRIVE FOR A VEHICLE, IN PARTICULAR A UTILITY VEHICLE, COMPUTER PROGRAM, COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM, CONTROL DEVICE, ELECTRIC DRIVE OR ELECTRIC BRAKING SYSTEM AND VEHICLE | NGUYEN, BAO LONG T | 3656 | §102 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Feb 26, 2025 |
| 19025807 | METHOD FOR PREDICTING A TRANSVERSE DYNAMIC STABILIZATION BEHAVIOR OF A PRESENT VEHICLE CONFIGURATION OF A VEHICLE | KHAYER, SOHANA T | 3657 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 16, 2025 |
| 19019086 | CONTROL SYSTEM FOR A VEHICLE | SMITH, ISAAC G | 3662 | §101§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jan 13, 2025 |
| 19014867 | CONTROL DEVICE FOR A VEHICLE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A CONTROL DEVICE FOR A VEHICLE | LEMBO, AARON LLOYD | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jan 09, 2025 |
IP Author helps IP teams respond to office actions faster with AI-generated responses, examiner analytics, and prosecution intelligence.
Start Free TrialZF Friedrichshafen AG has 166 pending office actions as of October 2026, spread across 40 art units and 126 examiners.
Bradley T King has the most, with 8 of ZF Friedrichshafen AG's pending office actions.
Mostly Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems (USPTO Tech Center 3600), based on where its pending office actions are examined.