Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology areas: Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems • Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering
5 pending office actions • 2 art units • 4 examiners • 0 of 5 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 10 patents granted in the last 365 days
ZF Wind Power Antwerpen N V currently manages 5 pending office actions within the Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems technology area. These matters are assigned to 4 distinct examiners. This distribution shows that while most of the 5 pending actions are handled by different individuals, one examiner is responsible for multiple cases. This distribution suggests that the company's mechanical systems innovations are being reviewed by a broad group of examiners, each bringing their own perspective to the prosecution process.
The company's prosecution is concentrated in 2 distinct art units. With 5 pending office actions, this high level of concentration in 2 units suggests that the company's mechanical systems innovations are reviewed by a very narrow group of specialized examiners. This focus within 2 art units can lead to a more consistent examination experience. The ratio of 5 actions to 2 art units indicates that the company's technology is technically concentrated, allowing for a more specialized and potentially consistent dialogue with the patent office within those specific groups.
DEREK DOUGLAS KNIGHT is the busiest examiner for the portfolio, currently handling 2 pending office actions. This workload of 2 actions is the highest among the 4 distinct examiners. The management of 5 pending actions across 2 art units reflects the company's focused engagement with the patent office. This structure requires the company to maintain a strategic approach to prosecution across a small number of specialized art units while managing its active applications across a diverse group of examiners.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 1 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 |
|---|---|
| §103 only | 1 (20%) |
| §102 only | 1 (20%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 3 (60%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| KNIGHT, DEREK DOUGLAS | 2 | 85.1% | +3.0% |
| SEABE, JUSTIN D | 1 | 71.7% | +24.3% |
| PERVIN, FARHANA | 1 | 81.4% | +7.1% |
| RIBADENEYRA, THEODORE C | 1 | 89.2% | +9.2% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 2 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18832993 | ARRANGEMENT COMPRISING PLANETARY STAGES AND A SPLINE | KNIGHT, DEREK DOUGLAS | 4d overdue |
| 19128566 | GEAR OR SHAFT COMPRISING A MASS DAMPER | PERVIN, FARHANA | — |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 3 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19422501 | MOUNTING SYSTEM, WIND TURBINE, AND METHOD FOR REMOVING A BEARING | SEABE, JUSTIN D | — |
| 19354883 | BEARING ARRANGEMENT AND GEARBOX | KNIGHT, DEREK DOUGLAS | — |
| 19121828 | WIND TURBINE GEARBOX CONNECTING STRUCTURE AND GEARBOX | RIBADENEYRA, THEODORE C | — |
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 1 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19422501 | MOUNTING SYSTEM, WIND TURBINE, AND METHOD FOR REMOVING A BEARING | SEABE, JUSTIN D | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3655 | 3 |
| 3745 | 2 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19422501 | MOUNTING SYSTEM, WIND TURBINE, AND METHOD FOR REMOVING A BEARING | SEABE, JUSTIN D | 3745 | §102§103§112 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 17, 2025 |
| 19354883 | BEARING ARRANGEMENT AND GEARBOX | KNIGHT, DEREK DOUGLAS | 3655 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 10, 2025 |
| 19128566 | GEAR OR SHAFT COMPRISING A MASS DAMPER | PERVIN, FARHANA | 3655 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 09, 2025 |
| 19121828 | WIND TURBINE GEARBOX CONNECTING STRUCTURE AND GEARBOX | RIBADENEYRA, THEODORE C | 3745 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 17, 2025 |
| 18832993 | ARRANGEMENT COMPRISING PLANETARY STAGES AND A SPLINE | KNIGHT, DEREK DOUGLAS | 3655 | §103 | Final Rejection | 4d overdue | Pending | Jul 25, 2024 |
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