Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026

Zhejiang University

Technology areas: Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals • Chemistry & Materials

61 pending office actions • 39 art units • 61 examiners • 0 of 61 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 157 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

Zhejiang University is currently managing 62 pending office actions within the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals technology area. This portfolio is exceptionally diverse, as evidenced by the 40 distinct art units involved in the examination process. The prosecution of these 62 actions is distributed among 62 distinct examiners, meaning that every single pending matter is being reviewed by a different individual.

The busiest examiner, BAREFORD, KATHERINE A, holds only 1 pending office action, which is the same as every other examiner in this large portfolio. This perfect one-to-one ratio between 62 pending actions and 62 distinct examiners indicates a completely decentralized prosecution environment. There is no concentration of cases, which prevents the university from using a consolidated strategy for multiple pending matters in the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals sector.

The presence of 40 distinct art units for 62 pending office actions reflects the vast technical range of the university's research and development efforts. Because the busiest examiner, BAREFORD, KATHERINE A, only handles 1 action, the university must manage 62 separate examiner relationships simultaneously. This distribution requires a highly versatile legal strategy to address the unique requirements and procedural trends of 40 different USPTO divisions.

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

Portfolio Summary

61
Total Pending OAs
41
Non-Final OAs
16
Final Rejections
4
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 18 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

11
Overdue
1
Due this week
5
Due this month
1
Due in next 60 days
0
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. 18 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (11)Due ≤ 7 days (1)Due ≤ 30 days (5)Due ≤ 60 days (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.

33
Hard (54%)
13
Medium (21%)
15
Easy (25%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 only2 (3%)
§101 + other16 (26%)
§103 only10 (16%)
§102 only3 (5%)
§112 only15 (25%)
Multi-statute (no §101)15 (25%)

Industry Mix

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

26
Life Sciences
43% of docket
4
Information Tech
7% of docket
3
Communications
5% of docket
4
Semiconductors
7% of docket
4
Mechanical / Eng
7% of docket
20
Business / Other
33% 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.

610 h
Manual time on pending OAs
122 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
214 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
5.3 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
BAREFORD, KATHERINE A 1 13.8% +28.4%
CAREY, MICHAEL JAMES 1 83.5% +11.9%
HE, YINGCHUN 1 82.1% +14.9%
VARNDELL, ROSS E 1 84.7% +13.3%
OUSSIR, EL MEHDI 1 49.4% +46.5%
RIVERA-MARTINEZ, GUILLERMO M 1 78.0% +3.3%
MAUPIN, HUGH H 1 87.4% +6.4%
SANGHERA, JAS A 1 94.5% +5.0%
SONG, MATTHEW J 1 60.4% +13.9%
RAEVIS, ROBERT R 1 83.3% +15.3%

Quick Wins (1)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
18881290 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REALIZING ULTRA-HIGH-SPEED STRUCTURED ILLUMINATION MICROSCOPY MAUPIN, HUGH H —

Hard Cases (33)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
18249339 AN ADHERENT CELL CULTURE METHOD FOR GENERATING TIGHT JUNCTION BETWEEN CELLS AND ITS PRODUCT APPLICATION SPENCE, JENNIFER SUZANNE 73d overdue
18405750 IMAGE SUPER-RESOLUTION METHOD BASED ON KNOWLEDGE DISTILLATION COMPRESSION MODEL AND DEVICE THEREOF DICKERSON, CHAD S 60d overdue
17860129 FEDERATED LEARNING METHOD FOR DECISION TREE-ORIENTED HORIZONTAL BAKER, EZRA JAMES 42d overdue
18454824 POROUS AMMONIA SYNTHESIS CATALYST, ITS PREPARATION METHOD AND USE SHERMAN, ERIC SCOTT 31d overdue
18313288 B3 TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR GENE FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY IMPROVING LENGTH, STRENGTH AND ELONGATION OF COTTON FIBERS AND USE THEREOF WILLIAMS, KEITH RICHARD 4d overdue
18014692 USE OF SATIVENE, AND RECOMBINANT BIOCONTROL FUNGUS AND MUSCARDINE CADAVER AND USE THEREOF KONOPKA, CATHERINE ANNE 7d
18520164 Ultrasonic online nondestructive measurement method for melt density during molding ISLAM, MOHAMMAD K 13d
18044180 METHOD FOR USING PLANT MATERIAL TO SIMULTANEOUSLY CONTROL WEEDS AND PLANT TARGET PLANT KLOECKER, KATHERINE ANNE 13d

Interview Candidates (7)

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 7 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
19220039 HIGH-PERFORMANCE CERIUM-RICH MISCH-METAL PERMANENT MAGNETIC MATERIAL AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREOF BAREFORD, KATHERINE A —
19190646 ROBOT SYSTEM FOR GASTROSCOPY BASED ON VISUAL-TACTILE FUSION AND OPTICAL LEARNING CAREY, MICHAEL JAMES —
19090145 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING VIEWS OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODEL, ELECTRONIC DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM HE, YINGCHUN —
19063301 HETEROGENEOUS THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBSERVATION REGISTRATION BASED ON DEPTH PHASE CORRELATION METHOD, MEDIUM AND DEVICE VARNDELL, ROSS E —
19053430 METHOD FOR DIGITAL CURRENCY INTRA-CHAIN AND CROSS-CHAIN OFF-CHAIN PAYMENTS BASED ON TRUSTED HARDWARE OUSSIR, EL MEHDI —
18873715 METHOD FOR PREPARING FULLERENE SINGLE-CRYSTAL FILMS AND USES FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY SONG, MATTHEW J —
18954533 DEVICE AND METHOD FOR TESTING MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS UNDER HIGH ROTATION SPEED AND HIGH TEMPERATURE RAEVIS, ROBERT R —

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
1653 3
1715 1
3795 1
3699 1
2884 1
1714 1
3797 1
2674 1
1796 1
2683 1

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
19220039 HIGH-PERFORMANCE CERIUM-RICH MISCH-METAL PERMANENT MAGNETIC MATERIAL AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREOF BAREFORD, KATHERINE A 1715 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending May 27, 2025
19190646 ROBOT SYSTEM FOR GASTROSCOPY BASED ON VISUAL-TACTILE FUSION AND OPTICAL LEARNING CAREY, MICHAEL JAMES 3795 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 27, 2025
19090145 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING VIEWS OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODEL, ELECTRONIC DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM HE, YINGCHUN — §101§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 25, 2025
19063301 HETEROGENEOUS THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBSERVATION REGISTRATION BASED ON DEPTH PHASE CORRELATION METHOD, MEDIUM AND DEVICE VARNDELL, ROSS E — §101§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 26, 2025
19053430 METHOD FOR DIGITAL CURRENCY INTRA-CHAIN AND CROSS-CHAIN OFF-CHAIN PAYMENTS BASED ON TRUSTED HARDWARE OUSSIR, EL MEHDI 3699 §101§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 14, 2025
18996765 METHOD FOR STITCHING FORWARD-LOOKING SONAR IMAGES WHILE RETAINING INFORMATION RIVERA-MARTINEZ, GUILLERMO M — §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 17, 2025
18881290 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REALIZING ULTRA-HIGH-SPEED STRUCTURED ILLUMINATION MICROSCOPY MAUPIN, HUGH H 2884 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 05, 2025
19004347 GRADIENT COIL ASSEMBLY AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING SYSTEM SANGHERA, JAS A — §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 29, 2024
18873715 METHOD FOR PREPARING FULLERENE SINGLE-CRYSTAL FILMS AND USES FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY SONG, MATTHEW J 1714 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 10, 2024
18954533 DEVICE AND METHOD FOR TESTING MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS UNDER HIGH ROTATION SPEED AND HIGH TEMPERATURE RAEVIS, ROBERT R — §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 21, 2024
18863774 APPLICATION OF SUPER-RESOLUTION IMAGING TECHNOLOGY IN VISUAL EVALUATION OF PANCREATIC B-CELL CHANGES IP, JASON M 3797 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 07, 2024
18932929 PARAMETER ESTIMATION METHOD FOR COMPARTMENT MODEL BASED ON PHYSICS-INFORMED NEURAL NETWORKS CZEKAJ, DAVID J — §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 31, 2024
18845439 Polarization Controller Based on On-chip Mode Conversion PAK, SUNG H — §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 15, 2024
18822591 Application of Gastrodia elata Blume derived nano-extracellular vesicles in the preparation of drugs for the prevention and/or treatment of subarachnoid hemorrhage CHEN, CATHERYNE — §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 03, 2024
18763564 HIGH-EFFICIENCY EXPRESSION VECTOR OF CIRCULAR RIBONUCLEIC ACID (circRNA) AND USE THEREOF LARA, CAROLINE MONSERRAT — §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 03, 2024
18726124 POLYPEPTIDE AND APPLICATION THEREOF IN PREPARATION OF ANTI-FIBROSIS DRUG HA, JULIE — §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 02, 2024
18676514 CHIRAL AMINE-SQUARAMIDE COMPOUND BASED ON SPIROBIINDANE SKELETON, PREPARATION METHOD AND USE THEREOF ONDACHI, PAULINE WANJIKU MUCH — §101§112 Non-Final OA — Pending May 29, 2024
18642865 EARLY WARNING METHOD FOR DEBRIS FLOW DISASTER IN SMALL WATERSHED, AND DISASTER REDUCTION METHOD FOR DEBRIS FLOWS IN SMALL WATERSHED MANG, LAL C — §101 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 23, 2024
18617608 SPHERICAL SHEARLET-BASED COMPRESSION AND RECONSTRUCTION METHOD FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL SCALAR INFORMATION ANSARI, TAHMINA N 2674 §112 Non-Final OA 17d overdue Pending Mar 26, 2024
18605676 ULTRASONIC-ASSISTED HYDROGEN PEROXIDE STERILIZATION METHOD AND DEVICE CHEN, CHANGRU 1796 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 14, 2024
18582271 p53 VARIANT WITH IMPROVED LIQUID-LIQUID PHASE SEPARATION ABILITY AND ACTIVITY AND USE THEREOF COFFA, SERGIO — §102§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 20, 2024
18437864 METHOD FOR RECYCLING AND REPROCESSING OF POLYURETHANE FOAMS BASED ON ACETOXIME HUSON, MONICA ANNE — §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 09, 2024
18405750 IMAGE SUPER-RESOLUTION METHOD BASED ON KNOWLEDGE DISTILLATION COMPRESSION MODEL AND DEVICE THEREOF DICKERSON, CHAD S 2683 §102§103 Non-Final OA 60d overdue Pending Jan 05, 2024
18014692 USE OF SATIVENE, AND RECOMBINANT BIOCONTROL FUNGUS AND MUSCARDINE CADAVER AND USE THEREOF KONOPKA, CATHERINE ANNE 1635 §103§112 Non-Final OA 7d Pending Jan 05, 2024
18395776 METHOD FOR DETECTING ABNORMAL DEFECT ON STEEL SURFACE BASED ON SEMI-SUPERVISED CONTRASTIVE LEARNING SHEN, QUN 2662 §103 Final Rejection 97d overdue Pending Dec 26, 2023
18571196 FINE-TUNING METHOD, DEVICE AND APPLICATION FOR CLASSIFICATION MODEL OF KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION DECOUPLING BARRETT, RYAN S — §102§112Other Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 15, 2023
18520164 Ultrasonic online nondestructive measurement method for melt density during molding ISLAM, MOHAMMAD K 2857 §101§103 Final Rejection 13d Pending Nov 27, 2023
18288977 METHOD FOR PREPARING TERTIARY AMINE WITH SECONDARY AMINE AS RAW MATERIAL O DELL, DAVID K 1621 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 30, 2023
18493813 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SEPARATING WATER AND SALT BY SEQUENTIAL EVAPORATION OF MULTIPLE GROUPS OF HEAT COLLECTING DEVICES PILCHER, JONATHAN L 1772 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 25, 2023
18551314 USE OF OXYMETHYL-MODIFIED DERIVATIVE OF QUERCETIN IN PREPARATION OF DRUG FOR INHIBITING TUMOR CELL PROLIFERATION KIFLE, BRUCK 1624 §112 Final Rejection — Pending Sep 19, 2023
18463325 METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TREATMENT OF SALINE-ALKALI WATER BY MULTI-MEMBRANE NANOFILTRATION AND PHOTOTHERMAL CONVERSION SPIES, BRADLEY R 1777 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 08, 2023
18242697 ORAL ANTI-RADIATION MICROALGAE-NANOPARTICLE COMPOUND PREPARATION, AND PREPARATION METHOD AND USE THEREOF WILLIAMS, EMMALEE RAE 1653 §102§103Other Final Rejection — Pending Sep 06, 2023
18238459 COMPUTING PLATFORM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS FOR SPIKING NEURAL NETWORK LEARNING AND SIMULATION NILSSON, ERIC 2151 §102 Final Rejection — Pending Aug 26, 2023
18548062 ELECTRONIC TWEEZERS KALISZEWSKI, ALINA ROSE 2881 §101§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 25, 2023
18454824 POROUS AMMONIA SYNTHESIS CATALYST, ITS PREPARATION METHOD AND USE SHERMAN, ERIC SCOTT 1736 §102§103 Final Rejection 31d overdue Pending Aug 24, 2023
18264604 CHIMERIC ANTIGEN RECEPTOR WITH ENDOGENOUS PROTEIN MOLECULE REPLACING SINGLE DOMAIN ANTIBODY FAUST, AMBER KATHLEEN 1643 §102 Final Rejection 12d Pending Aug 08, 2023
18229592 USE OF INTESTINAL PROBIOTIC IN PREPARATION OF MEDICAMENT THAT PROMOTES METABOLISM OF ELLAGIC ACID INTO UROLITHIN A, PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOSITION AND USE THEREOF EIX, EMILY FAY 1653 §102§112 Final Rejection — Pending Aug 02, 2023
18358001 GENE MODEL FOR JUDGING PROGNOSIS OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA PATIENTS, CONSTRUCTION METHOD AND USE THEREOF LEVERETT, MARY CHANG — §101§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 24, 2023
18356261 PREDICTION TOOL FOR JUDGING DRUG SENSITIVITY AND LONG-TERM PROGNOSIS OF LIVER CANCER BASED ON GENE DETECTION AND USE THEREOF PRIEST, AARON A 1681 §101§102§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 21, 2023
18273015 A CONFIDENCE-AWARE SERVICE PATTERN OPTIMIZATION METHOD OBAID, HAMZEH M — §101§102 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 18, 2023
18270718 METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETECTING STRUCTURAL DAMAGE BASED ON NExT-RECURRENCE PLOTS KHAN, IFTEKHAR A — §101§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 30, 2023
18214162 WATER-SOLUBLE DIETARY FIBER, USE THEREOF IN PREPARATION OF MEDICAMENT THAT PROMOTES METABOLISM OF ELLAGIC ACID INTO UROLITHIN A, AND PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOSITION CRAIGO, BAHAR ALAWI 1699 §103 Final Rejection 22d Pending Jun 26, 2023
18269213 MOLECULE FOR INDUCING SPONTANEOUS CALCIFICATION OF TUMOR CELLS AND USE THEREOF GALSTER, SAMUEL LEONARD 1693 §112 Final Rejection 24d overdue Pending Jun 22, 2023
18336001 HUMAN PRIMARY MYELOFIBROSIS CELL STRAIN AND USE THEREOF NOBLE, MARCIA STEPHENS 1632 §112 Final Rejection 89d overdue Pending Jun 15, 2023
18327910 SELF-POWERED PRESSURE SENSOR BASED ON POSTBUCKLING MATA, SARA M 2837 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 02, 2023
18313288 B3 TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR GENE FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY IMPROVING LENGTH, STRENGTH AND ELONGATION OF COTTON FIBERS AND USE THEREOF WILLIAMS, KEITH RICHARD 1663 §103§112 Non-Final OA 4d overdue Pending May 05, 2023
18249339 AN ADHERENT CELL CULTURE METHOD FOR GENERATING TIGHT JUNCTION BETWEEN CELLS AND ITS PRODUCT APPLICATION SPENCE, JENNIFER SUZANNE 1633 §102§103 Final Rejection 73d overdue Pending Apr 17, 2023
18189191 ENERGY-EFFICIENT CAPACITANCE EXTRACTION METHOD BASED ON MACHINE LEARNING LI, LIANG Y 2143 §112 Final Rejection 20d Pending Mar 23, 2023
18044180 METHOD FOR USING PLANT MATERIAL TO SIMULTANEOUSLY CONTROL WEEDS AND PLANT TARGET PLANT KLOECKER, KATHERINE ANNE 3642 §103§112 Final Rejection 13d Pending Mar 06, 2023
18166841 METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PREDICTING SEVERITY OF BACTERIAL BLIGHT OF RICE BASED ON MULTI-PHENOTYPIC PARAMETERS KALLAL, ROBERT JAMES — §101§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 09, 2023
18149866 FLUORESCENT PROBE FOR DETECTION OF JASMONIC ACID (JA) AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREOF, AND DETECTION METHOD OF JA ADAMS, MICHELLE 1797 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 04, 2023
18012999 N-(3-HYDROXYPYRIDINE-2-CARBONYL)GLYCINE-BASED ANTITUMOR DRUG SENSITIZER AND APPLICATION THEREOF MAHLUM, JONATHAN DAVIS 1625 §103 Non-Final OA 8d overdue Pending Dec 27, 2022
18078234 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACQUIRING EIGENSTATE OF QUANTUM SYSTEM, DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM WAJE, CARLO C — §101§102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 09, 2022
17927824 A MODELING METHOD FOR ARTIFICIAL NEURAL PATHWAY ACROSS ENCEPHALIC REGIONS PULLIAM, JOSEPH CONSTANTINE 1687 §101§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 25, 2022
17983420 HUMAN T-LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA/LYMPHOMA CELL STRAIN AND USE THEREOF ROSSI, JULIA ANNE LORRAIN 1615 §101§112 Non-Final OA 34d Pending Nov 09, 2022
17979864 POROUS WET NATURAL FOAMING GEL SOFT MATERIAL, METHOD THEREOF AND APPLICATION THEREOF IN TRANSPORTATION OF FRESH FOOD ILLING, CAITLIN NORINE 1767 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 03, 2022
17907696 ULTRA-SMALL NANO METAL ORGANIC FRAMEWORK MATERIAL AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREOF DESTEFANO, AUDRA JEAN 1766 §112 Non-Final OA 184d overdue Pending Sep 29, 2022
17860129 FEDERATED LEARNING METHOD FOR DECISION TREE-ORIENTED HORIZONTAL BAKER, EZRA JAMES 2126 §101§103§112 Non-Final OA 42d overdue Pending Jul 08, 2022
17691360 ION CONDUCTOR WITH HIGH ROOM-TEMPERATURE IONIC CONDUCTIVITY AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREOF RUTISER, CLAIRE A 1751 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 10, 2022
17553828 OPTIMIZATION DESIGN METHOD FOR NEW COMPOSITE STRUCTURE UNDER HIGH-DIMENSIONAL RANDOM FIELD CONDITION CHAVEZ, ANTHONY RAY 2186 §101 Final Rejection — Pending Dec 17, 2021
17595833 APPLICATION OF BLAUTIA SP B2132 STRAIN IN PREVENTING AND/OR TREATING INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE WHITE, ASHLEY TAYLOR 1653 §101§102§103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Nov 24, 2021

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