Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026

Examiner: SANTIAGO-MERCED, FRANCIS Z

Tech Center 3600 • Art Units: 3623 3624 3625 3683

This examiner grants 26% of resolved cases

Analysis

Francis Z. Santiago-Merced is an examiner in Art Unit 3623 within Tech Center 3600. The examiner has 139 resolved cases and an allowance rate of 25.9 percent. This low rate indicates that the majority of applications in this docket do not reach issuance, making it a particularly difficult environment for practitioners. Understanding this baseline is crucial for setting realistic expectations for patent applicants.

The interview lift is 36.8 percent, which represents a significant increase in the likelihood of allowance when an interview is conducted. This suggests that verbal communication is a powerful tool for navigating the challenges of this specific docket. For those applications that are successfully allowed, the median days to allowance is 1218. These metrics are essential for developing a targeted strategy when facing a docket in Tech Center 3600.

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

Performance Statistics

25.9%
Allow Rate
-26.1% vs TC avg
184
Total Applications
+36.8%
Interview Lift
1218
Avg Prosecution Days
Based on 139 resolved cases, 2023–2026

Rejection Statute Breakdown

44.1%
§101 Eligibility
10.8%
§102 Novelty
37.6%
§103 Obviousness
6.2%
§112 Clarity

Currently Pending Office Actions

App #TitleStatusAssignee
18243714 RECOMMENDATION SYSTEMS INTEGRATING EXTENDED REALITY TO GENERATE PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATIONS Final Rejection Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America
18457757 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GENERATING PRICE COMPARISONS Final Rejection Capital One Services, LLC
17868693 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GENERATING A TRIP PLAN WITH TRIP RECOMMENDATIONS Non-Final OA Capital One Services, LLC
18732081 CUSTOMIZED PRODUCT BUNDLES Final Rejection STRIPE, INC.
18137671 METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PARTICIPANT IDENTIFICATION AND RECORD AUGMENTATION Final Rejection JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
18723388 APPARATUS FOR GENERATING A DATABASE FOR CONTROLLING A WORKFLOW OF A PRODUCTION PROCESS Non-Final OA BASF SE
18673758 ACTIVITY NOTIFICATIONS OF USERS HAVING CUSTOMIZED CALENDARS WITH SHORTENED ATTENDANCE PERIODS Non-Final OA Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
17150947 FOOD SAFETY PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT MODELS Final Rejection Ecolab USA Inc.
18341236 TARGETED KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR IMPACT ALERTS Final Rejection International Business Machines Corporation
18417173 GENERATING A PREBUILT WORKFLOW BASED ON A PROMPT Non-Final OA Salesforce, Inc.
18640147 SMART FEEDBACK SYSTEM Non-Final OA SAP SE
18332959 CUSTOMIZABLE AND GRANULAR ANALYTICS TOOL FOR SHARED CONTENT ITEMS BASED ON CUSTOM LINKS Non-Final OA Dropbox, Inc
18351416 DYNAMIC DATA RESOURCE DRIVEN USER INTERFACE TOOL Non-Final OA Black Hills IP Holdings, LLC
18622010 GENERATION OF CAUSAL TEMPORAL GRAPHS FROM ANALYSIS REPORTS Final Rejection Dell Products L.P.
18755323 INDUSTRIAL MAINTENANCE PLANNING AND TRACKING Final Rejection Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
18592044 TECHNIQUES TO PERSONALIZE CONTENT USING MACHINE LEARNING Final Rejection Adobe Inc.
17344191 ANALYZING LEARNING CONTENT VIA AGENT PERFORMANCE METRICS Final Rejection Genesys Cloud Services, Inc.
17584713 SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR INTELLIGENT MEETING SUGGESTION GENERATION Non-Final OA Genpact USA, Inc.

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