Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026

Examiner: WHITESELL, STEVEN H

Tech Center 2800 • Art Units: 1759 2851 2882

This examiner grants 82% of resolved cases

Performance Statistics

81.9%
Allow Rate
+13.9% vs TC avg
1001
Total Applications
+13.2%
Interview Lift
1005
Avg Prosecution Days
Based on 954 resolved cases, 2023–2026

Rejection Statute Breakdown

2.7%
§101 Eligibility
30.5%
§102 Novelty
47.7%
§103 Obviousness
12.8%
§112 Clarity

Currently Pending Office Actions

App #TitleStatusAssignee
18644211 SUBSTRATE TREATMENT APPARATUS Final Rejection CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO., LIMITED
18746356 EXPOSURE APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ARTICLE Non-Final OA CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
18350067 DETECTION DEVICE, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND ARTICLE MANUFACTURING METHOD Non-Final OA CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
18715317 GENERATE 3D PHOTORESIST PROFILES USING DIGITAL LITHOGRAPHY Final Rejection Applied Materials, Inc.
18555896 DIGITAL LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS WITH AUTOFOCUS POSITION CONTROL AND METHODS OF USE THEREOF Non-Final OA Applied Materials, Inc.
18638982 RADIATION SOURCE APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE SAME Non-Final OA TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
18552906 DRAWING APPARATUS AND DRAWING METHOD Final Rejection SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.
18899247 CONTROL DEVICE, OPTICAL SYSTEM, LITHOGRAPHY INSTALLATION AND METHOD Non-Final OA Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH
18895292 DRIVE DEVICE, OPTICAL SYSTEM AND LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS Non-Final OA Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH
18679841 METHOD FOR SIMULATING ILLUMINATION AND IMAGING PROPERTIES OF AN OPTICAL PRODUCTION SYSTEM WHEN ILLUMINATING AND IMAGING AN OBJECT BY MEANS OF AN OPTICAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM Non-Final OA Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH
18507893 PROJECTION EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DESIGNING A COMPONENT OF A PROJECTION EXPOSURE APPARATUS Non-Final OA Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH
18503693 HEATING ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FOR HEATING AN OPTICAL ELEMENT Final Rejection Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH
18362630 METHOD FOR PRODUCING A MULTI-PART MIRROR OF A PROJECTION ILLUMINATION SYSTEM FOR MICROLITHOGRAPHY Final Rejection Carl Zeiss SMT Gmbh
18528903 EXPOSURE APPARATUS Non-Final OA NIKON CORPORATION
18825635 METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ELECTRIC FIELD-ASSISTED LITHOGRAPHY Non-Final OA ASM IP Holding B.V.
18884071 STORAGE AND TRANSFER MODULE AND SUBSTRATE TREATMENT APPARATUS INCLUDING STORAGE AND TRANSFER MODULE Non-Final OA SEMES CO., LTD.
18842640 APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR FILTERING MEASUREMENT RADIATION Non-Final OA ASML Netherlands B.V.
18800925 ACTUATOR UNIT FOR POSITIONING AN OPTICAL ELEMENT Non-Final OA ASML Netherlands B.V.
18718009 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CALCULATING REPARATION DOSE FOR A DIE OF A SUBSTRATE EXPOSED BY A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS Non-Final OA ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
18716806 MACHINE LEARNING MODEL FOR ASYMMETRY-INDUCED OVERLAY ERROR CORRECTION Non-Final OA ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
18619839 METROLOGY METHOD AND SYSTEM AND LITHOGRAPHIC SYSTEM Final Rejection ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
18294202 AN OBJECT GRIPPER, A METHOD OF HOLDING AN OBJECT AND A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS Non-Final OA ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
18515952 Transport System Having a Magnetically Levitated Transportation Stage Final Rejection ASML Netherlands B.V.
18511454 PROCESS WINDOW BASED ON DEFECT PROBABILITY Non-Final OA ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
18279121 ALIGNMENT METHOD AND ASSOCIATED ALIGNMENT AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUSES Final Rejection ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
18025183 TARGET STRUCTURE AND ASSOCIATED METHODS AND APPARATUS Non-Final OA ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
18161140 OPTICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF OPERATING AN OPTICAL SYSTEM Non-Final OA ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
17874582 COMPUTATIONAL METROLOGY BASED CORRECTION AND CONTROL Final Rejection ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
17277583 METROLOGY METHOD AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Final Rejection ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
17283056 METHOD TO CREATE THE IDEAL SOURCE SPECTRA WITH SOURCE AND MASK OPTIMIZATION Non-Final OA CYMER, LLC

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