Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 04, 2026

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP - W.L. Gore

Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering

58 pending office actions • 6 clients • 52 examiners • 17 art units • 0 of 58 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 74 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP - W.L. Gore handles 52 pending office actions in the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering technology area. The firm's performance is backed by 36948 career applications and a resolved allowance rate pct of 84.18. This high volume of applications demonstrates the firm's extensive experience in patent prosecution.

The prosecution of these matters typically involves an avg office actions per allowance of 3.39. This metric indicates the level of examiner engagement required to move from filing to grant. The 84.18 resolved allowance rate pct across 36948 career applications highlights the firm's consistent success rate.

For the 52 pending office actions, the 3.39 avg office actions per allowance provides a data-driven expectation for the prosecution timeline. The firm's 84.18 resolved allowance rate pct remains a reliable indicator of its effectiveness in the Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering sector.

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

Quality Metrics (n=36994 apps, methodology: how we score firms)

84.2%
Allowance Rate
n=36994
+0.55σ
Allowance Rate (norm)
n=36994
3.4
OAs to Allowance
n=24473
-0.13σ
OAs to Allow (norm)
n=24473
1078 days
Time to Allowance
n=24473
+7.7pp
Interview Lift
n=36994
28.1%
RCE Rate
n=36994
2.2%
Appeal Rate
n=36994

Rejection Performance (% of received rejections ultimately overcome)

70.6%
§101 Overcome
n=2932
78.4%
§102 Overcome
n=9864
79.7%
§103 Overcome
n=16622
81.4%
§112 Overcome
n=10837

Specialization & Scale

G06F, Y10T, A61B
Top CPC Subclasses
9%
Top-3 CPC Share
n=36994
33
Practitioners
n=36994
1121.0
Apps / Practitioner
n=36994

Portfolio Summary

58
Total Pending OAs
40
Non-Final OAs
16
Final Rejections
2
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 17 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

4
Overdue
0
Due this week
6
Due this month
4
Due in next 60 days
3
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. 17 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (4)Due ≤ 30 days (6)Due ≤ 60 days (4)Due later (3)

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.

32
Hard (55%)
20
Medium (34%)
5
Easy (9%)
1
Unknown (2%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 + other2 (3%)
§103 only13 (22%)
§112 only4 (7%)
Double-patenting only1 (2%)
Double-patenting + other7 (12%)
Multi-statute (no §101)30 (52%)
No statute on record1 (2%)

Industry Mix

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

8
Life Sciences
14% of docket
0
Information Tech
0% of docket
0
Communications
0% of docket
0
Semiconductors
0% of docket
38
Mechanical / Eng
66% of docket
12
Business / Other
21% 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.

580 h
Manual time on pending OAs
116 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
203 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
5.1 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
OU, JING RUI 4 53.3% +51.5%
NERENBERG, RENEE FLORENCIA 2 66.7% +0.0%
BARIA, DINAH N 2 72.9% +28.5%
LABRANCHE, BROOKE N 2 72.7% +15.7%
HE, QIANPING 1 66.8% +15.9%
FISHBACK, ASHLEY LAUREN 1 80.1% +21.9%
HOAG, MITCHELL BRAIN 1 70.4% +18.8%
ORKIN, ALEXANDER J 1 65.4% +26.7%
HURLEY, SHAUN R 1 77.5% +17.7%
LYNCH, ROBERT A 1 80.3% +12.9%

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
19069523 BRANCHED GRAFT ASSEMBLY METHOD IN VIVO LYNCH, ROBERT A —

Hard Cases (32)

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
18206215 METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR AN ADJUSTABLE STIFFNESS CATHETER WILLIAMS, CATHERINE SERKE 264d overdue
18388416 SEAWEED CULTIVATION SYSTEM NGUYEN, BAO-THIEU L 134d overdue
18888666 PHYSICAL DEMANDS CHARACTERIZATION SYSTEM AND METHODS LEE, PO HAN 16d overdue
18276149 IMPLANTABLE CONDUIT WITH SELF-SEALING FENESTRATIONS, AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS NERENBERG, RENEE FLORENCIA 12d
17726362 BRANCHED ENDOPROSTHESIS WITH TAIL FOR CONTROLLED BRANCH DEPLOYMENT PRONE, CHRISTOPHER D 26d
19106749 CONVERTIBLE PACK SYSTEMS AND METHODS MAI, TRI M 40d
17795099 SUSTAINED-RELEASE MATRICES FOR ADVENTITIAL OR PERIADVENTITIAL NEURAL ABLATION AND USES THEREOF MEYERS, ELIZABETH ANNE 40d
18547673 GEOMETRICALLY DEFORMABLE IMPLANTABLE CONTAINMENT DEVICES FOR RETENTION OF BIOLOGICAL MOIETIES SHAH, NILAY J 61d

Interview Candidates (14)

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 #TitleExaminerDue in
19089886 COMPOSITE MATERIALS PROMOTING THE CATCHMENT AND ATTACHMENT OF SEAWEED HOLDFASTS HURLEY, SHAUN R 153d overdue
18198656 ENDOPROSTHESIS HAVING ALIGNED LEGS FOR EASE OF CANNULATION LABRANCHE, BROOKE N 14d
17203982 DEVICES AND METHODS FOR APPROXIMATING THE CROSS-SECTIONAL PROFILE OF VASCULATURE HAVING BRANCHES BARIA, DINAH N 29d
19291811 Multilayer Coated Vent Assembly HE, QIANPING —
19249426 ANASTOMOTIC DEVICES AND METHODS FISHBACK, ASHLEY LAUREN —
19139697 DEVICES AND SYSTEMS FOR THROMBUS TREATMENT FIELD HOAG, MITCHELL BRAIN —
19233956 SPACE FILLING DEVICES ORKIN, ALEXANDER J —
19204945 MITRALLEAFLET TETHERING OU, JING RUI —

Client Portfolio (6 clients)

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
377115
377410
37813
37833
37322
37912
17772
17761
37331
36231

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleClientExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
19291811 Multilayer Coated Vent Assembly W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. HE, QIANPING 1776 §101§103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Aug 06, 2025
19249426 ANASTOMOTIC DEVICES AND METHODS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. FISHBACK, ASHLEY LAUREN 3771 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 25, 2025
19139697 DEVICES AND SYSTEMS FOR THROMBUS TREATMENT FIELD W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. HOAG, MITCHELL BRAIN 3771 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 16, 2025
19233956 SPACE FILLING DEVICES W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. ORKIN, ALEXANDER J §112DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 10, 2025
19204945 MITRALLEAFLET TETHERING Pipeline Medical Technologies, Inc. OU, JING RUI §112 Non-Final OA — Pending May 12, 2025
19089886 COMPOSITE MATERIALS PROMOTING THE CATCHMENT AND ATTACHMENT OF SEAWEED HOLDFASTS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. HURLEY, SHAUN R 3732 §112Other Non-Final OA 153d overdue Pending Mar 25, 2025
19069523 BRANCHED GRAFT ASSEMBLY METHOD IN VIVO W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. LYNCH, ROBERT A §102§112DP Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 04, 2025
19106749 CONVERTIBLE PACK SYSTEMS AND METHODS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. MAI, TRI M 3733 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA 40d Pending Feb 26, 2025
19022228 BALLOON EXPANDABLE ENDOPROSTHESIS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. SEVERSON, RYAN J DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 15, 2025
18978206 IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICES AND RELATED DELIVERY SYSTEMS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. KNAUSS, CHRISTIAN D 3771 §102§103 Final Rejection — Pending Dec 12, 2024
18910378 SMART GARMENT AND SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING BREATHING EVENTS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. HUH, VYNN V §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 09, 2024
18888666 PHYSICAL DEMANDS CHARACTERIZATION SYSTEM AND METHODS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. LEE, PO HAN 3623 §101§103 Final Rejection 16d overdue Pending Sep 18, 2024
18839618 GAS SEPARATION DEVICE W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. LETTMAN, BRYAN MATTHEW §102§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 19, 2024
18728207 Moisture Removal Device and Method W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. KEYWORTH, PETER §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 11, 2024
18767760 SEPTAL CLOSURE DEVICE WITH CENTERING MECHANISM W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. LAUER, CHRISTINA C 3771 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 09, 2024
18750170 Automated System for Assembling A Pre-Filled Syringe W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. FARRAR, LAUREN PENG §103DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 21, 2024
18662155 TO PROCESSES FOR IMMOBILISING BIOLOGICAL ENTITIES Carmeda AB LIU, SUE XU §103§112DP Non-Final OA — Pending May 13, 2024
18698859 DELIVERY SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INFLOW / OUTFLOW CANNULAS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. STEPHENS, JACQUELINE F 3781 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 05, 2024
18686946 FORMATION OF INJECTOR DEVICE STOPPER FEATURES W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. WHITROCK, ZACHARIAH KIRBY §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 27, 2024
18686593 CONFORMABLE COVER FOR MEDICAL DEVICES W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. NERENBERG, RENEE FLORENCIA 3774 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 26, 2024
18587717 SPACE FILLING DEVICES W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. HIGHLAND, RACHEL S 3774 §102§103§112DP Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 26, 2024
18686777 IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICES AND WIRELESS SENSOR ATTACHMENT UIM Pressure Implant Inc. XU, JUSTIN 3791 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 26, 2024
18436294 STENT GRAFT WITH FEATURES FOR SIDE BRANCH VESSEL PERFUSION W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. BLANCO, JAVIER G 3774 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 08, 2024
18428903 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CANNULATION OF VASCULAR ACCESS VESSEL Innavasc Medical, Inc. FREDRICKSON, COURTNEY B 3783 §103Other Non-Final OA 40d Pending Jan 31, 2024
18421615 BIOABSORBABLE MEDICAL DEVICES W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. BARIA, DINAH N 3774 §103DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 24, 2024
18562963 DENSE PHOTOLUMINESCENT COMPOSITES AND PROCESSES FOR FABRICATING THE SAME W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. EDMONDSON, LYNNE RENEE 1734 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 21, 2023
18560554 HIGH TEMPERATURE INSULATION COMPOSITE W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. SUN, MICHAEL Y §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 13, 2023
18388416 SEAWEED CULTIVATION SYSTEM W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. NGUYEN, BAO-THIEU L 3732 §102§103 Non-Final OA 134d overdue Pending Nov 09, 2023
18287907 METAL ORGANIC FRAMEWORK POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE COMPOSITE STRUCTURE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. TUROCY, DAVID P 1718 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 23, 2023
18287282 IMPROVED BATTERY W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. NGUYEN, HUY TRAM 1774 §103 Final Rejection 34d Pending Oct 17, 2023
18286480 SURGICAL SUCTION VENTING SYSTEM W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. FLYNN, TIMOTHY LEE 3781 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 11, 2023
18547673 GEOMETRICALLY DEFORMABLE IMPLANTABLE CONTAINMENT DEVICES FOR RETENTION OF BIOLOGICAL MOIETIES W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. SHAH, NILAY J 3783 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA 61d Pending Aug 23, 2023
18278213 MULTI-COMPONENT DELIVERY SYSTEMS AND METHODS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. GHERBI, SUZETTE JAIME J 3774 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 22, 2023
18276149 IMPLANTABLE CONDUIT WITH SELF-SEALING FENESTRATIONS, AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. NERENBERG, RENEE FLORENCIA 3774 §102§103 Final Rejection 12d Pending Aug 07, 2023
18272048 EMBOLIC FILTER WITH FLEXION W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. NEMER, OSAMA MOHAMMAD 3771 §103§112 Final Rejection 62d Pending Jul 12, 2023
18215975 DEPLOYMENT CONSTRAINING SHEATH THAT ENABLES STAGED DEPLOYMENT BY DEVICE SECTION W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. RESTAINO, ANDREW PETER 3771 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Jun 29, 2023
18267930 WIRE MANAGEMENT FOR DEVICE DELIVERY SYSTEM W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. BAHENA, CHRISTIE L. 3774 §102§103 Final Rejection 62d Pending Jun 16, 2023
18206215 METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR AN ADJUSTABLE STIFFNESS CATHETER W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. WILLIAMS, CATHERINE SERKE 3993 §103§112Other Non-Final OA 264d overdue Pending Jun 06, 2023
18198656 ENDOPROSTHESIS HAVING ALIGNED LEGS FOR EASE OF CANNULATION W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. LABRANCHE, BROOKE N 3771 — Non-Final OA 14d Pending May 17, 2023
18037139 FORMULATIONS, METHODS, AND PRE-FILLED INJECTION DEVICES WITHOUT FATTY ACID PARTICLES W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. GONZALEZ, LEI NMN 3783 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending May 16, 2023
18032386 DEVICES AND METHODS FOR TREATING OCCLUSIONS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. PELLEGRINO, BRIAN E 3799 §102§103 Final Rejection — Pending Apr 18, 2023
18024626 AFFINITY CHROMATOGRAPHY DEVICES CONTAINING A HEAT TREATED FIBRILLATED POLYMER MEMBRANE AND MANIFOLDS CONTAINING THE SAME W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. PATEL, PRANAV N 1777 §103Other Final Rejection 21d Pending Mar 03, 2023
18022243 COMPOSITE ELECTROLYTE MEMBRANE W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. LEONARD, MICHELLE TURNER 1724 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 20, 2023
17797359 INFLOW / OUTFLOW CANNULA W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. KALIHER, HANS CHRISTIAN 3781 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 03, 2022
17795099 SUSTAINED-RELEASE MATRICES FOR ADVENTITIAL OR PERIADVENTITIAL NEURAL ABLATION AND USES THEREOF W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. MEYERS, ELIZABETH ANNE 1617 §103§112 Final Rejection 40d Pending Jul 25, 2022
17758351 COMPOSITE MEMBRANE WITH NANOSELECTIVE SURFACE FOR ORGANIC SOLVENT NANOFILTRATION W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. GERMAIN, ADAM ADRIEN 1777 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 01, 2022
17726362 BRANCHED ENDOPROSTHESIS WITH TAIL FOR CONTROLLED BRANCH DEPLOYMENT W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. PRONE, CHRISTOPHER D 3774 §103§112 Non-Final OA 26d Pending Apr 21, 2022
17762839 ANCHORS FOR MITRAL CHORDAE REPAIR W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. SPENCER, MAXIMILIAN TOBIAS 3774 §103 Final Rejection 13d Pending Mar 23, 2022
17571125 SPACE FILLING DEVICES W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. MCGINNITY, JAMES RYAN 3771 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 07, 2022
17619452 CONTINUOUS TETHERED TISSUE ANCHOR AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. GEIGER, RACHAEL L 3771 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 15, 2021
17609085 CONTINUOUS TETHERED TISSUE ANCHOR AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. BYRD, BRIGID K 3771 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 05, 2021
17605117 EXPANDABLE SHEATH W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. LABRANCHE, BROOKE N 3771 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 20, 2021
17604677 METHOD AND DEVICE FOR ACUTE TREATMENT OF FLUID OVERLOAD IN PATIENTS WITH HEART FAILURE W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. OU, JING RUI 3771 §102§103 Final Rejection — Pending Oct 18, 2021
17427383 REMOTELY ADJUSTABLE MECHANISM AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. OU, JING RUI 3771 §102§103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Jul 30, 2021
17282907 CONSTRAINING MECHANISMS AND ASSOCIATED METHODS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. HOUSTON, ELIZABETH 3771 §103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Apr 05, 2021
17203982 DEVICES AND METHODS FOR APPROXIMATING THE CROSS-SECTIONAL PROFILE OF VASCULATURE HAVING BRANCHES W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. BARIA, DINAH N 3774 §112DP Final Rejection 29d Pending Mar 17, 2021
16827259 SLEEVES FOR EXPANDABLE MEDICAL DEVICES W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. OU, JING RUI 3771 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 23, 2020
16724791 IMPLANTABLE CARDIAC SENSORS W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. CATINA, MICHAEL ANTHONY 3791 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 23, 2019

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