Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 06, 2026

Melcher Patent Law Pllc

9 pending office actions • 7 clients • 9 examiners • 4 art units • 0 of 9 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready

Quality Metrics (n=1259 apps, methodology: how we score firms)

82.8%
Allowance Rate
n=1259
+0.62σ
Allowance Rate (norm)
n=1259
3.2
OAs to Allowance
n=878
-0.11σ
OAs to Allow (norm)
n=878
1118 days
Time to Allowance
n=878
+8.2pp
Interview Lift
n=1259
20.4%
RCE Rate
n=1259
5.2%
Appeal Rate
n=1259

Rejection Performance (% of received rejections ultimately overcome)

78.3%
§101 Overcome
n=69
81.0%
§102 Overcome
n=352
81.7%
§103 Overcome
n=569
82.8%
§112 Overcome
n=472

Specialization & Scale

F01D, Y10T, F05D
Top CPC Subclasses
10%
Top-3 CPC Share
n=1259
1
Practitioners
n=1259
1259.0
Apps / Practitioner
n=1259

Portfolio Summary

9
Total Pending OAs
8
Non-Final OAs
1
Final Rejections
0
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 3 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

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

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Due ≤ 30 days (1)Due ≤ 60 days (1)Due later (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.

6
Hard (67%)
3
Medium (33%)
0
Easy (0%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§103 only2 (22%)
§102 only1 (11%)
Multi-statute (no §101)6 (67%)

Industry Mix

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

2
Life Sciences
22% of docket
0
Information Tech
0% of docket
0
Communications
0% of docket
0
Semiconductors
0% of docket
2
Mechanical / Eng
22% of docket
5
Business / Other
56% 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.

90 h
Manual time on pending OAs
18 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
31 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
0.8 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
AYALA, FERNANDO A 1 53.5% +26.6%
COMINO, EVA L 1 70.0% +32.7%
MORALES, OMAR 1 59.6% +17.0%
STRICKLER, SCOTT LAWRENCE 1 78.1% +16.6%
SWANSON, LEAH JENNINGS 1 65.4% +38.4%
PIRO, NICHOLAS ANTHONY 1 41.4% +36.7%
SIMKINS, SLONE ELIZABETH 1 65.5% +38.5%
BURGESS, MARC R 1 33.7% +20.7%
SMITH, JENNIFER A 1 61.4% +26.1%

Hard Cases (6)

Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 6 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
17741689 FERTILIZER CONTAINING A SEED GRIND AND A METHOD OF USING THE FERTILIZER TO ENHANCE PLANT GROWTH SMITH, JENNIFER A 62d
18994717 A DUAL ROLLER FOR COMPRESSING AND/OR PUNCTURING PLASTIC OR METAL ITEMS AND USE OF THE ROLLERS AYALA, FERNANDO A
18863682 ANTI-SKID DEVICE COMINO, EVA L
18718947 A STEERING SYSTEM, A METHOD FOR PROVIDING STEERING FEEDBACK IN SUCH A SYSTEM AND A STEERING SYSTEM FEEDBACK ARRANGEMENT STRICKLER, SCOTT LAWRENCE
18702348 A SYRINGE SWANSON, LEAH JENNINGS
18281027 BISMUTH SULFIDE PARTICLES, METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAME, AND APPLICATION OF SAME SIMKINS, SLONE ELIZABETH

Interview Candidates (9)

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
17989024 YACHT PRESERVER AND METHOD OF THE USING THE YACHT PRESERVER TO REDUCE WATER FLOW INTO A YACHT BURGESS, MARC R 23d
18779290 IMPROVED STEERING SYSTEM, A STEERING ARRANGEMENT AND A METHOD FOR STEERING CONTROL MORALES, OMAR 34d
17741689 FERTILIZER CONTAINING A SEED GRIND AND A METHOD OF USING THE FERTILIZER TO ENHANCE PLANT GROWTH SMITH, JENNIFER A 62d
18994717 A DUAL ROLLER FOR COMPRESSING AND/OR PUNCTURING PLASTIC OR METAL ITEMS AND USE OF THE ROLLERS AYALA, FERNANDO A
18863682 ANTI-SKID DEVICE COMINO, EVA L
18718947 A STEERING SYSTEM, A METHOD FOR PROVIDING STEERING FEEDBACK IN SUCH A SYSTEM AND A STEERING SYSTEM FEEDBACK ARRANGEMENT STRICKLER, SCOTT LAWRENCE
18702348 A SYRINGE SWANSON, LEAH JENNINGS
18568296 TITANIUM OXIDE PARTICLES AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAME PIRO, NICHOLAS ANTHONY

Client Portfolio (7 clients)

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
37471
17351
36151
17311

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleClientExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
18994717 A DUAL ROLLER FOR COMPRESSING AND/OR PUNCTURING PLASTIC OR METAL ITEMS AND USE OF THE ROLLERS Varig Group Aps AYALA, FERNANDO A §102§103§112 Non-Final OA Pending Jan 15, 2025
18863682 ANTI-SKID DEVICE Affin AS COMINO, EVA L §102§103§112 Non-Final OA Pending Nov 07, 2024
18779290 IMPROVED STEERING SYSTEM, A STEERING ARRANGEMENT AND A METHOD FOR STEERING CONTROL Sentient AB MORALES, OMAR 3747 §103 Non-Final OA 34d Pending Jul 22, 2024
18718947 A STEERING SYSTEM, A METHOD FOR PROVIDING STEERING FEEDBACK IN SUCH A SYSTEM AND A STEERING SYSTEM FEEDBACK ARRANGEMENT Sentient AB STRICKLER, SCOTT LAWRENCE §102§103 Non-Final OA Pending Jun 12, 2024
18702348 A SYRINGE Medtech Concept LLC SWANSON, LEAH JENNINGS §102§103§112 Non-Final OA Pending Apr 18, 2024
18568296 TITANIUM OXIDE PARTICLES AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAME Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha, Ltd. PIRO, NICHOLAS ANTHONY §102 Non-Final OA Pending Dec 08, 2023
18281027 BISMUTH SULFIDE PARTICLES, METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAME, AND APPLICATION OF SAME Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha, Ltd. SIMKINS, SLONE ELIZABETH 1735 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA Pending Sep 08, 2023
17989024 YACHT PRESERVER AND METHOD OF THE USING THE YACHT PRESERVER TO REDUCE WATER FLOW INTO A YACHT Yacht Preserver, LLC BURGESS, MARC R 3615 §103 Final Rejection 23d Pending Nov 17, 2022
17741689 FERTILIZER CONTAINING A SEED GRIND AND A METHOD OF USING THE FERTILIZER TO ENHANCE PLANT GROWTH Innovations For World Nutrition, LLC SMITH, JENNIFER A 1731 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA 62d Pending May 11, 2022

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