Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026

Merchant & Gould P.C.

Technology area: Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics

518 pending office actions • 278 clients • 467 examiners • 255 art units • 0 of 518 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready

Analysis

MERCHANT & GOULD P.C. focuses on Semiconductors, Circuits & Optics and has handled 33,040 career applications. Its profile records 514 pending office actions and an 85.17% resolved allowance rate.

The average is 2.86 office actions per allowance. The large pending docket calls for active portfolio management, while the response average indicates that resolved matters have generally required several examination exchanges before allowance.

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

Quality Metrics (n=33040 apps, methodology: how we score firms)

85.2%
Allowance Rate
n=33040
+0.54σ
Allowance Rate (norm)
n=33040
2.9
OAs to Allowance
n=21158
-0.31σ
OAs to Allow (norm)
n=21158
948 days
Time to Allowance
n=21158
+6.8pp
Interview Lift
n=33040
24.0%
RCE Rate
n=33040
1.3%
Appeal Rate
n=33040

Rejection Performance (% of received rejections ultimately overcome)

77.2%
§101 Overcome
n=1727
80.8%
§102 Overcome
n=7536
81.6%
§103 Overcome
n=11737
82.4%
§112 Overcome
n=7919

Specialization & Scale

G02B, Y10T, A61K
Top CPC Subclasses
13%
Top-3 CPC Share
n=33040
34
Practitioners
n=33040
971.8
Apps / Practitioner
n=33040

Portfolio Summary

518
Total Pending OAs
321
Non-Final OAs
176
Final Rejections
21
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 136 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

64
Overdue
4
Due this week
40
Due this month
22
Due in next 60 days
6
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. 136 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (64)Due ≤ 7 days (4)Due ≤ 30 days (40)Due ≤ 60 days (22)Due later (6)

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.

254
Hard (49%)
217
Medium (42%)
40
Easy (8%)
7
Unknown (1%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 only2 (0%)
§101 + other33 (6%)
§103 only169 (33%)
§102 only24 (5%)
§112 only27 (5%)
Double-patenting only13 (3%)
Double-patenting + other24 (5%)
Multi-statute (no §101)219 (42%)
No statute on record7 (1%)

Industry Mix

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

142
Life Sciences
27% of docket
38
Information Tech
7% of docket
24
Communications
5% of docket
132
Semiconductors
25% of docket
173
Mechanical / Eng
33% of docket
9
Business / Other
2% 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.

5,180 h
Manual time on pending OAs
1,036 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
1,813 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
45.3 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
VALENCIA, ALEJANDRO 7 42.7% +6.2%
CHO, SUNG IL 4 91.4% +8.5%
STONEBRAKER, ALYSSA RAE 4 58.9% +49.4%
AYDIN, SEVAN A 3 80.1% +4.6%
HURLEY, SHAUN R 3 77.6% +17.7%
PAK, SUNG H 3 87.8% +11.4%
VO, ANH T N 2 90.0% +4.6%
RICCI, CRAIG D 2 53.7% +52.6%
ENGLISH, PETER C 2 33.5% +26.9%
PALENIK, JEFFREY T 2 53.5% +27.0%

Quick Wins (7)

Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 7 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
19222028 IMAGE-FORMING DEVICE INCLUDING CONSUMABLE INCLUDING CONSUMABLE MEMORY HAVING FIRST AREA SUBJECT TO DIGITAL SIGNATURE AND SECOND AREA NOT SUBJECT TO DIGITAL SIGNATURE AYDIN, SEVAN A —
19065527 IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AYDIN, SEVAN A —
19011055 MEMORY DEVICE WITH A BIAS CIRCUIT CHO, SUNG IL —
18930356 TANK HAVING OUTLET POSITIONED IN PROTRUDING CHAMBER BELOW LIQUID STORAGE CHAMBER, AND LIQUID-CONSUMING DEVICE INCLUDING THE SAME VO, ANH T N —
18819842 EQUIPMENT PANEL WITH TERMINATION REGION PAK, SUNG H —
18794850 STRAIN RELIEF BOOT PAK, SUNG H —
17120702 SRAM MEMORY HAVING SUBARRAYS WITH COMMON IO BLOCK CHO, SUNG IL —

Hard Cases (254)

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
16745074 TRANSCATHETER METHODS FOR HEART VALVE REPAIR ORKIN, ALEXANDER J 545d overdue
18744141 VALVE WITH REPLACEABLE HARD INSERTS DO, HAILEY KYUNG AE 146d overdue
18496647 Joystick Chair PANDYA, SUNIT 121d overdue
18570380 METHOD FOR CALIBRATING A MICROSURGICAL INSTRUMENT OF A TELEOPERATED ROBOTIC SURGERY SYSTEM AND RELATED SYSTEM LUAN, SCOTT 114d overdue
18009452 COMPOSITION FOR PREVENTION, IMPROVEMENT OR TREATMENT OF ALLERGIC DISEASE OR ITCHING COMPRISING PENTAPEPTIDE AS ACTIVE INGREDIENT KOMATSU, LI N 97d overdue
16973414 METHOD FOR DETECTING A TANDEM REPEAT JOHANNSEN, DIANA B 87d overdue
17761506 EDIBLE SHEET CONTAINING SEAWEED AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREFOR TAYLOR, AUSTIN PARKER 85d overdue
17339116 Hollow fibers for outside-in-dialysis applications MENON, KRISHNAN S 77d overdue

Interview Candidates (16)

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
18680056 METHOD OF MAKING A SURGICAL BRAID HURLEY, SHAUN R 70d overdue
18040959 OPTIMIZED SURGERY PROTOCOL AND KITS RICCI, CRAIG D 31d overdue
19349368 HIGH SURFACE-AREA LYOPHILIZED COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING ARSENIC FOR ORAL ADMINISTRATION IN PATIENTS PALENIK, JEFFREY T 5d
18408664 High Surface-Area Lyophilized Compositions Comprising Arsenic For Oral Administration In Patients PALENIK, JEFFREY T 48d
19396404 JOINT CAVITY DRUG ADMINISTRATION METHOD, AND USE THEREOF RICCI, CRAIG D —
19358698 FIBER OPTIC CONNECTION SYSTEM ENGLISH, PETER C —
19190924 BALL WITH FILTER ENGLISH, PETER C —
18941131 System for Reconfigurable Donning of a Hand Orthotic Device HURLEY, SHAUN R —

Client Portfolio (278 clients)

View all 278 →

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
287417
285216
285315
376313
37718
28248
37466
17926
37746
16426

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleClientExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
19426683 IMAGE RECORDING APPARATUS, EXTERNAL TERMINAL AND SERVER Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha VIG, NARESH 3622 §101§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Dec 19, 2025
19419391 INK CONTAINER, INK CONTAINER SET AND PRINTING SYSTEM Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha VO, ANH T N 2853 §102§103 Final Rejection — Pending Dec 15, 2025
19488028 SELECTION METHOD AND DEVICE FOR EDDY CURRENT BRAKING LEVEL, CONTROLLER AND READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM Crrc Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. LIETHEN, KURT PHILIP 3747 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 25, 2025
19396404 JOINT CAVITY DRUG ADMINISTRATION METHOD, AND USE THEREOF Tennor Therapeutics (Suzhou) Limited RICCI, CRAIG D 1611 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 21, 2025
19395098 TILT-ADAPTING LIGHTING SYSTEM Federal Signal Corporation CATTANACH, COLIN J 2875 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Nov 20, 2025
19381937 FAN STRUCTURE Cooler Master Co., Ltd. CORDAY, CAMERON A 3745 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 06, 2025
19481148 TAIL ASSEMBLY FOR A GUIDED AND FIN-STABILIZED PROJECTILE Leonardo S.p.A. BADAWI, MEDHAT 3642 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 03, 2025
19370159 CONNECTORS FOR LIGHT FIXTURES AND METHOD OF INSTALLING THE SAME Nulite Lighting, Inc. CARTER, WILLIAM JOSEPH 2875 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 27, 2025
19478303 MEDICAL BOOT Osborn Medical Corporation CARREIRO, CAITLIN ANN 3786 §101§102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 24, 2025
19476152 MAGAZINE FOR AN ARTILLERY INSTALLATION, PROVIDED WITH A MOVING SYSTEM Leonardo S.p.A. WEBER, JONATHAN C 3641 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 16, 2025
19358698 FIBER OPTIC CONNECTION SYSTEM Commscope Connectivity Belguim Bvba ENGLISH, PETER C 2883 §112DPOther Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 15, 2025
19474674 SUPPORT STRUCTURE FOR OPTICS APPLICABLE TO A RIFLE AND RELATED ASSEMBLY Contessa S.r.l. CAUDLE, LOGAN WILLIAM 3641 §103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Oct 10, 2025
19349368 HIGH SURFACE-AREA LYOPHILIZED COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING ARSENIC FOR ORAL ADMINISTRATION IN PATIENTS Quetzal Therapeutics, LLC PALENIK, JEFFREY T 1615 §102§103 Non-Final OA 5d Pending Oct 03, 2025
19167566 Device and System for Non-Invasively Determining a Concentration of an Analyte University Of Leeds JACOB, OOMMEN 3797 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 22, 2025
19323182 IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING CONTROLLER CAPABLE OF DETERMINING WHETHER DEVELOPING CARTRIDGE, DRUM CARTRIDGE AND BELT UNIT ARE REACHED THEIR LIFETIMES Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha BEATTY, ROBERT B 2852 §102§103Other Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 09, 2025
19313142 HIGH EFFICIENCY WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER COILS Resonant Link, Inc. KAPLAN, HAL IRA 2836 §102§103Other Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 28, 2025
19159727 FISHING LINE GUIDE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING FISHING GEAR ITEM Globeride, Inc. ALMEIDA BONNIN, ANGELICA ALEJANDRA 3643 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 26, 2025
19157208 AN APPARATUS AND A METHOD FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY OPERATING A PLURALITY OF VEHICLES Ola Electric Mobility Limited RAMIREZ, ELLIS B 3658 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 15, 2025
19293179 IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING DEVICE MAIN BODY AND CONSUMABLE ATTACHABLE THERETO AND INCLUDING CONSUMABLE MEMORY FOR STORING RECYCLING HISTORY INFORMATION Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha TRAN, HOAN H 2852 DP Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 07, 2025
19273995 THREE-DIMENSIONAL AIRFOIL AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION Greenheck Fan Corporation CHRISTENSEN, DANIELLE M 3745 §102 Final Rejection — Pending Jul 18, 2025
19271695 NETWORK SYSTEM, DEVICE, AND PROCESSING METHOD Connectfree Corporation MCNALLY, MICHAEL S 2432 §102Other Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 16, 2025
19269288 RESPONSE SYSTEM FOR A VEHICLE Federal Signal Corporation LI, HELEN 3665 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 15, 2025
19254164 IMPEDANCE MATCHING CIRCUIT AND METHOD Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. CHEN, PATRICK C 2836 §102DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 30, 2025
19238086 MEDICAL DEVICE INSPECTION SCOPE Clarus Medical, LLC CAREY, MICHAEL JAMES 3795 §102§103DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 13, 2025
19229156 IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING OPERATING MEMBER DISPOSED ON MOVABLE COVER FOR OPENING AND CLOSING SHUTTER OF TONER CONTAINER Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha GRAINGER, QUANA M 2852 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 05, 2025
19226424 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE AMENITIES Throne Labs, Inc. GIRMA, FEKADESELASS 2689 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 03, 2025
19222593 REMOTE CARE MANAGEMENT Hill-Rom Services, Inc. GARTLAND, SCOTT D 3685 §101§103 Non-Final OA — Pending May 29, 2025
19222028 IMAGE-FORMING DEVICE INCLUDING CONSUMABLE INCLUDING CONSUMABLE MEMORY HAVING FIRST AREA SUBJECT TO DIGITAL SIGNATURE AND SECOND AREA NOT SUBJECT TO DIGITAL SIGNATURE Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha AYDIN, SEVAN A 2852 §102 Non-Final OA — Pending May 29, 2025
19220854 IMAGE FORMING DEVICE Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha BRASE, SANDRA L 2852 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending May 28, 2025
19219575 USING PSYCHOMETRIC ANALYSIS FOR DETERMINING CREDIT RISK Zip Co. US Inc. FELTEN, DANIEL S 3692 §101§112 Non-Final OA — Pending May 27, 2025
19215816 SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR PROVIDING IMMUTABLE DIGITAL TESTIMONY Alibi LLC NARRAMORE, BLAKE I 2438 DP Non-Final OA — Pending May 22, 2025
19214885 METHOD FOR REMOVING AND ATTACHING FIRST HOLDER MEMBER RELATIVE TO SECOND HOLDER MEMBER SUPPORTED BY HOUSING IN CARTRIDGE Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha CHEN, SOPHIA S 2852 §102DP Non-Final OA — Pending May 21, 2025
19207511 TANK INCLUDING FRAME DEFINING FIRST OPENING, AND COVER COVERING AT LEAST PART OF FIRST OPENING Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha ELOSHWAY, NIKI MARINA 3736 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending May 14, 2025
19128924 MAGNETIC ROBOTIC ASSEMBLY, MAGNETIC ROBOTIC SYSTEM, METHOD FOR LOCATING A MEDICAL DEVICE Atlas Endoscopy Limited CELESTINE, NYROBI I 3798 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending May 09, 2025
19199186 UI FOR HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAY SYSTEM Beyeonics Surgical Ltd. RAYAN, MIHIR K 2621 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending May 05, 2025
19194652 DIAPHRAGM PUMP AND VALVE ASSEMBLY FOR A DIAPHRAGM PUMP Wanner Engineering, Inc. ZOLLINGER, NATHAN C 3746 §103 Final Rejection 12d Pending Apr 30, 2025
19190924 BALL WITH FILTER Double G Games LLC ENGLISH, PETER C 3993 §112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 28, 2025
19188345 CARTRIDGE Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha BEATTY, ROBERT B 2852 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 24, 2025
19186278 CONNECTING ASSEMBLY FOR CONNECTING HOSE SEGMENTS TOGETHER, AND MAPLE TREE SAP HARVESTING SYSTEM PROVIDED WITH THE SAME Les Equipements Lapierre Inc. RUFRANO, ALEXANDER TYLER 3679 §103DP Final Rejection — Pending Apr 22, 2025
19180798 ELECTRODE APPARATUS FOR BLOCKING OR CONTROLLING NERVES IN BODY Deepqure Inc. LEE, ERICA SHENGKAI 3796 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 16, 2025
19174589 CONDENSER APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REMOVING WATER FROM AIR Aresco Technologies, LLC MARTIN, ELIZABETH J 3763 §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 09, 2025
19171664 FERTILIZER COMPOSITION CONTAINING A CARBON-BASED ADDITIVE AND METHODS OF MAKING SAME The Mosaic Company PEEBLES, KATHERINE 1617 §103§112 Non-Final OA 38d overdue Pending Apr 07, 2025
19170997 SYSTEM FOR THERMOREGULATING METAL ROTATING CYLINDERS IN PLASTIC FILM CONVERTING AND EXTRUDING SYSTEMS BY MEANS OF INDUCTION HEATERS Colines S.p.A. LUK, EMMANUEL S 1744 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 04, 2025
19169608 IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha CURRAN, GREGORY H 2852 DP Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 03, 2025
19096873 OPTICAL POWER DETECTOR AND READER Commscope Technologies LLC NGUYEN, SANG H 2877 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 01, 2025
19093542 CONNECTION FOR A FLUID WITH A RING Hutchinson S.r.l. DRAGICEVICH, ZACHARY T 3679 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Mar 28, 2025
19094277 IMPACT RESISTANT LOUVER Greenheck Fan Corporation KENNY, DANIEL J 3633 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 28, 2025
19089787 IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING FAN CONFIGURED TO DISCHARGE AIR THROUGH LOUVER ON HOUSING AND FILTER POSITIONED BETWEEN FAN AND LOUVER IN AIR DISCHARGING DIRECTION Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha ROTH, LAURA K 2852 §102§103 Final Rejection — Pending Mar 25, 2025
19115211 CALIBRATION METHOD FOR NONLINEAR ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERSION CIRCUIT, AND REFERENCE VOLTAGE GENERATING CIRCUIT THEREOF Galaxycore Shanghai Limited Corporation NGUYEN, LINH V 2845 §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 25, 2025
19088269 IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS WITHOUT DEDICATED POWER SUPPLY FOR COMPARATOR REFERENCE VOLTAGE Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha ROTH, LAURA K 2852 §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 24, 2025

View all 518 →

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Merchant & Gould P.C.'s patent allowance rate?

85.2% of resolved applications prosecuted by Merchant & Gould P.C. were allowed, across 33,040 applications in USPTO records.

How many office actions does Merchant & Gould P.C. average before allowance?

2.86 office actions per allowed application on average.

How many pending office actions does Merchant & Gould P.C. have?

518 pending office actions as of October 2026, for 278 clients, before 467 examiners in 255 art units.

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