Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026

Michael Best & Friedrich LLP (Chi)

18 pending office actions • 14 clients • 17 examiners • 17 art units • 0 of 18 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 30 patents granted in the last 365 days

Quality Metrics (n=2438 apps, methodology: how we score firms)

85.7%
Allowance Rate
n=2438
+0.58σ
Allowance Rate (norm)
n=2438
2.8
OAs to Allowance
n=1550
-0.40σ
OAs to Allow (norm)
n=1550
1039 days
Time to Allowance
n=1550
+4.5pp
Interview Lift
n=2438
21.7%
RCE Rate
n=2438
1.3%
Appeal Rate
n=2438

Rejection Performance (% of received rejections ultimately overcome)

§101 Overcome
n=18 (min 20)
83.2%
§102 Overcome
n=173
81.5%
§103 Overcome
n=747
89.3%
§112 Overcome
n=177

Specialization & Scale

A61K, B60N, Y10T
Top CPC Subclasses
9%
Top-3 CPC Share
n=2438
0
Practitioners
n=2438
Apps / Practitioner
n=2438 (min 20)

Portfolio Summary

18
Total Pending OAs
11
Non-Final OAs
7
Final Rejections
0
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 11 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

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

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (4)Due ≤ 30 days (4)Due ≤ 60 days (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.

0
Hard (0%)
16
Medium (89%)
1
Easy (6%)
1
Unknown (6%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§103 only15 (83%)
§102 only1 (6%)
§112 only1 (6%)
No statute on record1 (6%)

Industry Mix

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

10
Life Sciences
56% of docket
0
Information Tech
0% of docket
0
Communications
0% of docket
4
Semiconductors
22% of docket
4
Mechanical / Eng
22% of docket
0
Business / Other
0% 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.

180 h
Manual time on pending OAs
36 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
63 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
1.6 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
BRANDSEN, BENJAMIN MICHAEL 2 61.0% +17.6%
SECK, AHMED F 1 70.5% +18.2%
WIBLIN, MATTHEW 1 74.3% +24.0%
MURATA, AUSTIN 1 60.4% +20.6%
HOFFBERG, ROBERT JOSEPH 1 72.3% +24.0%
ZAKARIA, AKM 1 82.6% +16.0%
LAUGHLIN, ELIZABETH ANN 1 54.9% +56.6%
BORI, IBRAHIM D 1 43.9% +38.6%
WANG, FRANKLIN JEFFERSON 1 51.2% +50.1%
FOLEY, SHANON A 1 73.3% +18.0%

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
18583672 SELF-COMPENSATED ELECTRICAL SENSOR ZAKARIA, AKM

Interview Candidates (11)

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
17624625 TRANS-CYCLOOCTENE BIOORTHOGONAL AGENTS AND USES IN CANCER AND IMMUNOTHERAPY BRANDSEN, BENJAMIN MICHAEL 127d overdue
18516487 CONVEYOR OVEN LAUGHLIN, ELIZABETH ANN 31d overdue
18327562 CONVEYOR OVEN APPARATUS AND METHOD WANG, FRANKLIN JEFFERSON 31d overdue
18744310 GROUP IVA FUNCTIONALIZED PARTICLES AND METHODS OF USE THEREOF MURATA, AUSTIN 12d
18245233 COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS TARGETING FILAMENTOUS BACTERIOPHAGE FOLEY, SHANON A 22d
18848093 PISTON-CYLINDER UNIT, SET COMPRISING A PISTON-CYLINDER UNIT AND A GROUP OF PISTON-CYLINDER UNITS WIBLIN, MATTHEW 54d
19323247 TRANS-CYCLOOCTENE PRODRUG OF MONOMETHYL AURISTATIN E BRANDSEN, BENJAMIN MICHAEL 60d
18864367 BRUSHLESS ELECTRIC MOTOR, AND AIR PUMP SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE SEAT SECK, AHMED F

Client Portfolio (14 clients)

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
16932
28341
37451
17121
28351
28581
37621
16291
37611
16711

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleClientExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
19323247 TRANS-CYCLOOCTENE PRODRUG OF MONOMETHYL AURISTATIN E Tambo, Inc. BRANDSEN, BENJAMIN MICHAEL 1693 §103 Non-Final OA 60d Pending Sep 09, 2025
18864367 BRUSHLESS ELECTRIC MOTOR, AND AIR PUMP SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE SEAT Guangdong Zhaoqing L & V Co., Ltd. SECK, AHMED F 2834 §103 Non-Final OA Pending Nov 08, 2024
18848093 PISTON-CYLINDER UNIT, SET COMPRISING A PISTON-CYLINDER UNIT AND A GROUP OF PISTON-CYLINDER UNITS Pacoma GmbH WIBLIN, MATTHEW 3745 §103 Final Rejection 54d Pending Sep 17, 2024
18744310 GROUP IVA FUNCTIONALIZED PARTICLES AND METHODS OF USE THEREOF Kratos LLC MURATA, AUSTIN 1712 Other Non-Final OA 12d Pending Jun 14, 2024
18641073 SWITCHGEAR ASSEMBLY WITH ADJUSTABLE FRAME G & W Electric Company HOFFBERG, ROBERT JOSEPH 2835 §103 Non-Final OA Pending Apr 19, 2024
18583672 SELF-COMPENSATED ELECTRICAL SENSOR G & W Electric Company ZAKARIA, AKM 2858 §103 Final Rejection Pending Feb 21, 2024
18516487 CONVEYOR OVEN The Middleby Corporation LAUGHLIN, ELIZABETH ANN 3762 §103 Non-Final OA 31d overdue Pending Nov 21, 2023
18560628 MULTI-SOLVENT INSECTICIDAL COMPOSITIONS INCLUDING META-DIAMIDE Clarke Mosquito Control Products, Inc. BORI, IBRAHIM D 1629 §103 Non-Final OA Pending Nov 13, 2023
18327562 CONVEYOR OVEN APPARATUS AND METHOD The Middleby Corporation WANG, FRANKLIN JEFFERSON 3761 §103 Final Rejection 31d overdue Pending Jun 01, 2023
18245233 COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS TARGETING FILAMENTOUS BACTERIOPHAGE Inimmune Corporation FOLEY, SHANON A 1671 §103 Final Rejection 22d Pending Mar 14, 2023
18117295 TABLET DOSAGE FORMS FOR LIPID-BASED DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS Abitec Corporation YOO, SUN JAE 1621 §103 Non-Final OA 12d Pending Mar 03, 2023
18013642 METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR PRODUCING STEM CELL DERIVED SPINAL GABA INHIBITORY NEURONS FOR USE IN TREATMENT OF SPINAL CORD INJURY Brainxell, Inc. BEHARRY, ZANNA MARIA 1632 §102 Final Rejection Pending Dec 29, 2022
17768420 Fractionated Dosing of a Phospholipid Ether Analog for the Treatment of Cancer Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. SCHLIENTZ, LEAH H 1618 §103 Non-Final OA 54d Pending Apr 12, 2022
17642561 Phospholipid Ether Conjugates as Cancer-Targeting Drug Vehicles Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. CHICKS, ASHLI ARIANA 1626 §112 Final Rejection Pending Mar 11, 2022
17624625 TRANS-CYCLOOCTENE BIOORTHOGONAL AGENTS AND USES IN CANCER AND IMMUNOTHERAPY Tambo, Inc. BRANDSEN, BENJAMIN MICHAEL 1693 §103 Non-Final OA 127d overdue Pending Jan 04, 2022
17387182 LIPASE-TREATED FOOD PRODUCTS Darifair Foods, LLC LI, CHANGQING 1791 §103 Non-Final OA 91d overdue Pending Jul 28, 2021
17350834 CAUSTIC WASHABLE COMPOSITIONS FOR PRINTING Inx International Ink Co. ZIMMERMAN, JOSHUA D 2853 §103 Non-Final OA Pending Jun 17, 2021
17221697 MOLDED SWAB HEAD Mawi Dna Technologies LLC PADDA, ARI SINGH KANE 3791 §103 Final Rejection 13d Pending Apr 02, 2021

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