Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026

Michael Best & Friedrich LLP (Niagara Bottling)

5 pending office actions • 1 client • 5 examiners • 3 art units • 0 of 5 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 16 patents granted in the last 365 days

Quality Metrics (n=239 apps, methodology: how we score firms)

80.2%
Allowance Rate
n=239
+0.23σ
Allowance Rate (norm)
n=239
3.8
OAs to Allowance
n=126
-0.14σ
OAs to Allow (norm)
n=126
926 days
Time to Allowance
n=126
+13.0pp
Interview Lift
n=239
30.6%
RCE Rate
n=239
3.2%
Appeal Rate
n=239

Rejection Performance (% of received rejections ultimately overcome)

§101 Overcome
n=5 (min 20)
66.7%
§102 Overcome
n=30
61.4%
§103 Overcome
n=83
95.2%
§112 Overcome
n=21

Specialization & Scale

B65D, B29C, B29B
Top CPC Subclasses
45%
Top-3 CPC Share
n=239
0
Practitioners
n=239
Apps / Practitioner
n=239 (min 20)

Portfolio Summary

5
Total Pending OAs
2
Non-Final OAs
3
Final Rejections
0
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 1 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

1
Overdue
0
Due this week
0
Due this month
0
Due in next 60 days
0
Due later

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%)
5
Medium (100%)
0
Easy (0%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§103 only5 (100%)

Industry Mix

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

1
Life Sciences
20% of docket
0
Information Tech
0% of docket
0
Communications
0% of docket
0
Semiconductors
0% of docket
3
Mechanical / Eng
60% of docket
1
Business / Other
20% 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.

50 h
Manual time on pending OAs
10 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
18 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
0.4 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
AHMED ALI, MOHAMED K 1 70.6% +26.7%
PATEL, VISHAL I 1 78.7% +10.4%
CASTRIOTTA, JENNIFER 1 62.1% +28.7%
GRANO, ERNESTO ARTURIO 1 60.8% +25.5%
CASTELLANO, STEPHEN J 1 65.1% +35.9%

Interview Candidates (5)

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 5 ordered by deadline are shown.

App #TitleExaminerDue in
18364340 MOLDED CONTAINER BASE CASTELLANO, STEPHEN J 194d overdue
19092621 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PREFORM STERILIZATION AHMED ALI, MOHAMED K
18812496 FAULT DETECTION CLAMP FOR LABELLING SYSTEM PATEL, VISHAL I
18759268 CONTAINER CLOSURE CASTRIOTTA, JENNIFER
18562081 PLASTIC CONTAINER WITH OXYGEN SCAVENGER AND PASSIVE OXYGEN BARRIER IN BODY PORTION GRANO, ERNESTO ARTURIO

Client Portfolio (1 client)

Client (Assignee)Pending OAs
NIAGARA BOTTLING, LLC 5

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
37332
17461
37351

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleClientExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
19092621 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PREFORM STERILIZATION Niagara Bottling, LLC AHMED ALI, MOHAMED K §103 Non-Final OA Pending Mar 27, 2025
18812496 FAULT DETECTION CLAMP FOR LABELLING SYSTEM Niagara Bottling, LLC PATEL, VISHAL I 1746 §103 Final Rejection Pending Aug 22, 2024
18759268 CONTAINER CLOSURE Niagara Bottling, LLC CASTRIOTTA, JENNIFER 3733 §103 Final Rejection Pending Jun 28, 2024
18562081 PLASTIC CONTAINER WITH OXYGEN SCAVENGER AND PASSIVE OXYGEN BARRIER IN BODY PORTION Niagara Bottling, LLC GRANO, ERNESTO ARTURIO 3735 §103 Final Rejection Pending Nov 17, 2023
18364340 MOLDED CONTAINER BASE Niagara Bottling, LLC CASTELLANO, STEPHEN J 3733 §103 Non-Final OA 194d overdue Pending Aug 02, 2023

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