Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026

Seager, Tufte & Wickhem, LLP

Technology area: Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering

330 pending office actions • 30 clients • 226 examiners • 59 art units • 0 of 330 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready

Analysis

SEAGER, TUFTE & WICKHEM, LLP focuses on Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering and has 319 pending office actions. Its 11676 career applications indicate an established prosecution base and substantial continuing activity.

The resolved allowance rate is 89.63%, while the average number of office actions per allowance is 4.65. The results show frequent allowance among resolved matters, but a comparatively extended examination path involving multiple exchanges. Practitioners should plan for substantial response coordination and careful management of the active docket.

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

Quality Metrics (n=11676 apps, methodology: how we score firms)

89.6%
Allowance Rate
n=11676
+0.75σ
Allowance Rate (norm)
n=11676
4.6
OAs to Allowance
n=6783
+0.37σ
OAs to Allow (norm)
n=6783
1333 days
Time to Allowance
n=6783
+5.7pp
Interview Lift
n=11676
37.3%
RCE Rate
n=11676
3.8%
Appeal Rate
n=11676

Rejection Performance (% of received rejections ultimately overcome)

74.2%
§101 Overcome
n=330
76.9%
§102 Overcome
n=3894
78.5%
§103 Overcome
n=5335
80.4%
§112 Overcome
n=3358

Specialization & Scale

A61B, A61M, A61F
Top CPC Subclasses
59%
Top-3 CPC Share
n=11676
8
Practitioners
n=11676
1459.5
Apps / Practitioner
n=11676

Portfolio Summary

330
Total Pending OAs
185
Non-Final OAs
101
Final Rejections
44
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 71 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.

27
Overdue
3
Due this week
23
Due this month
12
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. 71 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (27)Due ≤ 7 days (3)Due ≤ 30 days (23)Due ≤ 60 days (12)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.

165
Hard (50%)
148
Medium (45%)
10
Easy (3%)
7
Unknown (2%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 only2 (1%)
§101 + other12 (4%)
§103 only103 (31%)
§102 only23 (7%)
§112 only5 (2%)
Double-patenting only5 (2%)
Double-patenting + other22 (7%)
Multi-statute (no §101)151 (46%)
No statute on record7 (2%)

Industry Mix

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

22
Life Sciences
7% of docket
2
Information Tech
1% of docket
9
Communications
3% of docket
3
Semiconductors
1% of docket
283
Mechanical / Eng
86% of docket
11
Business / Other
3% 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.

3,300 h
Manual time on pending OAs
660 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
1,155 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
28.9 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview lift
KHANDKER, RAIHAN R 7 64.4% +55.6%
JAFFRI, ZEHRA 5 58.0% +49.1%
HAN, SETH 5 59.6% +27.1%
ALEMAN, SARAH WEBB 5 62.2% +23.6%
TANNER, JOCELIN C 4 72.3% +34.7%
HOLWERDA, KATHLEEN SONNETT 4 68.8% +17.6%
NEMER, OSAMA MOHAMMAD 4 66.3% +51.3%
LONG, SARAH A 3 60.7% +42.4%
IGBOKO, CHIMA U 3 78.7% +39.3%
RABAGLIA, BRIDGET ELIZABETH 3 68.9% +15.0%

Hard Cases (165)

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
18667955 DUAL VIEW FOR MULTIPLE SERIES OF IVUS IMAGES KLEIN, BROOKE L 88d overdue
17960812 MEDICAL DEVICE SYSTEMS FOR AUTOMATIC LESION ASSESSMENT SHAFQAT, AMY JEANETTE 58d overdue
18071323 STENTS HAVING BRIDGE LENGTH PATTERN VARIATIONS WOLF, MEGAN YARNALL 51d overdue
18129676 DEVICES, METHODS, AND SYSTEMS TO COLLECT, STORE, AND ANALYZE CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES WESTFALL, SARAH ANN 42d overdue
17547480 PACKAGING FOR MEDICAL DEVICES POON, ROBERT 31d overdue
18219613 SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING AN ESTIMATE OF BATTERY CAPACITY FOR AN IMPLANTABLE DEVICE PORTER, JR, GARY A 28d overdue
18232084 CATHETER WITH RAPID EXCHANGE GUIDEWIRE PORT AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE STIMPERT, PHILIP EARL 24d overdue
18470272 SYRINGE DESIGN FOR CYCLING PARTICULATE SUSPENSIONS CARPENTER, WILLIAM R 23d overdue

Interview Candidates (43)

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
18074165 EXTRACORPOREAL LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM HAN, SETH 19d overdue
18631575 OCCLUSIVE IMPLANT SYSTEM KHANDKER, RAIHAN R 15d
17351868 Prosthetic Heart Valve Having an Improved Tubular Seal ALEMAN, SARAH WEBB 26d
17953748 MEDICAL DEVICE FOR CUTTING A SUTURE DURING A MINIMALLY INVASIVE PROCEDURE JAFFRI, ZEHRA 28d
18214054 MEDICAL DEVICE RELEASE SYSTEM NEMER, OSAMA MOHAMMAD 29d
18130126 DEVICES AND METHODS TO IMPROVE EFFICACY AND EFFICIENCY OF LOCATING THE SACRAL FORAMINA DURING SACRAL NEUROMODULATION PROCEDURE JAFFRI, ZEHRA 83d
18367765 SOFT TISSUE CUTTING DEVICE WITH VISUALIZATION AND/OR PRESSURE SENSING RABAGLIA, BRIDGET ELIZABETH 84d
19265711 STENT DELIVERY SYSTEMS WITH A RECONSTRAINING MEMBER LONG, SARAH A —

Client Portfolio (30 clients)

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
377172
377430
379628
378325
379522
378120
379219
379413
379812
37978

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleClientExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
19578541 TRANSCUTANEOUS AURICULAR VAGAL NERVE STIMULATION FOR PERI-INTERVENTION INFLAMMATORY MODULATION Aurenar, Inc. JIAN, SHIRLEY XUEYING 3792 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Mar 25, 2026
19453105 INTRAVASCULAR ULTRASOUND SYSTEMS, CATHETERS, AND METHODS WITH A MANUAL PULLBACK ARRANGEMENT BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION TALTY, MARIA CHRISTINA 3797 §103DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 20, 2026
19382492 ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCER FOR IVUS CATHETERS BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION SABOKTAKIN, MARJAN 3797 §103 Non-Final OA — Pending Nov 07, 2025
19357681 ARCHITECTURE FOR INTEROPERABLE UROLOGY OPERATING ROOM BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION HEIN, DEVIN C 3686 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Oct 14, 2025
19338698 FUNCTIONAL STENOSIS ASSESSMENT FROM VASCULAR IMAGING BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION SHENG, CHAO 3797 §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 24, 2025
19300807 STEERABLE CROSSING CATHETER BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION MENDEZ, KATHERINE H 3771 §103§112DP Non-Final OA — Pending Aug 15, 2025
19274689 ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCER AND USES THEREOF Sonivie Ltd. CATTUNGAL, SANJAY 3798 §102§112Other Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 21, 2025
19265711 STENT DELIVERY SYSTEMS WITH A RECONSTRAINING MEMBER BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION LONG, SARAH A 3771 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 10, 2025
19264078 DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS FOR MEDICAL CLEANING VALVES BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION WILLIAMS, PATRICK C 3753 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jul 09, 2025
19238932 TRANSCAROTID NEUROVASCULAR CATHETER BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION IGBOKO, CHIMA U 3771 §102§103DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 16, 2025
19227571 ASPIRATION LITHOTRIPSY DEVICE BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION KNAUSS, CHRISTIAN D 3771 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 04, 2025
19224038 MEDICAL DEVICES WITH ENHANCED ECHOGENICITY BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION COOK, CHRISTOPHER L 3797 §102§103§112 Final Rejection — Pending May 30, 2025
19215929 LEFT ATRIAL APPENDAGE CLOSURE DEVICE BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION RABAGLIA, BRIDGET ELIZABETH 3771 §102§112 Non-Final OA — Pending May 22, 2025
19211803 ASPIRATION MEDICAL DEVICE BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION TANNER, JOCELIN C 3771 §102Other Non-Final OA — Pending May 19, 2025
19207884 AUXILIARY CONNECTOR FOR ENDOSCOPE BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION BOICE, JAMES EDWARD 3795 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending May 14, 2025
19205109 AIR AND WATER VALVE FOR AN ENDOSCOPE BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION FAIRCHILD, AARON BENJAMIN 3795 §102§112 Non-Final OA — Pending May 12, 2025
19202651 FACILITATE DELIVERY OF DEVICES WITH HIGH FRICTION - BRAID BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION GHAND, JENNIFER LEIGH-STEWAR 3796 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending May 08, 2025
19201511 LEFT ATRIAL APPENDAGE IMPLANT BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION POLAND, CHERIE MICHELLE 3771 §103§112Other Non-Final OA — Pending May 07, 2025
19189414 PERFUSION BALLOON CATHETERS WITH THERAPEUTIC COATINGS BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION LABRANCHE, BROOKE N 3771 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 25, 2025
19189533 ORGAN PERFUSION DEVICE Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris FERNSTROM, KURT 3715 Other Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 25, 2025
19190365 MEDICAL SYSTEMS, DEVICES, AND RELATED METHODS BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION LOUIS, RICHARD G 3771 §102§103Other Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 25, 2025
19187539 LIGATOR DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION JAFFRI, ZEHRA 3771 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 23, 2025
19185820 SYSTEM FOR OCCLUDING A LEFT ATRIAL APPENDAGE BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION MCGINNITY, JAMES RYAN 3771 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 22, 2025
19182937 MEDICAL BALLOON BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION CAILLOUET, CHRISTOPHER C 1745 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 18, 2025
19173041 SUCTION VALVE ACTUATORS FOR ENDOSCOPES BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION LUU, TIMOTHY TUAN 3795 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 08, 2025
19172989 GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR VASCULAR STENT EXPANSION VISUALIZATION BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION DAVIS, AMELIE R 3798 DP Final Rejection — Pending Apr 08, 2025
19169390 METHODS FOR ASSESSING A VESSEL WITH SEQUENTIAL PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION BLOCH, MICHAEL RYAN 3791 §112Other Non-Final OA — Pending Apr 03, 2025
19085279 ROLL FORMER TENDING AUTOMATION DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS Middleground Capital, LP SINGH, KAVEL §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 20, 2025
19083555 BALLOON SURFACE PHOTOACOUSTIC PRESSURE WAVE GENERATION TO DISRUPT VASCULAR LESIONS BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION BYRD, BRIGID K 3771 §102§103DP Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 19, 2025
19081753 DISPOSABLE AIR/WATER AND SUCTION VALVES FOR AN ENDOSCOPE Endochoice, Inc. BOLER, RYNAE E 3795 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Mar 17, 2025
19077171 INTRAVASCULAR ULTRASOUND SYSTEMS, CATHETERS, AND METHODS WITH A MANUAL PULLBACK ARRANGEMENT BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION TALTY, MARIA CHRISTINA 3797 §103§112 Non-Final OA 3d overdue Pending Mar 12, 2025
19065523 CIRCULATORY SUPPORT DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION BERTRAM, ERIC D 3796 §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 27, 2025
19065247 METHOD OF IMAGE ENHANCEMENT FOR DISTRACTION DEDUCTION BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION AKINYEMI, AJIBOLA A 2649 DP Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 27, 2025
19065616 CIRCULATORY SUPPORT DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION HODGE, LAURA NICOLE 3792 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 27, 2025
19053074 TISSUE ABLATION USING A MEDICAL DEVICE BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION ZIEGLER, ABIGAIL M 3794 §103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 13, 2025
19052771 MEDICAL DEVICE FOR ACCESSING THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM Minnetronix Neuro, Inc. HOLWERDA, KATHLEEN SONNETT 3771 §103DP Non-Final OA — Pending Feb 13, 2025
19041102 ADAPTOR FOR CONNECTING A MEDICAL LASER TO A FLEXIBLE WAVEGUIDE OR AN ARTICULATED ARM LUMENIS LTD. SAHAND, SANA 3796 §103§112Other Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 30, 2025
19040399 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMBINED PHOTOBIOMODULATION AND ELECTRICAL STIMULATION FOR EPILEPSY Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation ANTHONY, MARIA CATHERINE 3796 §102§103§112 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 29, 2025
19036664 DEVICES AND METHODS FOR TREATING A STRICTURE ALONG THE BILIARY AND/OR PANCREATIC TRACT BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION HENSON, DEVIN B 3791 §103DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 24, 2025
19035444 DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS FOR REMOVING MATERIALS FROM A BODY BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION DEMIE, TIGIST S 3794 §102§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 23, 2025
19029629 DEPLOYMENT MARKER BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION REMALY, MARK DONALD §101§102 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 17, 2025
19030286 ATTACHMENT DEVICES AND ASSOCIATED METHODS OF USE WITH A NERVE STIMULATION CHARGING DEVICE Axonics, Inc. LEE, ERICA SHENGKAI 3796 §103§112Other Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 17, 2025
19028047 TISSUE RETRACTION DEVICE AND DELIVERY SYSTEM BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION CHANG, OLIVIA C 3775 §102 Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 17, 2025
19028637 ENDOSCOPIC NEEDLE ASSEMBLY BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION LYNCH, ROBERT A 3771 §103§112 Final Rejection — Pending Jan 17, 2025
19029207 ENDOSCOPIC SUTURING SYSTEM HAVING EXTERNAL INSTRUMENT CHANNEL BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION BYRD, BRIGID K 3771 §102§103DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 17, 2025
19028159 ENDOSCOPIC SUTURING SYSTEM BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION ORKIN, ALEXANDER J 3771 Other Final Rejection — Pending Jan 17, 2025
19029432 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DEPLOYING STENT ACROSS ADJACENT TISSUE LAYERS BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION LABRANCHE, BROOKE N 3771 — Final Rejection — Pending Jan 17, 2025
19029543 METHODS AND DEVICES FOR ACCESS ACROSS ADJACENT TISSUE LAYERS BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION GIULIANI, THOMAS ANTHONY 3794 §102Other Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 17, 2025
19029718 OPTIMIZATION OF BPH TREATMENT USING LEP (LASER ENUCLEATION OF PROSTATE) LUMENIS LTD. LUAN, SCOTT 3792 §102DP Non-Final OA — Pending Jan 17, 2025
19029673 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REDUCING LASER BEAM ATTENTUATION IN A LIQUID MEDIUM LUMENIS LTD. LUAN, SCOTT 3792 §103 Final Rejection — Pending Jan 17, 2025

View all 330 →

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Seager, Tufte & Wickhem, LLP's patent allowance rate?

89.6% of resolved applications prosecuted by Seager, Tufte & Wickhem, LLP were allowed, across 11,676 applications in USPTO records.

How many office actions does Seager, Tufte & Wickhem, LLP average before allowance?

4.65 office actions per allowed application on average.

How many pending office actions does Seager, Tufte & Wickhem, LLP have?

330 pending office actions as of October 2026, for 30 clients, before 226 examiners in 59 art units.

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