USPTO Examiner BIRKHIMER CHRISTOPHER D - Art Unit 2136

Recent Applications

Detailed information about the 100 most recent patent applications.

Application NumberTitleFiling DateDisposal DateDispositionTime (months)Office ActionsRestrictionsInterviewAppeal
18887855NONVOLATILE MEMORY CONTROLLERSeptember 2024October 2025Allow1310NoNo
18771247STORAGE SYSTEM IMPROVING ENCRYPTION INTEGRITY OF DATA AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOFJuly 2024November 2025Allow1610NoNo
18751612COMPARISON OF A FINGERPRINT GENERATED FOR A REALIGNED DATA PAGE THAT BEGINS AT A NON-ZERO VALUE PORTION TO A PLURALITY OF FINGERPRINTS OF A DEDUPLICATION STORAGE SYSTEMJune 2024June 2025Allow1200NoNo
18750570SNOOP FILTER SHARER VECTOR EXPANSIONJune 2024September 2025Allow1510YesNo
18674776SYSTEM AND METHOD USING METADATA TO DIRECTLY READ TARGET DATA IN STORAGE NODESMay 2024September 2025Allow1610NoNo
18649906ZERO-COPY VOLUME MOVE WITHIN A DISTRIBUTED STORAGE SYSTEMApril 2024September 2024Allow510NoNo
18646447OPERATING METHOD OF NON-VOLATILE MEMORY DEVICE USING BIT FLIPPINGApril 2024August 2025Allow1600NoNo
18612578METHOD AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM AND APPARATUS FOR GARBAGE COLLECTION WITH DETERMINED HOST-ADDRESS TO FLASH-ADDRESS MAPPING (H2F) SUB-TABLES IN FLASH MEMORY DEVICEMarch 2024July 2025Allow1610NoNo
18607651GARBAGE COLLECTION AND BIN SYNCHRONIZATION FOR DISTRIBUTED STORAGE ARCHITECTUREMarch 2024November 2024Allow800NoNo
18591777CONTROLLING VARIATION OF VALID DATA COUNTS IN GARBAGE COLLECTION SOURCE BLOCKSFebruary 2024February 2025Allow1110NoNo
18588599SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE INCLUDING A CYCLIC REDUNDANCY CHECK ENGINE AND MEMORY SYSTEM INCLUDING THE SAMEFebruary 2024September 2024Allow710NoNo
18584779Selecting Garbage Collection ProcessesFebruary 2024March 2025Allow1300NoNo
18685207DATA CACHING AND READING METHOD, AND DATA ACCESS SYSTEMFebruary 2024August 2025Allow1810NoNo
18422393STORAGE SPACE ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES ALLOWING STORAGE OBJECT IDENTIFIER REUSE AND REASSIGNMENTJanuary 2024February 2025Allow1300NoNo
18421818DATA MAINTENANCE AND DELETION WITH TRUSTWORTHY ENERGY AWARENESSJanuary 2024July 2025Allow1810NoNo
18418253OPTIMIZING DATA STORAGE WITH ACCES WINDOWSJanuary 2024November 2024Allow1000NoNo
18579660METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRAINING DATA COMPRESSION MODEL, AND STORAGE MEDIUMJanuary 2024July 2025Allow1810NoNo
18403465Cooperative Storage Device for Managing Logical SubdivisionsJanuary 2024September 2024Allow810NoNo
18399349DATA COMPRESSION METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND DATA DECOMPRESSION METHOD AND APPARATUSDecember 2023August 2025Abandon1910NoNo
18529868MANAGING TRIM COMMANDS IN A MEMORY SUB-SYSTEMDecember 2023November 2024Allow1110NoNo
18500524TRACKING READ VOLTAGES IN MEMORY DEVICES USING DEEP NEURAL NETWORKSNovember 2023June 2025Allow2010NoNo
18471392CONVERTING THE FORMAT OF A DISTRIBUTED OBJECT STORAGE WITH REDUCED WRITE OPERATIONSSeptember 2023November 2024Allow1300NoNo
18469063STORAGE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PREDICTIVE REBALANCING AND CONTROLLER NODE MANAGEMENT BASED ON LOAD PREDICTIONSeptember 2023July 2025Allow2210NoNo
18463604Memory Controller and Method for Detecting Data Similarity for Deduplication in a Data Storage SystemSeptember 2023January 2025Allow1610NoNo
18358053BLOCK-LEVEL SINGLE INSTANCINGJuly 2023May 2025Abandon2230NoNo
18223133Data Storage Device and Method for Host-Assisted Efficient Handling of Multiple Versions of DataJuly 2023January 2025Allow1820YesNo
18223445SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR DRAM-LESS GARBAGE COLLECTION WITH IMPROVED PERFORMANCEJuly 2023September 2025Allow2610NoNo
18353862WRITE BUFFER LINKING FOR EASY CACHE READSJuly 2023March 2025Allow2020YesNo
18346171STORAGE DEVICE FOR DETERMINING MEMORY CELL TYPE AFTER DATA INPUT DURING PROGRAM OPERATION AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOFJune 2023August 2024Allow1300NoNo
18340853METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMPRESSING DATA OF STORAGE SYSTEM, DEVICE, AND READABLE STORAGE MEDIUMJune 2023April 2024Allow1010NoNo
18212432SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING STORAGE INFRASTRUCTURE CONFIGURATION DRIFTJune 2023July 2024Allow1300NoNo
18319708INTEGRATED CIRCUIT AND METHOD FOR CLEANING VALID BITS IN CACHE MEMORY OF THE INTEGRATED CIRCUITMay 2023August 2024Allow1500NoNo
18197363MANAGEMENT OF FLASH STORAGE MEDIAMay 2023March 2024Allow1010NoNo
18315040STORAGE METHOD CAPABLE OF BEING CONCURRENTLY ACCESSED BY SPLITTING ACCESS COMMAND, ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM IMPLEMENTING THE SAMEMay 2023February 2025Allow2120NoNo
18250476Modulating Credit Allocations in Memory SubsystemsApril 2023October 2024Allow1710YesNo
18139190SECURING DYNAMIC RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (DRAM) CONTENTS TO NON-VOLATILE IN A PERSISTENT MEMORY MODULEApril 2023January 2025Allow2130NoNo
18301986RECORD INFORMATION MANAGEMENT BASED ON SELF-DESCRIBING ATTRIBUTESApril 2023February 2024Allow1010NoNo
18193623METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SCREENING TB-SCALE INCREMENTAL DATAMarch 2023July 2023Allow300NoNo
18189027LIMITING DEDUPLICATION SEARCH DOMAINSMarch 2023January 2025Allow2200NoNo
18098279MULTI-PAGE PARITY DATA STORAGE IN A MEMORY DEVICEJanuary 2023October 2023Allow910NoNo
18150420DATA REDUCTION METHOD AND APPARATUSJanuary 2023December 2024Allow2320YesNo
18093069DATA DISPERSION-BASED MEMORY MANAGEMENTJanuary 2023October 2023Allow910NoNo
18013152DATA STORAGE METHOD, APPARATUS, DEVICE AND STORAGE MEDIUM USING DISTRIBUTED HOSTS FOR USER IDENTIFICATIONSDecember 2022May 2024Allow1610NoNo
18085589MEMORY CHIPDecember 2022September 2025Allow3310NoNo
18008109METHODS AND APPARATUS TO DEDUPLICATE DUPLICATE MEMORY IN A CLOUD COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTDecember 2022March 2024Allow1610YesNo
18073487FLASH MEMORY SYSTEM WITH ADDRESS-BASED SUBDIVISION SELECTION BY HOST AND METADATA MANAGEMENT IN STORAGE DRIVEDecember 2022October 2023Allow1110YesNo
18071454Lossy Data CompressionNovember 2022July 2023Allow810NoNo
17979851Ceph Media Failure and RemediationNovember 2022February 2025Abandon2820NoNo
17967474LOG COMPRESSIONOctober 2022October 2023Allow1210YesNo
17957075STORAGE DEVICE AND OPERATING METHOD UTILIZING A BUFFER WHEN A WRITE FAILURE OCCURSSeptember 2022July 2024Allow2220YesNo
17955324DATA PROCESSING AND TRANSMISSION USING HARDWARE SERIALIZATION AND DESERIALIZATION FUNCTIONSSeptember 2022February 2024Allow1610YesNo
17954784Scheduling Processing-in-Memory Requests and Memory RequestsSeptember 2022September 2025Allow3630YesNo
17932507CONTROL MODULE AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF FOR ACCESSING DATA IN MEMORY BANK GROUP OF SYNCHRONOUS DYNAMIC RANDOM ACCESS MEMORYSeptember 2022May 2025Abandon3240NoNo
17932309METHOD FOR INHERITING DEFECT BLOCK TABLE AND STORAGE DEVICE THEREOFSeptember 2022June 2024Allow2100NoNo
17902909NAND RAID CONTROLLER INCLUDING BUFFER AND METHOD PERFORMED BY THE NAND RAID CONTROLLERSeptember 2022March 2025Abandon3060YesNo
17900122MANAGING COMMAND COMPLETION NOTIFICATION PACING IN A MEMORY SUB-SYSTEMAugust 2022February 2025Allow2920NoNo
17888325CACHING FOR MULTIPLE-LEVEL MEMORY DEVICEAugust 2022August 2024Allow2410NoNo
17884689DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM USING BITMAP BASED TRIM COMMANDAugust 2022April 2024Allow2000NoNo
17884482BLOCK-LEVEL SINGLE INSTANCINGAugust 2022March 2023Allow710NoNo
17814458SLEEP MODE USING SHARED MEMORY BETWEEN TWO PROCESSORS OF AN INFORMATION HANDLING SYSTEMJuly 2022August 2025Abandon3740NoNo
17869951FAST GARBAGE COLLECTION IN ZONED NAMESPACES SSDSJuly 2022February 2023Allow710YesNo
17850352Storage Media Based Search Function For Key Value Data Storage DevicesJune 2022March 2024Allow2110YesNo
17839797STORAGE DEVICE CONFIGURED TO SELECTIVELY CHANGE A STREAM IDENTIFIER AND OPERATING METHOD OF STORAGE DEVICEJune 2022August 2025Allow3820YesYes
17830047CONTROLLING VARIATION OF VALID DATA COUNTS IN GARBAGE COLLECTION SOURCE BLOCKSJune 2022November 2023Allow1810NoNo
17829964Data Deduplication Method and Apparatus, and Computer Program ProductJune 2022November 2024Allow3070NoNo
17743137SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE AND MEMORY SYSTEM INCLUDING THE SAMEMay 2022January 2024Allow2000NoNo
17742019SMART QUEUE FOR DISTRIBUTING USER REQUESTS TO AUTOMATED RESPONSE GENERATING SYSTEMSMay 2022February 2024Allow2100NoNo
17738924CONTROL APPARATUS TO ACHIEVE PERFORMANCE WHILE LOWERING TEMPERATURE OF A SOLID STATE DRIVEMay 2022October 2024Allow2940NoNo
17732675DATA REDUCTION METHOD, APPARATUS, COMPUTING DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM FOR FORMING INDEX INFORMATION BASED ON FINGERPRINTSApril 2022May 2024Allow2430NoNo
17717454GARBAGE COLLECTION AND BIN SYNCHRONIZATION FOR DISTRIBUTED STORAGE ARCHITECTUREApril 2022November 2023Allow1900NoNo
17768101RECORDATION OF DATA IN ACCORDANCE WITH DATA COMPRESSION METHOD AND COUNTING READING OF THE DATA IN ACCORDANCE WITH DATA COUNTING METHODApril 2022May 2024Allow2610NoNo
17656645GARBAGE COLLECTION FOR DATA STORAGEMarch 2022September 2023Allow1800NoNo
17701476DATA MOVEMENT BASED ON ADDRESS TABLE ACTIVITYMarch 2022August 2023Allow1700NoNo
17689078STORAGE SYSTEM AND DATA PROCESSING METHOD USING DATA COMPRESSIONMarch 2022August 2023Allow1800NoNo
17653364Data Relocation With Protection For Open Relocation Destination BlocksMarch 2022April 2024Allow2630YesNo
17679859MEMORY SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHODFebruary 2022April 2024Abandon2620NoNo
17648874An Adjustable Deduplication Method, Apparatus, and Computer Program ProductJanuary 2022March 2024Allow2540NoNo
17583022AUTOMATIC DELETION IN A PERSISTENT STORAGE DEVICEJanuary 2022June 2024Allow2940YesNo
17579904METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMPRESSING DATA OF STORAGE SYSTEM, DEVICE, AND READABLE STORAGE MEDIUMJanuary 2022January 2024Abandon2420YesNo
17647530EFFICIENT INLINE BLOCK-LEVEL DEDUPLICATION USING A BLOOM FILTER AND A SMALL IN-MEMORY DEDUPLICATION HASH TABLEJanuary 2022May 2024Allow2910NoNo
17643999COMPRESSION OF SPARSE TENSORSDecember 2021November 2023Allow2300NoNo
17547818CONCURRENT PAGE CACHE RESOURCE ACCESS IN A MULTI-PLANE MEMORY DEVICEDecember 2021February 2024Allow2630YesNo
17529195STORAGE SYSTEM STORING A PLURALITY OF DISK FILES WHICH CORRESPOND TO A PLURALITY OF VIRTUAL DISKS AND ACCESS CONTROL METHOD THEREOFNovember 2021February 2023Allow1510NoNo
17518144Reduce Command Latency Using Block Pre-EraseNovember 2021August 2023Allow2110YesNo
17497269METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING VCRM TRANSMISSION DATA OPTIMIZATION AND APPARATUS THEREFOROctober 2021September 2023Allow2300NoNo
17490199DATA STORAGE SYSTEM WITH WORKLOAD-BASED DYNAMIC POWER CONSUMPTIONSeptember 2021February 2024Allow2920NoNo
17485131MIGRATING DATA TO DISK WITHOUT INTERRUPTING RUNNING OPERATIONSSeptember 2021May 2023Abandon2010NoNo
17482601METHOD OR APPARATUS TO INTEGRATE PHYSICAL FILE VERIFICATION AND GARBAGE COLLECTION (GC) BY TRACKING SPECIAL SEGMENTSSeptember 2021August 2023Allow2200NoNo
17447899USING RPO AS AN OPTIMIZATION TARGET FOR DATADOMAIN GARBAGE COLLECTIONSeptember 2021October 2023Allow2520NoNo
17473804STORAGE SYSTEM AND METHOD OF DATA AMOUNT REDUCTION IN STORAGE SYSTEMSeptember 2021July 2023Abandon2220NoNo
17468732DATA DEDUPLICATIONSeptember 2021July 2022Allow1000NoNo
17464904Data Compression Processing Method and Apparatus, and Computer-Readable Storage MediumSeptember 2021July 2023Allow2220NoNo
17462629MANAGING TRIM COMMANDS IN A MEMORY SUB-SYSTEMAugust 2021September 2023Allow2410YesNo
17446443RECORD INFORMATION MANAGEMENT BASED ON SELF-DESCRIBING ATTRIBUTESAugust 2021December 2022Allow1610NoNo
17412505DYNAMIC APPLICATION CONSISTENT DATA RESTORATIONAugust 2021November 2022Allow1510NoNo
17393183METHOD OF AND SYSTEM FOR INITIATING GARBAGE COLLECTION REQUESTSAugust 2021July 2023Allow2330NoNo
17390441APPARATUS, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OFFLOADING DATA TRANSFER OPERATIONS BETWEEN SOURCE AND DESTINATION STORAGE DEVICES TO A HARDWARE ACCELERATORJuly 2021October 2022Allow1410NoNo
17387472MANAGEMENT OF FLASH STORAGE MEDIAJuly 2021February 2023Allow1900NoNo
17419736UPDATES TO FLASH MEMORY BASED ON DETERMINATIONS OF BITS TO ERASEJune 2021January 2023Allow1900NoNo
17304942Integration of hashgraph and erasure coding for data integrityJune 2021May 2023Allow2220YesNo

Appeals Overview

This analysis examines appeal outcomes and the strategic value of filing appeals for examiner BIRKHIMER, CHRISTOPHER D.

Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Decisions

Total PTAB Decisions
21
Examiner Affirmed
9
(42.9%)
Examiner Reversed
12
(57.1%)
Reversal Percentile
81.8%
Higher than average

What This Means

With a 57.1% reversal rate, the PTAB has reversed the examiner's rejections more often than affirming them. This reversal rate is in the top 25% across the USPTO, indicating that appeals are more successful here than in most other areas.

Strategic Value of Filing an Appeal

Total Appeal Filings
35
Allowed After Appeal Filing
17
(48.6%)
Not Allowed After Appeal Filing
18
(51.4%)
Filing Benefit Percentile
77.0%
Higher than average

Understanding Appeal Filing Strategy

Filing a Notice of Appeal can sometimes lead to allowance even before the appeal is fully briefed or decided by the PTAB. This occurs when the examiner or their supervisor reconsiders the rejection during the mandatory appeal conference (MPEP § 1207.01) after the appeal is filed.

In this dataset, 48.6% of applications that filed an appeal were subsequently allowed. This appeal filing benefit rate is in the top 25% across the USPTO, indicating that filing appeals is particularly effective here. The act of filing often prompts favorable reconsideration during the mandatory appeal conference.

Strategic Recommendations

Appeals to PTAB show good success rates. If you have a strong case on the merits, consider fully prosecuting the appeal to a Board decision.

Filing a Notice of Appeal is strategically valuable. The act of filing often prompts favorable reconsideration during the mandatory appeal conference.

Examiner BIRKHIMER, CHRISTOPHER D - Prosecution Strategy Guide

Executive Summary

Examiner BIRKHIMER, CHRISTOPHER D works in Art Unit 2136 and has examined 317 patent applications in our dataset. With an allowance rate of 81.4%, this examiner has an above-average tendency to allow applications. Applications typically reach final disposition in approximately 27 months.

Allowance Patterns

Examiner BIRKHIMER, CHRISTOPHER D's allowance rate of 81.4% places them in the 52% percentile among all USPTO examiners. This examiner has an above-average tendency to allow applications.

Office Action Patterns

On average, applications examined by BIRKHIMER, CHRISTOPHER D receive 2.53 office actions before reaching final disposition. This places the examiner in the 74% percentile for office actions issued. This examiner issues a slightly above-average number of office actions.

Prosecution Timeline

The median time to disposition (half-life) for applications examined by BIRKHIMER, CHRISTOPHER D is 27 months. This places the examiner in the 71% percentile for prosecution speed. Prosecution timelines are slightly faster than average with this examiner.

Interview Effectiveness

Conducting an examiner interview provides a -2.9% benefit to allowance rate for applications examined by BIRKHIMER, CHRISTOPHER D. This interview benefit is in the 7% percentile among all examiners. Note: Interviews show limited statistical benefit with this examiner compared to others, though they may still be valuable for clarifying issues.

Request for Continued Examination (RCE) Effectiveness

When applicants file an RCE with this examiner, 18.4% of applications are subsequently allowed. This success rate is in the 17% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Insight: RCEs show lower effectiveness with this examiner compared to others. Consider whether a continuation application might be more strategic, especially if you need to add new matter or significantly broaden claims.

After-Final Amendment Practice

This examiner enters after-final amendments leading to allowance in 15.3% of cases where such amendments are filed. This entry rate is in the 16% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Recommendation: This examiner rarely enters after-final amendments compared to other examiners. You should generally plan to file an RCE or appeal rather than relying on after-final amendment entry. Per MPEP § 714.12, primary examiners have discretion in entering after-final amendments, and this examiner exercises that discretion conservatively.

Pre-Appeal Conference Effectiveness

When applicants request a pre-appeal conference (PAC) with this examiner, 28.6% result in withdrawal of the rejection or reopening of prosecution. This success rate is in the 30% percentile among all examiners. Note: Pre-appeal conferences show below-average success with this examiner. Consider whether your arguments are strong enough to warrant a PAC request.

Appeal Withdrawal and Reconsideration

This examiner withdraws rejections or reopens prosecution in 53.3% of appeals filed. This is in the 24% percentile among all examiners. Of these withdrawals, 29.2% occur early in the appeal process (after Notice of Appeal but before Appeal Brief). Strategic Insight: This examiner rarely withdraws rejections during the appeal process compared to other examiners. If you file an appeal, be prepared to fully prosecute it to a PTAB decision. Per MPEP § 1207, the examiner will prepare an Examiner's Answer maintaining the rejections.

Petition Practice

When applicants file petitions regarding this examiner's actions, 20.0% are granted (fully or in part). This grant rate is in the 10% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Note: Petitions are rarely granted regarding this examiner's actions compared to other examiners. Ensure you have a strong procedural basis before filing a petition, as the Technology Center Director typically upholds this examiner's decisions.

Examiner Cooperation and Flexibility

Examiner's Amendments: This examiner makes examiner's amendments in 0.3% of allowed cases (in the 56% percentile). This examiner makes examiner's amendments more often than average to place applications in condition for allowance (MPEP § 1302.04).

Quayle Actions: This examiner issues Ex Parte Quayle actions in 0.8% of allowed cases (in the 59% percentile). This examiner issues Quayle actions more often than average when claims are allowable but formal matters remain (MPEP § 714.14).

Prosecution Strategy Recommendations

Based on the statistical analysis of this examiner's prosecution patterns, here are tailored strategic recommendations:

  • Plan for RCE after final rejection: This examiner rarely enters after-final amendments. Budget for an RCE in your prosecution strategy if you receive a final rejection.

Relevant MPEP Sections for Prosecution Strategy

  • MPEP § 713.10: Examiner interviews - available before Notice of Allowance or transfer to PTAB
  • MPEP § 714.12: After-final amendments - may be entered "under justifiable circumstances"
  • MPEP § 1002.02(c): Petitionable matters to Technology Center Director
  • MPEP § 1004: Actions requiring primary examiner signature (allowances, final rejections, examiner's answers)
  • MPEP § 1207.01: Appeal conferences - mandatory for all appeals
  • MPEP § 1214.07: Reopening prosecution after appeal

Important Disclaimer

Not Legal Advice: The information provided in this report is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. You should consult with a qualified patent attorney or agent for advice specific to your situation.

No Guarantees: We do not provide any guarantees as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the statistics presented above. Patent prosecution statistics are derived from publicly available USPTO data and are subject to data quality limitations, processing errors, and changes in USPTO practices over time.

Limitation of Liability: Under no circumstances will IronCrow AI be liable for any outcome, decision, or action resulting from your reliance on the statistics, analysis, or recommendations presented in this report. Past prosecution patterns do not guarantee future results.

Use at Your Own Risk: While we strive to provide accurate and useful prosecution statistics, you should independently verify any information that is material to your prosecution strategy and use your professional judgment in all patent prosecution matters.