Detailed information about the 100 most recent patent applications.
| Application Number | Title | Filing Date | Disposal Date | Disposition | Time (months) | Office Actions | Restrictions | Interview | Appeal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16808837 | CONTROLLER AREA NETWORK (CAN) MESSAGE SCANNER FOR A WINTER SERVICE VEHICLE, AND METHOD OF SCANNING A CAN MESSAGE | March 2020 | February 2021 | Allow | 12 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 16739490 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TRANSMITTING A DATA FILE OVER A DATA NETWORK | January 2020 | February 2021 | Abandon | 13 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 16439513 | Image to Logo Hyperlink Converter | June 2019 | January 2021 | Abandon | 19 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 16429032 | Polyhedral structures and network topologies for high performance computing | June 2019 | June 2021 | Abandon | 25 | 0 | 1 | No | No |
| 16421332 | AUTOMATED DISCOVERY OF MANUAL CONFIGURATION CHANGES | May 2019 | January 2021 | Allow | 20 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 16416691 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF ALWAYS-ON IMMERSIVE VIDEO PORTAL | May 2019 | June 2021 | Abandon | 25 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 16378385 | STREAMING DECISION IN THE CLOUD | April 2019 | September 2020 | Allow | 17 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 16374829 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REGULATING NETWORK RESOURCES TO IMPROVE DATA-TRANSMISSION QUALITY | April 2019 | January 2021 | Allow | 22 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 16370943 | ONLINE APPLICATION TO CENTRALIZE, CREATE, TRACK, MANAGE AND FACILITATE EMPLOYMENT APPLICATIONS FOR JOB SEEKERS | March 2019 | March 2021 | Abandon | 23 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 16356941 | Accessing protected web resources using cloud paywall system | March 2019 | March 2021 | Abandon | 24 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 16311763 | METHODS IDENTIFYING VEHICLES AND RELATED SYSTEMS, CONTROLLERS, AND VEHICLES | December 2018 | April 2021 | Allow | 28 | 3 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 16226596 | System and Method for Expediting a Sale Offer Processing | December 2018 | February 2021 | Abandon | 26 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 16210498 | Rideshare Safety System | December 2018 | January 2021 | Abandon | 25 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 16176182 | Insurance Plan Rating and Ranking System | October 2018 | January 2021 | Abandon | 26 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 16164199 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD | October 2018 | February 2021 | Allow | 28 | 4 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 16116261 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DISCOVERING, CHARACTERIZING AND PROJECTING CONSUMPTION BEHAVIORS OF INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS OF INDIVIDUALS IN FACE-TO-FACE GROUP INTERACTIONS AND ASSIGNING CONSUMER INFLUENCE SCORES TO INDIVIDUALS | August 2018 | December 2020 | Abandon | 27 | 0 | 1 | No | No |
| 16019470 | Equality network mobile app or equal economy process | June 2018 | June 2021 | Abandon | 36 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 15950200 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INTELLIGENT TERRAIN IDENTIFICATION, VEHICLE-MOUNTED TERMINAL AND VEHICLE | April 2018 | April 2021 | Abandon | 36 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 15917341 | Virally connected network of people as a means to recover encrypted data should the encryption key become lost | March 2018 | September 2020 | Allow | 30 | 1 | 1 | Yes | No |
| 15896085 | Transactions Across Blockchain Networks | February 2018 | November 2020 | Abandon | 33 | 1 | 1 | No | No |
| 15888498 | PACKET VALIDATION IN VIRTUAL NETWORK INTERFACE ARCHITECTURE | February 2018 | October 2020 | Allow | 32 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 15873338 | WINTER SERVICE VEHICLE AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING A SPREADING RATE FOR SPREADING DE-ICING MATERIAL ON ROADS | January 2018 | December 2020 | Abandon | 35 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 15867781 | MECHANISM FOR EXECUTING SERVER DISCOVERY | January 2018 | March 2021 | Abandon | 38 | 3 | 0 | No | No |
| 15855716 | OPERATOR FUSION MANAGEMENT IN A STREAM COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT | December 2017 | April 2018 | Allow | 3 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 15840444 | DISTRIBUTED FILE TRANSFER WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE | December 2017 | February 2018 | Allow | 2 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 15555115 | System, Apparatus and Method for Load Balancing | September 2017 | October 2020 | Allow | 38 | 3 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 15554863 | INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD | August 2017 | December 2020 | Allow | 39 | 4 | 0 | No | No |
| 15554515 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD FOR SELECTION OF A TARGET USER | August 2017 | July 2020 | Allow | 35 | 3 | 0 | No | No |
| 15664395 | SCREEN SHARE RECONSTITUTION | July 2017 | March 2018 | Allow | 7 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 15655820 | Authoring System for Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to Develop a Computer-Based Question and Answer (QA) system for their Instructional Materials | July 2017 | October 2020 | Abandon | 39 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 15535184 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE REPERCUSSION-FREE CAPTURE OF DATA | June 2017 | March 2020 | Allow | 33 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 15613183 | Automatic Requirement Verification Engine and Analytics | June 2017 | September 2020 | Allow | 39 | 1 | 1 | Yes | No |
| 15345653 | MULTIPLE CLOUD SERVICES DELIVERY BY A CLOUD EXCHANGE | November 2016 | January 2018 | Allow | 14 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 15215905 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR VEHICLE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT IN A NETWORK OF MOVING THINGS | July 2016 | August 2018 | Allow | 31 | 4 | 0 | No | No |
| 15216114 | CONNECTION GATEWAY FOR COMMUNICATING MONITORING AND CONTROL INFORMATION BETWEEN A REMOTELY LOCATED MOBILE DEVICE AND PREMISES DEVICES/APPLIANCES ON A PREMISES NETWORK | July 2016 | October 2017 | Abandon | 15 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 15104126 | Information Processing Device and Information Processing System | June 2016 | January 2021 | Abandon | 55 | 6 | 0 | Yes | Yes |
| 15103877 | DISTRIBUTED DEPLOYMENT BASED ON RATING VALUES | June 2016 | April 2018 | Allow | 22 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 15134388 | METHOD FOR MIGRATING SERVICE OF DATA CENTER, APPARATUS, AND SYSTEM | April 2016 | December 2016 | Allow | 8 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 14913577 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DISTRIBUTING TRAFFIC BY USING PLURALITY OF NETWORK INTERFACES IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM | February 2016 | April 2021 | Abandon | 60 | 8 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 15001822 | MULTIPLE CLOUD SERVICES DELIVERY BY A CLOUD EXCHANGE | January 2016 | January 2018 | Allow | 24 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 15001766 | MULTI-CLOUD, MULTI-SERVICE DATA MODEL | January 2016 | March 2018 | Allow | 25 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14989835 | System and Method for Policy-Based Geolocation Services for Virtual Servers | January 2016 | August 2017 | Allow | 20 | 3 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14984312 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING VIRTUAL DATACENTERS | December 2015 | August 2020 | Allow | 55 | 5 | 0 | No | Yes |
| 14973423 | Method and System for Transmitting a Data File Over a Data Network | December 2015 | October 2017 | Abandon | 22 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 14874519 | GENERALIZED PROXY ARCHITECTURE TO PROVIDE REMOTE ACCESS TO AN APPLICATION FRAMEWORK | October 2015 | February 2018 | Allow | 37 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 14874959 | ASSIGNING NETWORK ADDRESSES TO POSSIBLE NETWORK PORTS TO FULLEST EXTENT TO WHICH ADDRESSES CAN BE ASSIGNED TO PORTS | October 2015 | June 2018 | Allow | 33 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14874793 | PERSONAL HANDHELD WEB SERVER AND STORAGE DEVICE | October 2015 | September 2018 | Abandon | 35 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 14846647 | Just-in-Time Distributed Video Cache | September 2015 | June 2017 | Allow | 22 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 14812175 | CACHE CONTROL DEVICE AND CACHE CONTROL METHOD | July 2015 | May 2018 | Abandon | 33 | 1 | 1 | No | No |
| 14811907 | NEGATIVE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF TUNNELED ENCAPSULATED MEDIA | July 2015 | July 2017 | Allow | 23 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14811954 | REMOTE PROCEDURE CALL MANAGEMENT | July 2015 | April 2018 | Allow | 33 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14739054 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING A COLLECTIVE DATA TRANSFER RATE OF A PLURALITY OF EDGE DEVICES | June 2015 | October 2017 | Allow | 28 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 14738966 | ALLOCATING AND MANAGING CLOUD COMPUTING RESOURCES FOR DISASTER RECOVERY | June 2015 | December 2017 | Allow | 30 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14739033 | REQUEST PROCESSING ACCORDING TO DEGRADATION MONITORING | June 2015 | December 2017 | Allow | 30 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14738682 | RESERVED NETWORK DEVICE CAPACITY | June 2015 | April 2018 | Allow | 35 | 2 | 0 | Yes | Yes |
| 14731725 | BLOCKING A SELECTED PORT PRIOR TO INSTALLATION OF AN APPLICATION | June 2015 | September 2017 | Allow | 27 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 14626456 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING AN INTERACTIVE NETWORK SESSION | February 2015 | July 2018 | Allow | 41 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14542019 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UPDATING DATA ACROSS MULTIPLE NETWORK ARCHITECTURES | November 2014 | November 2015 | Allow | 12 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14536784 | SYSTEM FOR REMOTE ACCESS OF A USER PREMISES | November 2014 | February 2018 | Allow | 39 | 3 | 0 | No | No |
| 14487055 | Sharing of Repository Data for Non-Alias Identities | September 2014 | January 2018 | Abandon | 40 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 14473013 | Adaptive Communication Anonymization | August 2014 | September 2016 | Allow | 25 | 3 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14467122 | ADAPTABLE NETWORK SERVICE ACCESS THROUGH DYNAMIC REQUEST ROUTING | August 2014 | June 2017 | Allow | 34 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 14462414 | SERVICE DISCOVERY ACROSS DIFFERENT NETWORKS | August 2014 | April 2017 | Allow | 32 | 2 | 0 | Yes | Yes |
| 14331155 | AUTOMATED COLLABORATION FOR PEER-TO-PEER ELECTRONIC DEVICES | July 2014 | July 2017 | Allow | 36 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14322911 | ELECTRONIC MESSAGE FORWARDING | July 2014 | July 2017 | Abandon | 37 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 14305791 | SERVICE DISCOVERY ACROSS DIFFERENT NETWORKS | June 2014 | February 2016 | Allow | 20 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14274610 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MAINTAINING A MESSAGE THREAD WITH OPT-IN PERMANENCE FOR ENTRIES | May 2014 | April 2017 | Allow | 35 | 7 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14231747 | PROVISION OF RSS FEEDS BASED ON CLASSIFICATION OF CONTENT | April 2014 | September 2017 | Allow | 42 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14204754 | HYPER-LOCAL TARGETING BASED ON USER LOCATION | March 2014 | August 2017 | Abandon | 41 | 5 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14203336 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSFORMING INTER-COMPONENT COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH SEMANTIC INTERPRETATION | March 2014 | March 2017 | Allow | 36 | 4 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14181964 | Simultaneous Image Distribution and Archiving | February 2014 | September 2017 | Allow | 42 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 14158347 | PEER-TO-PEER ELECTRONIC DEVICE HANDLING OF SOCIAL NETWORK ACTIVITY | January 2014 | May 2014 | Allow | 4 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14158349 | AUTOMATED COLLABORATION FOR PEER-TO-PEER ELECTRONIC DEVICES | January 2014 | May 2014 | Allow | 4 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 14036704 | Method and Apparatus for Identifying and Facilitating a Social Interaction Structure over a Data Packet Network | September 2013 | March 2017 | Abandon | 42 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 13962823 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AN EMAIL SECURITY ARCHITECTURE | August 2013 | June 2018 | Abandon | 58 | 8 | 0 | No | No |
| 13945747 | JUST-IN-TIME DISTRIBUTED VIDEO CACHE | July 2013 | February 2014 | Allow | 7 | 1 | 1 | No | No |
| 13937023 | Method and System for Transmitting a Data File Over a Data Network | July 2013 | January 2016 | Abandon | 30 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 13930592 | Adaptive Communication Anonymization | June 2013 | September 2016 | Allow | 39 | 3 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 13930791 | COMPUTER PRODUCT, COMMUNICATION NODE, AND TRANSMISSION CONTROL METHOD | June 2013 | September 2017 | Abandon | 50 | 3 | 0 | No | No |
| 13906261 | Apparatus and Method for Maintaining a Message Thread with Opt-In Permanence for Entries | May 2013 | March 2017 | Allow | 45 | 10 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 13765579 | PACKET VALIDATION IN VIRTUAL NETWORK INTERFACE ARCHITECTURE | February 2013 | October 2017 | Allow | 56 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 13717592 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR EFFICIENT GRACEFUL RESTART IN AN OPEN SHORTEST PATH FIRST (OSPF) NETWORK | December 2012 | May 2017 | Allow | 53 | 3 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 13693291 | AUTOMATIC UPDATES TO FABRIC ALERT DEFINITIONS | December 2012 | May 2018 | Allow | 60 | 4 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 13699353 | Apparatus and Mechanism for Dynamic Assignment of Survivability Services to Mobile Devices | November 2012 | September 2013 | Allow | 10 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 13673286 | EMAIL SECURITY ARCHITECTURE | November 2012 | July 2018 | Allow | 60 | 8 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 13629010 | ORDERING OF DIGITAL CONTENT BASED ON A CONTENT MODEL | September 2012 | October 2016 | Allow | 49 | 5 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 13620867 | PROVIDING COMMUNITY CAPABILITIES | September 2012 | January 2017 | Abandon | 52 | 5 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 13620871 | Providing a comment capability | September 2012 | January 2017 | Abandon | 52 | 5 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 13620856 | AUTOMATIC RESPONSES TO ELECTRONIC MESSAGES | September 2012 | January 2016 | Abandon | 40 | 4 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 13620702 | SYNCHRONIZATION OF DIGITAL CONTENT | September 2012 | March 2017 | Allow | 54 | 5 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 13606012 | Defined Delays to Support Consistent Tiered Messaging Performance | September 2012 | August 2013 | Allow | 12 | 0 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 13606011 | Dynamic Scheduling of Electronic Content Updates | September 2012 | February 2017 | Allow | 53 | 0 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 13587301 | Methods and Apparatus for Identifying and Facilitating a Social Interaction Structure over a Data Packet Network | August 2012 | January 2014 | Abandon | 17 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 13551214 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONNECTING A MOBILE DEVICE TO A GLOBAL NETWORK USING A VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK CONNECTION | July 2012 | September 2017 | Abandon | 60 | 7 | 0 | No | No |
| 13547326 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCOMMODATING DUPLICATE MAC ADDRESSES | July 2012 | August 2017 | Allow | 60 | 2 | 0 | No | Yes |
| 13539670 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UPDATING COMPUTER MEMORY AND FILE LOCATIONS WITHIN VIRTUAL COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS | July 2012 | October 2013 | Abandon | 15 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 13488274 | SHARING SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS | June 2012 | June 2013 | Allow | 12 | 1 | 1 | Yes | No |
| 13484483 | FACILITATING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS | May 2012 | November 2014 | Allow | 29 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 13484883 | MAPPING MESSAGES BETWEEN WEB SERVICES | May 2012 | February 2016 | Allow | 45 | 3 | 0 | No | No |
| 13484718 | Unifying Programming Models in Connectivity Framework | May 2012 | July 2017 | Abandon | 60 | 6 | 0 | Yes | No |
This analysis examines appeal outcomes and the strategic value of filing appeals for examiner BIAGINI, CHRISTOPHER D.
With a 25.5% reversal rate, the PTAB affirms the examiner's rejections in the vast majority of cases. This reversal rate is below the USPTO average, indicating that appeals face more challenges here than typical.
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, 18.3% of applications that filed an appeal were subsequently allowed. This appeal filing benefit rate is in the bottom 25% across the USPTO, indicating that filing appeals is less effective here than in most other areas.
⚠ Appeals to PTAB face challenges. Ensure your case has strong merit before committing to full Board review.
⚠ Filing a Notice of Appeal shows limited benefit. Consider other strategies like interviews or amendments before appealing.
Examiner BIAGINI, CHRISTOPHER D works in Art Unit 2445 and has examined 304 patent applications in our dataset. With an allowance rate of 55.6%, this examiner allows applications at a lower rate than most examiners at the USPTO. Applications typically reach final disposition in approximately 47 months.
Examiner BIAGINI, CHRISTOPHER D's allowance rate of 55.6% places them in the 18% percentile among all USPTO examiners. This examiner is less likely to allow applications than most examiners at the USPTO.
On average, applications examined by BIAGINI, CHRISTOPHER D receive 3.25 office actions before reaching final disposition. This places the examiner in the 88% percentile for office actions issued. This examiner issues more office actions than most examiners, which may indicate thorough examination or difficulty in reaching agreement with applicants.
The median time to disposition (half-life) for applications examined by BIAGINI, CHRISTOPHER D is 47 months. This places the examiner in the 11% percentile for prosecution speed. Applications take longer to reach final disposition with this examiner compared to most others.
Conducting an examiner interview provides a +32.0% benefit to allowance rate for applications examined by BIAGINI, CHRISTOPHER D. This interview benefit is in the 79% percentile among all examiners. Recommendation: Interviews are highly effective with this examiner and should be strongly considered as a prosecution strategy. Per MPEP § 713.10, interviews are available at any time before the Notice of Allowance is mailed or jurisdiction transfers to the PTAB.
When applicants file an RCE with this examiner, 16.2% of applications are subsequently allowed. This success rate is in the 15% 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.
This examiner enters after-final amendments leading to allowance in 11.0% of cases where such amendments are filed. This entry rate is in the 12% 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.
When applicants request a pre-appeal conference (PAC) with this examiner, 20.7% result in withdrawal of the rejection or reopening of prosecution. This success rate is in the 28% 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.
This examiner withdraws rejections or reopens prosecution in 36.5% of appeals filed. This is in the 6% percentile among all examiners. Of these withdrawals, 18.5% 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.
When applicants file petitions regarding this examiner's actions, 41.4% are granted (fully or in part). This grant rate is in the 30% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Note: Petitions show below-average success regarding this examiner's actions. Ensure you have a strong procedural basis before filing.
Examiner's Amendments: This examiner makes examiner's amendments in 1.6% of allowed cases (in the 72% 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 1.2% of allowed cases (in the 64% percentile). This examiner issues Quayle actions more often than average when claims are allowable but formal matters remain (MPEP § 714.14).
Based on the statistical analysis of this examiner's prosecution patterns, here are tailored strategic recommendations:
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.