USPTO Examiner MILLS DONALD L - Art Unit 2462

Recent Applications

Detailed information about the 100 most recent patent applications.

Application NumberTitleFiling DateDisposal DateDispositionTime (months)Office ActionsRestrictionsInterviewAppeal
19087173BUFFER STATUS REPORTINGMarch 2025October 2025Allow710NoNo
18960924L1 REPLICATOR AND SWITCH COMBINATIONNovember 2024March 2025Allow300NoNo
18859583TECHNIQUES TO REDUCE LATENCY SPIKES IN MULTIPATH COMMUNICATION SYSTEMSOctober 2024July 2025Allow910NoNo
18910426SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMMUNICATION BETWEEN REMOTE ENVIRONMENTSOctober 2024April 2025Allow710YesNo
18756342SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISTRIBUTION OF ROUTES IN A TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKJune 2024June 2025Allow1210NoNo
18744162RADIO LINK MONITORING AND RADIO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT MEASUREMENT PROCEDURES FOR NR-UJune 2024November 2025Allow1710YesNo
18630677EDGE SYNCHRONIZATION PLATFORMApril 2024June 2025Allow1410NoNo
18442215WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS APPARATUS AND METHODSFebruary 2024January 2025Allow1110NoNo
18390939METHOD AND DEVICE FOR SENDING CONTROL CHANNELDecember 2023February 2025Allow1410NoNo
18391612SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DATA PLANE VALIDATION OF MULTIPLE PATHS IN A NETWORKDecember 2023August 2025Allow1920YesNo
18537302SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SCALABLE VALIDATION OF MULTIPLE PATHS IN A NETWORK USING SEGMENT ROUTINGDecember 2023July 2025Allow1930YesNo
18500838DATA TRANSMISSION METHOD, NETWORK DEVICE, AND TERMINAL DEVICENovember 2023March 2026Allow2940NoNo
18492517METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMIC QUOTA-BASED CONGESTION MANAGEMENTOctober 2023April 2025Allow1720NoNo
18382088RESOURCE CONFIGURATION METHOD, DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUMOctober 2023February 2026Allow2810NoNo
18489350LOCAL CONGESTION MITIGATIONOctober 2023February 2025Allow1620YesNo
18488328Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) Transmission Based on Robust CodebookOctober 2023February 2025Allow1610NoNo
18380457MULTI-HOMED LAYER-2 (L2) SERVICE INSERTION ENTERPRISE FABRIC NETWORKSOctober 2023February 2026Allow2810NoNo
18479033SERVICE DATA PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND DEVICESeptember 2023February 2026Allow2810NoNo
18474747L1 REPLICATOR AND SWITCH COMBINATIONSeptember 2023September 2024Allow1220YesNo
18548965Method and Apparatus for Handling CollisionSeptember 2023March 2026Allow3010NoNo
18238083EDGE SYNCHRONIZATION PLATFORMAugust 2023January 2024Allow510YesNo
18452661INCREASING MULTI-PATH SIZE USING HIERARCHICAL FORWARDING EQUIVALENT CLASSESAugust 2023April 2025Abandon2010NoNo
18451085ROUTING POLICIES WITH RCF EXPRESSIONS AT THE POINT OF APPLICATIONAugust 2023January 2026Allow2910YesNo
18234380ROUTE FILTERING FOR CLUSTERS IN MULTI-REGIONAL LARGE SCALE DEPLOYMENTS WITH DISTRIBUTED GATEWAYSAugust 2023January 2026Allow2910YesNo
18450677Token-Based Networking Data Plane Protocol And Token Processing EngineAugust 2023March 2026Allow3010NoNo
18020672PACKET FORWARDING METHOD AND DEVICE, AND COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUMAugust 2023February 2026Allow3610NoNo
18365131ROUTING POLICIES WITH ROUTING CONTROL FUNCTIONS (RCFS) HAVING FUNCTION ARGUMENTSAugust 2023February 2026Allow3010YesNo
18360404Wireless Network Supporting Extended Coverage of ServiceJuly 2023October 2025Allow2740NoNo
18223731INITIATOR-BASED DATA-PLANE VALIDATION FOR SEGMENT ROUTED, MULTIPROTOCOL LABEL SWITCHED (MPLS) NETWORKSJuly 2023December 2024Allow1720YesNo
18350593PCE for BIER-TE PathJuly 2023February 2026Allow3110NoNo
18319069SHORT AND LONG TRAINING FIELDSMay 2023January 2025Allow2010NoNo
18196236SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF DEFERING A TRANSMISSION OFA MESSAGEMay 2023November 2024Abandon1810NoNo
18141243AUTOMATED VPN LOAD BALANCERApril 2023April 2024Allow1220YesNo
18306279MAINTAINING A SET OF LINKS ASSOCIATED WITH A LINK AGGREGATION GROUP TO FACILITATE PROVISIONING OR UPDATING OF A CUSTOMER EDGE DEVICEApril 2023August 2024Allow1620YesNo
18301750SOFTWARE-DEFINED NETWORK STATISTICS EXTENSIONApril 2023May 2024Allow1320NoNo
18134158MULTI-PATH LAYER CONFIGURED FOR PERFORMING ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS OF PATH ANOMALIESApril 2023January 2026Allow3310YesNo
18132599METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR REFERENCE SIGNAL TRANSMISSIONApril 2023July 2024Allow1510NoNo
18131132Bitmap signaling of services using Segment RoutingApril 2023August 2024Allow1620NoNo
18191853COORDINATING SELECTION OF A PATH BETWEEN A SOURCE NODE AND A DESTINATION NODE IN A NETWORKMarch 2023December 2025Allow3210YesNo
18160823CUSTOMIZED TUPLE DEFINITION FOR HASHING AT A NETWORK APPLIANCE ROUTING SERVICEJanuary 2023September 2025Allow3220YesNo
18157894NETWORK GATEWAYS WITH REDUNDANT COMMUNICATION CAPABILITY, AND ASSOCIATED METHODSJanuary 2023January 2024Allow1210NoNo
18157243Communication System and Method for Integrating a Data Distribution Service Into a Time Sensitive NetworkJanuary 2023September 2024Allow1920NoNo
18154094RESOURCE OPTIMIZATION IN MULTICAST NETWORK ENVIRONMENTSJanuary 2023December 2025Allow3510YesNo
18152620VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE, SYSTEM, AND VEHICLE CONTROL METHODJanuary 2023October 2025Allow3410NoNo
18151823METHOD AND DEVICE FOR TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING WIRELESS SIGNAL IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMJanuary 2023August 2023Allow710NoNo
18054627COMMUNICATION APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD FOR COMMUNICATION APPARATUS, AND STORAGE MEDIUMNovember 2022July 2025Allow3210NoNo
17982699CONGESTION-AWARE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT USING HISTORICAL LOAD DATA AND REAL-TIME CELL MAPPINGNovember 2022June 2025Allow3210NoNo
17982014SYSTEMS AND METHOD OF QOS DELIVERY FOR PARAMETERS FOR RESTRICTED TWTNovember 2022February 2026Allow4020NoNo
17437794Survival Time Communication TechniquesOctober 2022October 2025Allow4910NoNo
17969406METHOD, DEVICE, AND SYSTEM FOR DEPLOYING NETWORK SLICEOctober 2022April 2024Allow1720YesNo
17919408PDCCH MONITORING REDUCTION ASSOCIATED WITH WTRU POWER SAVINGOctober 2022January 2026Allow3920YesNo
17959938EXTREMELY HIGH THROUGHPUT AND HIGH FREQUENCY BANDWIDTH SUPPORT INDICATIONOctober 2022January 2026Allow3910NoNo
17913390N14 INTERFACE SUPPORT INDICATOR FOR SERVICE CONTINUITYSeptember 2022July 2025Allow3410NoNo
17943970SYSTEM FOR AND METHOD OF ACCESS PROTOCOLSeptember 2022October 2025Allow3720NoNo
17910709DIGITAL RADIO COMMUNICATIONSSeptember 2022October 2025Allow3820NoNo
17929864SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR EXPOSING CUSTOM PER FLOW DESCRIPTOR ATTRIBUTESSeptember 2022November 2023Allow1520NoNo
17903615DISTRIBUTED SUB-CONTROLLER PERMISSION FOR CONTROL OF DATA-TRAFFIC FLOW WITHIN SOFTWARE-DEFINED NETWORKING (SDN) MESH NETWORKSeptember 2022July 2023Allow1010YesNo
17905650COORDINATING A QUALITY OF SERVICE SETTING BETWEEN DIFFERENT CONNECTIONSSeptember 2022April 2025Abandon3110NoNo
17908567DYNAMIC CHANGE OF ACTIVE QUEUE MANAGEMENT (AQM) LOCATIONSeptember 2022June 2025Abandon3410NoNo
17898313Elastic SchedulingAugust 2022April 2024Allow1920NoNo
17904623Configured Grant AdjustmentsAugust 2022May 2025Allow3310NoNo
17890651FORWARDING ENTRY GENERATION METHOD, PACKET SENDING METHOD, NETWORK DEVICE, AND SYSTEMAugust 2022May 2025Allow3320NoNo
17820458SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAL RESOURCE SET DETERMINATION FOR DOWNLINK CONTROL INFORMATIONAugust 2022June 2025Allow3420YesNo
17888120TECHNIQUES FOR NORMALIZING NARROW BEAM CHANNEL ACCESS PARAMETERS BASED ON BANDWIDTH IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONSAugust 2022June 2025Allow3420NoNo
17799586RANDOM ACCESS PROCEDURE SELECTIONAugust 2022June 2025Allow3410NoNo
17886408NON-CONTIGUOUS RESOURCE BLOCKS FOR BANDWIDTH PART CONFIGURATIONAugust 2022June 2025Allow3420NoNo
17798972A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HARQ-ACK CODEBOOK DETERMINATION FOR FRAME-BASED EQUIPMENT OPERATIONAugust 2022June 2025Allow3410YesNo
17886296REGULATION METHOD INTENDED TO RESORB CONGESTION ON A MESH POWERLINE AND RADIO COMMUNICATION NETWORKAugust 2022December 2024Allow2810NoNo
17799146EASYMESH CONFIGURATION OF AP USING IEEE 1905.1August 2022October 2025Allow3820NoNo
17884867Power Saving Techniques for Network-Controlled RepeatersAugust 2022April 2025Allow3210NoNo
17760261POWER CONTROL USING AT LEAST ONE POWER CONTROL PARAMETERAugust 2022July 2025Allow3510YesNo
17881140METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING REFERENCE POINT IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMAugust 2022February 2024Allow1920NoNo
17816943USER EQUIPMENT AND METHOD PERFORMED BY THE SAME IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMAugust 2022March 2025Allow3210NoNo
17816216SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SCALABLE VALIDATION OF MULTIPLE PATHS IN A NETWORK USING SEGMENT ROUTINGJuly 2022August 2023Allow1310YesNo
17795806ROUTING OF BURSTY DATA FLOWSJuly 2022November 2023Allow1520YesNo
17872976METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SIGNALING APERIODIC CHANNEL STATE INDICATION REFERENCE SIGNALS FOR LTE OPERATIONJuly 2022August 2023Allow1310YesNo
17855187INFORMATION CENTRIC NETWORK ROUTINGJune 2022November 2025Allow4110NoNo
17809691MULTI-LEVEL CODING FOR UPLINK TRANSMISSIONSJune 2022March 2025Allow3320YesNo
17809258SCALABLE NETWORK TRAFFIC SHAPING SERVICE WITH DYNAMICALLY CONFIGURED PARTITIONSJune 2022February 2025Allow3110NoNo
17808652Enhanced Multicast Traceroute to Receive Inline Failure ReplyJune 2022March 2025Allow3310YesNo
17848088CROSSBAR MULTIPATHING FOR MULTICAST PERFORMANCE IN TILED SWITCHESJune 2022March 2025Allow3310NoNo
17782004TECHNIQUES FOR SRS TIME-DOMAIN BUNDLING IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMJune 2022April 2025Allow3510NoNo
17779090METHOD AND DEVICE FOR TERMINAL TO TRANSMIT POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNAL IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM SUPPORTING SIDELINK COMMUNICATIONMay 2022December 2024Allow3010NoNo
17750491WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS APPARATUS AND METHODSMay 2022November 2023Allow1720NoNo
17741759METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING BOTTLENECK LINKMay 2022January 2024Allow2020YesNo
17740822METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING UPLINK CHANNEL IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMMay 2022December 2024Allow3210NoNo
17740021NETWORK ENTITIES FOR MANAGING DISTRIBUTION OF SLICE SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT INFORMATION IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORKMay 2022October 2024Allow2910NoNo
17737585EXECUTING MULTIPATH COMMUNICATIONMay 2022September 2024Allow2910NoNo
17660852LATENCY REDUCTION AND RANGE EXTENSION SYSTEM FOR RADIO NETWORKSApril 2022January 2024Abandon2120YesNo
17726650ETHERNET VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK FAST REROUTE TRIGGERED DESIGNATED FORWARDER ELECTIONApril 2022January 2025Allow3310YesNo
17769025METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING DETNET DATA PACKETApril 2022September 2024Allow2910NoNo
17719415DISTRIBUTION OF CLIENTS ACROSS A NETWORKApril 2022July 2025Allow3921NoNo
17718779METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR APPLICATION-AWARE SCHEDULING SERVICEApril 2022September 2024Allow2950YesNo
17717712PLATFORM AGNOSTIC GATEWAY FOR EFFICIENT DATA TRANSFER BETWEEN SYSTEMSApril 2022November 2024Allow3110NoNo
17715077GRACEFUL SWITCHOVER FOR MULTI-CHASSIS TRUNKINGApril 2022March 2025Allow3620NoNo
17711571METHOD AND DEVICE FOR TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING WIRELESS SIGNAL IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMApril 2022October 2022Allow710NoNo
17701982SEQUENCING OF LABELED PACKETSMarch 2022April 2025Allow3620NoNo
17699237METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR NETWORK TRAFFIC DIVERSIONMarch 2022January 2024Allow2220YesNo
17697354OUT-BAND PHYSICAL SIDELINK FEEDBACK CHANNEL (PSFCH) RESOURCES FOR SIDELINK UNLICENSED SPECTRUMMarch 2022July 2024Allow2810YesNo
17688994Systems and Methods for Automatically Adjusting a Time-Based Anti-Replay Window SizeMarch 2022November 2024Allow3210YesNo

Appeals Overview

This analysis examines appeal outcomes and the strategic value of filing appeals for examiner MILLS, DONALD L.

Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Decisions

Total PTAB Decisions
28
Examiner Affirmed
18
(64.3%)
Examiner Reversed
10
(35.7%)
Reversal Percentile
57.0%
Higher than average

What This Means

With a 35.7% reversal rate, the PTAB reverses the examiner's rejections in a meaningful percentage of cases. This reversal rate is above the USPTO average, indicating that appeals have better success here than typical.

Strategic Value of Filing an Appeal

Total Appeal Filings
72
Allowed After Appeal Filing
30
(41.7%)
Not Allowed After Appeal Filing
42
(58.3%)
Filing Benefit Percentile
69.3%
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, 41.7% of applications that filed an appeal were subsequently allowed. This appeal filing benefit rate is above the USPTO average, suggesting that filing an appeal can be an effective strategy for prompting reconsideration.

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 MILLS, DONALD L - Prosecution Strategy Guide

Executive Summary

Examiner MILLS, DONALD L works in Art Unit 2462 and has examined 789 patent applications in our dataset. With an allowance rate of 84.7%, this examiner has an above-average tendency to allow applications. Applications typically reach final disposition in approximately 30 months.

Allowance Patterns

Examiner MILLS, DONALD L's allowance rate of 84.7% places them in the 60% percentile among all USPTO examiners. This examiner has an above-average tendency to allow applications.

Office Action Patterns

On average, applications examined by MILLS, DONALD L receive 2.02 office actions before reaching final disposition. This places the examiner in the 52% 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 MILLS, DONALD L is 30 months. This places the examiner in the 59% percentile for prosecution speed. Prosecution timelines are slightly faster than average with this examiner.

Interview Effectiveness

Conducting an examiner interview provides a +10.8% benefit to allowance rate for applications examined by MILLS, DONALD L. This interview benefit is in the 44% percentile among all examiners. Recommendation: Interviews provide a below-average benefit with this examiner.

Request for Continued Examination (RCE) Effectiveness

When applicants file an RCE with this examiner, 36.5% of applications are subsequently allowed. This success rate is in the 83% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Insight: RCEs are highly effective with this examiner compared to others. If you receive a final rejection, filing an RCE with substantive amendments or arguments has a strong likelihood of success.

After-Final Amendment Practice

This examiner enters after-final amendments leading to allowance in 29.6% of cases where such amendments are filed. This entry rate is in the 42% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Recommendation: This examiner shows below-average receptiveness to after-final amendments. You may need to file an RCE or appeal rather than relying on after-final amendment entry.

Pre-Appeal Conference Effectiveness

When applicants request a pre-appeal conference (PAC) with this examiner, 52.4% result in withdrawal of the rejection or reopening of prosecution. This success rate is in the 46% 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 65.4% of appeals filed. This is in the 46% percentile among all examiners. Of these withdrawals, 32.1% occur early in the appeal process (after Notice of Appeal but before Appeal Brief). Strategic Insight: This examiner shows below-average willingness to reconsider rejections during appeals. Be prepared to fully prosecute appeals if filed.

Petition Practice

When applicants file petitions regarding this examiner's actions, 65.7% are granted (fully or in part). This grant rate is in the 71% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Note: Petitions show above-average success regarding this examiner's actions. Petitionable matters include restriction requirements (MPEP § 1002.02(c)(2)) and various procedural issues.

Examiner Cooperation and Flexibility

Examiner's Amendments: This examiner makes examiner's amendments in 1.0% of allowed cases (in the 67% 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 0.0% of allowed cases (in the 20% percentile). This examiner rarely issues Quayle actions compared to other examiners. Allowances typically come directly without a separate action for formal matters.

Prosecution Strategy Recommendations

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

  • RCEs are effective: This examiner has a high allowance rate after RCE compared to others. If you receive a final rejection and have substantive amendments or arguments, an RCE is likely to be successful.

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.