USPTO Examiner NEFF MICHAEL R - Art Unit 2631

Recent Applications

Detailed information about the 100 most recent patent applications.

Application NumberTitleFiling DateDisposal DateDispositionTime (months)Office ActionsRestrictionsInterviewAppeal
18739961System and Method for Selective Treatment of Crops Using Machine VisionJune 2024April 2025Allow1010NoNo
18636049MACHINE-LEARNING-ASSISTED SELF-IMPROVING OBJECT-IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM AND METHODApril 2024September 2025Allow1710YesNo
18633376ENTITY IDENTIFICATION USING MACHINE LEARNINGApril 2024May 2025Allow1310NoNo
18615436METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING LTE WAVEFORMS IN SHARED SPECTRUM BY CARRIER SENSINGMarch 2024September 2025Allow1820NoNo
18615920DETECTING AND TRACKING FEATURES OF PLANTS FOR TREATMENT IN AN AGRICULTURAL ENVIRONMENTMarch 2024December 2024Allow800NoNo
18615169MODULATION AND EQUALIZATION IN AN ORTHONORMAL TIME-SHIFTING COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMMarch 2024April 2025Allow1210NoNo
18609670APPARATUS AND METHODMarch 2024September 2024Allow600YesNo
18602015MACHINE LEARNING SCORING SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR TOOTH POSITION ASSESSMENTMarch 2024July 2025Allow1610NoNo
18594488ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAMEMarch 2024December 2024Allow1010NoNo
18591305Automated Video SegmentationFebruary 2024February 2025Allow1210YesNo
18586401CAMERA APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REDUCING LATENCY IN PLANT DETECTION FROM TIME OF IMAGE CAPTUREFebruary 2024April 2024Allow200YesNo
18393285IMAGE CODING METHOD AND DEVICE IN IMAGE CODING SYSTEMDecember 2023August 2024Allow810NoNo
18560862POSITIONING OF TERMINAL DEVICESNovember 2023March 2026Allow2810NoNo
18497501GAZE DETECTION USING ONE OR MORE NEURAL NETWORKSOctober 2023October 2024Allow1210YesNo
18384144DETECTING DIGITAL HUMAN FACE IMAGE MANIPULATIONSOctober 2023October 2024Allow1110YesNo
18489475IMAGE ANALYSIS METHOD, APPARATUS, NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM, AND DEEP LEARNING ALGORITHM GENERATION METHODOctober 2023December 2024Allow1410NoNo
18487716PERFORMING IMAGE BASED ACTIONS ON A MOVING VEHICLEOctober 2023December 2024Abandon1410NoNo
18483531RADIO FREQUENCY MODULEOctober 2023October 2025Allow2400NoNo
18552663POSITIONING METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND STORAGE MEDIUMSeptember 2023March 2026Allow3010YesNo
18464249TARGET DETECTION METHOD AND DEVICE FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION REMOTE SENSING IMAGESeptember 2023March 2024Allow600YesNo
18463368Method and Apparatus for Assisting Positioning over SidelinkSeptember 2023December 2025Allow2810NoNo
18240690SCHEDULING AND REPORTING FOR POSITIONING USING PROXIMITY DEVICESAugust 2023February 2026Allow2910YesNo
18548046SIDELINK RANGING FOR POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNAL TYPESAugust 2023March 2026Allow3010YesNo
18546051RECONFIGURABLE INTELLIGENT SURFACE (RIS) AIDED ROUND-TRIP-TIME (RTT)-BASED USER EQUIPMENT (UE) POSITIONINGAugust 2023August 2025Allow2400NoNo
18276369RU APPARATUS, DU APPARATUS, COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUMAugust 2023December 2025Allow2810NoNo
18230780Emergency call method with low consumption of spectral resourcesAugust 2023January 2026Allow2910NoNo
18227054METHODS FOR DEPLOYING BIOSENTINELS TO AGRICULTURAL FIELDS AND MONITORING BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC STRESSES IN CROPS REMOTELYJuly 2023November 2024Allow1620YesNo
18353879SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR POSITIONINGJuly 2023February 2026Allow3100NoNo
18353252Dynamic and Intermittent LocalizationJuly 2023August 2025Allow2500NoNo
18346902METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR EFFICIENT CALLBACK FUNCTIONALITY USING SIGNAL COVERAGE DATAJuly 2023February 2026Allow3110NoNo
18217912CLASSIFYING PLANT OBJECTS IN AN AGRICULTURAL ENVIRONMENTJuly 2023September 2024Allow1410NoNo
18213825FAKECATCHER: DETECTION OF SYNTHETIC PORTRAIT VIDEOS USING BIOLOGICAL SIGNALSJune 2023May 2024Allow1110NoNo
18212363METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CALIBRATING ARRAY PATH OF BEAM FORMING TEST EQUIPMENT FOR BASE STATIONJune 2023October 2025Allow2810NoNo
18337818PREDICTIVE MAP GENERATION BASED ON SEEDING CHARACTERISTICS AND CONTROLJune 2023April 2024Allow1010NoNo
18206808DISPLAY DEVICEJune 2023February 2026Allow3210NoNo
18205843ANOMALY DETECTION APPARATUS, ANOMALY DETECTION METHOD, AND PROGRAMJune 2023April 2024Allow1010NoNo
18322671MULTI-TONE JAMMER MITIGATIONMay 2023March 2026Allow3420NoNo
18322862MODULATION AND EQUALIZATION IN AN ORTHONORMAL TIME-SHIFTING COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMMay 2023December 2023Allow600YesNo
18318170DYNAMIC FIXED WIRELESS OFFLOAD GATEWAYMay 2023February 2026Allow3310NoNo
18141216Automated Video SegmentationApril 2023January 2024Allow810NoNo
18141228TIME-FREQUENCY INTERLEAVED SS_PBCH FOR RADAR COEXISTENCE AND INTERFERENCE COORDINATIONApril 2023November 2025Allow3010NoNo
18138003CROP YIELD PREDICTION AT FIELD-LEVEL AND PIXEL-LEVELApril 2023October 2023Allow600YesNo
18135211SPECTRAL DETECTION AND LOCALIZATION OF RADIO EVENTS WITH LEARNED CONVOLUTIONAL NEURAL FEATURESApril 2023November 2025Allow3110NoNo
18301929NETWORK BASED LOCATION PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT USING DSDAApril 2023October 2025Allow3010NoNo
18297026Solar-Powered Protective Cell Phone Case and Method of UseApril 2023January 2026Abandon3310NoNo
18130795Methods and Apparatus for Detecting, Managing and/or Mitigating Interference Between Networks Without the Need for A Centralized ControllerApril 2023January 2026Allow3310NoNo
18190290System and Method for Selective Treatment of Crops Using Machine VisionMarch 2023September 2024Abandon1810YesNo
18189772ANTENNA AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS INCLUDING SAMEMarch 2023September 2025Allow2910YesNo
18189042IDENTIFYING OVERFILLED CONTAINERSMarch 2023April 2024Allow1310YesNo
18179577EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION SYSTEMMarch 2023February 2026Allow3610NoNo
18177041TRANSMIT POWER CONTROL DESIGN FOR MAKE-BEFORE-BREAK ROAMING DEPLOYMENTSMarch 2023September 2025Allow3110NoNo
18175654ASSET TRACKING DEVICES AND MOBILE NETWORK PLAN SELECTIONFebruary 2023July 2025Allow2910NoNo
18043353DETERMINING TIMING OFFSET FOR IMPROVED POSITIONING ACCURACYFebruary 2023February 2026Allow3620YesNo
18172141ENTITY IDENTIFICATION USING MACHINE LEARNINGFebruary 2023January 2024Allow1110NoNo
18107844IMAGE CODING METHOD AND DEVICE IN IMAGE CODING SYSTEMFebruary 2023September 2023Allow711NoNo
18020088COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES AND METHODSFebruary 2023August 2025Allow3010NoNo
18105892COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE AND METHOD FOR COMPENSATING FREQUENCY RESPONSE DISTORTION OF COMMUNICATIONS DEVICEFebruary 2023June 2025Allow2800NoNo
18040036METHOD AND DEVICE FOR REDUCING TERMINAL PROCESSING LOAD DUE TO INTEGRITY PROTECTION OR VERIFICATION PROCEDURE IN NEXT-GENERATION MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMJanuary 2023October 2025Allow3310NoNo
18161661SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ATTENTION MECHANISM IN THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECT DETECTIONJanuary 2023June 2025Allow2810YesNo
18161014SYSTEM, METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM FOR DESIGN AND USE REFERENCE EMITTERS TO ENHANCE PASSIVE SINGLE SATELLITE GEOLOCATION OF EMI SOURCESJanuary 2023April 2025Allow2700YesNo
18099832DEVICE WITH OUTPUT TRANSDUCER AND INPUT TRANSDUCERJanuary 2023October 2025Abandon3310NoNo
18016086MANAGING A WIRELESS DEVICE THAT IS OPERABLE TO CONNECT TO A COMMUNICATION NETWORKJanuary 2023November 2025Allow3420NoNo
18005022SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR QUANTIFYING AGROECOSYSTEM VARIABLES THROUGH MULTI-TIER SCALING FROM GROUND DATA, TO MOBILE PLATFORMS, AND TO SATELLITE OBSERVATIONSJanuary 2023March 2025Allow2600YesNo
18091908SYSTEMS, APPARATUSES, AND METHODS FOR NETWORK ANALYSISDecember 2022October 2025Abandon3310NoNo
18147318RADIO FREQUENCY SYSTEM WITH PARALLEL ACOUSTIC WAVE FILTERSDecember 2022August 2025Allow3210NoNo
18090285Electronic Devices with Translating Flexible Displays and Corresponding Methods for Managing Display Position as a Function Content PresentationDecember 2022December 2025Allow3610NoNo
18146327MACHINE LEARNING SCORING SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR TOOTH POSITION ASSESSMENTDecember 2022December 2023Allow1110YesNo
18065968ANTENNA AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE INCLUDING SAMEDecember 2022October 2025Allow3410YesNo
18080121ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING SCREEN THEREOFDecember 2022October 2025Allow3410YesNo
18079784TARGETING AGRICULTURAL OBJECTS VIA IMAGE PIXEL TRACKINGDecember 2022March 2025Allow2710NoNo
18008385ELECTRONIC DEVICEDecember 2022January 2026Allow3820NoNo
17985479TARGET DETECTION METHOD AND APPARATUSNovember 2022October 2025Allow3520NoNo
18054274VIDEO PROCESSING USING DELTA DISTILLATIONNovember 2022May 2025Allow3000NoNo
17923737METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTO PRIORITIZATION OF PLANNED NETWORK SITESNovember 2022June 2025Allow3110NoNo
17979837CONFIGURABLE APPLICATION DATA FILTERING IN A TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKNovember 2022September 2025Allow3410NoNo
17978495INSPECTION SYSTEM FOR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING DISPLAY DEVICE AND INSPECTION METHOD FOR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING DISPLAY DEVICENovember 2022September 2025Allow3420NoNo
17975143ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR DETERMINING APPLICATION CONTROLLING EXTERNAL ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE SAMEOctober 2022August 2025Allow3410YesNo
18049923System And Method For Call And Contact ManagementOctober 2022November 2025Abandon3701NoNo
17974054DIALOG ANALYSIS USING VOICE ENERGY LEVELOctober 2022May 2025Allow3010NoNo
17973370SALIENCY-BASED INPUT RESAMPLING FOR EFFICIENT OBJECT DETECTIONOctober 2022June 2025Allow3220NoNo
17966017SOURCE-FREE CROSS DOMAIN DETECTION METHOD WITH STRONG DATA AUGMENTATION AND SELF-TRAINED MEAN TEACHER MODELINGOctober 2022July 2025Allow3310NoNo
17964425GENERATION OF SYNTHETIC HIGH-ELEVATION DIGITAL IMAGES FROM TEMPORAL SEQUENCES OF HIGH-ELEVATION DIGITAL IMAGESOctober 2022February 2023Allow400YesNo
18045155METHODS FOR MANAGING CLEANING ROUTES IN SMART CITIES, INTERNET OF THINGS SYSTEMS, AND STORAGE MEDIUMSOctober 2022February 2025Allow2800NoNo
17956910SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANALYZING PERIODIC TASKSeptember 2022August 2025Allow3510YesNo
17947724PIXEL PROJECTILE DELIVERY SYSTEM TO REPLICATE AN IMAGE ON A SURFACE USING PIXEL PROJECTILESSeptember 2022August 2023Abandon1110NoNo
17932566APPLYING MULTIPLE PROCESSING SCHEMES TO TARGET OBJECTSSeptember 2022November 2023Allow1410NoNo
17931854VIDEO TRAINING DATA FOR MACHINE LEARNING DETECTION/RECOGNITION OF PRODUCTSSeptember 2022September 2023Allow1220YesNo
17929057SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR SCORING TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK DATA USING REGRESSION CLASSIFICATION TECHNIQUESSeptember 2022May 2023Allow910YesNo
17898345DETECTING MULTIPLE OBJECTS OF INTEREST IN AN AGRICULTURAL ENVIRONMENTAugust 2022June 2023Allow920YesNo
17890769DETERMINING MEDIA DOCUMENTS EMBEDDED IN OTHER MEDIA DOCUMENTSAugust 2022February 2025Allow3010NoNo
17817918VISION BASED LIGHT DETECTION AND RANGING SYSTEM USING DYNAMIC VISION SENSORAugust 2022January 2023Allow610NoNo
17760185Diagnostic information processing method and apparatus based on medical image, and storage mediumAugust 2022April 2025Allow3220NoNo
17872940ANOMALOUS PATH DETECTION WITHIN CAMERAS' FIELDS OF VIEWJuly 2022April 2023Allow910NoNo
17866851IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, RADIATION IMAGING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUMJuly 2022August 2025Abandon3710NoNo
17863061DETECTION METHODS TO DETECT OBJECTS SUCH AS BICYCLISTSJuly 2022January 2025Allow3100YesNo
17859924Geofencing Provisioning ServerJuly 2022January 2025Allow3010NoNo
17789054INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUMJune 2022March 2025Allow3310NoNo
17847870METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING POINT-CLOUD DATAJune 2022August 2024Allow2600NoNo
17847069SHARING OF VIRTUALIZED NETWORK RESOURCEJune 2022December 2024Allow2910NoNo
17845442MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, ENDOSCOPE SYSTEM, DIAGNOSIS ASSISTANCE METHOD, AND PROGRAMJune 2022October 2025Allow4030YesNo

Appeals Overview

This analysis examines appeal outcomes and the strategic value of filing appeals for examiner NEFF, MICHAEL R.

Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Decisions

Total PTAB Decisions
7
Examiner Affirmed
4
(57.1%)
Examiner Reversed
3
(42.9%)
Reversal Percentile
65.7%
Higher than average

What This Means

With a 42.9% 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
20
Allowed After Appeal Filing
6
(30.0%)
Not Allowed After Appeal Filing
14
(70.0%)
Filing Benefit Percentile
45.3%
Lower 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, 30.0% of applications that filed an appeal were subsequently allowed. This appeal filing benefit rate is below the USPTO average, suggesting that filing an appeal has limited effectiveness in prompting favorable 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 shows limited benefit. Consider other strategies like interviews or amendments before appealing.

Examiner NEFF, MICHAEL R - Prosecution Strategy Guide

Executive Summary

Examiner NEFF, MICHAEL R works in Art Unit 2631 and has examined 760 patent applications in our dataset. With an allowance rate of 93.4%, this examiner allows applications at a higher rate than most examiners at the USPTO. Applications typically reach final disposition in approximately 20 months.

Allowance Patterns

Examiner NEFF, MICHAEL R's allowance rate of 93.4% places them in the 81% percentile among all USPTO examiners. This examiner is more likely to allow applications than most examiners at the USPTO.

Office Action Patterns

On average, applications examined by NEFF, MICHAEL R receive 1.54 office actions before reaching final disposition. This places the examiner in the 28% percentile for office actions issued. This examiner issues fewer office actions than average, which may indicate efficient prosecution or a more lenient examination style.

Prosecution Timeline

The median time to disposition (half-life) for applications examined by NEFF, MICHAEL R is 20 months. This places the examiner in the 93% percentile for prosecution speed. Applications move through prosecution relatively quickly with this examiner.

Interview Effectiveness

Conducting an examiner interview provides a +7.6% benefit to allowance rate for applications examined by NEFF, MICHAEL R. This interview benefit is in the 37% 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, 31.5% of applications are subsequently allowed. This success rate is in the 64% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Insight: RCEs show above-average effectiveness with this examiner. Consider whether your amendments or new arguments are strong enough to warrant an RCE versus filing a continuation.

After-Final Amendment Practice

This examiner enters after-final amendments leading to allowance in 63.3% of cases where such amendments are filed. This entry rate is in the 88% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Recommendation: This examiner is highly receptive to after-final amendments compared to other examiners. Per MPEP § 714.12, after-final amendments may be entered "under justifiable circumstances." Consider filing after-final amendments with a clear showing of allowability rather than immediately filing an RCE, as this examiner frequently enters such amendments.

Pre-Appeal Conference Effectiveness

When applicants request a pre-appeal conference (PAC) with this examiner, 50.0% result in withdrawal of the rejection or reopening of prosecution. This success rate is in the 44% 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 68.2% of appeals filed. This is in the 54% percentile among all examiners. Of these withdrawals, 46.7% occur early in the appeal process (after Notice of Appeal but before Appeal Brief). Strategic Insight: This examiner shows above-average willingness to reconsider rejections during appeals. The mandatory appeal conference (MPEP § 1207.01) provides an opportunity for reconsideration.

Petition Practice

When applicants file petitions regarding this examiner's actions, 47.3% are granted (fully or in part). This grant rate is in the 42% 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 Cooperation and Flexibility

Examiner's Amendments: This examiner makes examiner's amendments in 0.5% of allowed cases (in the 61% 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 9.3% of allowed cases (in the 88% percentile). Per MPEP § 714.14, a Quayle action indicates that all claims are allowable but formal matters remain. This examiner frequently uses Quayle actions compared to other examiners, which is a positive indicator that once substantive issues are resolved, allowance follows quickly.

Prosecution Strategy Recommendations

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

  • Consider after-final amendments: This examiner frequently enters after-final amendments. If you can clearly overcome rejections with claim amendments, file an after-final amendment before resorting to an RCE.

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.