Detailed information about the 100 most recent patent applications.
| Application Number | Title | Filing Date | Disposal Date | Disposition | Time (months) | Office Actions | Restrictions | Interview | Appeal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18424899 | WIDEBAND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND A METHOD THEREOF | January 2024 | December 2024 | Allow | 11 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 18411617 | ENERGY EFFICIENT ULTRA-WIDEBAND IMPULSE RADIO SYSTEMS AND METHODS | January 2024 | August 2024 | Allow | 7 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18529761 | MONITORING ACTIVITY USING WI-FI MOTION DETECTION | December 2023 | January 2025 | Abandon | 14 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18527180 | Device Position Accuracy with Network-Based Crowdsourcing | December 2023 | August 2024 | Allow | 8 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18515223 | Decentralized Emergency Response by Friends and Family | November 2023 | November 2024 | Allow | 12 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18486431 | IMPLEMENTATION OF ORTHOGONAL TIME FREQUENCY SPACE MODULATION FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS | October 2023 | October 2024 | Allow | 12 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18485916 | LOCATION-BASED CURBSIDE DELIVERY | October 2023 | January 2025 | Allow | 15 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18244263 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMMUNICATING DATA OVER SATELLITES | September 2023 | October 2024 | Allow | 13 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 18452681 | INTELLIGENT SOCIAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM | August 2023 | April 2024 | Allow | 8 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18235105 | GENERATION OF CUSTOMIZED PERSONAL HEALTH ONTOLOGIES | August 2023 | March 2024 | Allow | 7 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18226614 | DETERMINING EMERGENCY SEVERITY AND RESPONSE STRATEGY | July 2023 | July 2024 | Allow | 11 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18347392 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING SIGNAL BY USING MULTIPLE BEAMS IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM | July 2023 | May 2024 | Allow | 11 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18329370 | OPTICAL COMMUNICATION NETWORK CONFIGURATION | June 2023 | January 2024 | Allow | 8 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18321769 | EFFICIENTLY HANDLING COMMUNICATIONS IN WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS | May 2023 | July 2024 | Allow | 14 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 18317638 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND METHOD FOR SUPPORTING POSITIONING COMMUNICATION | May 2023 | January 2024 | Allow | 8 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18138659 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MULTI-ACCESS POINT COLLABORATIVE SOUNDING IN A WIRELESS NETWORK | April 2023 | November 2023 | Allow | 7 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18138087 | Periodic Calibration For Communication Channels By Drift Tracking | April 2023 | December 2023 | Allow | 7 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18304132 | CHANNEL ESTIMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS | April 2023 | October 2023 | Allow | 6 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18192967 | COMPUTER-GENERATED SEQUENCE DESIGN FOR BINARY PHASE SHIFT KEYING MODULATION DATA | March 2023 | October 2023 | Allow | 6 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18185744 | FRONTHAUL INTERFACE FOR ADVANCED SPLIT-RADIO ACCESS NETWORK (RAN) SYSTEMS | March 2023 | October 2023 | Allow | 7 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18182961 | LOCATION-BASED CURBSIDE DELIVERY | March 2023 | July 2023 | Allow | 4 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18182488 | QOS ASSOCIATED ON DEMAND POSITIONING SIGNALS FOR WIRELESS NETWORKS | March 2023 | August 2023 | Allow | 5 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18164222 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SENDING AND RECEIVING SECURITY ALERTS AT DIFFERING LOCATIONS | February 2023 | December 2023 | Allow | 11 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18105142 | GENERATION OF CUSTOMIZED PERSONAL HEALTH ONTOLOGIES | February 2023 | June 2023 | Allow | 4 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18066866 | POWER SAVING IN NEW RADIO MULTICAST | December 2022 | October 2023 | Allow | 10 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 18075208 | MONITORING ACTIVITY USING WI-FI MOTION DETECTION | December 2022 | August 2023 | Allow | 8 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18072865 | LOCATING WIRELESS DEVICES | December 2022 | October 2024 | Allow | 22 | 3 | 0 | Yes | Yes |
| 18049902 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DIAGNOSING SENSOR PERFORMANCE OF AN ULTRA WIDE BAND SENSOR LOCALIZATION | October 2022 | February 2025 | Allow | 28 | 0 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17916269 | NETWORK ASSISTANCE POSITIONING INTEGRITY REPORTING | September 2022 | December 2024 | Allow | 26 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17942747 | MOBILE DEVICE INTELLIGENT PROCESSING AND PRESENTATION OF WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERTS | September 2022 | June 2023 | Allow | 9 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17898959 | Ultra-wideband (UWB) tag and operation methods thereof | August 2022 | December 2022 | Allow | 4 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17894934 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMMUNICATING DATA OVER SATELLITES | August 2022 | June 2023 | Allow | 10 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17891511 | SELECTIVELY RESTRICTING WI-FI CALLS SUPPORTED BY TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK | August 2022 | September 2024 | Allow | 25 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17799723 | PAGING AREA UPDATE | August 2022 | November 2023 | Allow | 15 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17885981 | DYNAMIC ANCHOR ASSIGNMENTS FOR UWB RANGING | August 2022 | March 2023 | Allow | 7 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17883916 | GENERATION OF CUSTOMIZED PERSONAL HEALTH ONTOLOGIES | August 2022 | December 2022 | Allow | 4 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17881818 | DATA TRANSMISSION METHOD AND APPARATUS | August 2022 | May 2023 | Allow | 9 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17877392 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPROVED NETWORK SERVICES MANAGEMENT | July 2022 | October 2024 | Allow | 27 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17873444 | DOCKING SYSTEM INCLUDING FIRST AND SECOND OPTICAL TRANSCEIVERS FOR DOCKING AND RELATED METHODS | July 2022 | March 2023 | Allow | 8 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17868343 | WIRELESS DATA SERVICE USING DYNAMIC DATA RATES BASED ON SERVING RADIO BANDS AND HISTORICAL DATA RATES | July 2022 | June 2023 | Allow | 11 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17793592 | METHOD FOR TOKEN-BASED AUTHORIZATION FOR INDIRECT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN NETWORK FUNCTIONS | July 2022 | April 2025 | Abandon | 32 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17863226 | DWELLING CELL METHOD, TERMINAL, AND NON-TRANSITORY STORAGE MEDIUM | July 2022 | January 2025 | Allow | 30 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17791892 | METHODS FOR AN ENHANCED PAGING OF A WIRELESS DEVICE OF A SET OF WIRELESS DEVICES, RELATED NETWORK NODES AND WIRELESS DEVICES | July 2022 | April 2025 | Abandon | 33 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17790321 | COMMUNICATION UNIT, COMMUNICATION DEVICE, AND POSITION ESTIMATING METHOD | June 2022 | January 2025 | Allow | 31 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17809457 | ENERGY EFFICIENT ULTRA-WIDEBAND IMPULSE RADIO SYSTEMS AND METHODS | June 2022 | September 2023 | Allow | 14 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17845877 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR MEDIA COMMUNICATION SERVICES USING NETWORK SLICING | June 2022 | December 2024 | Allow | 30 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17825308 | MODULAR 5G FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS DEVICE | May 2022 | May 2023 | Abandon | 12 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17748305 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMICALLY ADJUSTING IN-BAND CARRIERS | May 2022 | November 2024 | Allow | 29 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17743595 | SECURE AND TRUSTED PEER-TO-PEER OFFLINE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS | May 2022 | November 2024 | Allow | 30 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17734121 | EFFICIENTLY HANDLING COMMUNICATIONS IN WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS | May 2022 | February 2023 | Allow | 10 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17729887 | COMMUNICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS | April 2022 | November 2024 | Allow | 31 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17770442 | NETWORKING AND POSITIONING METHOD, SYSTEM AND DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | April 2022 | July 2024 | Allow | 27 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17725499 | METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIA FOR IDENTIFYING ROAMING MESSAGES | April 2022 | August 2024 | Allow | 28 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17770024 | DATA TRANSMISSION METHOD AND APPARATUS, TERMINAL DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | April 2022 | March 2024 | Allow | 23 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17769815 | Time Difference of Arrival Multilateration Method for Mobile Positioning | April 2022 | November 2024 | Allow | 31 | 0 | 1 | No | No |
| 17715560 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DEFINING AN AREA OF A WORKSITE | April 2022 | November 2023 | Allow | 19 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17714926 | Estimating Frequency-Offsets and Multi-Antenna Channels in Mimo OFDM Systems | April 2022 | June 2023 | Allow | 14 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17713634 | BEAM SELECTION FOR HIGH FREQUENCY WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORK | April 2022 | March 2023 | Allow | 12 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17708597 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING POSITIONING COMMUNICATION | March 2022 | January 2023 | Allow | 10 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17695163 | CONTEXTUALLY PROMPTING USERS TO SWITCH COMMUNICATION MODES | March 2022 | May 2024 | Allow | 26 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17679642 | WIRELESS COMMUNICATION APPARATUS, VEHICLE, AND CONTROL METHOD | February 2022 | August 2024 | Allow | 29 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17673582 | RELATIVE ANGLE-BASED POSITIONING METHOD AND APPARATUS | February 2022 | September 2024 | Allow | 31 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17673197 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SECURE LOCATION OF A MOBILE DEVICE | February 2022 | November 2024 | Allow | 33 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17669856 | Method and Apparatus for Transmitting Timing Difference | February 2022 | July 2024 | Allow | 29 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17666204 | LOCATION-BASED INTERACTION SYSTEM | February 2022 | January 2023 | Allow | 12 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17580589 | ANTENNA DEVICE, POSITIONING SYSTEM AND POSITIONING METHOD | January 2022 | January 2024 | Allow | 24 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17575255 | Periodic Calibration For Communication Channels By Drift Tracking | January 2022 | January 2023 | Allow | 13 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17623295 | INTER-AREA MEDIA SERVICE SWITCHING METHOD, SERVER, SYSTEM, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | December 2021 | June 2024 | Allow | 30 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17622513 | NETWORK OPTIMIZATION METHOD, DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM | December 2021 | June 2024 | Allow | 30 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17561306 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR O-RAN-BASED PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION AND CONFIGURATION | December 2021 | April 2024 | Allow | 28 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17555598 | RSSI LOCATION TRACKING VIA RADIO SCANNING FOR TRIGGERED OFDMA UPLINK | December 2021 | October 2024 | Allow | 34 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17553634 | INDOOR TAG LOCATION DETECTION SYSTEM | December 2021 | August 2024 | Allow | 32 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17619465 | DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS FOR LOCATION TRACKING OR PROXIMITY DETECTION | December 2021 | July 2024 | Allow | 31 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17548812 | SOCIAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM | December 2021 | March 2023 | Allow | 15 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17545784 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETERMINING PAGING LOCATION OR CAMPING LOCATION | December 2021 | April 2023 | Allow | 16 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 17457718 | BEAM-BASED MACHINE LEARNING-ENABLED RFFP POSITIONING | December 2021 | July 2023 | Allow | 20 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17541445 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING OBJECTS IN A SPATIAL REGION | December 2021 | December 2024 | Allow | 36 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17540853 | Detecting Abnormal Human Behavior By Using Data From User's Portable Devices | December 2021 | May 2024 | Allow | 30 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17539888 | DEVICE POSITION ACCURACY WITH NETWORK-BASED CROWDSOURCING | December 2021 | August 2023 | Allow | 20 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17615197 | METHOD FOR PROVIDING LOCATION TRACKING SERVICE ON BASIS OF CONTEXT-AWARE INFORMATION OF LOCATION TRACKER | November 2021 | February 2024 | Allow | 26 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17536980 | PRIORITIZING MULTIPLE ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH A WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORK | November 2021 | December 2023 | Allow | 24 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17536652 | USER BEHAVIOR BASED NOTIFICATION INTERFACE | November 2021 | December 2024 | Allow | 36 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17456024 | IMPLEMENTATION OF ORTHOGONAL TIME FREQUENCY SPACE MODULATION FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS | November 2021 | July 2023 | Allow | 20 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 17531528 | Generation Node-B (GNB), User Equipment (UE) and Methods for Interleaving in Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Arrangements | November 2021 | April 2023 | Abandon | 17 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17529585 | COMMUNICATION NETWORK SWITCHING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ELEVATOR SYSTEM, AND ELEVATOR SYSTEM | November 2021 | August 2024 | Allow | 33 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17527709 | APPARATUS, ARTICLES OF MANUFACTURE, AND METHODS FOR AIRCRAFT COMMUNICATION CONFIGURATION | November 2021 | August 2024 | Allow | 33 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17526955 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SENDING AND RECEIVING SECURITY ALERTS AT DIFFERING LOCATIONS | November 2021 | September 2022 | Allow | 10 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17523817 | COMMUNICATIONS METHOD, APPARATUS, AND SYSTEM | November 2021 | October 2024 | Allow | 35 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 17522243 | COMMUNICATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING SAME | November 2021 | February 2023 | Allow | 15 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17521269 | Wearable Coverage Extension Mechanisms | November 2021 | September 2022 | Allow | 11 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17519741 | GROUP MANAGEMENT METHOD, APPARATUS, AND SYSTEM | November 2021 | April 2024 | Allow | 29 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17608380 | METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING OR RECEIVING SIGNAL IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING SAME | November 2021 | March 2024 | Allow | 28 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17512952 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GENERATING EMERGENCY RESPONSE | October 2021 | March 2023 | Allow | 16 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17500624 | SUBSCRIBER IDENTITY MODULE DEVICE FOR EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS | October 2021 | August 2024 | Allow | 34 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17493827 | Flexible Tracking Device for Cables and Equipment | October 2021 | August 2023 | Allow | 22 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17491181 | PAGING OCCASION AND PAGING EARLY INDICATION CONFIGURATION FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF USER EQUIPMENTS | September 2021 | May 2024 | Allow | 32 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17490838 | UNCERTAINTY BASED SELECTION FOR LOCATION REPORTING IN E911 SYSTEMS | September 2021 | May 2024 | Allow | 31 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17491285 | LOCATION REPORTING FOR USER EQUIPMENT | September 2021 | May 2024 | Allow | 31 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 17599292 | METHOD OF CORRECTING TIME OF DEPARTURE IN OBSERVED TIME DIFFERENCE OF ARRIVAL POSITIONING | September 2021 | March 2024 | Allow | 30 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17486184 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTACTLESS COMMUNICATION | September 2021 | April 2024 | Allow | 30 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
This analysis examines appeal outcomes and the strategic value of filing appeals for examiner WANG, TED M.
With a 0.0% reversal rate, the PTAB affirms the examiner's rejections in the vast majority of cases. This reversal rate is in the bottom 25% across the USPTO, indicating that appeals face significant challenges here.
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.
⚠ 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 WANG, TED M works in Art Unit 2633 and has examined 907 patent applications in our dataset. With an allowance rate of 95.6%, this examiner allows applications at a higher rate than most examiners at the USPTO. Applications typically reach final disposition in approximately 17 months.
Examiner WANG, TED M's allowance rate of 95.6% places them in the 87% percentile among all USPTO examiners. This examiner is more likely to allow applications than most examiners at the USPTO.
On average, applications examined by WANG, TED M receive 0.98 office actions before reaching final disposition. This places the examiner in the 12% percentile for office actions issued. This examiner issues significantly fewer office actions than most examiners.
The median time to disposition (half-life) for applications examined by WANG, TED M is 17 months. This places the examiner in the 96% percentile for prosecution speed. Applications move through prosecution relatively quickly with this examiner.
Conducting an examiner interview provides a +3.9% benefit to allowance rate for applications examined by WANG, TED M. This interview benefit is in the 26% percentile among all examiners. Recommendation: Interviews provide a below-average benefit with this examiner.
When applicants file an RCE with this examiner, 40.7% of applications are subsequently allowed. This success rate is in the 91% 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.
This examiner enters after-final amendments leading to allowance in 64.5% of cases where such amendments are filed. This entry rate is in the 86% 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.
When applicants request a pre-appeal conference (PAC) with this examiner, 66.7% result in withdrawal of the rejection or reopening of prosecution. This success rate is in the 52% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Recommendation: Pre-appeal conferences show above-average effectiveness with this examiner. If you have strong arguments, a PAC request may result in favorable reconsideration.
This examiner withdraws rejections or reopens prosecution in 81.8% of appeals filed. This is in the 72% percentile among all examiners. Of these withdrawals, 55.6% 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.
When applicants file petitions regarding this examiner's actions, 56.7% are granted (fully or in part). This grant rate is in the 72% 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's Amendments: This examiner makes examiner's amendments in 1.0% of allowed cases (in the 68% 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 0.5% of allowed cases (in the 49% percentile). This examiner issues Quayle actions less often than average. Allowances may come directly without a separate action for formal matters.
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.