Detailed information about the 100 most recent patent applications.
| Application Number | Title | Filing Date | Disposal Date | Disposition | Time (months) | Office Actions | Restrictions | Interview | Appeal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18773154 | ACTIVITY DETECTION USING A HEARING INSTRUMENT | July 2024 | January 2026 | Allow | 18 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18594250 | Validating Telephone Calls by Verifying Entity Identities Using Blockchains | March 2024 | June 2025 | Allow | 15 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18587479 | WIRELESS AUDIO SYSTEMS | February 2024 | June 2025 | Allow | 15 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18581804 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR AUTOMATIC DISCOVERY OF FRAUDULENT CALLS USING SPEAKER RECOGNITION | February 2024 | August 2025 | Allow | 18 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18442576 | AUTOMATED CALL REQUESTS WITH STATUS UPDATES | February 2024 | April 2025 | Allow | 14 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18432316 | FRAUD IMPORTANCE SYSTEM | February 2024 | January 2025 | Allow | 12 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18428351 | NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND TERMINAL | January 2024 | February 2026 | Allow | 25 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18422217 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A REAL-TIME CONVERSATION AND REAL-TIME COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION PLATFORM | January 2024 | July 2025 | Allow | 18 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 18419141 | FRAUDULENT CALL DETECTION | January 2024 | February 2025 | Allow | 13 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18407845 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE AUTO-SCALING | January 2024 | June 2025 | Allow | 17 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18394088 | QUALITY ALERTING FOR COMPUTER-AIDED DISPATCH SYSTEMS | December 2023 | January 2026 | Allow | 25 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18394201 | ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BASED SETTING OF CONTROLS IN A USER INTERFACE | December 2023 | February 2026 | Allow | 26 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18537629 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR HANDLING CUSTOMER CONVERSATIONS AT A CONTACT CENTER | December 2023 | November 2024 | Allow | 11 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18532358 | MESSAGE EXCHANGE | December 2023 | July 2025 | Abandon | 19 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 18527237 | VOICE MESSAGE DISPLAY | December 2023 | April 2025 | Allow | 17 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18515768 | VALIDATING AUTOMATIC NUMBER IDENTIFICATION DATA | November 2023 | December 2024 | Allow | 13 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18507356 | METHOD FOR PLAYING MULTIMEDIA CUSTOMIZED RINGING SIGNAL AND CUSTOMIZED ALERTING TONE, AND APPLICATION SERVER | November 2023 | October 2025 | Allow | 23 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18388100 | DEVICE, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CANCELLING ECHO AT ELECTRONIC DEVICES | November 2023 | November 2025 | Allow | 24 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18501134 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MEDIA ANALYSIS FOR CALL STATE DETECTION | November 2023 | December 2025 | Allow | 25 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18557434 | DATA PROCESSING METHOD, OUTDOOR UNIT, INDOOR UNIT AND COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM | October 2023 | January 2026 | Allow | 27 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18485328 | AUDIO DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF | October 2023 | August 2025 | Allow | 22 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18376889 | WED that Display a Virtual Image for a Telephone Call | October 2023 | August 2025 | Allow | 22 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18477039 | WIDEBAND DOUBLETALK DETECTION FOR OPTIMIZATION OF ACOUSTIC ECHO CANCELLATION | September 2023 | December 2025 | Allow | 27 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17783733 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO PRE-DIAGNOSE AN ISSUE AND PROVIDE PERSONALIZED IVR SOLUTION | September 2023 | October 2025 | Allow | 40 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18474435 | METHOD FOR DYNAMICALLY ADJUSTING A VOLUME LEVEL IN AN ONLINE MEETING | September 2023 | August 2025 | Allow | 23 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18273450 | LEARNING METHOD FOR INTEGRATED NOISE ECHO CANCELLATION SYSTEM USING CROSS-TOWER NETWORK | September 2023 | September 2025 | Allow | 26 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18471477 | NLP-BASED CALL MONITORING METHOD FOR PREVENTING VOICE PHISHING AND APPARATUS THEREFOR | September 2023 | December 2025 | Abandon | 26 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18469370 | MALICIOUS CALL ATTACK DETECTION AND MITIGATION | September 2023 | July 2025 | Allow | 21 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18460955 | STEP-SIZE CONTROL FOR MULTI-CHANNEL ACOUSTIC ECHO CANCELLER | September 2023 | October 2025 | Allow | 25 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18459528 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INTELLIGENT CALL MANAGEMENT | September 2023 | June 2025 | Allow | 22 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18446863 | DATA ANALYSIS, FILTER AND PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES FOR CALL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS | August 2023 | November 2024 | Allow | 15 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18363145 | INTERACTIVE TELEPHONE SYSTEM NAVIGATION | August 2023 | November 2025 | Allow | 27 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18363164 | CONTEXT-BASED INTERACTIVE TELEPHONE SYSTEM NAVIGATION | August 2023 | February 2026 | Allow | 31 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18361171 | Semiconductor Device And Electronic Apparatus | July 2023 | August 2025 | Allow | 25 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18224075 | System and methods for easy, secure, error free and controlled information sharing via audio communication | July 2023 | February 2024 | Allow | 7 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18223815 | IDENTIFICATION AND PREVENTION OF SENSITIVE INFORMATION EXPOSURE IN TELEPHONIC CONVERSATIONS | July 2023 | April 2025 | Allow | 21 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18223037 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PLAYING A PERSONALIZED VOICE RECORDING WITH A STATUS UPDATE TO FOLLOW-UP CUSTOMER ON AN INBOUND CALL IN A CONTACT CENTER | July 2023 | August 2025 | Allow | 25 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18346464 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR INTERACTIVE RENDERING OF OBJECT BASED AUDIO | July 2023 | August 2024 | Allow | 14 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18216131 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR USE IN BLOCKING OF ROBOCALL AND SCAM CALL PHONE NUMBERS | June 2023 | August 2024 | Abandon | 13 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18216044 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR USE IN DETECTING ANOMALOUS CALL BEHAVIOR | June 2023 | July 2025 | Abandon | 24 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18340620 | HOLDING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR HOLDING A MOBILE DEVICE | June 2023 | December 2025 | Allow | 30 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18339308 | PROVIDING CONTEXT FOR COLLABORATIVE DOCUMENT | June 2023 | October 2025 | Allow | 28 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18212429 | MACHINE LEARNING DATASET GENERATION USING A NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING TECHNIQUE | June 2023 | February 2025 | Allow | 20 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 18211752 | ADAPTIVE ENHANCEMENT OF AUDIO OR VIDEO SIGNALS | June 2023 | March 2025 | Allow | 21 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18337209 | CALL CONTEXT TRANSFER FROM ONE CALL CENTER SYSTEM TO OTHER CALL CENTER SYSTEM(S) | June 2023 | July 2024 | Allow | 13 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18335831 | BLOCKING CONFERENCE AUDIO OUTPUT | June 2023 | November 2024 | Allow | 17 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18208628 | BANDWIDTH EXTENSION AND SPEECH ENHANCEMENT OF AUDIO | June 2023 | May 2025 | Allow | 23 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18327009 | AUDIO SIGNAL ENHANCEMENT METHOD, APPARATUS, DEVICE, AND READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM | May 2023 | July 2025 | Allow | 26 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18326028 | DISPLAY | May 2023 | August 2025 | Allow | 26 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18203142 | CONFIGURATION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AIRCRAFT EQUIPMENT | May 2023 | January 2026 | Allow | 32 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18324267 | Telephone Service Powered Hotspot | May 2023 | June 2025 | Allow | 25 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18323937 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR VIDEOCONFERENCING WITH SPATIAL AUDIO | May 2023 | May 2024 | Allow | 12 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18319777 | Video-Assisted Presence Detection In Telephony Communications | May 2023 | May 2024 | Allow | 12 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18253029 | OPTIMIZED TRIGGERING OF TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS | May 2023 | June 2025 | Allow | 25 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 18036616 | TELEPHONE RELAY DEVICE, TELECONFERENCE SERVER, TELECONFERENCE SYSTEM, TELEPHONE RELAY METHOD, AND PROGRAM | May 2023 | February 2025 | Allow | 21 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18196306 | FLEXIBLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ADJUSTING SOUND OUTPUT THEREOF | May 2023 | October 2025 | Allow | 30 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18144925 | CALL CENTER VOICE SYSTEM FOR USE WITH A REAL-TIME COMPLAINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM | May 2023 | March 2025 | Allow | 22 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18142756 | Systems and Methods for the Asynchronous Detection of On Hold Time in Multi-Channel Calls | May 2023 | March 2025 | Allow | 22 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18309051 | MINIMIZING GUNSHOT DETECTION FALSE POSITIVES | April 2023 | August 2024 | Abandon | 16 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18136437 | DEVICES AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING AUDIO OUTPUT IN A TELEMATICS SYSTEM | April 2023 | April 2025 | Allow | 24 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18298805 | MOBILE SECRETARY CLOUD APPLICATION | April 2023 | October 2023 | Allow | 6 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18297256 | INTERCOM SYSTEM WITH INTEGRATED AUDIO SYSTEM | April 2023 | August 2025 | Allow | 28 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18125835 | CALIBRATION OF A LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM | March 2023 | July 2025 | Allow | 28 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18186579 | DIRECTIONAL AUDIO MICROPHONES IN A SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM | March 2023 | July 2025 | Allow | 27 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18178348 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING REQUESTS FROM VOICE BOTS | March 2023 | April 2025 | Allow | 25 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18177025 | SYNCHRONIZATION OF EMERGENCY CALL LOCATION MANAGER SETTINGS FILE | March 2023 | September 2025 | Allow | 30 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18110515 | VIRTUAL COMMUNICATIONS ASSESSMENT SYSTEM IN A MULTIMEDIA ENVIRONMENT | February 2023 | March 2025 | Allow | 25 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18167989 | TELEPHONE NUMBER DEACTIVATION PROCESS | February 2023 | May 2025 | Allow | 27 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18165468 | Managing Characteristics of Active Noise Reduction | February 2023 | July 2024 | Allow | 17 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18161416 | Connecting A User Device To An Agent Device At A Contact Center | January 2023 | July 2025 | Allow | 29 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18100433 | AUTOMATED CALL REQUESTS WITH STATUS UPDATES | January 2023 | November 2023 | Allow | 9 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18099160 | SELECTING USER DEVICE DURING COMMUNICATIONS SESSION | January 2023 | November 2023 | Allow | 10 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18155241 | TELEPHONE NUMBER MONITORING | January 2023 | January 2025 | Allow | 24 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18095947 | DETERMINING MISSED CALL RATE IN OVER THE TOP (OTT) APPLICATIONS | January 2023 | September 2024 | Allow | 21 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18153040 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR HANDLING CALL IDENTITY REQUIREMENTS | January 2023 | January 2025 | Allow | 24 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18013746 | METHOD, APPARATUS AND DEVICE AND STORAGE MEDIUM FOR REAL-TIME INFORMATION INTERACTION | December 2022 | September 2025 | Allow | 33 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18013361 | COMMUNICATION SYSTEM | December 2022 | March 2025 | Abandon | 27 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18078144 | Communications Network Security for Handling Proxy Voice Calls | December 2022 | February 2024 | Allow | 14 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17988808 | Assigning Room Impulse Responses (RIRs) to Zones Around a User | November 2022 | October 2024 | Allow | 23 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17987360 | Validating Telephone Calls by Verifying Entity Identities Using Blockchains | November 2022 | November 2023 | Allow | 12 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17924452 | RELAY APPARATUS, COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, RELAY METHOD, AND PROGRAM | November 2022 | April 2024 | Allow | 17 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17981648 | HEARING DEVICE COMPRISING A DETECTOR AND A TRAINED NEURAL NETWORK | November 2022 | July 2024 | Allow | 20 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17975833 | AUTOMATED CONVERSATIONAL MENU OVERLAY WITH IVR IN CONTACT CENTERS | October 2022 | January 2025 | Allow | 26 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17972122 | MESSAGE EXCHANGE | October 2022 | September 2023 | Allow | 10 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17970316 | METHOD, SYSTEM, AND PROGRAM ELEMENT FOR OPTIMIZING AN ABANDONED CALL NOTIFICATION | October 2022 | March 2025 | Allow | 28 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17967565 | ELECTROACOUSTIC CONVERSION DEVICE | October 2022 | September 2024 | Allow | 23 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17919059 | DOUBLE TALK DETECTORS | October 2022 | January 2025 | Allow | 27 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18045767 | POWER SUPPLY DEVICE AND METHOD FOR SEARCHING AUDIO OUTPUT DEVICE USING POWER SUPPLY DEVICE | October 2022 | September 2024 | Allow | 23 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17962924 | AUTHORING AN IMMERSIVE HAPTIC DATA FILE USING AN AUTHORING TOOL | October 2022 | February 2024 | Abandon | 16 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17962409 | MICROPHONE ASSEMBLY WITH IMPROVED STARTUP SETTLING | October 2022 | September 2024 | Allow | 33 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17938207 | ACOUSTIC SPEAKER COVER MATERIAL DETECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS | October 2022 | January 2025 | Allow | 28 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17958543 | PROCESSING SYSTEM, PROCESSING METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY STORAGE MEDIUM | October 2022 | July 2023 | Allow | 9 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17958591 | Spatial Audio Capture | October 2022 | February 2025 | Allow | 28 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17954422 | Voice Analysis Platform for Voiceprint Tracking and Anomaly Detection | September 2022 | July 2024 | Allow | 22 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17953900 | ROUTINES FOR PLAYBACK DEVICES | September 2022 | November 2024 | Allow | 25 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17950413 | PREDICTING AMPLIFICATION FOR BROADCASTS FROM PERSONAL DEVICES | September 2022 | November 2024 | Allow | 26 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17945804 | BONE CONDUCTION LOUDSPEAKER | September 2022 | November 2024 | Allow | 26 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17931603 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UTILIZING A MACHINE LEARNING MODEL TO DETERMINE AN INTENT OF A VOICE CUSTOMER IN REAL TIME | September 2022 | December 2023 | Allow | 15 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17942644 | LIVE DATA DISTRIBUTION METHOD, LIVE DATA DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, AND LIVE DATA DISTRIBUTION APPARATUS | September 2022 | December 2024 | Allow | 27 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17941807 | METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING COVER OPENING/CLOSING OF CHARGING BOX | September 2022 | November 2024 | Abandon | 27 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
This analysis examines appeal outcomes and the strategic value of filing appeals for examiner TESHALE, AKELAW.
With a 50.0% 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.
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, 50.0% 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.
✓ 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 TESHALE, AKELAW works in Art Unit 2694 and has examined 91 patent applications in our dataset. With an allowance rate of 94.5%, this examiner allows applications at a higher rate than most examiners at the USPTO. Applications typically reach final disposition in approximately 29 months.
Examiner TESHALE, AKELAW's allowance rate of 94.5% places them in the 83% percentile among all USPTO examiners. This examiner is more likely to allow applications than most examiners at the USPTO.
On average, applications examined by TESHALE, AKELAW receive 1.93 office actions before reaching final disposition. This places the examiner in the 48% percentile for office actions issued. This examiner issues fewer office actions than average, which may indicate efficient prosecution or a more lenient examination style.
The median time to disposition (half-life) for applications examined by TESHALE, AKELAW is 29 months. This places the examiner in the 65% percentile for prosecution speed. Prosecution timelines are slightly faster than average with this examiner.
Conducting an examiner interview provides a +0.9% benefit to allowance rate for applications examined by TESHALE, AKELAW. This interview benefit is in the 19% 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.
When applicants file an RCE with this examiner, 43.2% of applications are subsequently allowed. This success rate is in the 94% 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 46.2% of cases where such amendments are filed. This entry rate is in the 70% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Recommendation: This examiner shows above-average receptiveness to after-final amendments. If your amendments clearly overcome the rejections and do not raise new issues, consider filing after-final amendments before resorting to an RCE.
When applicants request a pre-appeal conference (PAC) with this examiner, 160.0% result in withdrawal of the rejection or reopening of prosecution. This success rate is in the 91% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Recommendation: Pre-appeal conferences are highly effective with this examiner compared to others. Before filing a full appeal brief, strongly consider requesting a PAC. The PAC provides an opportunity for the examiner and supervisory personnel to reconsider the rejection before the case proceeds to the PTAB.
This examiner withdraws rejections or reopens prosecution in 77.8% of appeals filed. This is in the 69% percentile among all examiners. Of these withdrawals, 57.1% 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, 90.9% are granted (fully or in part). This grant rate is in the 88% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Note: Petitions are frequently granted regarding this examiner's actions compared to other examiners. Per MPEP § 1002.02(c), various examiner actions are petitionable to the Technology Center Director, including prematureness of final rejection, refusal to enter amendments, and requirement for information. If you believe an examiner action is improper, consider filing a petition.
Examiner's Amendments: This examiner makes examiner's amendments in 1.1% 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 2.3% of allowed cases (in the 70% 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.