USPTO Examiner GARBER ERIN R - Art Unit 2878

Recent Applications

Detailed information about the 100 most recent patent applications.

Application NumberTitleFiling DateDisposal DateDispositionTime (months)Office ActionsRestrictionsInterviewAppeal
18588846ESTIMATION OF SOURCE-DETECTOR SEPARATION IN AN OPTICAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEMFebruary 2024October 2024Allow800NoNo
18683149OPTICAL ELEMENT HAVING BOTH COLOR FILTER FUNCTION AND LENS FUNCTION, IMAGE SENSOR THEREOF AND IMAGING DEVICEFebruary 2024March 2025Allow1310YesNo
18424419RECHARGE CIRCUIT FOR DIGITAL SILICON PHOTOMULTIPLIERSJanuary 2024February 2025Allow1210NoNo
18522388A REMOVABLE PHOTO DIODE CASENovember 2023February 2025Allow1520YesNo
18493226SUBSTRATE INSPECTION APPARATUS AND SUBSTRATE INSPECTION METHODOctober 2023May 2025Allow1800NoNo
18554354LIGHT DETECTION APPARATUS AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE TO SUPPRESS LIGHT COLOR MIXINGOctober 2023April 2025Abandon1820NoNo
18283498TECHNIQUE FOR ANALYZING A SPECTRUM OF BACKSCATTERED LIGHT IN AN OPTICAL FIBERSeptember 2023January 2025Allow1610NoNo
18370630METHOD, APPARATUS, AND DEVICE FOR DETERMINING SPECTRAL REFLECTANCESeptember 2023February 2025Abandon1711NoNo
18240859MASKING TO ELIMINATE DIRECT LINE OF SIGHT BETWEEN LIGHT EMITTER AND LIGHT RECEIVER IN A SMOKE DETECTORAugust 2023August 2024Allow1110NoNo
18279599Thermoelectric-Conversion Material Element and Optical Sensor Containing the SameAugust 2023October 2024Allow1420YesNo
18348238AN OPTICAL FIBER WITH MICROGRATINGS FOR INCREASED MEASURABLE STRAIN RANGEJuly 2023January 2025Allow1811YesNo
18340415ANALOG OPTICAL POSITIONING SENSOR, METHOD, AND CIRCUITJune 2023January 2025Allow1920NoNo
18336103OPTICAL SENSOR WITH AN IMPROVED PIXEL ELECTRODEJune 2023June 2025Abandon2421NoNo
18319908SHOES WITH INTEGRATED OPTICAL SENSORS AND METHODS OF MAKING THEREOFMay 2023June 2025Allow2510NoNo
18197476TACTILE SENSOR EQUIPPED WITH MULTIPLE LIGHT SOURCES AND A PHOTO DETECTOR, SENSING DEVICE AND ROBOT HAVING THE SAMEMay 2023March 2025Allow2221YesNo
18252644Electronic DeviceMay 2023March 2025Abandon2220YesNo
18132625ELECTRONIC DEVICE COMPRISING IMAGE SENSOR FOR IDENTIFYING AN OPERATION SETTING AND AN EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITION AND METHOD OF OPERATION THEREOFApril 2023October 2024Allow1820YesNo
18297496IMPROVEMENT OF A CHARGE OR A DISCHARGE OF AN OUTPUT VOLTAGE RAIL OF A PLURALITY OF PIXELSApril 2023September 2024Allow1820YesNo
18128397CIRCUITS AND METHODS FOR DIGITAL DC STABILIZATION OF OPTICAL RECEIVERSMarch 2023May 2024Allow1410YesNo
18043967SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS HAVING LIGHT-SHIELDING PORTIONS OF DIFFERENT HEIGHTSMarch 2023June 2025Allow2800NoNo
18175881SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE WITH ANTI-REFLECTION FILMFebruary 2023November 2024Allow2120NoNo
18174017SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES WITH SINGLE-PHOTON AVALANCHE DIODES AND HYBRID ISOLATION STRUCTURESFebruary 2023March 2024Allow1310NoNo
18167972SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGE INCLUDING IMAGE SENSOR CHIP, TRANSPARENT SUBSTRATE, AND JOINING STRUCTUREFebruary 2023November 2024Allow2130YesNo
18065648PIXEL CIRCUIT AND TEMPERATURE SENSING CIRCUIT ADJUSTING SIGNALS IN THE SAMEDecember 2022March 2024Allow1510NoNo
18063188TIME-OF-FLIGHT IMAGE SENSOR RESOLUTION ENHANCEMENT AND INCREASED DATA ROBUSTNESS USING A BINNING MODULEDecember 2022January 2024Allow1310NoNo
18077127IMAGING DEVICE INCLUDING PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERTERS AND CAPACITORDecember 2022February 2024Allow1510YesNo
18070426IMAGE SENSING DEVICE INCLUDING MICROLENS HAVING AN INCLINED REFLECTIVE SURFACENovember 2022April 2025Abandon2830NoNo
17993639IMAGE SENSOR INCLUDING AN ANTI-REFLECTION ELEMENT AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS INCLUDING THE SAMENovember 2022May 2024Allow1820YesNo
17924397SAFETY ASSEMBLY FOR TRAINING USE OF A LASER-DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPONNovember 2022January 2025Allow2630NoNo
17955446Apparatus for Controllably Storing and Releasing PhotonsSeptember 2022April 2024Allow1920YesNo
17896099"OPTICAL SENSING DEVICE INCLUDING LIGHT-SENSING ELEMENT AND LIGHT-SHIELDING LAYER"August 2022May 2025Abandon3341NoNo
17820963ELECTRONIC DEVICE HAVING A PHOTODIODE AND CAPABLE OF SWITCHING BETWEEN LIGHT-SENSING FUNCTION AND LIGHT-CHARGING FUNCTIONAugust 2022January 2024Allow1710NoNo
17888130STRUCTURE FOR UTILIZING INDOOR NATURAL LIGHT IN MOVING SPACE AND METHOD THEREFOREAugust 2022July 2024Abandon2320NoNo
17888168MICROCHANNEL PLATE IMAGE INTENSIFIERS AND METHODS OF PRODUCING THE SAMEAugust 2022June 2024Allow2211NoNo
17885073OPTICAL WATER-QUALITY DETECTION APPARATUSAugust 2022December 2023Allow1610YesNo
17873468ELECTRONIC DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING AUTOFOCUS BY ROTATING OR REORDERING AF DATAJuly 2022April 2025Allow3310YesNo
17871960APPARATUS AND SYSTEM OF ANALOG PIXEL BINNINGJuly 2022December 2023Allow1720YesNo
17759338DEVICE INCLUDING PHOTOCONDUCTOR READOUT CIRCUIT FOR MEASURING DIFFERENTIAL VOLTAGES OF A PHOTOCONDUCTORJuly 2022June 2023Allow1010NoNo
17814034ARTICLE INSPECTION APPARATUS USING SPECTRUM ANALYZERJuly 2022November 2023Allow1610NoNo
17869172OPTICAL SENSORJuly 2022June 2025Abandon3510NoNo
17791640IMAGING APPARATUS AND DEFOCUS AMOUNT CALCULATION METHODJuly 2022August 2024Allow2520NoNo
17859280IMAGE SENSING DEVICEJuly 2022April 2025Allow3310NoNo
17758338SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE WITH ENHANCED PIXEL STRUCTURE AND LIGHT SHIELDING REGION FOR IMPROVING IMAGE QUALITYJuly 2022March 2025Allow3310NoNo
17852496PROJECTING INFRARED EMISSIONS FOR SURFACE HEATINGJune 2022July 2024Abandon2420NoNo
17847206OPTICAL SENSING CIRCUIT AND OPTICAL SENSING METHOD FOR GENERATING SENSED VALUEJune 2022February 2024Abandon1920NoNo
17828508Systems and Methods for Biasing Light DetectorsMay 2022October 2023Allow1720YesNo
17756408SOLID-STATE IMAGING ELEMENT AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE INCLUDING STACKED FILM GROUP WITH GRADUALLY CHANGING REFRACTIVE INDEXMay 2022February 2025Allow3210NoNo
17742370PHOTOSENSITIVE DEVICE WITH PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENTS HAVING DIFFERENT DESIGNSMay 2022February 2024Abandon2121YesNo
17739971LIDAR SENSOR USING COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS FOR MOBILE DEVICEMay 2022May 2024Allow2410NoNo
17720093DIFFUSER FOR IRRADIANCE SENSOR INCLUDING DIFFUSER PROTRUDING FROM EXTERIOR SURFACEApril 2022April 2024Allow2420NoNo
17765799PARTICLE DETECTION APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND PARTICLE DETECTION METHODMarch 2022January 2025Allow3410NoNo
17703014POSITION SENSOR FOR A MECHANICAL DEVICE AND OPERATING METHOD FOR OPERATING SAID POSITION SENSORMarch 2022May 2023Allow1410NoNo
17701581PHOTODETECTORMarch 2022March 2024Abandon2420NoNo
17692435SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING CONTENTS OF A BELONGINGS INSPECTION BASED ON A SIGNALMarch 2022July 2023Allow1620NoNo
17678881SENSING AND PROCESSING UNIT GENERATING A TRIGGER SIGNAL UPON OCCURRENCE OF SPECIFIED CONDITIONSFebruary 2022May 2025Allow3851YesNo
17651308SELF-CHECKING PHOTOELECTRIC SENSOR AND METHOD OF OPERATIONFebruary 2022June 2023Allow1611NoNo
17672912IMAGE SENSOR HAVING DIFFERENT-SIZED COLOR FILTERSFebruary 2022March 2025Allow3720YesNo
17582721SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING KNOWN AND UNKNOWN OBJECTSJanuary 2022June 2024Allow2930YesNo
17581667BEAM PROJECTION SYSTEM HAVING A LIGHT CURTAIN SYSTEM FOR DETECTING OBSTACLESJanuary 2022September 2023Allow2011YesNo
17578219UNIFORM STABILIZED LIGHT SOURCE WITH A DOME STRUCTUREJanuary 2022November 2024Abandon3440NoNo
17573561IMAGE SENSOR INCLUDING MULTIPLE PIXELS AND CAMERA ASSEMBLY AND MOBILE TERMINAL INCLUDING SAID IMAGE SENSORJanuary 2022June 2025Abandon4220NoNo
17647071CLEANING DEVICE FOR A LIDAR SENSOR OF A WORKING DEVICE, INCLUDING A VEHICLEJanuary 2022March 2024Allow2640NoNo
17646860IMAGE SENSORJanuary 2022June 2025Abandon4220NoNo
17623790IMAGING DEVICE AND IMAGING APPARATUSDecember 2021May 2025Abandon4120NoNo
17558872SENSING DEVICE AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH OPENINGS THAT OVERLAP SENSING ELEMENTSDecember 2021April 2025Allow3930NoNo
17620193OPTICAL SENSOR MODULE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOFDecember 2021April 2025Allow4020YesNo
17618503Focal plane optical conditioning for integrated photonicsDecember 2021January 2025Allow3730YesNo
17540644LIGHT FIELD-BASED BEAM CORRECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODSDecember 2021July 2024Allow3120NoNo
17540045INFRARED SENSING MODULE, TERMINAL DEVICE, CONTROL METHOD OF TERMINAL DEVICE, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUMDecember 2021April 2024Allow2910NoNo
17538354IMAGE SENSOR HAVING LIQUID-LENS UNITS AND METHOD FOR DETECTING IMAGESNovember 2021June 2025Allow4330NoNo
17527799Spatial Phase Integrated Wafer-Level ImagingNovember 2021February 2025Allow3920NoNo
17453253IMAGE SENSOR WITH VARYING SAME-COLOR COLOR FILTER THICKNESSNovember 2021August 2024Allow3410YesNo
17514581SILICON PHOTOMULTIPLIERS REFLECTIVE PULSE COMPRESSIONOctober 2021August 2024Allow3310NoNo
17512988READOUT ARCHITECTURES FOR ERROR REDUCTION IN INDIRECT TIME-OF-FLIGHT SENSORSOctober 2021June 2025Abandon4310NoNo
17511593LIGHT DETECTION DEVICE HAVING STACKED LIGHT DETECTORSOctober 2021July 2023Allow2120NoNo
17511381SATURATION CAUSED PHASE JUMP AVOIDANCE IN DASOctober 2021February 2023Allow1610YesNo
17497134Sacrificial Anode Optical Monitory SystemOctober 2021March 2023Allow1710NoNo
17442976WAVEFRONT SENSORS AND WAVEFRONT SHAPE DETERMINATION USING RELATED IMAGING SENSORSSeptember 2021January 2024Allow2820NoNo
17484573POSITION DETECTING DEVICESeptember 2021May 2023Abandon1910NoNo
17479896OPTICAL SENSOR WITH MEMS MMA STEERED TRANSMITTER AND STARING DETECTORSeptember 2021January 2023Allow1510YesNo
17479846SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICESeptember 2021December 2024Abandon3910NoNo
17474504OPTICAL SENSOR WITH DUAL-AXIS GIMBALLED TRANSMITTER AND STARING DETECTORSeptember 2021December 2024Allow3910NoNo
17430834AVALANCHE PHOTODIODE SENSOR AND DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICE INCLUDING CONCAVE-CONVEX PORTIONS FOR REDUCED REFLECTANCEAugust 2021October 2024Allow3820NoNo
17382777COMPLEMENTARY METAL-OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR (CMOS) IMAGE SENSORJuly 2021May 2024Allow3410NoNo
17304979METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR EVALUATING AGRICULTURAL MATERIAL WITH AN IMAGING DEVICEJune 2021February 2025Allow4341YesNo
17311511OPTICAL DISTANCE SENSING USING A TARGET SURFACE HAVING A NON-UNIFORM DESIGN OF REGIONS OF DIFFERENT REFLECTIVITYJune 2021January 2024Allow3120NoNo
17334023APPARATUS FOR MEASURING OPTICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A TEST OPTICAL ELEMENT UNDER LOW-TEMPERATURE ENVIRONMENTMay 2021August 2023Allow2620NoNo
17290851LIGHT RECEIVING DEVICEMay 2021May 2024Abandon3610NoNo
17241525PHOTODETECTORS AND ABSORBERS WITH SLANTED LIGHT INCIDENCEApril 2021January 2025Allow4460YesNo
17176448ESTIMATION OF SOURCE-DETECTOR SEPARATION IN AN OPTICAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEMFebruary 2021November 2023Allow3311NoNo
17168626LIDAR DEVICE HAVING A FOUR-PORT DUPLEXER AND METHOD FOR OPTICAL REMOTE SENSINGFebruary 2021March 2023Allow2510NoNo
17256664METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING GRATING PERTURBATION BY MODULATED LIGHTDecember 2020March 2023Allow2610NoNo
17130778ELECTRONIC DEVICE COMPRISING IMAGE SENSOR FOR IDENTIFYING AN OPERATION SETTING AND AN EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITION AND METHOD OF OPERATION THEREOFDecember 2020November 2022Allow2300NoNo
17100057DEVICE FOR GENERATING LIGHT PULSES FOR CHARACTERIZATION, STANDARDIZATION OR CALIBRATION OF PHOTODETECTORS IN FLOW CYTOMETERSNovember 2020July 2023Allow3210NoNo
16949837SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGES WITH AN ARRAY OF SINGLE-PHOTON AVALANCHE DIODES SPLIT BETWEEN MULTIPLE SEMICONDUCTOR DICENovember 2020September 2023Allow3441YesNo
17055565DISPLAY PANEL HAVING UPCONVERSION MATERIAL AND DISPLAY DEVICENovember 2020September 2023Allow3410NoNo
17090041TUNABLE SPECTRUM SENSING DEVICE, OUT-OF-PLANE MOTION MOTOR AND PRODUCING METHOD THEREOFNovember 2020April 2023Abandon3001NoNo
17078670IMAGE SENSOR INCLUDING COLOR SEPARATING LENS ARRAY, INCLUDING REGIONS OF DIFFERENT PATTERNS, AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS INCLUDING THE IMAGE SENSOROctober 2020August 2023Allow3420YesNo
17071673IMAGE SENSING DEVICE WITH MULTIPLE OPTICAL LAYERS FORMED ON MICRO LENSOctober 2020June 2025Allow5620NoYes
17071729OPTICAL SENSOR WITH Tx/Rx APERTURE SHARING ELEMENT (ASE) FOR PROCESSING PASSIVE AND ACTIVE SIGNALSOctober 2020January 2024Allow3910NoNo

Appeals Overview

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

Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Decisions

Total PTAB Decisions
1
Examiner Affirmed
1
(100.0%)
Examiner Reversed
0
(0.0%)
Reversal Percentile
13.2%
Lower than average

What This Means

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.

Strategic Value of Filing an Appeal

Total Appeal Filings
2
Allowed After Appeal Filing
0
(0.0%)
Not Allowed After Appeal Filing
2
(100.0%)
Filing Benefit Percentile
5.9%
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, 0.0% 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.

Strategic Recommendations

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 GARBER, ERIN R - Prosecution Strategy Guide

Executive Summary

Examiner GARBER, ERIN R works in Art Unit 2878 and has examined 148 patent applications in our dataset. With an allowance rate of 80.4%, this examiner has a below-average tendency to allow applications. Applications typically reach final disposition in approximately 31 months.

Allowance Patterns

Examiner GARBER, ERIN R's allowance rate of 80.4% places them in the 43% percentile among all USPTO examiners. This examiner has a below-average tendency to allow applications.

Office Action Patterns

On average, applications examined by GARBER, ERIN R receive 1.77 office actions before reaching final disposition. This places the examiner in the 53% 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 GARBER, ERIN R is 31 months. This places the examiner in the 37% percentile for prosecution speed. Prosecution timelines are slightly slower than average with this examiner.

Interview Effectiveness

Conducting an examiner interview provides a +20.5% benefit to allowance rate for applications examined by GARBER, ERIN R. This interview benefit is in the 69% percentile among all examiners. Recommendation: Interviews provide an above-average benefit with this examiner and are worth considering.

Request for Continued Examination (RCE) Effectiveness

When applicants file an RCE with this examiner, 35.9% of applications are subsequently allowed. This success rate is in the 77% 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 43.5% of cases where such amendments are filed. This entry rate is in the 60% 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.

Pre-Appeal Conference Effectiveness

When applicants request a pre-appeal conference (PAC) with this examiner, 0.0% result in withdrawal of the rejection or reopening of prosecution. This success rate is in the 14% percentile among all examiners. Note: Pre-appeal conferences show limited success with this examiner compared to others. While still worth considering, be prepared to proceed with a full appeal brief if the PAC does not result in favorable action.

Appeal Withdrawal and Reconsideration

This examiner withdraws rejections or reopens prosecution in 50.0% of appeals filed. This is in the 14% percentile among all examiners. 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.

Petition Practice

When applicants file petitions regarding this examiner's actions, 0.0% are granted (fully or in part). This grant rate is in the 3% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Note: Petitions are rarely granted regarding this examiner's actions compared to other examiners. Ensure you have a strong procedural basis before filing a petition, as the Technology Center Director typically upholds this examiner's decisions.

Examiner Cooperation and Flexibility

Examiner's Amendments: This examiner makes examiner's amendments in 0.0% of allowed cases (in the 25% percentile). This examiner makes examiner's amendments less often than average. You may need to make most claim amendments yourself.

Quayle Actions: This examiner issues Ex Parte Quayle actions in 1.7% of allowed cases (in the 63% percentile). This examiner issues Quayle actions more often than average when claims are allowable but formal matters remain (MPEP § 714.14).

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.