Detailed information about the 100 most recent patent applications.
| Application Number | Title | Filing Date | Disposal Date | Disposition | Time (months) | Office Actions | Restrictions | Interview | Appeal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18727362 | METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING THE ENVIRONMENT SENSING FOR A DRIVING ASSISTANCE SYSTEM BY MEANS OF AN ADDITIONAL REFERENCE SENSOR SYSTEM | July 2024 | March 2026 | Allow | 20 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18772656 | COMPREHENSIVE FLIGHT PLANNING TOOL | July 2024 | December 2025 | Abandon | 17 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18765673 | BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLE AND VEHICLE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM | July 2024 | January 2026 | Allow | 18 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18756102 | PROCESSING CIRCUITRY CONFIGURED TO DETERMINE INFORMATION INDICATIVE OF A POSITION OF A TRANSLATIONAL MOVEMENT SENSOR ON A MARINE VESSEL | June 2024 | February 2026 | Allow | 19 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18720426 | VARIABLE SPEED INTUITIVE ELECTRIC STEERING | June 2024 | March 2026 | Abandon | 21 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18733363 | INTEGRITY MONITORING SYSTEM FOR A BOOM ASSEMBLY | June 2024 | October 2025 | Allow | 16 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18669300 | Method and Apparatus for Automated Plant Necrosis | May 2024 | January 2026 | Allow | 20 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18635973 | VEHICLE NOTIFICATION SYSTEM | April 2024 | February 2026 | Allow | 22 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18592115 | SYSTEM AND METHODS THEREOF FOR AUTOMATED IDENTIFICATION OF OCCURRENCES OF EXECUTED SCENARIOS USING A SCENARIO DEFINITION LANGUAGE | February 2024 | March 2026 | Allow | 25 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18574246 | DISPLAY DEVICE FOR VEHICLES AND DISPLAY METHOD FOR VEHICLES | December 2023 | August 2025 | Allow | 20 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18534011 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COORDINATING COLLABORATIVE SENSOR CALIBRATION | December 2023 | February 2026 | Allow | 27 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18513682 | STEERING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME | November 2023 | July 2024 | Allow | 8 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18506012 | REMOTE ENGINE SPEED CONTROL | November 2023 | June 2025 | Allow | 19 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18501361 | METHOD AND AVIONICS COMPUTER FOR ADAPTING AN ANCHOR POINT OF A TERMINAL SEGMENT WITH RESPECT TO A LANDING THRESHOLD POINT, FOR A NON-PRECISION APPROACH | November 2023 | December 2025 | Allow | 25 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18499474 | VEHICLE CONTROL PANEL | November 2023 | September 2025 | Allow | 23 | 0 | 1 | No | No |
| 18496124 | METHOD FOR MOTION ESTIMATION IN A VEHICLE, CORRESPONDING DEVICE AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT | October 2023 | December 2025 | Allow | 25 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18372563 | HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE AND ENGINE CLUTCH TOUCHPOINT LEARNING METHOD THEREFOR | September 2023 | September 2025 | Allow | 24 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18467067 | CHARGE CONTROL DEVICE FOR HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE | September 2023 | May 2025 | Allow | 20 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18466197 | VEHICLE CONTROL APPARATUS | September 2023 | February 2026 | Abandon | 29 | 1 | 1 | No | No |
| 18244549 | CAMERA MONITOR SYSTEM FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES INCLUDING WHEEL POSITION ESTIMATION | September 2023 | January 2026 | Allow | 28 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18463464 | ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERY SYSTEM CONTROL STRATEGY INCORPORATING ACTIVE CELL TEMPERATURE BALANCING | September 2023 | August 2025 | Allow | 23 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18279413 | WORK MACHINE AND WORK MACHINE SYSTEM | August 2023 | April 2025 | Allow | 19 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18455414 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING SEVERE ROAD EVENTS | August 2023 | June 2024 | Allow | 10 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18236620 | METHOD OF CONTROLLING TORQUE OF DRIVE SYSTEM OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE | August 2023 | March 2026 | Allow | 31 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 18451375 | WORKING MACHINE AND POSITION DETECTING DEVICE | August 2023 | November 2025 | Allow | 27 | 1 | 1 | No | No |
| 18448973 | FLOOR SURFACE INCLINATION HANDLING METHOD, AND FLOOR SURFACE INCLINATION HANDLING SYSTEM | August 2023 | April 2025 | Allow | 20 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18546319 | METHOD FOR OPERATING A MOTOR VEHICLE, SYSTEM | August 2023 | December 2025 | Allow | 28 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 18228407 | Collision Condition Application Device, Method, Program and Path Generation Device | July 2023 | March 2026 | Allow | 31 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18263062 | SYSTEM FOR TUNING HYDRAULIC COMPONENTS OF A PRODUCTION DIGGER | July 2023 | January 2026 | Allow | 30 | 1 | 1 | Yes | No |
| 18271701 | Control of at Least One Safety Function of a Motor Vehicle | July 2023 | August 2025 | Allow | 25 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18344753 | UNMANNED SYSTEM MANEUVER CONTROLLER SYSTEMS AND METHODS | June 2023 | November 2024 | Allow | 16 | 3 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18268827 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING EXCAVATOR | June 2023 | January 2026 | Allow | 31 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 18207637 | CONTROL MODULE, HANDLEBAR ASSEMBLY WITH THE CONTROL MODULE, AND ELECTRIC ASSIST VEHICLE WITH THE HANDLEBAR ASSEMBLY | June 2023 | February 2026 | Abandon | 32 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 18325902 | FLIGHT PLAN EVALUATION | May 2023 | June 2025 | Allow | 24 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18322957 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INDICATING A VEHICLE VIRTUAL CONNECTION BASED ON USER CONFUSION | May 2023 | July 2025 | Allow | 26 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18316287 | COMPREHENSIVE FLIGHT PLANNING TOOL | May 2023 | April 2024 | Allow | 11 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18036527 | AIRCRAFT CONTROL SYSTEM, AIRCRAFT, AIRCRAFT CONTROL METHOD, AND PROGRAM | May 2023 | March 2025 | Allow | 22 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18313880 | EQUITABLE RESOURCE ACCESS THROUGH ADJUDICATION OF FLIGHT PLAN REQUESTS OR OTHER REQUESTS | May 2023 | April 2025 | Allow | 23 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18123743 | CONTROL METHOD AND CONTROL DEVICE | March 2023 | July 2025 | Allow | 28 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18122976 | HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE | March 2023 | March 2025 | Allow | 24 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 18181913 | SAFETY AND/OR PERFORMANCE MONITORING OF AN AUTOMATED DRIVING SYSTEM | March 2023 | August 2025 | Allow | 30 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18011760 | AUTONOMOUS TRAVELING CONTROL METHOD FOR CRAWLER VEHICLE, CONTROLLER OF CRAWLER VEHICLE AND CRAWLER VEHICLE | December 2022 | March 2025 | Abandon | 26 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18079541 | MAINTAINING DISTANCE DURING VEHICLE INTERACTIONS | December 2022 | March 2026 | Allow | 39 | 2 | 1 | Yes | No |
| 18070163 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND STORAGE MEDIA FOR PATH VALIDATION | November 2022 | May 2025 | Allow | 40 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18070200 | VEHICLE LOCALIZATION SYSTEM | November 2022 | July 2025 | Allow | 31 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 17993458 | VEHICLE TRAVELING ASSIST DEVICE | November 2022 | August 2024 | Allow | 21 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17927286 | METHOD FOR AN "ON-THE-FLY" TREATMENT OF AN AGRICULTURAL FIELD USING A SOIL SENSOR | November 2022 | July 2025 | Abandon | 32 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 17985284 | ELECTRIC MARINE PROPULSION SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD | November 2022 | April 2025 | Allow | 29 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 17983438 | CONTROL SYSTEM, CONTROL METHOD, AND PROGRAM | November 2022 | October 2024 | Allow | 23 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 18052782 | REMOTE ENGINE SPEED CONTROL | November 2022 | August 2023 | Allow | 9 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 18051332 | MAP BASED FARMING FOR WINDROWER OPERATION | October 2022 | February 2025 | Allow | 28 | 1 | 1 | Yes | No |
| 17974649 | OBJECT BASED VEHICLE LOCALIZATION | October 2022 | April 2025 | Allow | 30 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 17961926 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRAINING A ROBOT TO AUTONOMOUSLY TRAVEL A ROUTE | October 2022 | April 2025 | Allow | 31 | 2 | 1 | Yes | No |
| 17950002 | CONTROL SYSTEM FOR NAVIGATING DURING A DETECTED EVENT | September 2022 | March 2025 | Allow | 30 | 1 | 1 | Yes | No |
| 17796737 | REMOTE OPERATION ASSISTANCE SERVER, REMOTE OPERATION ASSISTANCE SYSTEM, AND REMOTE OPERATION ASSISTANCE METHOD | August 2022 | February 2025 | Allow | 31 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 17796771 | ON-VEHICLE DEVICE AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM | August 2022 | November 2024 | Allow | 27 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17812622 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ESTIMATING HEADING AND YAW RATE FOR AUTOMATED DRIVING | July 2022 | August 2023 | Allow | 13 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17811164 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR LANE CHANGES USING A MULTI-CORRIDOR REPRESENTATION OF LOCAL ROUTE REGIONS | July 2022 | June 2025 | Allow | 36 | 2 | 0 | No | Yes |
| 17808707 | Device For Operating An Electronic System Of A Vehicle | June 2022 | January 2025 | Allow | 31 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17829037 | FILLING EARTH INTO A VEHICLE USING A COOPERATIVE FLEET OF VEHICLES | May 2022 | June 2024 | Abandon | 25 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17829027 | OPTIMIZATION OF DEEP LEARNING AND SIMULATION FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES | May 2022 | October 2024 | Allow | 29 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17664517 | TRANSPORT VEHICLE CONFIGURATION FOR IMPAIRED RIDERS | May 2022 | April 2023 | Allow | 11 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17751563 | CONTROL DEVICE, VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM, CONTROL METHOD AND STORAGE MEDIUM | May 2022 | July 2024 | Allow | 26 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17776975 | LIGHTING MODULE FOR A SIDE PORTION OF A VEHICLE | May 2022 | April 2024 | Allow | 23 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17663410 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR OPERATING AN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE | May 2022 | March 2025 | Allow | 34 | 3 | 0 | No | No |
| 17776626 | END-TO-END UNMANNED CONTROL SYSTEM OF AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION AND SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS | May 2022 | February 2025 | Allow | 33 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 17776903 | Model Predictive Control of Multiple Components of a Motor Vehicle | May 2022 | September 2024 | Allow | 28 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17776545 | COLLABORATIVE SPACE FOR MANAGING FLIGHT PLANS | May 2022 | January 2026 | Allow | 44 | 3 | 0 | No | No |
| 17662393 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPERATING AN AT LEAST PARTIALLY AUTOMATED VEHICLE | May 2022 | July 2024 | Allow | 27 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17717067 | INFINITY SMART SERVING ROBOT | April 2022 | December 2024 | Abandon | 32 | 0 | 1 | No | No |
| 17716974 | FLEET CONTROL FOR PARKING SPACE SELECTION | April 2022 | August 2024 | Allow | 28 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17716876 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MITIGATING AGAINST IONOSPHERIC GRADIENT THREATS FOR AERIAL PLATFORMS | April 2022 | March 2024 | Allow | 23 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| 17766626 | CLUTCH ARRANGEMENT FOR A HYBRID VEHICLE POWERTRAIN | April 2022 | June 2024 | Allow | 27 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17761597 | VEHICLE DATA COMMUNICATION AND INTERACTION SYSTEM AND CONSTRUCTION METHOD THEREOF | March 2022 | August 2024 | Allow | 29 | 0 | 1 | No | No |
| 17694712 | MULTI-SENSOR SYNCHRONIZATION METHOD AND SYSTEM | March 2022 | January 2025 | Abandon | 34 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 17654842 | VEHICLE PREPARATION BASED ON ENVIRONMENTAL DATA | March 2022 | November 2024 | Allow | 32 | 3 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17688058 | NAVIGATION SYSTEM WITH ADDRESS INDEX MECHANISM AND METHOD OF OPERATION THEREOF | March 2022 | August 2024 | Abandon | 30 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17685208 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO PROVIDE REAL-TIME CONTEXT-BASED AVOIDANCE MECHANISMS FOR GNSS JAMMING OR SPOOFING REGIONS | March 2022 | September 2024 | Allow | 31 | 1 | 1 | Yes | No |
| 17638095 | INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, CONTROL METHOD, PROGRAM AND STORAGE MEDIUM | February 2022 | February 2024 | Abandon | 24 | 0 | 1 | No | No |
| 17674931 | DETECTION DEVICE, VEHICLE SYSTEM, DETECTION METHOD, AND PROGRAM | February 2022 | February 2024 | Allow | 24 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17651406 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR CAMERA TO GROUND ALIGNMENT | February 2022 | June 2024 | Allow | 28 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17586017 | Remote Wireless Hydraulic Frame | January 2022 | August 2025 | Abandon | 42 | 0 | 1 | No | No |
| 17577988 | LANDMARK BASED ROUTING | January 2022 | September 2023 | Allow | 19 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17647147 | VEHICLE STATE ESTIMATION AUGMENTING SENSOR DATA FOR VEHICLE CONTROL AND AUTONOMOUS DRIVING | January 2022 | August 2024 | Abandon | 32 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17646634 | Method and System for Determining Weights for an Attention Based Method for Trajectory Prediction | December 2021 | May 2024 | Allow | 28 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17549824 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ANTICIPATORY DEPLOYMENT OF AUTONOMOUSLY CONTROLLED VEHICLES | December 2021 | January 2024 | Abandon | 25 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17536940 | SENSOR CONSENSUS MONITOR | November 2021 | September 2023 | Allow | 22 | 1 | 1 | Yes | No |
| 17456121 | VEHICLE DEVICE | November 2021 | September 2023 | Allow | 22 | 1 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17512037 | EYE-GAZE INPUT APPARATUS | October 2021 | January 2024 | Allow | 27 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17511943 | ELECTRIC SEAT MOTOR ABSOLUTE SENSOR DIAGNOSTICS | October 2021 | April 2024 | Allow | 30 | 0 | 1 | No | No |
| 17510895 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SUBSEA CABLE LOCALIZATION | October 2021 | August 2024 | Abandon | 33 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 17508406 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING VEHICLE, AND CLOUD CONTROL PLATFORM | October 2021 | March 2024 | Abandon | 28 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17502001 | Method And Device For Checking An Ai-Based Information Processing System Used In The Partially Automated Or Fully Automated Control Of A Vehicle | October 2021 | January 2024 | Allow | 27 | 2 | 0 | No | No |
| 17497868 | Method and Apparatus for Automated Plant Necrosis | October 2021 | July 2022 | Allow | 10 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17494210 | Bidirectional interactive traffic-control management system | October 2021 | November 2024 | Allow | 37 | 2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| 17449413 | AUTONOMOUS LATERAL CONTROL OF VEHICLE USING DIRECT YAW MOMENT CONTROL | September 2021 | September 2023 | Allow | 24 | 3 | 0 | No | No |
| 17482459 | OUTSIDE INFORMATION DISPLAY CONTROL DEVICE, OUTSIDE INFORMATION DISPLAY CONTROL METHOD, AND PROGRAM | September 2021 | July 2023 | Allow | 22 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17473115 | VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM | September 2021 | August 2023 | Allow | 24 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
| 17470962 | METHOD FOR MOTION ESTIMATION IN A VEHICLE, CORRESPONDING DEVICE AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT | September 2021 | July 2023 | Allow | 23 | 0 | 1 | Yes | No |
| 17463501 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING AUTONOMOUS DRIVING SIMULATION DATA, AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE | August 2021 | August 2023 | Allow | 23 | 1 | 0 | No | No |
This analysis examines appeal outcomes and the strategic value of filing appeals for examiner MCPHERSON, JAMES M.
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, 66.7% 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.
✓ Filing a Notice of Appeal is strategically valuable. The act of filing often prompts favorable reconsideration during the mandatory appeal conference.
Examiner MCPHERSON, JAMES M works in Art Unit 3663 and has examined 228 patent applications in our dataset. With an allowance rate of 88.6%, this examiner has an above-average tendency to allow applications. Applications typically reach final disposition in approximately 30 months.
Examiner MCPHERSON, JAMES M's allowance rate of 88.6% places them in the 69% percentile among all USPTO examiners. This examiner has an above-average tendency to allow applications.
On average, applications examined by MCPHERSON, JAMES M 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.
The median time to disposition (half-life) for applications examined by MCPHERSON, JAMES M is 30 months. This places the examiner in the 61% percentile for prosecution speed. Prosecution timelines are slightly faster than average with this examiner.
Conducting an examiner interview provides a +10.1% benefit to allowance rate for applications examined by MCPHERSON, JAMES M. This interview benefit is in the 43% percentile among all examiners. Recommendation: Interviews provide a below-average benefit with this examiner.
When applicants file an RCE with this examiner, 35.6% of applications are subsequently allowed. This success rate is in the 80% 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 38.8% of cases where such amendments are filed. This entry rate is in the 59% 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, 100.0% result in withdrawal of the rejection or reopening of prosecution. This success rate is in the 75% 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 100.0% of appeals filed. This is in the 98% percentile among all examiners. Of these withdrawals, 33.3% occur early in the appeal process (after Notice of Appeal but before Appeal Brief). Strategic Insight: This examiner frequently reconsiders rejections during the appeal process compared to other examiners. Per MPEP § 1207.01, all appeals must go through a mandatory appeal conference. Filing a Notice of Appeal may prompt favorable reconsideration even before you file an Appeal Brief.
When applicants file petitions regarding this examiner's actions, 46.2% are granted (fully or in part). This grant rate is in the 40% 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's Amendments: This examiner makes examiner's amendments in 0.0% of allowed cases (in the 37% 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 1.0% of allowed cases (in the 61% 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.