USPTO Examiner HEFLIN HARRISON JAMES RIEL - Art Unit 3665

Recent Applications

Detailed information about the 100 most recent patent applications.

Application NumberTitleFiling DateDisposal DateDispositionTime (months)Office ActionsRestrictionsInterviewAppeal
17134658SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DOCK PLACEMENT FOR AN AUTONOMOUS MOBILE ROBOTDecember 2020December 2022Allow2410YesNo
17125636Systems for Generating Indications of Traversable PathsDecember 2020February 2023Allow2630YesNo
17124842AUTONOMOUS TRAVEL WORK MACHINEDecember 2020January 2023Allow2510NoNo
17124388ELECTRONIC BRAKING SYSTEMDecember 2020June 2024Allow4220NoNo
17120694METHOD FOR PROVIDING A DIGITAL LOCALIZATION MAPDecember 2020January 2023Allow2520NoNo
17118040INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND MEDIUMDecember 2020March 2023Allow2720NoNo
17110679VEHICLE DRIVING CONDITION EVALUATION METHOD AND SYSTEMDecember 2020March 2023Abandon2820NoNo
17110019SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING AND UTILIZING MAP DATA INDICATIVE OF HEALTH INFECTION CONDITIONSDecember 2020February 2024Abandon3910NoNo
17104914STRUCTURED FIELD MAP GENERATION FOR INVENTORY SYSTEMNovember 2020July 2024Allow4410YesNo
17095896VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE, VEHICLE, OPERATION METHOD FOR VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE AND STORAGE MEDIUMNovember 2020December 2022Allow2520YesNo
17096600SYSTEM, METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR IDENTIFYING A ROAD OBJECTNovember 2020August 2022Allow2120NoNo
17053339ZONE PASSAGE CONTROL IN WORKSITENovember 2020December 2022Allow2520NoNo
17051193A METHOD FOR REPLACING A MODULE OF A VEHICLE, A CONTROL DEVICE, A VEHICLE, A SYSTEM, A COMPUTER PROGRAM AND A COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUMOctober 2020November 2022Allow2420YesNo
16949158DEFINING DRIVING ENVELOPE FOR ASSISTED-DRIVING SYSTEMOctober 2020July 2024Allow4540YesYes
17035942METHOD FOR PROVIDING AN ASSISTANCE SIGNAL AND/OR A CONTROL SIGNAL FOR AN AT LEAST PARTIALLY AUTOMATED VEHICLESeptember 2020November 2022Allow2530NoNo
17036977APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING AUTONOMOUS DRIVING OF A VEHICLE, SYSTEM HAVING THE SAME AND METHOD THEREOFSeptember 2020February 2023Allow2830YesNo
17035854Method and Positioning System for Determining Location and Orientation of MachineSeptember 2020May 2024Abandon4470YesNo
16992548VEHICLE TRAVELING CONDITION EVALUATION METHOD AND SYSTEMAugust 2020August 2022Abandon2420NoNo
16969080REMOTE OPERATION EXTENDING AN EXISTING ROUTE TO A DESTINATIONAugust 2020July 2022Allow2320NoNo
16987875METHOD FOR OPERATING AN AGRICULTURAL MACHINE HAVING A TRACTOR AND AN IMPLEMENT HITCHED TO THE TRACTOR AND AGRICULTURAL MACHINEAugust 2020May 2024Allow4520YesNo
16984617METHODS FOR A MARINE VESSEL WITH PRIMARY AND AUXILIARY PROPULSION DEVICESAugust 2020April 2023Allow3310NoNo
16928063VEHICLE-BASED DATA ACQUISITIONJuly 2020October 2023Abandon3950YesNo
16958855MAP CONSTRUCTION AND NAVIGATION METHOD, AND DEVICE AND SYSTEMJune 2020March 2022Allow2010NoNo
16958141Extinguishing RobotJune 2020April 2022Abandon2210NoNo
16908900VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM, VEHICLE CONTROLLER DEVICE AND VEHICLE CONTROL METHODJune 2020May 2022Allow2220YesNo
16907617AIRCRAFT CONTROL METHODJune 2020August 2022Allow2630YesNo
16904923METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MAPPING A PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT USING AN OCCUPANCY GRIDJune 2020October 2022Allow2820NoNo
16899095METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATED DRIVER ASSISTANCE APPLIED TO INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS FOR ENHANCED DRIVER SAFETY AND COLLISION PREVENTIONJune 2020August 2023Abandon3830NoNo
16891281CONTROL INTERFACE FOR AUTONOMYJune 2020May 2024Abandon4840YesNo
16768916DYNAMIC VEHICLE CHARGINGJune 2020November 2022Abandon2920YesNo
16885991METHOD OF ESTIMATING POSITION IN LOCAL AREA OF LARGE SPACE AND ROBOT AND CLOUD SERVER IMPLEMENTING THEREOFMay 2020June 2022Allow2420NoNo
16860502Surface Detection Based on Vehicle Motion PatternsApril 2020December 2023Abandon4330NoNo
16840975DRIVING ASSIST SYSTEMApril 2020January 2022Allow2110NoNo
16652828MOBILE VEHICLEApril 2020May 2022Allow2510NoNo
16814205VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICEMarch 2020April 2022Allow2520NoNo
16645593INDOOR POSITIONING SYSTEM FOR MOBILE OBJECTSMarch 2020March 2023Allow3640YesNo
16644290MINING DUMPERMarch 2020November 2022Abandon3210NoNo
16805260METHOD OF MOVING IN POWER ASSIST MODE REFLECTING PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF USER AND ROBOT IMPLEMENTING THEREOFFebruary 2020July 2022Allow2910NoNo
16803793SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO APPLY MARKINGSFebruary 2020September 2022Allow3020YesNo
16706263SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING A SIGN TYPE OF A ROAD SIGNDecember 2019May 2022Allow2910NoNo
16701347METHOD FOR CONTROLLING WHEEL SLIP OF VEHICLEDecember 2019November 2023Allow4740YesNo
16692783DETERMINING RIDERSHIP ERRORS BY ANALYZING PROVIDER-REQUESTOR CONSISTENCY SIGNALS ACROSS RIDE STAGESNovember 2019May 2023Allow4110YesNo
16687927DRIVER MODEL ESTIMATION, CLASSIFICATION, AND ADAPTATION FOR RANGE PREDICTIONNovember 2019September 2022Abandon3410NoNo
16661554Exit RoutesOctober 2019September 2022Allow3520YesNo
16555963METHOD FOR DRIVING ROBOT BASED ON EXTERNAL IMAGE, AND ROBOT AND SERVER IMPLEMENTING THE SAMEAugust 2019August 2022Allow3530NoNo
16549393HIGH-PRECISION MAP GENERATION METHOD, DEVICE AND COMPUTER DEVICEAugust 2019October 2023Abandon5060NoNo
16548960METHODS FOR TRANSITIONING BETWEEN AUTONOMOUS DRIVING MODES IN LARGE VEHICLESAugust 2019December 2023Allow5271YesNo
16531191MAP INFORMATION SYSTEMAugust 2019April 2022Allow3220NoNo
16480006USER INPUT CONFIGURED DYNAMIC SHUTTLEJuly 2019September 2022Allow3820NoNo
16479434IMPROVED WORK SCHEDULING FOR A ROBOTIC LAWNMOWERJuly 2019May 2025Abandon60110NoNo
16514404TEMPORAL INFORMATION PREDICTION IN AUTONOMOUS MACHINE APPLICATIONSJuly 2019October 2022Allow3920YesYes
16513808NAVIGATION DEVICEJuly 2019August 2022Abandon3731YesNo
16455782VIRTUAL SENSOR AND COMPASS CALIBRATIONJune 2019October 2022Allow4011YesNo
16435013Shopping Cart, Positioning System and Method, and Electronic EquipmentJune 2019February 2022Allow3320NoNo
16428281LOAD ALIGNMENT AIDMay 2019February 2023Allow4430NoNo
16417960TRAFFIC CONTROL WITH REINFORCEMENT LEARNINGMay 2019June 2022Allow3720NoNo
16320147MOBILE BODY AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING MOBILE BODYJanuary 2019February 2022Allow3710YesNo

Appeals Overview

This analysis examines appeal outcomes and the strategic value of filing appeals for examiner HEFLIN, HARRISON JAMES RIEL.

Strategic Value of Filing an Appeal

Total Appeal Filings
2
Allowed After Appeal Filing
1
(50.0%)
Not Allowed After Appeal Filing
1
(50.0%)
Filing Benefit Percentile
82.4%
Higher 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, 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.

Strategic Recommendations

Filing a Notice of Appeal is strategically valuable. The act of filing often prompts favorable reconsideration during the mandatory appeal conference.

Examiner HEFLIN, HARRISON JAMES RIEL - Prosecution Strategy Guide

Executive Summary

Examiner HEFLIN, HARRISON JAMES RIEL works in Art Unit 3665 and has examined 57 patent applications in our dataset. With an allowance rate of 73.7%, this examiner has a below-average tendency to allow applications. Applications typically reach final disposition in approximately 32 months.

Allowance Patterns

Examiner HEFLIN, HARRISON JAMES RIEL's allowance rate of 73.7% places them in the 39% percentile among all USPTO examiners. This examiner has a below-average tendency to allow applications.

Office Action Patterns

On average, applications examined by HEFLIN, HARRISON JAMES RIEL receive 2.47 office actions before reaching final disposition. This places the examiner in the 68% 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 HEFLIN, HARRISON JAMES RIEL is 32 months. This places the examiner in the 52% percentile for prosecution speed. Prosecution timelines are slightly faster than average with this examiner.

Interview Effectiveness

Conducting an examiner interview provides a +9.5% benefit to allowance rate for applications examined by HEFLIN, HARRISON JAMES RIEL. This interview benefit is in the 41% 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, 24.6% of applications are subsequently allowed. This success rate is in the 39% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Insight: RCEs show below-average effectiveness with this examiner. Carefully evaluate whether an RCE or continuation is the better strategy.

After-Final Amendment Practice

This examiner enters after-final amendments leading to allowance in 31.6% of cases where such amendments are filed. This entry rate is in the 48% percentile among all examiners. Strategic Recommendation: This examiner shows below-average receptiveness to after-final amendments. You may need to file an RCE or appeal rather than relying on after-final amendment entry.

Appeal Withdrawal and Reconsideration

This examiner withdraws rejections or reopens prosecution in 100.0% of appeals filed. This is in the 97% percentile among all examiners. 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.

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 6% 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 36% 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 0.0% of allowed cases (in the 42% percentile). This examiner issues Quayle actions less often than average. Allowances may come directly without a separate action for formal matters.

Prosecution Strategy Recommendations

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

  • Appeal filing as negotiation tool: This examiner frequently reconsiders rejections during the appeal process. Filing a Notice of Appeal may prompt favorable reconsideration during the mandatory appeal conference.

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.