Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems
14 pending office actions • 7 art units • 13 examiners • 0 of 14 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 2 patents granted in the last 365 days
Affirm, Inc. maintains a portfolio with 13 pending office actions in the Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems technology area. These matters are spread across 7 distinct art units, showing a diverse range of technical examination environments. The prosecution effort involves 12 distinct examiners. This distribution indicates that the company's patent applications are being reviewed by a broad group of individuals at the patent office.
HASBROUCK, MERRITT J is the busiest examiner for the company, managing 2 busiest examiner pending actions. This is the only examiner in the portfolio handling multiple cases, as the 13 pending office actions are distributed among 12 distinct examiners. The presence of 7 distinct art units suggests that while the technology area is broad, the company's filings are concentrated enough to repeat art units more frequently than examiners. This distribution requires the company to manage relationships across 12 distinct examiners while navigating the specific requirements of 7 distinct art units for its 13 pending office actions.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 5 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.
Every pending office action with a known statutory deadline, placed on a days-until-due axis. Dots left of Today are overdue; the further right, the more runway. Cases that share a deadline window stack vertically. 5 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.
Difficulty is derived from the rejection statutes on the most recent pending office action. §101-driven and multi-statute cases are graded Hard; §112-only and obviousness-type double-patenting cases are graded Easy; everything else is Medium. "Unknown" means we have not yet parsed a statute for that office action.
| Bucket | Cases |
|---|---|
| §101 only | 6 (43%) |
| §101 + other | 8 (57%) |
How the docket's pending cases split across USPTO tech-center bands.
Manual office-action response work runs about 10 hours per case. The time-saved bands below show what IP Author's prosecution pipeline typically delivers — a conservative 20% on the low end, 35% in the middle, 50% on the high end.
| Examiner | Apps on this docket | Allow rate | Interview lift |
|---|---|---|---|
| HASBROUCK, MERRITT J | 2 | 9.8% | +7.0% |
| GREGG, MARY M | 1 | 14.0% | +14.2% |
| PUTTAIAH, ASHA | 1 | 21.2% | +21.2% |
| KANERVO, VIRPI H | 1 | 47.5% | +47.6% |
| WARDEN, MICHAEL J | 1 | 25.4% | +21.5% |
| WEINER, ARIELLE E | 1 | 43.6% | +53.3% |
| FU, HAO | 1 | 50.1% | +24.8% |
| SHAIKH, MOHAMMAD Z | 1 | 52.5% | +31.5% |
| MUSTAFA, MOHAMMED H | 1 | 35.2% | +30.2% |
| ARAQUE JR, GERARDO | 1 | 9.5% | +15.8% |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 8 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18111637 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FASTER ACH TRANSFER PROCESSING | KANERVO, VIRPI H | 42d overdue |
| 17546292 | System, Method and Apparatus for Providing Improved Electronic Disclosure of Credit Terms | AKINTOLA, OLABODE | 30d overdue |
| 17950527 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPTIMIZATION OF FINANCING PROGRAMS | MUSTAFA, MOHAMMED H | 23d |
| 17355725 | System, Method and Apparatus for Modeling Loan Transitions | PARK, YONG S | 34d |
| 17958641 | INTEGRATION OF FINANCING INTO A CUSTOMER SELF-CHECKOUT INVOLVING SCANNING PRODUCTS WITH A USER DEVICE | WEINER, ARIELLE E | 54d |
| 18654102 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOAN MATCHING WITH RESPECT TO PAYMENT INSTRUMENT TRANSACTIONS | GREGG, MARY M | — |
| 18214171 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERSONALIZATION OF PREQUALIFICATION FOR FINANCING PROGRAMS | PUTTAIAH, ASHA | — |
| 18111668 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING INSUFFICIENT FUNDS RETURNS IN FINANCIAL TRANSACTION PROCESSING | HASBROUCK, MERRITT J | — |
Cases in front of an examiner whose interview lift is 10 percentage points or more — i.e. interviewed cases historically resolve more favorably than non-interviewed ones. The top 8 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18111637 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FASTER ACH TRANSFER PROCESSING | KANERVO, VIRPI H | 42d overdue |
| 17950527 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPTIMIZATION OF FINANCING PROGRAMS | MUSTAFA, MOHAMMED H | 23d |
| 17958641 | INTEGRATION OF FINANCING INTO A CUSTOMER SELF-CHECKOUT INVOLVING SCANNING PRODUCTS WITH A USER DEVICE | WEINER, ARIELLE E | 54d |
| 18654102 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOAN MATCHING WITH RESPECT TO PAYMENT INSTRUMENT TRANSACTIONS | GREGG, MARY M | — |
| 18214171 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERSONALIZATION OF PREQUALIFICATION FOR FINANCING PROGRAMS | PUTTAIAH, ASHA | — |
| 18077282 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING PROVISION OF MERCHANT PREQUALIFICATION AMOUNTS TO USERS | WARDEN, MICHAEL J | — |
| 17953605 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING MIXED CART FINANCING OPTIONS | FU, HAO | — |
| 17952831 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAPPING OF PLANNED PURCHASES WITH PRE-APPROVED FINANCING TERMS TO FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS | SHAIKH, MOHAMMAD Z | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3695 | 4 |
| 3691 | 3 |
| 3694 | 3 |
| 3689 | 1 |
| 3693 | 1 |
| 3629 | 1 |
| 3692 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18654102 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOAN MATCHING WITH RESPECT TO PAYMENT INSTRUMENT TRANSACTIONS | GREGG, MARY M | 3695 | §101§103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | May 03, 2024 |
| 18214171 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERSONALIZATION OF PREQUALIFICATION FOR FINANCING PROGRAMS | PUTTAIAH, ASHA | 3691 | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 26, 2023 |
| 18111637 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FASTER ACH TRANSFER PROCESSING | KANERVO, VIRPI H | 3691 | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | 42d overdue | Pending | Feb 20, 2023 |
| 18111668 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING INSUFFICIENT FUNDS RETURNS IN FINANCIAL TRANSACTION PROCESSING | HASBROUCK, MERRITT J | 3695 | §101 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Feb 20, 2023 |
| 18077282 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING PROVISION OF MERCHANT PREQUALIFICATION AMOUNTS TO USERS | WARDEN, MICHAEL J | 3694 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Dec 08, 2022 |
| 17958641 | INTEGRATION OF FINANCING INTO A CUSTOMER SELF-CHECKOUT INVOLVING SCANNING PRODUCTS WITH A USER DEVICE | WEINER, ARIELLE E | 3689 | §101§103 | Final Rejection | 54d | Pending | Oct 03, 2022 |
| 17953605 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING MIXED CART FINANCING OPTIONS | FU, HAO | 3695 | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 27, 2022 |
| 17952831 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAPPING OF PLANNED PURCHASES WITH PRE-APPROVED FINANCING TERMS TO FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS | SHAIKH, MOHAMMAD Z | 3694 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 26, 2022 |
| 17950527 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPTIMIZATION OF FINANCING PROGRAMS | MUSTAFA, MOHAMMED H | 3693 | §101 | Non-Final OA | 23d | Pending | Sep 22, 2022 |
| 17728386 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVISION OF A VIRTUAL CARD HAVING A PERSISTENT PRIMARY ACCOUNT NUMBER | HASBROUCK, MERRITT J | 3695 | §101 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Apr 25, 2022 |
| 17698463 | Method and Apparatus for Facilitating Provision of Instant Credit to Customers VIA Rapid and Machine Learning Supported Underwriting Decisions | ARAQUE JR, GERARDO | 3629 | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 18, 2022 |
| 17546292 | System, Method and Apparatus for Providing Improved Electronic Disclosure of Credit Terms | AKINTOLA, OLABODE | 3691 | §101 | Non-Final OA | 30d overdue | Pending | Dec 09, 2021 |
| 17489293 | System, Method and Apparatus for Enabling Enhanced Consumer Engagement for Providing Access to Credit for Online Purchases | POE, KEVIN T | 3692 | §101§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Sep 29, 2021 |
| 17355725 | System, Method and Apparatus for Modeling Loan Transitions | PARK, YONG S | 3694 | §101§112 | Final Rejection | 34d | Pending | Jun 23, 2021 |
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