Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 04, 2026

Burr & Forman LLP - Affirm

Technology area: Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems

14 pending office actions • 1 client • 13 examiners • 7 art units • 0 of 14 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 2 patents granted in the last 365 days

Analysis

Burr & Forman LLP - AFFIRM directs its expertise toward the Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems technology area. The firm has managed 4785 career applications, indicating a deep reservoir of experience across various patent filings. There are currently 11 pending office actions associated with this profile, representing the firm's active engagement with the USPTO. This specific focus area benefits from the firm's broad historical context.

The firm maintains a resolved allowance rate pct of 91.46, reflecting success in securing patent rights for its clients. This outcome is typically reached with an avg_office_actions_per_allowance of 3.04. This figure suggests a disciplined approach to prosecution, where allowances are secured through a moderate number of interactions with examiners. The 91.46 resolved allowance rate pct demonstrates the firm's effectiveness in the Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems sector. By analyzing the 4785 career applications and the 3.04 avg_office_actions_per_allowance, one can see a pattern of successful patent advocacy.

Written from this page's own data; every figure is computed from USPTO records and verified before publication.

Quality Metrics (n=4785 apps, methodology: how we score firms)

91.5%
Allowance Rate
n=4785
+0.57σ
Allowance Rate (norm)
n=4785
3.0
OAs to Allowance
n=2890
-0.42σ
OAs to Allow (norm)
n=2890
991 days
Time to Allowance
n=2890
+5.8pp
Interview Lift
n=4785
27.0%
RCE Rate
n=4785
4.6%
Appeal Rate
n=4785

Rejection Performance (% of received rejections ultimately overcome)

62.7%
§101 Overcome
n=308
71.9%
§102 Overcome
n=1162
72.8%
§103 Overcome
n=1847
77.4%
§112 Overcome
n=1303

Specialization & Scale

A24F, A01D, H04W
Top CPC Subclasses
14%
Top-3 CPC Share
n=4785
6
Practitioners
n=4785
797.5
Apps / Practitioner
n=4785

Portfolio Summary

14
Total Pending OAs
10
Non-Final OAs
4
Final Rejections
0
Advisory / Quayle

Response Deadline Pressure

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.

2
Overdue
0
Due this week
1
Due this month
2
Due in next 60 days
0
Due later

Deadline Fire Line

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.

-30dToday30d60d90d120d
Overdue (2)Due ≤ 30 days (1)Due ≤ 60 days (2)

Case Difficulty Mix

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.

14
Hard (100%)
0
Medium (0%)
0
Easy (0%)
0
Unknown (0%)

Rejection Statute Mix

BucketCases
§101 only6 (43%)
§101 + other8 (57%)

Industry Mix

How the docket's pending cases split across USPTO tech-center bands.

0
Life Sciences
0% of docket
0
Information Tech
0% of docket
0
Communications
0% of docket
0
Semiconductors
0% of docket
14
Mechanical / Eng
100% of docket
0
Business / Other
0% of docket

Time-on-OA Estimate

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.

140 h
Manual time on pending OAs
28 h
Time saved (low, 20%)
49 h
Time saved (mid, 35%)
1.2 wks
FTE-weeks freed (mid)

Top Examiners on this docket

ExaminerApps on this docketAllow rateInterview 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%

Hard Cases (14)

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 #TitleExaminerDue 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 —

Interview Candidates (9)

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 #TitleExaminerDue 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 —

Client Portfolio (1 client)

Client (Assignee)Pending OAs
Affirm 14

Top Art Units

Art UnitApps
36954
36913
36943
36891
36931
36291
36921

Pending Office Actions

App #TitleClientExaminerArt UnitStatutesStatusDue inAIFiled
18654102 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOAN MATCHING WITH RESPECT TO PAYMENT INSTRUMENT TRANSACTIONS Affirm, Inc. GREGG, MARY M 3695 §101§103 Final Rejection — Pending May 03, 2024
18214171 SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERSONALIZATION OF PREQUALIFICATION FOR FINANCING PROGRAMS Affirm, Inc. PUTTAIAH, ASHA 3691 §101§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Jun 26, 2023
18111668 SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING INSUFFICIENT FUNDS RETURNS IN FINANCIAL TRANSACTION PROCESSING Affirm, Inc. HASBROUCK, MERRITT J 3695 §101 Final Rejection — Pending Feb 20, 2023
18111637 SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FASTER ACH TRANSFER PROCESSING Affirm, Inc. KANERVO, VIRPI H 3691 §101§103 Non-Final OA 42d overdue Pending Feb 20, 2023
18077282 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING PROVISION OF MERCHANT PREQUALIFICATION AMOUNTS TO USERS Affirm, Inc. 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 Affirm, Inc. WEINER, ARIELLE E 3689 §101§103 Final Rejection 54d Pending Oct 03, 2022
17953605 SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING MIXED CART FINANCING OPTIONS Affirm, Inc. 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 Affirm, Inc. SHAIKH, MOHAMMAD Z 3694 §101 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 26, 2022
17950527 SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPTIMIZATION OF FINANCING PROGRAMS Affirm, Inc. 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 Affirm, Inc. 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 Affirm, Inc. 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 Affirm, Inc. 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 Affirm, Inc. POE, KEVIN T 3692 §101§103 Non-Final OA — Pending Sep 29, 2021
17355725 System, Method and Apparatus for Modeling Loan Transitions Affirm, Inc. PARK, YONG S 3694 §101§112 Final Rejection 34d Pending Jun 23, 2021

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