40 patents currently held

1 more in force is now held by another company

Held is read from USPTO's recorded assignments; a transfer never recorded there does not appear.

1 more record may belong here and awaits a decision; it is not counted.

The next term ends in Sep 2027. from the record

Free plan: 3 watched companies. Pro: unlimited.

Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.

Ending by 2030

Sep 2027

Next term end

Patent families

When these terms end

5 yrs10 yrs20 yrs

Held patents by the year their term ends

20262027 2028 2029 2030 2031 20322033203420352036203720382039204020412042204320442045

notable patents all others Updated Nov 15, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 15, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) · how we know

Notable: the highest-ranked patents in this portfolio by citations and family size.

Notable patents

Ranked by citations and family size, against patents of the same kind granted the same year. How we rank

Notable

Translating Between a Switching Format and a Transport Format US 8,018,938

Cited by 140 later US patents, top 5% of utility patents granted in 2011 in our data, and renewed at 3 of 3 maintenance windows. Protection runs to 2027.

Ends Sep 2027 · High confidence Also notable

Deactivating a Packet Tunnel Based on at Least One Performance Characteristic US 9,112,781

Cited by 22 later US patents, top 25% of utility patents granted in 2015 in our data, and renewed at every maintenance window due so far. Protection runs to 2029.

Ends Aug 2029 · High confidence Also notable

Processing Packets of a Virtual Interface Associated with Tunnels US 7,860,116

Cited by 31 later US patents, top 25% of utility patents granted in 2010 in our data, and renewed at 3 of 3 maintenance windows. Protection runs to 2028.

Ends Aug 2028 · High confidence

Fee deadlines

Maintenance fees fall due 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years after grant. A missed fee ends a patent at the end of the six month grace period that follows, not on the due date.

1 fee due Feb 18, 2027
The maintenance fee for Deactivating a Packet Tunnel Based on at Least One Performance Characteristic (US 9,112,781) comes due Feb 18, 2027. Unpaid by Aug 18, 2027, it lapses early.

Which patents, and when each one lapses · Pro

Recent changes

Nothing was recorded against this company's patents in the last 90 days.

What they patent

The 5 largest of its 37 families, grouped by real patent family and labeled by the earliest filing in each. No technology classification is inferred from titles.

Deactivating a Packet Tunnel Based on at Least One Performance Characteristic	2 in force	to Feb 2030
Modifying a Rate Based on at Least One Performance Characteristic	2 in force	to Aug 2028
Virtual Switching Using a Provisional Identifier to Conceal a User Identifier	2 in force	to Jan 2028
Processing Packets of a Virtual Interface Associated with Tunnels	1 in force	to Aug 2028
Preventing Forwarding of a Packet to a Control Plane	1 in force	to Mar 2028

Patents held now

Soonest term end first.

Patent	Title	Status	Expires	Confidence
US 8,018,938	Translating Between a Switching Format and a Transport Format In force Term ends Sep 17, 2027 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Sep 17, 2027	High confidence
US 7,869,394	Limiting Data Packet Forwarding to Trusted Ports In force Term ends Oct 25, 2027 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Oct 25, 2027	High confidence
US 7,782,856	Forwarding Data Packets Having Tags Conforming to Different Formats In force Term ends Nov 2, 2027 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Nov 2, 2027	High confidence
US 7,653,056	Virtual Switching Using a Provisional Identifier to Conceal a User Identifier In force Term ends Jan 17, 2028 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Jan 17, 2028	High confidence
US 7,720,940	Managing a Network Element Using a Template Configuration In force Term ends Jan 22, 2028 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Jan 22, 2028	High confidence
US 7,653,057	Preventing Forwarding of a Packet to a Control Plane In force Term ends Mar 5, 2028 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Mar 5, 2028	High confidence
US 7,773,541	Obtaining Identification Information for a Neighboring Network Element In force Term ends Apr 7, 2028 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Apr 7, 2028	High confidence
US 8,805,982	Progressively Determining a Network Topology and Using Neighbor Information to Determine Network Topology In force Term ends Apr 7, 2028 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Apr 7, 2028	High confidence
US 7,693,164	Configuring a Packet Tunnel Network In force Term ends Apr 30, 2028 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Apr 30, 2028	High confidence
US 7,869,376	Communicating an Operational State of a Transport Service In force Term ends May 6, 2028 · High confidence	In force	Term ends May 6, 2028	High confidence

10 of 40 patents shown.

Pro members see all 40.

Pro members: see all 40 patents

Also on record, not counted in the 40: 1 patent in force now held by others · 5 patents ended. List them

Sources and methods

Compiled from USPTO application file histories, grants and recorded assignments, with the company's own names reviewed by hand. How this record was built

Portfolio grouped automatically from ownership conveyances to the names matched to this company, usually every name that begins with its own, so it counts patents an affiliate holds; each list row names the holder of record. Security interests are excluded and ambiguous records are not reviewed by hand.

Computed patent terms end on the dates shown. Related patents and pending applications may cover overlapping subject matter.

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World Wide Packets, Inc.