Lapsed Jul 17, 2026 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ended Oct 20, 2026
Second maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Align Technology, Inc.
Filed Dec 14, 2017 as application 15/842,246 · Granted Jul 17, 2018
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Lapsed Jul 17, 2026
2006
2026
Clock starts
Oct 20, 2006
Oct 20, 2006
No longer in force
Jul 17, 2026
Jul 17, 2026
Granted
Jul 17, 2018
Jul 17, 2018
Term would have run to
Oct 20, 2026
Oct 20, 2026
base term
after the term ends
fee events
Updated Nov 14, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 14, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) · how we know
None
Term adjustment
No prosecution delay on this record.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 9,326,831, US 9,844,420, to Oct 20, 2026. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
1 of 2
Maintenance fees paid
Two maintenance fees can end this term early, the ones due 3.5 and 7.5 years from grant; the third one's grace period runs past the term end. This counts the ones the record shows paid.
6
Family applications on record here
Applications sharing this one's continuity chain whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
Its term would have run to Oct 20, 2026: its 20-year base term, with no adjustment for prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer is resolved from the filed document, and it ends no earlier than this term, so it shortens nothing. Confidence: High. from the record
How we calculated this date
One row per rule, each showing its own input and what it did to the date. A step we could not verify says so instead of resolving itself.
| Step | Input | Date after this step | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base term, 20 years from filing | Clock starts Oct 20, 2006, when application 11/551,605, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Dec 14, 2017) | Oct 20, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 9,326,831, US 9,844,420) | resolves to Oct 20, 2026, no earlier than this term, so no change | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 1 of 2 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Jul 17, 2026 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Jul 17, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 9,326,831 | In force Oct 2030 | Oct 2030 |
| US 9,844,420 | Term ended Nov 2026 | Nov 2026 |
| US 10,022,204 | this patent Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
| US 10,582,986 | Term ended Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| US 11,583,366 | In force no later than Sep 2027 | no later than Sep 2027 |
| US 12,023,217 | Term ended Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
The applications whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
Assignments
Assignment documents as recorded at the USPTO, oldest first, with the reel and frame each was recorded at. A recorded assignment is a filed document, not a statement of current ownership, and the absence of a later one is not evidence that the last one still stands.
| Recorded | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 15, 2022 Reel 62106, frame 611 | Cheang, Ka Man | Align Technology, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
Sources
Google Patents · The patent document at USPTO · Assignment records at USPTO
USPTO account required: This application in Patent Center · USPTO's maintenance fee lookup
Maintenance fee events come from USPTO's own fee records. Its fee lookup asks for the patent number and the application number.
Free plan: 3 watched companies. Pro: unlimited.
Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 9,326,831, US 9,844,420, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
41
later US patents cite this one
That is top 10% of utility patents granted in 2018 in our data, the only group it is compared against.
How we rank
Every date shows its work: the base term, any term adjustment or extension, any disclaimer cap, and the maintenance fee record, each with a confidence tier. How this record was built
Computed patent terms end on the dates shown. Related patents and pending applications may cover overlapping subject matter.