Lapsed Oct 23, 2026 on the fee record · Low confidence
20-year base term ends Jul 22, 2028
Second maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended. The USPTO has not yet posted the lapse.
Held by Twitter, Inc.
Filed Dec 20, 2016 as application 15/385,499 · Granted Oct 23, 2018
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Lapsed Oct 23, 2026
2008
2028
Clock starts
Jul 22, 2008
Jul 22, 2008
No longer in force
Oct 23, 2026
Oct 23, 2026
Granted
Oct 23, 2018
Oct 23, 2018
Term would have run to
Jul 22, 2028
Jul 22, 2028
base term
after the term ends
fee events
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
None
Term adjustment
No prosecution delay on this record.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 9,577,966, to Jul 22, 2028. 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.
27
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 Jul 22, 2028: 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: Low. 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 Jul 22, 2008, when application 12/177,589, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Dec 20, 2016) | Jul 22, 2028 | 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 9,577,966) | resolves to Jul 22, 2028, no earlier than this term, so no change | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | No fee event states this; the fee state is read from the payments the fee record holds; the fee record shows no payment for this window, and USPTO's status still reads "Patented Case" | lapsed Oct 23, 2026 | Low confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Oct 23, 2026 | Low confidence |
This family
| US 8,401,009 | Lapsed on the fee record Mar 2025 | Mar 2025 |
| US 8,448,084 | Lapsed on the fee record May 2025 | May 2025 |
| US 10,691,513 | Lapsed on the fee record Jun 2024 | Jun 2024 |
| US 10,133,439 | In force Mar 2033 | Mar 2033 |
| US 9,088,532 | In force Aug 2028 | Aug 2028 |
| US 9,405,453 | Lapsed on the fee record Aug 2024 | Aug 2024 |
| US 10,572,102 | Lapsed on the fee record Feb 2024 | Feb 2024 |
| US 9,965,136 | Lapsed on the fee record May 2026 | May 2026 |
8 of 27 applications in this family shown, earliest filings first. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2022 Reel 62079, frame 677 | Twitter, Inc. | Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. | Security Interest |
| Mar 27, 2025 Reel 70670, frame 857 | Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. | X Corp. (F/K/A Twitter, Inc.) | Release of Security Interest |
| Apr 30, 2025 Reel 71127, frame 240 | Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., as Collateral Agent | X Corp. (F/K/A Twitter, Inc.) | Release of Security Interest |
| Mar 3, 2026 Reel 75015, frame 574 | Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., as Collateral Agent | X Corp. (F/K/A Twitter, Inc.) | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patent Rights (REEL 062079, Frame 0677) |
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 9,577,966, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
2
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median 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.