Term ends Feb 25, 2036 · Low confidence
20-year base term ends Feb 25, 2036
Grace period ended Oct 30, 2026 · no payment on record as of the Nov 10, 2026 fee file · lapse expected
Filed Oct 24, 2017 as application 15/791,642 · Granted Oct 30, 2018
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
2016
2036
Clock starts
Feb 25, 2016
Feb 25, 2016
Term ends
Feb 25, 2036
Feb 25, 2036
Granted
Oct 30, 2018
Oct 30, 2018
base term
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 9,916,744, to Feb 25, 2036. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
1 of 3
Maintenance fees paid
Three maintenance fees fall due, at 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years from grant. This counts the ones the record shows paid.
5
Family applications on record here
Applications sharing this one's continuity chain whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
This patent's term is 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. 1 of 3 maintenance fees is paid so far. Confidence: Low: the grace period for its second maintenance fee ended Oct 30, 2026 with no payment on record. 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 Feb 25, 2016, when application 15/053,336, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Oct 24, 2017); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Feb 25, 2036 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | A parent in the chain could not be resolved | dated from this application's own claim | Medium confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 9,916,744) | resolves to Feb 25, 2036, 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"; the grace period ended with no payment on record in the fee file | grace period ended Oct 30, 2026 | Low confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Feb 25, 2036 | Low confidence |
This family
| US 9,916,744 | In force Feb 2036 | Feb 2036 |
| US 10,115,275 | this patent Feb 2036 | Feb 2036 |
| US 10,169,967 | In force Feb 2036 | Feb 2036 |
| US 10,217,336 | In force Feb 2036 | Feb 2036 |
| US 10,169,968 | In force Feb 2036 | Feb 2036 |
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 24, 2017 Reel 43934, frame 295 | Busby, James A.; Isaacs, Phillip Duane; Santiago-fernandez, William | International Business Machines Corporation | 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.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Oct 30
Grace period ended Oct 30, 2026 with no payment on record. The term ends early once USPTO posts the lapse
Feb 2036
Term ends Feb 25, 2036.
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 9,916,744, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
18
later US patents cite this one
That is top 25% 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.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.