Also listed on Ethicon LLC, an earlier holder on the record. The recorded assignments below show how it moved.
Term ends Dec 1, 2026 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Nov 9, 2025
Why Medium: The disclaimer's references carry disclaimers of their own not yet read (US 9,968,356), so the cap could be lower.
Held by Cilag GmbH International
Filed Apr 6, 2015 as application 14/679,486 · Granted Dec 11, 2018
Base term plus 459 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) · capped by a resolved terminal disclaimer
Today
2005
2026
Clock starts
Nov 9, 2005
Nov 9, 2005
Term ends
Dec 1, 2026
Dec 1, 2026
Granted
Dec 11, 2018
Dec 11, 2018
base term
patent term adjustment
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
459
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
Capped
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 9,968,356.
2 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.
9
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 runs 459 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document caps it earlier. 2 of 2 maintenance fees are paid so far. Confidence: Medium. 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 Nov 9, 2005, when application 11/270,866, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Apr 6, 2015) | Nov 9, 2025 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +459 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Feb 11, 2027 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 9,968,356) | capped to Dec 1, 2026 | Medium confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 2 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Dec 1, 2026 | Medium confidence |
This family
| Application 11/270,866 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,858,571 | In force Jan 2029 | Jan 2029 |
| US 9,895,147 | Lapsed on the fee record Feb 2026 | Feb 2026 |
| US 10,149,679 | this patent Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
| US 9,968,356 | Lapsed on the fee record May 2026 | May 2026 |
| US 10,028,742 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
| US 10,806,449 | Term ended Feb 2026 | Feb 2026 |
| US 10,993,713 | Lapsed on the fee record May 2025 | May 2025 |
8 of 9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 28, 2015 Reel 36191, frame 783 | Shelton, Frederick E., IV; Swayze, Jeffrey S. | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| May 1, 2017 Reel 42192, frame 893 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Ethicon LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 14, 2017 Reel 45603, frame 712 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Ethicon LLC | Change of Name |
| Apr 27, 2021 Reel 56601, frame 339 | Ethicon LLC | Cilag GmbH International | 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.
What's changing
Dec 2026
Term ends Dec 1, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 459 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Disclaimer cap
This term is capped by a terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 9,968,356.
Citations
1,370
later US patents cite this one
That is top 1% 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.