The Patent Finder
US

Methods and Systems for Heating and Manipulating Fluids

US 10,166,489 Lapsed on the fee record
OverviewFamilyAssignmentsSources & methods

Lapsed Jan 1, 2023 on the fee record · Medium confidence

Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.

First maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.

Filed Sep 13, 2013 as application 14/026,842 · Granted Jan 1, 2019
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 1197 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) · capped by a resolved terminal disclaimer
Today
Lapsed Jan 1, 2023
2007 2028
Clock starts
Apr 23, 2007
No longer in force
Jan 1, 2023
Granted
Jan 1, 2019
Term would have run to
Apr 26, 2028
base term patent term adjustment after the term ends 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
1,197
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 10,039,996.
0 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.
14
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 Apr 26, 2028: its 20-year base term plus 1197 days of term adjustment for prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document caps it earlier. 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.
StepInputDate after this stepConfidence
Base term, 20 years from filingClock starts Apr 23, 2007, when application 11/738,644, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Sep 13, 2013); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row)Apr 23, 2027High confidence
Continuity chainA parent in the chain could not be resolveddated from this application's own claimMedium confidence
Patent term adjustment+1197 days, USPTO patent term adjustment recordAug 2, 2030High confidence
Terminal disclaimer capDisclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 10,039,996)capped to Apr 26, 2028High confidence
Patent term extensionNone on fileno changeHigh confidence
Fee events0 of 2 maintenance fees paidlapsed Jan 1, 2023High confidence
Computed term endThe steps above, in orderJan 1, 2023Medium confidence

This family

US 7,614,367Lapsed on the fee record
Nov 2021
Nov 2021
Application 12/615,331Abandoned
not computed
not computed
US 8,371,251Lapsed on the fee record
Feb 2021
Feb 2021
Application 13/069,363Abandoned
not computed
not computed
Application 13/467,551Abandoned
not computed
not computed
Application 13/555,122Abandoned
not computed
not computed
US 9,776,102Lapsed on the fee record
Oct 2025
Oct 2025
US 10,166,489this patent
Jan 2023
Jan 2023
8 of 14 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.
RecordedAssignorAssigneeConveyance
Apr 21, 2017
Reel 42088, frame 527
Frick, F. AlanPhoenix Caliente LLCAssignment 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.

The Patent Finder CompaniesExpirationsCalculatorWatchlistPricing MethodologyCorrectionsLegalPrivacysupport@thepatentfinder.com Updated Nov 14, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 14, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) Part of 137 Finder · © 2026 137 Finder LLC · Sources cited