Term ends Dec 4, 2026 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Apr 22, 2025
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by Illinois Tool Works Inc.
Filed Oct 13, 2015 as application 14/881,541 · Granted Mar 12, 2019
Base term plus 591 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2005
2026
Clock starts
Apr 22, 2005
Apr 22, 2005
Term ends
Dec 4, 2026
Dec 4, 2026
Granted
Mar 12, 2019
Mar 12, 2019
base term
patent term adjustment
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
591
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
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.
7
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 591 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. 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 Apr 22, 2005, when application 11/112,345, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Oct 13, 2015); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Apr 22, 2025 | 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 | +591 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Dec 4, 2026 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | None on record | no cap applied | High 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 4, 2026 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,441,758 | Term ended Apr 2025 | Apr 2025 |
| US 9,215,933 | In force Jul 2027 | Jul 2027 |
| US 9,173,496 | In force Feb 2029 | Feb 2029 |
| Application PCT/US2010/048867 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 9,976,621 | In force Mar 2027 | Mar 2027 |
| US 10,226,893 | this patent Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
6 of 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 9, 2015 Reel 36993, frame 207 | Coffield, Timothy P.; Sommerfeld, Daniel S.; Hartmann, Andrew B. | Illinois Tool Works 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.
What's changing
Dec 2026
Term ends Dec 4, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 591 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
9
later US patents cite this one
That is above the median of utility patents granted in 2019 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.