Term ends Oct 12, 2027 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Oct 12, 2027
Filed May 17, 2018 as application 15/982,081 · Granted Mar 19, 2019
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
2007
2027
Clock starts
Oct 12, 2007
Oct 12, 2007
Term ends
Oct 12, 2027
Oct 12, 2027
Granted
Mar 19, 2019
Mar 19, 2019
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 10,008,165, to Oct 12, 2027. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
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.
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. 2 of 2 maintenance fees are paid so far. Confidence: High. 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 Oct 12, 2007, when application 11/871,173, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed May 17, 2018) | Oct 12, 2027 | 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 10,008,165) | resolves to Oct 12, 2027, no earlier than this term, so no change | 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 | Oct 12, 2027 | High confidence |
This family
| US 8,773,344 | In force Dec 2029 | Dec 2029 |
| US 9,097,942 | In force Oct 2027 | Oct 2027 |
| US 10,008,165 | In force Oct 2027 | Oct 2027 |
| US 10,235,954 | this patent Oct 2027 | Oct 2027 |
| US 10,453,408 | In force Oct 2027 | Oct 2027 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 2018 Reel 45831, frame 890 | Haga, Hiroshi; Asada, Hideki; Kaneko, Setsuo | NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| May 17, 2018 Reel 45832, frame 320 | NLT Technologies, Ltd. | Tianma Japan, Ltd. | Change of Name |
| May 17, 2018 Reel 46176, frame 117 | NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd. | NLT Technologies, Ltd. | Change of Name |
| Sep 30, 2019 Reel 50582, frame 869 | Tianma Japan, Ltd. (Formerly NLT Technologies, Ltd.) | Tianma Microelectronics Co., Ltd. | 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
Oct 2027
Term ends Oct 12, 2027. No further fees fall due before then
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 10,008,165, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
1
later US patent cites this one
That is below 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.