Term ends Apr 12, 2037 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ends Dec 2, 2035
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by Bell Textron Inc.
Filed Feb 9, 2017 as application 15/428,687 · Granted Jan 7, 2020
Base term plus 497 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2015
2037
Clock starts
Dec 2, 2015
Dec 2, 2015
Term ends
Apr 12, 2037
Apr 12, 2037
Granted
Jan 7, 2020
Jan 7, 2020
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
497
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
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.
6
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 497 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. 1 of 3 maintenance fees is 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 Dec 2, 2015, when application 14/957,321, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Feb 9, 2017); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Dec 2, 2035 | 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 | +497 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Apr 12, 2037 | 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 | 1 of 3 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Apr 12, 2037 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 10,336,447 | In force Jul 2037 | Jul 2037 |
| US 10,526,068 | this patent Apr 2037 | Apr 2037 |
| US 11,235,858 | In force Mar 2038 | Mar 2038 |
| US 10,946,955 | In force Oct 2037 | Oct 2037 |
| US 10,933,985 | In force Oct 2037 | Oct 2037 |
| US 10,994,859 | In force Dec 2039 | Dec 2039 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 9, 2017 Reel 41217, frame 188 | Schank, Troy Cyril; Fenny, Carlos Alexander; Maresh, Andrew; Tzeng, Chyau-song | Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Nov 6, 2019 Reel 50939, frame 544 | Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. | Bell Textron Inc. | Change of Name |
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
Apr 2037
Term ends Apr 12, 2037. Maintenance fees still fall due before then
Note
The 497 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
69
later US patents cite this one
That is top 5% of utility patents granted in 2020 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.