Also listed on Ethicon LLC, an earlier holder on the record. The recorded assignments below show how it moved.
Term ends Dec 6, 2026 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Jun 1, 2025
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by Cilag GmbH International
Filed Sep 20, 2016 as application 15/270,107 · Granted Feb 25, 2020
Base term plus 553 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2005
2026
Clock starts
Jun 1, 2005
Jun 1, 2005
Term ends
Dec 6, 2026
Dec 6, 2026
Granted
Feb 25, 2020
Feb 25, 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
553
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 1
Maintenance fees paid
One maintenance fee can end this term early, the one due 3.5 years from grant; the next one's grace period runs past the term end. This counts it if the record shows it paid.
71
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 553 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. 1 of 1 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 Jun 1, 2005, when the earliest non-provisional application in its chain was filed (this one was filed Sep 20, 2016); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Jun 1, 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 | +553 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Dec 6, 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 | 1 of 1 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Dec 6, 2026 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 6,978,921 | Term ended May 2023 | May 2023 |
| US 7,380,696 | Term ended Sep 2023 | Sep 2023 |
| US 8,905,977 | Term ended Mar 2025 | Mar 2025 |
| US 7,354,447 | Term ended Dec 2025 | Dec 2025 |
| Application 11/289,918 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 11/538,154 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 11/731,521 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,215,531 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2024 | Jul 2024 |
8 of 71 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 14, 2017 Reel 45644, frame 357 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Ethicon LLC | Change of Name |
| Jan 23, 2018 Reel 44704, frame 94 | Shelton, Frederick E., IV; Setser, Michael E.; Weisenburgh, William B., II | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 6, 2021 Reel 56983, frame 569 | 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 6, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 553 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
1,045
later US patents cite this one
That is top 1% 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.