Term ends Dec 23, 2031 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Dec 23, 2031
Held by Sun Patent Trust
Filed May 14, 2018 as application 15/978,697 · Granted Apr 28, 2020
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
2011
2031
Clock starts
Dec 23, 2011
Dec 23, 2011
Term ends
Dec 23, 2031
Dec 23, 2031
Granted
Apr 28, 2020
Apr 28, 2020
base term
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
None
Term adjustment
No prosecution delay on this record.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 9,049,455, US 9,729,877, US 9,998,736, to Dec 23, 2031. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
1 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.
12
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. 1 of 2 maintenance fees is 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 Dec 23, 2011, when application 13/336,353, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed May 14, 2018) | Dec 23, 2031 | 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 9,049,455, US 9,729,877, US 9,998,736) | resolves to Dec 23, 2031, no earlier than this term, so no change | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 1 of 2 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Dec 23, 2031 | High confidence |
This family
| US 9,049,455 | In force Sep 2033 | Sep 2033 |
| US 9,264,726 | In force Dec 2031 | Dec 2031 |
| US 9,445,105 | In force Dec 2031 | Dec 2031 |
| US 9,729,877 | In force Dec 2031 | Dec 2031 |
| US 9,998,736 | In force Dec 2031 | Dec 2031 |
| US 10,638,128 | this patent Dec 2031 | Dec 2031 |
| US 10,574,983 | In force Dec 2031 | Dec 2031 |
| US 10,880,545 | In force Dec 2031 | Dec 2031 |
8 of 12 applications in this family shown, earliest filings first. The applications whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
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.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Dec 2031
Term ends Dec 23, 2031. Maintenance fees still fall due before then
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 9,049,455, US 9,729,877, US 9,998,736, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
65
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.