Also listed on Despatch Industries Limited Partnership, an earlier holder on the record. The recorded assignments below show how it moved.
Term ends Aug 26, 2037 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Oct 27, 2035
Held by Illinois Tool Works Inc.
Filed Nov 8, 2016 as application 15/345,553 · Granted Sep 8, 2020
Base term plus 669 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2015
2037
Clock starts
Oct 27, 2015
Oct 27, 2015
Term ends
Aug 26, 2037
Aug 26, 2037
Granted
Sep 8, 2020
Sep 8, 2020
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
669
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.
4
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 669 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. 1 of 3 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 Oct 27, 2015, when application 14/923,931, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Nov 8, 2016) | Oct 27, 2035 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +669 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Aug 26, 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 | Aug 26, 2037 | High confidence |
This family
| US 10,676,847 | In force Jan 2036 | Jan 2036 |
| Application PCT/US2015/059387 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 10,767,283 | this patent Aug 2037 | Aug 2037 |
| Application PCT/US2017/060405 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 11, 2017 Reel 41329, frame 961 | Melgaard, Hans L.; Ruf, Daniel M.; Benson, Matthew; Vu, Phillip; Graham, Robert Gerald; Kragseth, Rolf Douglas | Despatch Industries Limited Partnership | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 28, 2018 Reel 45065, frame 188 | Despatch Industries Limited Partnership | 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
Aug 2037
Term ends Aug 26, 2037. Maintenance fees still fall due before then
Note
The 669 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
1
later US patent cites this one
That is below the median 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.