Term ends Sep 7, 2036 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ends Sep 7, 2036
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by Appdirect, Inc.
Filed Mar 6, 2018 as application 15/913,825 · Granted Sep 22, 2020
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
2016
2036
Clock starts
Sep 7, 2016
Sep 7, 2016
Term ends
Sep 7, 2036
Sep 7, 2036
Granted
Sep 22, 2020
Sep 22, 2020
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.
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.
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. 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 Sep 7, 2016, when application PCT/US2016/050575, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Mar 6, 2018); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Sep 7, 2036 | 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 | None on file | no change | 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 | Sep 7, 2036 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 10,783,690 | this patent Sep 2036 | Sep 2036 |
| US 11,176,725 | In force Sep 2036 | Sep 2036 |
| US 11,893,671 | In force Sep 2036 | Sep 2036 |
| US 11,908,057 | In force Sep 2036 | Sep 2036 |
4 of 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 11, 2021 Reel 54873, frame 124 | Auckland Uniservices Limited | Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC; Soul Machines Limited | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jan 11, 2021 reel/frame not recorded | Auckland Uniservices Limited | Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jan 11, 2021 reel/frame not recorded | Auckland Uniservices Limited | Soul Machines Limited | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 11, 2021 Reel 58366, frame 84 | Sagar, Mark Andrew; Wu, Tim Szu-hsien; Bonniwell, Frank Filipe; Alkouh, Homoud B.; Hodges, Colin Joseph | Auckland Uniservices Ltd.; Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 11, 2021 reel/frame not recorded | Alkouh, Homoud B.; Bonniwell, Frank Filipe; Hodges, Colin Joseph; Sagar, Mark Andrew; Wu, Tim Szu-hsien | Auckland Uniservices Ltd. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 11, 2021 reel/frame not recorded | Alkouh, Homoud B.; Bonniwell, Frank Filipe; Hodges, Colin Joseph; Sagar, Mark Andrew; Wu, Tim Szu-hsien | Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 3, 2024 Reel 67599, frame 517 | Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. | Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC | Merger |
| Jun 3, 2024 Reel 67599, frame 739 | Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC | Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC | Merger |
| Jun 3, 2024 Reel 67606, frame 724 | Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC | Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC | Change of Name |
| Jul 24, 2026 Reel 76058, frame 831 | Soul Machines Limited | Appdirect, 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.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Sep 2036
Term ends Sep 7, 2036. Maintenance fees still fall due before then
Citations
34
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.