Term ends Nov 20, 2026 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Nov 20, 2026
Filed Dec 29, 2020 as application 17/137,005 · Granted Feb 13, 2024
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
2006
2026
Clock starts
Nov 20, 2006
Nov 20, 2006
Term ends
Nov 20, 2026
Nov 20, 2026
Granted
Feb 13, 2024
Feb 13, 2024
base term
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.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 10,904,172, to Nov 20, 2026. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
None due
Maintenance fees
This term ends before the first maintenance fee's grace period does, 4 years from grant, so no fee can end it early.
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. A terminal disclaimer is resolved from the filed document, and it ends no earlier than this term, so it shortens nothing. No maintenance fee can end this term early. 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 Nov 20, 2006, when application 11/561,880, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Dec 29, 2020) | Nov 20, 2026 | 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 10,904,172) | resolves to Nov 20, 2026, no earlier than this term, so no change | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | No maintenance fee can end the term early | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Nov 20, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 9,392,069 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2024 | Jul 2024 |
| US 9,825,889 | Lapsed on the fee record Nov 2025 | Nov 2025 |
| US 10,645,038 | Lapsed on the fee record May 2024 | May 2024 |
| US 10,904,172 | Lapsed on the fee record Jan 2025 | Jan 2025 |
| US 11,902,226 | this patent Nov 2026 | Nov 2026 |
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 29, 2020 Reel 54771, frame 362 | Lu, Larry L. | AOL LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 29, 2020 Reel 54771, frame 392 | Oath Inc. | Verizon Media Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 29, 2020 Reel 54869, frame 728 | AOL LLC | AOL Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 29, 2020 Reel 54869, frame 799 | AOL Inc. | Oath Inc. | Change of Name |
| Aug 19, 2021 Reel 57453, frame 431 | Verizon Media Inc. | Verizon Patent and Licensing 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
Nov 2026
Term ends Nov 20, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 10,904,172, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
0
later US patents cite this one
Fewer than half of the utility patents granted in 2024 in our data have been cited yet, so we show the count and do not rank on it.
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.