Also listed on Ethicon LLC, an earlier holder on the record. The recorded assignments below show how it moved.
Term ends Dec 3, 2026 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Sep 29, 2026
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by Cilag GmbH International
Filed May 1, 2023 as application 18/141,774 · Granted Nov 12, 2024
Base term plus 65 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2006
2026
Clock starts
Sep 29, 2006
Sep 29, 2006
Term ends
Dec 3, 2026
Dec 3, 2026
Granted
Nov 12, 2024
Nov 12, 2024
base term
patent term adjustment
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
65
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
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.
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 runs 65 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. No maintenance fee can end this term early. 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 29, 2006, when application 11/541,123, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed May 1, 2023); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Sep 29, 2026 | 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 | +65 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Dec 3, 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 | No maintenance fee can end the term early | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Dec 3, 2026 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,794,475 | In force Dec 2028 | Dec 2028 |
| Application PCT/US2007/017587 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| Application 12/622,130 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 12/880,414 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application PCT/US2010/051301 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,808,325 | Lapsed on the fee record Aug 2026 | Aug 2026 |
| US 10,130,359 | In force Mar 2027 | Mar 2027 |
| US 10,695,053 | In force Dec 2028 | Dec 2028 |
8 of 12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4, 2024 Reel 67616, frame 816 | Ortiz, Mark S. | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 4, 2024 Reel 68512, frame 553 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 4, 2024 Reel 67617, frame 9 | Ethicon LLC; Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Ethicon LLC | Merger and Change of Name |
| Jun 4, 2024 Reel 67617, frame 15 | Hess, Christopher J.; Morgan, Jerome R.; Weisenburgh, William B., II; Voegele, James W.; Stokes, Michael J.; Shurtleff, Carl J.; Shelton, Frederick E., IV; Swayze, Jeffrey S. | Ethicon LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 4, 2024 Reel 68789, frame 38 | 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 3, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 65 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
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.