Term ends Aug 26, 2029 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ends Aug 26, 2029
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by Saturn Licensing LLC
Filed Sep 26, 2018 as application 16/142,410 · Granted Sep 23, 2025
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
2009
2029
Clock starts
Aug 26, 2009
Aug 26, 2009
Term ends
Aug 26, 2029
Aug 26, 2029
Granted
Sep 23, 2025
Sep 23, 2025
base term
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.
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.
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. 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 Aug 26, 2009, when application PCT/JP2009/064883, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Sep 26, 2018); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Aug 26, 2029 | 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 | No maintenance fee can end the term early | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Aug 26, 2029 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 8,811,017 | In force Oct 2029 | Oct 2029 |
| US 9,395,572 | In force Aug 2029 | Aug 2029 |
| US 10,175,520 | In force Aug 2029 | Aug 2029 |
| US 12,422,709 | this patent Aug 2029 | Aug 2029 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 27, 2018 Reel 46989, frame 957 | Sony Corporation | Saturn Licensing LLC | 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
Aug 2029
Term ends Aug 26, 2029. No further fees fall due before then
Citations
0
later US patents cite this one
Fewer than half of the utility patents granted in 2025 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.