System and method for performing sputter deposition with multiple targets using independent ion and electron sources and independent target biasing with DC pulse signals

US 6,679,976 Term ended

Overview Sources & methods

Term ended no later than Mar 22, 2021 · From the USPTO record

Computed 20-year base term

Named at grant 4Wave, Inc. · find this owner

Filed May 2, 2002 as application 10/137,897 · Granted Jan 20, 2004

Base term plus 6 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)

Today

20 years from filing

Ended no later than Mar 22, 2021

2001 2026

Clock starts
Mar 16, 2001

Ended no later than
Mar 22, 2021

Granted
Jan 20, 2004

base term after the term ends 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

Days of term adjustment

Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.

Unresolved

Terminal disclaimer

On file, reference document not resolved, so the date above is an upper bound. We do not guess the cap.

3 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.

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 Mar 16, 2001, when the earliest non-provisional application in its chain was filed (this one was filed May 2, 2002)	Mar 16, 2021	High confidence
Continuity chain	Every parent in the chain resolved	no change	High confidence
Patent term adjustment	+6 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record	Mar 22, 2021	High confidence
Terminal disclaimer cap	Disclaimer on file (approved), reference document not resolved	no cap applied, and none guessed	Medium confidence
Patent term extension	None on file	no change	High confidence
Fee events	3 of 3 maintenance fees paid	term ended	High confidence
Computed term end	The steps above, in order	no later than Mar 22, 2021	From the USPTO record

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.

Not on this page: the patent's family, its recorded assignments and its citation count. USPTO's assignment records, linked above, list every recorded assignment.

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

This computed term ends no later than the date shown; an unresolved terminal disclaimer may end it earlier. Related patents and pending applications may cover overlapping subject matter.

System and method for performing sputter deposition with multiple targets using independent ion and electron sources and independent target biasing with DC pulse signals

Term ended no later than Mar 22, 2021 · From the USPTO record

20-year base term ended Mar 16, 2021

How we calculated this date

Sources