Sample collection and delivery device

US 6,926,678 Term ended

Overview Sources & methods

Term ended no later than Sep 27, 2016 · From the USPTO record

Computed 20-year base term

Named at grant Avitar, Inc. · find this owner

Filed Sep 27, 1996 as application 08/712,682 · Granted Aug 9, 2005

Base term, 20 years from filing

Today

20 years from filing

Ended no later than Sep 27, 2016

1996 2026

Clock starts
Sep 27, 1996

Ended no later than
Sep 27, 2016

Granted
Aug 9, 2005

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

None

Term adjustment

No prosecution delay on this record.

Unresolved

Terminal disclaimer

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

2 of 2

Maintenance fees paid

Two maintenance fees can end this term early, the ones due 3.5 and 7.5 years from grant; the third one's grace period runs past the term end. 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 Sep 27, 1996, when this application, 08/712,682, was filed	Sep 27, 2016	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 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	2 of 2 maintenance fees paid	term ended	High confidence
Computed term end	The steps above, in order	no later than Sep 27, 2016	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.

Sample collection and delivery device

Term ended no later than Sep 27, 2016 · From the USPTO record

20-year base term ended Sep 27, 2016

How we calculated this date

Sources