Lapsed Mar 20, 2019 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ended Jun 21, 2021
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Nestec S.A.
Filed Jun 21, 2001 as application 09/681,896 · Granted Mar 20, 2007
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Lapsed Mar 20, 2019
2001
2026
Clock starts
Jun 21, 2001
Jun 21, 2001
No longer in force
Mar 20, 2019
Mar 20, 2019
Granted
Mar 20, 2007
Mar 20, 2007
Term would have run to
Jun 21, 2021
Jun 21, 2021
base term
after the term ends
fee events
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.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
2 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.
79
Family applications on record here
Applications sharing this one's continuity chain whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
Its term would have run to Jun 21, 2021: its 20-year base term, with no adjustment for prosecution delay. 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 Jun 21, 2001, when this application, 09/681,896, was filed | Jun 21, 2021 | 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 | None on record | no cap applied | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Mar 20, 2019 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Mar 20, 2019 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,192,419 | this patent Mar 2019 | Mar 2019 |
| US 7,029,669 | Lapsed on the fee record Apr 2018 | Apr 2018 |
| US 6,887,465 | Term ended Mar 2020 | Mar 2020 |
| US 7,368,272 | Lapsed on the fee record May 2012 | May 2012 |
| US 6,733,770 | Term ended Mar 2020 | Mar 2020 |
| US 6,835,376 | Term ended Mar 2020 | Mar 2020 |
| US 6,939,705 | Lapsed on the fee record Sep 2013 | Sep 2013 |
| US 7,084,107 | Term ended no later than Apr 2020 | no later than Apr 2020 |
8 of 79 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30, 2001 Reel 12121, frame 721 | Larrain, Ignacio; Jedwab, Michael | Nestec S.A. | 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.
Citations
4
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median of utility patents granted in 2007 in our data, the only group it is compared against.
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.