Term ended May 5, 2024 · High confidence
20-year base term ended May 5, 2024
Held by Valmet Technologies, Inc.
Filed Nov 1, 2005 as application 10/555,195 · Granted Apr 3, 2007
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Term ended May 5, 2024
2004
2026
Clock starts
May 5, 2004
May 5, 2004
Term ended
May 5, 2024
May 5, 2024
Granted
Apr 3, 2007
Apr 3, 2007
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.
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.
44
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. All three maintenance fees were paid, so no fee lapse ended it. 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 May 5, 2004, when application PCT/SE2004/000678, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Nov 1, 2005) | May 5, 2024 | 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 | 3 of 3 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | May 5, 2024 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,178,698 | Lapsed on the fee record Feb 2011 | Feb 2011 |
| US 7,033,069 | Lapsed on the fee record Apr 2010 | Apr 2010 |
| US 7,143,688 | Term ended Sep 2023 | Sep 2023 |
| US 7,727,133 | Lapsed on the fee record Jun 2018 | Jun 2018 |
| US 7,451,946 | Term ended Jun 2025 | Jun 2025 |
| US 7,198,216 | this patent May 2024 | May 2024 |
| US 7,445,174 | Term ended Nov 2024 | Nov 2024 |
| US 7,513,451 | Term ended Mar 2025 | Mar 2025 |
8 of 44 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 28, 2005 Reel 17074, frame 40 | Virving, Nils | Metso Paper, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Mar 27, 2014 Reel 32551, frame 426 | Metso Paper, Inc. | Valmet Technologies, Inc. | Change of Name |
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.
Citations
3
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.