Term ended Sep 28, 2018 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Sep 28, 2018
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
USPTO later recorded it as expired for non-payment on May 20, 2019.
No current holder resolved from the recorded chain.
Filed Dec 29, 2004 as application 11/023,390 · Granted Apr 17, 2007
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Term ended Sep 28, 2018
1998
2026
Clock starts
Sep 28, 1998
Sep 28, 1998
Term ended
Sep 28, 2018
Sep 28, 2018
Granted
Apr 17, 2007
Apr 17, 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.
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.
176
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. 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 Sep 28, 1998, when application 09/161,584, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Dec 29, 2004); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Sep 28, 2018 | 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 | 2 of 2 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| USPTO status record | Recorded as expired for non-payment on May 20, 2019, after the term ended | no change | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Sep 28, 2018 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 9,646,339 | Lapsed on the fee record May 2025 | May 2025 |
| US 7,749,083 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2018 | Jul 2018 |
| US 7,206,417 | this patent Sep 2018 | Sep 2018 |
| US 8,103,589 | In force Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
| US 8,151,304 | Lapsed on the fee record Apr 2020 | Apr 2020 |
| US 8,332,895 | Lapsed on the fee record Dec 2020 | Dec 2020 |
| US 9,330,529 | Lapsed on the fee record May 2020 | May 2020 |
| US 8,428,273 | Lapsed on the fee record Apr 2021 | Apr 2021 |
8 of 176 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 22, 2005 Reel 16712, frame 651 | TouchTunes Music Corporation | National Bank of Canada | Security Interest |
| Mar 1, 2006 Reel 17596, frame 811 | TouchTunes Music Corporation | National Bank of Canada | Security Agreement |
| Dec 12, 2007 Reel 20227, frame 706 | TouchTunes Music Corporation | Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group, L.P., as Collateral Agent | Security Agreement |
| Jan 30, 2008 Reel 20431, frame 822 | National Bank of Canada | Touchtones Music Corporation | Release of Security Interest |
| Feb 14, 2012 Reel 27700, frame 488 | Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group, L.P. | TouchTunes Music Corporation | Release of Security Interest |
| Feb 21, 2012 Reel 27735, frame 525 | TouchTunes Music Corporation | Bank Of America, N.a. | Security Agreement |
| Sep 23, 2015 Reel 36699, frame 813 | TouchTunes Music Corporation | Citizens Bank, National Association, as Collateral Agent | First Lien Security Agreement |
| Sep 24, 2015 Reel 36680, frame 632 | TouchTunes Music Corporation | Citizens Bank, National Association, as Collateral Agent | Second Lien Security Agreement |
| Mar 6, 2020 Reel 52115, frame 117 | Citizens Bank, N.A., as Collateral Agent | TouchTunes Music Corporation | Release of Security Interest |
| Apr 4, 2022 Reel 59593, frame 557 | Citizens Bank, National Association (Collateral Agent) | TouchTunes Music Corporation (Grantor) | Release of Security 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.
Citations
345
later US patents cite this one
That is top 1% 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.