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Track Locking Method for Optical Disk Drive and Apparatus

US 7,242,646 Lapsed on the fee record
OverviewFamilyAssignmentsSources & methods

Lapsed Jul 10, 2019 on the fee record · High confidence

Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.

Filed Aug 13, 2004 as application 10/710,952 · Granted Jul 10, 2007
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 330 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Jul 10, 2019
2004 2026
Clock starts
Aug 13, 2004
No longer in force
Jul 10, 2019
Granted
Jul 10, 2007
Term would have run to
Jul 9, 2025
base term patent term adjustment 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
330
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
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.
34
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 Jul 9, 2025: its 20-year base term plus 330 days of term 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.
StepInputDate after this stepConfidence
Base term, 20 years from filingClock starts Aug 13, 2004, when this application, 10/710,952, was filedAug 13, 2024High confidence
Continuity chainEvery parent in the chain resolvedno changeHigh confidence
Patent term adjustment+330 days, USPTO patent term adjustment recordJul 9, 2025High confidence
Terminal disclaimer capNone on recordno cap appliedHigh confidence
Patent term extensionNone on fileno changeHigh confidence
Fee events2 of 3 maintenance fees paidlapsed Jul 10, 2019High confidence
Computed term endThe steps above, in orderJul 10, 2019High confidence

This family

US 7,471,717Term ended
May 2026
May 2026
US 7,272,085Lapsed on the fee record
Sep 2019
Sep 2019
US 7,242,646this patent
Jul 2019
Jul 2019
US 7,190,644Lapsed on the fee record
Mar 2019
Mar 2019
US 7,281,193Term ended
no later than Sep 2025
no later than Sep 2025
US 7,154,821Lapsed on the fee record
Dec 2018
Dec 2018
US 7,522,493Term ended
Jan 2026
Jan 2026
US 7,349,299Term ended
May 2026
May 2026
8 of 34 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.
RecordedAssignorAssigneeConveyance
Aug 13, 2004
Reel 14988, frame 754
Ho, Hsu-fengMediaTek Inc.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.

The Patent Finder CompaniesExpirationsCalculatorWatchlistPricing MethodologyCorrectionsLegalPrivacysupport@thepatentfinder.com Updated Nov 14, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 14, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) Part of 137 Finder · © 2026 137 Finder LLC · Sources cited