Term ended Oct 6, 2024 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Nov 18, 2023
Held by Validity, Inc.
Filed Nov 18, 2003 as application 10/717,441 · Granted Nov 6, 2007
Base term plus 323 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Term ended Oct 6, 2024
2003
2026
Clock starts
Nov 18, 2003
Nov 18, 2003
Term ended
Oct 6, 2024
Oct 6, 2024
Granted
Nov 6, 2007
Nov 6, 2007
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
323
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
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.
2
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 runs 323 days past its 20-year base term on 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 Nov 18, 2003, when this application, 10/717,441, was filed | Nov 18, 2023 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +323 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Oct 6, 2024 | 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 | Oct 6, 2024 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,293,065 | this patent Oct 2024 | Oct 2024 |
| US 7,970,832 | In force Aug 2027 | Aug 2027 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 11, 2005 Reel 16547, frame 142 | Return Path, Inc. | Venture Lending & Leasing IV, Inc. | Security Interest |
| Nov 19, 2007 Reel 20156, frame 534 | Return Path, Inc. | Venture Lending & Leasing IV, Inc.; Venture Lending & Leasing V, Inc. | Security Agreement |
| Nov 19, 2007 reel/frame not recorded | Return Path, Inc. | Venture Lending & Leasing IV, Inc. | Security Agreement |
| Nov 19, 2007 reel/frame not recorded | Return Path, Inc. | Venture Lending & Leasing V, Inc. | Security Agreement |
| Jun 3, 2009 Reel 22773, frame 544 | Venture Lending & Leasing IV, Inc.; Venture Lending & Leasing V, Inc. | Return Path, Inc. | Release of Security Interest |
| Jun 3, 2009 Reel 22773, frame 589 | Return Path, Inc. | Silicon Valley Bank | Security Agreement |
| Aug 2, 2010 Reel 24774, frame 10 | Ironport Systems, Inc. | Return Path, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Apr 1, 2014 Reel 32570, frame 166 | Moore, James | Ironport Systems, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Apr 1, 2014 Reel 32570, frame 766 | Perry, George Thomas, JR.; Flury, Andrew; Banister, Scott; Peterson, Patrick R.; Moore, James; Olivier, Michael | Ironport Systems, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 22, 2017 Reel 43352, frame 927 | Venture Lending & Leasing IV, Inc. | Return Path, Inc. | Release of Security Interest |
| Feb 8, 2018 Reel 44870, frame 217 | Return Path, Inc. | Pacific Western Bank | Security Interest |
| Feb 13, 2018 Reel 44909, frame 282 | Silicon Valley Bank | Return Path, Inc. | Release of Security Interest |
| May 30, 2019 Reel 49315, frame 256 | Return Path, Inc. | Antares Capital LP, as Administrative Agent | Security Interest |
| Jun 7, 2019 Reel 49403, frame 74 | Pacific Western Bank | Return Path, Inc. | Release of Security Interest |
| Feb 4, 2022 Reel 58889, frame 153 | Return Path, Inc. | Validity, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Apr 10, 2025 Reel 70805, frame 665 | Antares Capital LP, as Administrative Agent | Validity, Inc. | 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.
What's changing
Note
The 323 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
119
later US patents cite this one
That is top 10% 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.