Lapsed Mar 18, 2012 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ended Aug 8, 2021
First maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Filed Aug 8, 2001 as application 09/923,320 · Granted Mar 18, 2008
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 805 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Mar 18, 2012
2001
2026
Clock starts
Aug 8, 2001
Aug 8, 2001
No longer in force
Mar 18, 2012
Mar 18, 2012
Granted
Mar 18, 2008
Mar 18, 2008
Term would have run to
Oct 22, 2023
Oct 22, 2023
base term
patent term adjustment
after the term ends
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
805
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
0 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.
165
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 Oct 22, 2023: its 20-year base term plus 805 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.
| Step | Input | Date after this step | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base term, 20 years from filing | Clock starts Aug 8, 2001, when this application, 09/923,320, was filed | Aug 8, 2021 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +805 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Oct 22, 2023 | 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 | 0 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Mar 18, 2012 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Mar 18, 2012 | High confidence |
This family
| US 6,993,326 | Term ended Aug 2022 | Aug 2022 |
| US 7,353,023 | Lapsed on the fee record Apr 2016 | Apr 2016 |
| US 7,191,209 | Lapsed on the fee record Mar 2011 | Mar 2011 |
| US 7,353,248 | Term ended Jan 2023 | Jan 2023 |
| US 7,346,658 | this patent Mar 2012 | Mar 2012 |
| US 7,013,004 | Lapsed on the fee record Mar 2014 | Mar 2014 |
| US 6,934,377 | Lapsed on the fee record Aug 2017 | Aug 2017 |
| US 7,076,529 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2014 | Jul 2014 |
8 of 165 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 8, 2001 Reel 12080, frame 466 | Simpson, Anita Hogans | BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation | 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.
Free plan: 3 watched companies. Pro: unlimited.
Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Note
The 805 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
40
later US patents cite this one
That is top 25% of utility patents granted in 2008 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.