Lapsed Apr 1, 2016 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ended Apr 2, 2021
Second maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Filed Apr 2, 2001 as application 09/822,292 · Granted Apr 1, 2008
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 466 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Apr 1, 2016
2001
2026
Clock starts
Apr 2, 2001
Apr 2, 2001
No longer in force
Apr 1, 2016
Apr 1, 2016
Granted
Apr 1, 2008
Apr 1, 2008
Term would have run to
Jul 12, 2022
Jul 12, 2022
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
466
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
1 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 Jul 12, 2022: its 20-year base term plus 466 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 Apr 2, 2001, when this application, 09/822,292, was filed | Apr 2, 2021 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +466 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jul 12, 2022 | 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 | 1 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Apr 1, 2016 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Apr 1, 2016 | High confidence |
This family
| US 6,993,326 | Term ended Aug 2022 | Aug 2022 |
| US 7,353,023 | this patent 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 | Lapsed on the fee record 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 5, 2001 Reel 12236, frame 920 | Link, Charles M. Ii; Cardina, Donald M. | BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jan 25, 2002 Reel 12510, frame 498 | Link, II, Charles M.; Cardina, Donald M. | 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.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Note
The 466 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
14
later US patents cite this one
That is above the median 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.