Term ended Mar 10, 2025 · High confidence
20-year base term ended May 18, 2024
Held by Assa Abloy AB
Filed Dec 16, 2004 as application 11/016,576 · Granted Oct 21, 2008
Base term plus 296 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Term ended Mar 10, 2025
2004
2026
Clock starts
May 18, 2004
May 18, 2004
Term ended
Mar 10, 2025
Mar 10, 2025
Granted
Oct 21, 2008
Oct 21, 2008
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
296
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.
78
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 296 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 May 18, 2004, when application 10/848,246, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Dec 16, 2004) | May 18, 2024 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +296 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Mar 10, 2025 | 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 | Mar 10, 2025 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,124,942 | Term ended Aug 2024 | Aug 2024 |
| US 8,232,862 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2016 | Jul 2016 |
| US 7,180,403 | Term ended Apr 2025 | Apr 2025 |
| US 7,439,862 | this patent Mar 2025 | Mar 2025 |
| US 7,844,238 | Lapsed on the fee record Nov 2014 | Nov 2014 |
| US 8,063,746 | In force Dec 2029 | Dec 2029 |
| US 7,782,209 | In force Mar 2029 | Mar 2029 |
| US 7,706,778 | In force Nov 2027 | Nov 2027 |
8 of 78 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 25, 2005 Reel 16452, frame 82 | Quan, Ralph W | Assa Abloy Identification Technology Group AB | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 4, 2007 Reel 20196, frame 110 | Assa Abloy Identification Technology Group AB | Assa Abloy AB | 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 296 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
120
later US patents cite this one
That is top 5% 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.