The Patent Finder
US

Mid-Entry Load Lock for Semiconductor Handling System

US 7,458,763 Term ended
OverviewFamilyAssignmentsSources & methods
Collateral for a security interest recorded Feb 2, 2022 (Goldman Sachs Bank USA).

Term ended Sep 6, 2025 · High confidence

Filed Nov 10, 2004 as application 10/985,834 · Granted Dec 2, 2008
Base term plus 300 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
20 years from filing
Term ended Sep 6, 2025
2004 2026
Clock starts
Nov 10, 2004
Term ended
Sep 6, 2025
Granted
Dec 2, 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
300
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.
72
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 300 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.
StepInputDate after this stepConfidence
Base term, 20 years from filingClock starts Nov 10, 2004, when this application, 10/985,834, was filedNov 10, 2024High confidence
Continuity chainEvery parent in the chain resolvedno changeHigh confidence
Patent term adjustment+300 days, USPTO patent term adjustment recordSep 6, 2025High confidence
Terminal disclaimer capNone on recordno cap appliedHigh confidence
Patent term extensionNone on fileno changeHigh confidence
Fee events3 of 3 maintenance fees paidterm endedHigh confidence
Computed term endThe steps above, in orderSep 6, 2025High confidence

This family

Application 60/518,823Provisional application
no patent term
no patent term
Application 60/607,649Provisional application
no patent term
no patent term
US 7,458,763this patent
Sep 2025
Sep 2025
US 7,422,406Term ended
Sep 2025
Sep 2025
Application PCT/US2004/037672PCT application
no patent term
no patent term
Application 10/985,730Abandoned
not computed
not computed
Application 10/985,844Abandoned
not computed
not computed
Application 10/985,846Abandoned
not computed
not computed
8 of 72 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
Jan 25, 2005
Reel 15620, frame 383
Van Der Meulen, PeterBlueshift Technologies, Inc.Assignment of Assignor's Interest
Feb 12, 2009
Reel 22248, frame 13
Blueshift Technologies, Inc.North Bridge Ventures Partners V-A, L.P.Security Agreement
Oct 16, 2012
Reel 29134, frame 283
Blueshift Technologies, Inc.Brooks Automation, Inc.Bill of Sale
May 31, 2016
Reel 38891, frame 765
Brooks Automation, Inc.; Biostorage TechnologiesWells Fargo Bank, National AssociationSecurity Agreement
Oct 6, 2017
Reel 44142, frame 258
Brooks Automation, Inc.; Biostorage Technologies, Inc.Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc.Security Interest
Dec 9, 2021
Reel 58481, frame 740
Brooks Automation,incBrooks Automation Holding, LLCAssignment of Assignor's Interest
Dec 9, 2021
Reel 58482, frame 1
Brooks Automation Holding, LLCBrooks Automation US, LLCAssignment of Assignor's Interest
Feb 2, 2022
Reel 58945, frame 748
Brooks Automation US, LLCGoldman Sachs Bank USASecond Lien Patent Security Agreement
Feb 2, 2022
Reel 58950, frame 146
Brooks Automation US, LLCBarclays Bank PLCFirst Lien Patent Security Agreement
Nov 4, 2025
Reel 73446, frame 80
Wells Fargo Bank, National AssociationAzenta, Inc. (F/K/A Brooks Automation, Inc.); Azenta USA, Inc. (F/K/A Biostorage Technologies, Inc.)Release of Security Interest Recorded at Reel/Frame 038891/0765
Nov 4, 2025
Reel 73514, frame 609
Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc.Azenta, Inc. (F/K/A Brooks Automation, Inc.); Azenta US, Inc. (F/K/A Brooks Life Sciences, Inc., F/K/A Biostorage Technologies, Inc.)Release of Security Interest Recorded at Reel/Frame 044142/0258
Nov 4, 2025
reel/frame not recorded
Wells Fargo Bank, National AssociationAzenta, Inc. (F/K/A Brooks Automation, Inc.)Release of Security Interest Recorded at Reel/Frame 038891/0765
Nov 4, 2025
reel/frame not recorded
Wells Fargo Bank, National AssociationAzenta USA, Inc. (F/K/A Biostorage Technologies, Inc.)Release of Security Interest Recorded at Reel/Frame 038891/0765
Nov 4, 2025
reel/frame not recorded
Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc.Azenta, Inc. (F/K/A Brooks Automation, Inc.)Release of Security Interest Recorded at Reel/Frame 044142/0258
Nov 4, 2025
reel/frame not recorded
Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc.Azenta US, Inc. (F/K/A Brooks Life Sciences, Inc., F/K/A Biostorage Technologies, Inc.)Release of Security Interest Recorded at Reel/Frame 044142/0258

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