Term ended Aug 26, 2025 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Aug 26, 2025
Filed Aug 26, 2005 as application 11/213,446 · Granted Dec 30, 2008
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Term ended Aug 26, 2025
2005
2026
Clock starts
Aug 26, 2005
Aug 26, 2005
Term ended
Aug 26, 2025
Aug 26, 2025
Granted
Dec 30, 2008
Dec 30, 2008
base term
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
None
Term adjustment
No prosecution delay on this record.
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.
33
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 is its 20-year base term, with no adjustment for 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 Aug 26, 2005, when this application, 11/213,446, was filed | Aug 26, 2025 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | None on file | no change | 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 | Aug 26, 2025 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,570,777 | Term ended Jan 2024 | Jan 2024 |
| US 7,415,372 | Term ended no later than Aug 2025 | no later than Aug 2025 |
| US 7,619,563 | Term ended Dec 2025 | Dec 2025 |
| Application 11/213,629 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,472,041 | this patent Aug 2025 | Aug 2025 |
| Application 11/213,448 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 11/212,498 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,436,188 | Term ended Aug 2025 | Aug 2025 |
8 of 33 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 15, 2005 Reel 17019, frame 972 | Taenzer, Jon C.; Spicer, Bruce G. | Step Communications Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 5, 2009 Reel 22783, frame 412 | Step Communications Corporation, A Nevada Corporation | Step Labs, Inc., a Delaware Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 18, 2009 Reel 23107, frame 551 | Step Labs, Inc., a Delaware Corporation | Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 20, 2014 Reel 33152, frame 73 | Step Labss, Inc., a Delaware Corporation | Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 23, 2014 Reel 33217, frame 119 | Step Labs, Inc., a Delaware Corporation | Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation | Correction to the Spelling of Assignors Name, Previously Recorded on Reel/Frame 033152/0073 |
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.
Citations
29
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.