Term ended Mar 22, 2025 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Jun 14, 2024
Held by Meta Platforms, Inc.
Filed Jun 14, 2004 as application 10/867,610 · Granted Jan 13, 2009
Base term plus 281 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Term ended Mar 22, 2025
2004
2026
Clock starts
Jun 14, 2004
Jun 14, 2004
Term ended
Mar 22, 2025
Mar 22, 2025
Granted
Jan 13, 2009
Jan 13, 2009
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
281
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.
26
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 281 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 Jun 14, 2004, when this application, 10/867,610, was filed | Jun 14, 2024 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +281 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Mar 22, 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 22, 2025 | High confidence |
This family
| US 8,010,458 | Term ended Jun 2023 | Jun 2023 |
| US 7,478,078 | this patent Mar 2025 | Mar 2025 |
| US 10,373,173 | In force Mar 2033 | Mar 2033 |
| US 7,788,260 | Term ended Aug 2025 | Aug 2025 |
| US 8,219,500 | Term ended Apr 2022 | Apr 2022 |
| US 7,890,501 | Term ended no later than Jun 2024 | no later than Jun 2024 |
| US 8,949,261 | Term ended Jun 2024 | Jun 2024 |
| US 8,874,556 | Term ended no later than Jun 2024 | no later than Jun 2024 |
8 of 26 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 14, 2004 Reel 15474, frame 984 | Lunt, Christopher; Galbreath, Nicholas | Friendster, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Nov 4, 2005 Reel 17191, frame 638 | Friendster, Inc. | Venture Lending & Leasing III, Inc. | Security Interest |
| Dec 22, 2009 Reel 23679, frame 925 | Venture Lending & Leasing III, LLC | Friendster, Inc. | Release of Security Interest |
| Dec 22, 2009 Reel 23691, frame 700 | Friendster, Inc. | Balthaser Online, Inc. | Security Agreement |
| Feb 9, 2010 Reel 23915, frame 424 | Balthaser Online, Inc. | Friendster, Inc. | Release of Limited Intellectual Property Security Agreement |
| Jun 7, 2010 Reel 24492, frame 139 | Friendster, Inc. | Facebook, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 24, 2010 Reel 24878, frame 801 | Friendster, Inc. | Facebook, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 20, 2021 Reel 58553, frame 802 | Facebook, Inc. | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Change of Name |
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 281 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
345
later US patents cite this one
That is top 1% of utility patents granted in 2009 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.