Term ended no later than Dec 29, 2020 · Low confidence
20-year base term ended Dec 30, 2018
USPTO later recorded it as expired for non-payment on Apr 26, 2021.
Filed Jun 29, 2004 as application 10/879,331 · Granted Mar 24, 2009
Base term plus 730 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Ended no later than Dec 29, 2020
1998
2026
Clock starts
Dec 30, 1998
Dec 30, 1998
Ended no later than
Dec 29, 2020
Dec 29, 2020
Granted
Mar 24, 2009
Mar 24, 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
730
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
Unresolved
Terminal disclaimer
On file, reference document not resolved, so the date above is an upper bound. We do not guess the cap.
2 of 2
Maintenance fees paid
Two maintenance fees can end this term early, the ones due 3.5 and 7.5 years from grant; the third one's grace period runs past the term end. This counts the ones the record shows paid.
28
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 730 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer is on file with no resolved reference, so no cap is applied and none is guessed. Confidence: Low. 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 Dec 30, 1998, when application 09/223,129, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jun 29, 2004); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Dec 30, 2018 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | A parent in the chain could not be resolved | dated from this application's own claim | Medium confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +730 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Dec 29, 2020 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer on file (approved), reference document not resolved | no cap applied, and none guessed | Medium confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 2 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| USPTO status record | Recorded as expired for non-payment on Apr 26, 2021, after the term ended | no change | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | no later than Dec 29, 2020 | Low confidence |
This family
| US 6,654,768 | Term ended Dec 2018 | Dec 2018 |
| US 7,296,036 | Lapsed on the fee record Nov 2019 | Nov 2019 |
| US 7,509,349 | this patent no later than Dec 2020 | no later than Dec 2020 |
| US 7,349,907 | Term ended Jun 2020 | Jun 2020 |
| Application PCT/US2005/021031 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| Application PCT/US2006/003088 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 7,813,725 | Term ended Dec 2020 | Dec 2020 |
| Application PCT/US2006/009262 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
8 of 28 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 8, 2005 Reel 16455, frame 931 | Celik, Feyzi | Onepin, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Apr 27, 2012 Reel 28118, frame 192 | Onepin, Inc. | Lupine Investments LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Sep 24, 2015 Reel 36644, frame 96 | Lupine Investments LLC | Xenogenic Development Limited Liability Company | Merger |
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
A terminal disclaimer is on file and its reference is not resolved. No cap is applied and none is guessed
Note
The 730 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Open question
A terminal disclaimer is on file (approved) and its reference document is not resolved. A disclaimer would cap the term earlier than Dec 29, 2020. We will not guess the cap.
Citations
184
later US patents cite this one
That is top 5% 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
This computed term ends no later than the date shown; an unresolved terminal disclaimer may end it earlier. Related patents and pending applications may cover overlapping subject matter.