Lapsed Jul 14, 2021 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ended Aug 19, 2025
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by SDG LLC
Filed Jun 29, 2006 as application 11/479,346 · Granted Jul 14, 2009
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 363 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Jul 14, 2021
2005
2026
Clock starts
Aug 19, 2005
Aug 19, 2005
No longer in force
Jul 14, 2021
Jul 14, 2021
Granted
Jul 14, 2009
Jul 14, 2009
Term would have run to
Aug 17, 2026
Aug 17, 2026
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
363
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
2 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.
50
Family applications on record here
Applications sharing this one's continuity chain whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
Its term would have run to Aug 17, 2026: its 20-year base term plus 363 days of term adjustment for prosecution delay. 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 19, 2005, when application 11/208,671, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jun 29, 2006) | Aug 19, 2025 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +363 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Aug 17, 2026 | 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 | 2 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Jul 14, 2021 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Jul 14, 2021 | High confidence |
This family
| Application 60/603,509 | Provisional application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,083,008 | In force Jul 2029 | Jul 2029 |
| US 7,416,032 | Term ended Sep 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| US 7,384,009 | Term ended Jan 2026 | Jan 2026 |
| Application PCT/US2005/030178 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 7,527,108 | Term ended Jun 2026 | Jun 2026 |
| Application PCT/US2006/006502 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 7,559,378 | this patent Jul 2021 | Jul 2021 |
8 of 50 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 16, 2007 Reel 18900, frame 472 | Moeny, Willaim M. | Tetra Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jan 10, 2012 Reel 27507, frame 16 | Moeny, William M. | SDG, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jan 10, 2012 Reel 27507, frame 252 | Tetra Corporation | SDG, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Mar 7, 2018 Reel 45524, frame 980 | Moeny, William M. | SDG LLC | Corrective Assignment to Correct the Assignee's Name and Address Previously Recorded at Reel: 027507 Frame: 0016. Assignor(S) Hereby Confirms the Assignment. |
| Mar 7, 2018 Reel 45525, frame 558 | Tetra Corporation | SDG LLC | Corrective Assignment to Correct the Assignee's Name and Address Previously Recorded at Reel: 027507 Frame: 0252. Assignor(S) Hereby Confirms the Assignment. |
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 363 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
69
later US patents cite this one
That is top 10% 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.