Term ended no later than Aug 3, 2026 · Low confidence
20-year base term ended Nov 15, 2025
Filed Feb 6, 2007 as application 11/671,794 · Granted Sep 15, 2009
Base term plus 261 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Ended no later than Aug 3, 2026
2005
2026
Clock starts
Nov 15, 2005
Nov 15, 2005
Ended no later than
Aug 3, 2026
Aug 3, 2026
Granted
Sep 15, 2009
Sep 15, 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
261
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.
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.
22
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 261 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. All three maintenance fees were paid, so no fee lapse ended it. 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 Nov 15, 2005, when application 11/280,930, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Feb 6, 2007); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Nov 15, 2025 | 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 | +261 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Aug 3, 2026 | 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 | 3 of 3 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | no later than Aug 3, 2026 | Low confidence |
This family
| US 7,589,042 | this patent no later than Aug 2026 | no later than Aug 2026 |
| US 7,645,715 | In force Apr 2027 | Apr 2027 |
| US 7,645,844 | In force Jan 2029 | Jan 2029 |
| US 8,742,043 | Lapsed on the fee record Jun 2026 | Jun 2026 |
| US 7,833,926 | Term ended Nov 2025 | Nov 2025 |
| US 8,067,511 | In force Nov 2029 | Nov 2029 |
| US 7,928,173 | In force Sep 2029 | Sep 2029 |
| US 8,334,354 | In force Feb 2031 | Feb 2031 |
8 of 22 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 6, 2007 Reel 18859, frame 571 | Woo, Tae- Woo; Ok, Myung-ahn; Hahn, Jong-sok; Lee, Mal-ou; Kang, Sang-ook; Ko, Sung-bo; Kim, Tae Eung; Kim, Sung Kun | SK Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Mar 2, 2007 Reel 18959, frame 893 | Woo, Tae-woo; Ok, Myung-ahn; Hahn, Jong-sok; Lee, Mal-ou; Kang, Sang-ook; Ko, Sung-bo; Kim, Tae Jin; Kim, Sung Kun | SK Corporation | Corrective Assignment: Please Correct the Name of the Conveying Party Previously Recorded on 02/06/07 @ R/F: 018859/0571. (Assignment of Assignor's Interest) |
| Mar 2, 2007 Reel 18960, frame 77 | Woo, Tae-woo; Ok, Myung-ahn; Hahn, Jong-sok; Lee, Mal-ou; Kang, Sang-ook; Ko, Sung-bo; Kim, Tae Jin; Kim, Sung Kun | SK Corporation | Corrective Assignment to Correct Reel 018859, Frame 0571 |
| Dec 14, 2007 Reel 20249, frame 17 | SK Corporation | SK Energy Co., Ltd. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 12, 2011 Reel 26576, frame 776 | SK Energy Co., Ltd. | SK Innovation Co., Ltd. | Change of Name |
| Sep 23, 2015 Reel 36635, frame 906 | SK Innovation Co., Ltd. | SABIC SK Nexlene Company Pte. Ltd. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| May 24, 2017 Reel 42553, frame 926 | SK Energy Co., Ltd. | SK Innovation Co., Ltd. | Corrective Assignment to Correct the Assignee Address Previously Recorded on Reel 026576 Frame 0776. Assignor(S) Hereby Confirms the 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
A terminal disclaimer is on file and its reference is not resolved. No cap is applied and none is guessed
Note
The 261 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 Aug 3, 2026. We will not guess the cap.
Citations
1
later US patent cites this one
That is below the median 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.