Lapsed Nov 17, 2017 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ended Jun 19, 2023
Second maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Filed Aug 31, 2005 as application 10/518,560 · Granted Nov 17, 2009
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 1113 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Nov 17, 2017
2003
2026
Clock starts
Jun 19, 2003
Jun 19, 2003
No longer in force
Nov 17, 2017
Nov 17, 2017
Granted
Nov 17, 2009
Nov 17, 2009
Term would have run to
Jul 6, 2026
Jul 6, 2026
base term
patent term adjustment
after the term ends
fee events
Updated Nov 15, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 15, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) · how we know
1,113
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
1 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.
14
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 Jul 6, 2026: its 20-year base term plus 1113 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 Jun 19, 2003, when application PCT/EP2003/006628, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Aug 31, 2005) | Jun 19, 2023 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +1113 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jul 6, 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 | 1 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Nov 17, 2017 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Nov 17, 2017 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,371,482 | Term ended Jan 2024 | Jan 2024 |
| US 7,618,747 | this patent Nov 2017 | Nov 2017 |
| Application 12/304,411 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,486,309 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2021 | Jul 2021 |
| Application 13/254,228 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,628,694 | Lapsed on the fee record Jan 2018 | Jan 2018 |
| US 9,692,044 | In force Aug 2033 | Aug 2033 |
7 of 14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31, 2005 reel/frame not recorded | Audemer, Albane; Gwizdala, Sylvain; Masquelier, Christian; Morcrette, Mathieu; Wurm, Calin | Umicore | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 31, 2005 reel/frame not recorded | Audemer, Albane; Gwizdala, Sylvain; Masquelier, Christian; Morcrette, Mathieu; Wurm, Calin | Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 31, 2005 reel/frame not recorded | Audemer, Albane; Gwizdala, Sylvain; Masquelier, Christian; Morcrette, Mathieu; Wurm, Clain | Umicore | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 31, 2005 reel/frame not recorded | Audemer, Albane; Gwizdala, Sylvain; Masquelier, Christian; Morcrette, Mathieu; Wurm, Clain | Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 31, 2005 Reel 16697, frame 192 | Audemer, Albane; Wurm, Calin; Morcrette, Mathieu; Gwizdala, Sylvain; Masquelier, Christian | Umicore; Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 31, 2005 Reel 16703, frame 728 | Audemer, Albane; Wurm, Clain; Morcrette, Mathieu; Gwizdala, Sylvain; Masquelier, Christian | Umicore; Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
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.
What's changing
Note
The 1113 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
14
later US patents cite this one
That is above 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
Computed patent terms end on the dates shown. Related patents and pending applications may cover overlapping subject matter.