Also listed on Searete LLC, an earlier holder on the record. The recorded assignments below show how it moved.
Term ends Dec 15, 2027 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Oct 31, 2027
Held by Metali, LLC
Filed Oct 31, 2007 as application 11/982,353 · Granted Dec 8, 2009
Base term plus 45 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2007
2027
Clock starts
Oct 31, 2007
Oct 31, 2007
Term ends
Dec 15, 2027
Dec 15, 2027
Granted
Dec 8, 2009
Dec 8, 2009
base term
patent term adjustment
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
45
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.
3
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 45 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. All three maintenance fees are recorded paid; no more fees are due. 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 Oct 31, 2007, when this application, 11/982,353, was filed | Oct 31, 2027 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +45 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Dec 15, 2027 | 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 | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Dec 15, 2027 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,629,941 | this patent Dec 2027 | Dec 2027 |
| US 7,733,289 | In force no later than Oct 2027 | no later than Oct 2027 |
| US 8,026,862 | In force Oct 2027 | Oct 2027 |
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 8, 2008 Reel 20508, frame 133 | Pendry, John Brian; Schurig, David; Smith, David R. | Searete LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 4, 2010 Reel 23901, frame 109 | Searete LLC | The Invention Science Fund I LLC | Corrective Assignment to Correct the to Re-Record Assignment to Correct Assignee Previously Recorded on Reel 020508 Frame 0133. Assignor(S) Hereby Confirms the Assignee Needs to Be Changed from Searete LLC to the Invention Science Fund I LLC. |
| Sep 16, 2026 Reel 76559, frame 629 | The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. | Metali, LLC | 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
Dec 2027
Term ends Dec 15, 2027. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 45 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
16
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.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.