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Surgical Stapling Device with Staple Driver That Supports Multiple Wire Diameter Staples

US 7,673,781 Term ended
OverviewFamilyAssignmentsSources & methods

Term ended Aug 31, 2025 · High confidence

Filed Feb 28, 2007 as application 11/711,977 · Granted Mar 9, 2010
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
20 years from filing
Term ended Aug 31, 2025
2005 2026
Clock starts
Aug 31, 2005
Term ended
Aug 31, 2025
Granted
Mar 9, 2010
base term 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
None
Term adjustment
No prosecution delay on this record.
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.
86
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 is its 20-year base term, with no adjustment for prosecution delay. All three maintenance fees were paid, so no fee lapse ended it. 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.
StepInputDate after this stepConfidence
Base term, 20 years from filingClock starts Aug 31, 2005, when application 11/216,562, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Feb 28, 2007)Aug 31, 2025High confidence
Continuity chainEvery parent in the chain resolvedno changeHigh confidence
Patent term adjustmentNone on fileno changeHigh confidence
Terminal disclaimer capNone on recordno cap appliedHigh confidence
Patent term extensionNone on fileno changeHigh confidence
Fee events3 of 3 maintenance fees paidterm endedHigh confidence
Computed term endThe steps above, in orderAug 31, 2025High confidence

This family

US 7,669,746Term ended
no later than Aug 2025
no later than Aug 2025
US 8,365,976In force
Aug 2029
Aug 2029
Application 11/714,049Abandoned
not computed
not computed
Application 11/711,975Abandoned
not computed
not computed
US 7,500,979Term ended
Sep 2025
Sep 2025
US 7,673,781this patent
Aug 2025
Aug 2025
US 8,317,070In force
Sep 2028
Sep 2028
US 7,669,747In force
Jun 2027
Jun 2027
8 of 86 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.
RecordedAssignorAssigneeConveyance
Apr 30, 2007
Reel 19228, frame 246
Swayze, Jeffrey S.; Hueil, Joseph C.; Morgan, Jerome R.; Shelton, Frederick E., IVEthicon Endo-Surgery, Inc.Assignment of Assignor's Interest
Dec 6, 2015
Reel 37220, frame 212
Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc.Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLCAssignment of Assignor's Interest
Feb 27, 2017
Reel 41821, frame 186
Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLCEthicon LLCChange of Name
Apr 27, 2021
Reel 56601, frame 339
Ethicon LLCCilag GmbH InternationalAssignment 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.

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