Term ends Jul 25, 2028 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Feb 28, 2025
Held by Saturn Licensing LLC
Filed Feb 28, 2005 as application 11/069,614 · Granted Apr 6, 2010
Base term plus 1243 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2005
2028
Clock starts
Feb 28, 2005
Feb 28, 2005
Term ends
Jul 25, 2028
Jul 25, 2028
Granted
Apr 6, 2010
Apr 6, 2010
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
1,243
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.
13
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 1243 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 Feb 28, 2005, when this application, 11/069,614, was filed | Feb 28, 2025 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +1243 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jul 25, 2028 | 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 | Jul 25, 2028 | High confidence |
This family
| Application 09/942,255 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,290,698 | Term ended Dec 2025 | Dec 2025 |
| US 8,054,854 | In force Jun 2027 | Jun 2027 |
| US 7,692,635 | this patent Jul 2028 | Jul 2028 |
| Application PCT/US2006/000876 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,430,299 | Term ended Dec 2025 | Dec 2025 |
| US 8,269,718 | In force Aug 2027 | Aug 2027 |
| US 8,297,892 | Lapsed on the fee record Oct 2016 | Oct 2016 |
8 of 13 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 28, 2005 reel/frame not recorded | Iwamura, Ryuichi | Sony Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 28, 2005 reel/frame not recorded | Iwamura, Ryuichi | Sony Electronics, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 28, 2005 Reel 16347, frame 40 | Iwamura, Ryuichi | Sony Corporation; Sony Electronics, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 11, 2015 Reel 36330, frame 420 | Sony Electronics Inc. | Sony Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jan 15, 2019 Reel 48974, frame 222 | Sony Corporation | Saturn Licensing 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.
Free plan: 3 watched companies. Pro: unlimited.
Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Jul 2028
Term ends Jul 25, 2028. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 1243 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
84
later US patents cite this one
That is top 10% of utility patents granted in 2010 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.