Also listed on Merck Patent GmbH, an earlier holder on the record. The recorded assignments below show how it moved.
Term ends Nov 20, 2026 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Apr 21, 2025
Held by Flexenable Technology Limited
Filed Nov 17, 2006 as application 11/596,850 · Granted May 11, 2010
Base term plus 578 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2005
2026
Clock starts
Apr 21, 2005
Apr 21, 2005
Term ends
Nov 20, 2026
Nov 20, 2026
Granted
May 11, 2010
May 11, 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
578
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,700,643, to Nov 20, 2026. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
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.
2
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 578 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer is resolved from the filed document, and it ends no earlier than this term, so it shortens nothing. 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 Apr 21, 2005, when application PCT/EP2005/004271, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Nov 17, 2006) | Apr 21, 2025 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +578 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Nov 20, 2026 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 7,700,643) | resolves to Nov 20, 2026, no earlier than this term, so no change | 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 | Nov 20, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,714,098 | this patent Nov 2026 | Nov 2026 |
1 of 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 17, 2006 Reel 18626, frame 269 | Heeney, Martin; Wagner, Robert; McCulloch, Iain; Tierney, Steven | Merck Patent GmbH | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 7, 2023 Reel 63907, frame 525 | Merck Patent GmbH | Flexenable Ltd. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 17, 2023 Reel 64279, frame 813 | Flexenable Ltd. | Flexenable Technology Limited | 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
Nov 2026
Term ends Nov 20, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 578 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,700,643, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
8
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median 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.