Term ends Sep 5, 2027 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Oct 21, 2025
Held by Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
Filed Oct 17, 2006 as application 11/581,843 · Granted Jun 8, 2010
Base term plus 684 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2005
2027
Clock starts
Oct 21, 2005
Oct 21, 2005
Term ends
Sep 5, 2027
Sep 5, 2027
Granted
Jun 8, 2010
Jun 8, 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
684
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.
21
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 684 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 21, 2005, when application 11/256,332, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Oct 17, 2006) | Oct 21, 2025 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +684 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Sep 5, 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 | Sep 5, 2027 | High confidence |
This family
| Application PCT/US2005/017176 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| Application 11/142,869 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,780,963 | In force Jun 2028 | Jun 2028 |
| US 7,700,099 | In force Jun 2027 | Jun 2027 |
| US 7,731,962 | this patent Sep 2027 | Sep 2027 |
| Application 11/569,122 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 11/686,570 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,105,593 | Term ended Jan 2026 | Jan 2026 |
8 of 21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 26, 2006 Reel 18713, frame 145 | Kinney, Gene; Strohl, William R.; An, Zhiqiang | Merck & Co., Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 17, 2011 Reel 26461, frame 439 | Merck & Co., Inc. | Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. | Change of Name |
| Aug 27, 2012 Reel 28850, frame 515 | Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. | Schering Corporation | Merger |
| Aug 29, 2012 Reel 28866, frame 511 | Schering Corporation | Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. | Change of Name |
| Jun 21, 2023 Reel 64013, frame 165 | Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. | Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC | Change of Name |
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
Sep 2027
Term ends Sep 5, 2027. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 684 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
33
later US patents cite this one
That is top 25% 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.