Lapsed Aug 24, 2022 on the fee record · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Mar 14, 2026
Why Medium: A terminal disclaimer is on file (approved) with no resolved reference, so the term may end earlier.
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Merck Patent GmbH
Filed Jun 9, 2006 as application 11/450,521 · Granted Aug 24, 2010
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 578 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Aug 24, 2022
2006
2027
Clock starts
Mar 14, 2006
Mar 14, 2006
No longer in force
Aug 24, 2022
Aug 24, 2022
Granted
Aug 24, 2010
Aug 24, 2010
Term would have run to
Oct 13, 2027
Oct 13, 2027
base term
patent term adjustment
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
578
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
Unresolved
Terminal disclaimer
On file, reference document not resolved, so the date above is an upper bound. We do not guess the cap.
2 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.
Its term would have run to Oct 13, 2027: its 20-year base term plus 578 days of term adjustment for prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer is on file with no resolved reference, so no cap is applied and none is guessed. Confidence: Medium. 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 Mar 14, 2006, when application 11/375,643, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jun 9, 2006) | Mar 14, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +578 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Oct 13, 2027 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer on file (approved), reference document not resolved | no cap applied, and none guessed | Medium confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Aug 24, 2022 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Aug 24, 2022 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,772,485 | In force no later than Dec 2027 | no later than Dec 2027 |
| US 7,781,673 | this patent Aug 2022 | Aug 2022 |
| Application PCT/US2006/027397 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,058,550 | Lapsed on the fee record Nov 2019 | Nov 2019 |
| Application 11/486,536 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 11/601,374 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 11/643,271 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 11/684,346 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 2006 Reel 18351, frame 488 | Gaudiana, Russell; Kingsborough, Richard; Waller, David; Zhu, Zhengguo | Konarka Technologies, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Oct 17, 2011 Reel 27297, frame 772 | Konarka Technologies, Inc. | Massachusetts Development Finance Agency | Security Agreement |
| Oct 17, 2011 Reel 27468, frame 697 | Konarka Technologies, Inc. | Massachusetts Development Finance Agency | Amendment to Security Agreement |
| Oct 26, 2011 Reel 27465, frame 192 | Konarka Technologies, Inc. | Total Gas & Power USA (SAS) | Security Agreement |
| Jan 29, 2013 Reel 29717, frame 48 | Konarka Technologies, Inc. | Merck KGaA | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jan 29, 2013 Reel 29717, frame 65 | Merck KGaA | Merck Patent GmbH | 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
Note
A terminal disclaimer is on file and its reference is not resolved. No cap is applied and none is guessed
Note
The 578 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Open question
A terminal disclaimer is on file (approved) and its reference document is not resolved. A disclaimer would cap the term earlier than Aug 24, 2022. We will not guess the cap.
Citations
21
later US patents cite this one
That is above 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.