Lapsed Sep 7, 2022 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ended Mar 30, 2026
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Sonova AG
Filed Apr 13, 2009 as application 12/422,473 · Granted Sep 7, 2010
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 43 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Sep 7, 2022
2006
2026
Clock starts
Mar 30, 2006
Mar 30, 2006
No longer in force
Sep 7, 2022
Sep 7, 2022
Granted
Sep 7, 2010
Sep 7, 2010
Term would have run to
May 12, 2026
May 12, 2026
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
43
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
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.
3
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 May 12, 2026: its 20-year base term plus 43 days of term adjustment for prosecution delay. 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 Mar 30, 2006, when application 11/277,978, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Apr 13, 2009) | Mar 30, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +43 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | May 12, 2026 | 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 | 2 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Sep 7, 2022 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Sep 7, 2022 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,548,211 | In force Jun 2027 | Jun 2027 |
| US 7,777,681 | Term ended Mar 2026 | Mar 2026 |
| US 7,791,551 | this patent Sep 2022 | Sep 2022 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 24, 2015 Reel 36674, frame 492 | Phonak AG | Sonova AG | 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
Note
The 43 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
52
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.