The Patent Finder
US

Method and System for Order Invariant Clustering of Categorical Data

US 7,844,557 Lapsed on the fee record
OverviewFamilyAssignmentsSources & methods

Lapsed Nov 30, 2022 on the fee record · High confidence

Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.

Filed Jul 12, 2006 as application 11/457,090 · Granted Nov 30, 2010
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 565 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Nov 30, 2022
2006 2027
Clock starts
May 16, 2006
No longer in force
Nov 30, 2022
Granted
Nov 30, 2010
Term would have run to
Dec 2, 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
565
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.
7
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 Dec 2, 2027: its 20-year base term plus 565 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.
StepInputDate after this stepConfidence
Base term, 20 years from filingClock starts May 16, 2006, when application 11/436,142, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jul 12, 2006)May 16, 2026High confidence
Continuity chainEvery parent in the chain resolvedno changeHigh confidence
Patent term adjustment+565 days, USPTO patent term adjustment recordDec 2, 2027High confidence
Terminal disclaimer capNone on recordno cap appliedHigh confidence
Patent term extensionNone on fileno changeHigh confidence
Fee events2 of 3 maintenance fees paidlapsed Nov 30, 2022High confidence
Computed term endThe steps above, in orderNov 30, 2022High confidence

This family

US 7,774,288In force
Dec 2026
Dec 2026
US 7,844,557this patent
Nov 2022
Nov 2022
US 8,055,597Lapsed on the fee record
Nov 2023
Nov 2023
US 7,640,220Lapsed on the fee record
Dec 2021
Dec 2021
US 7,761,394Lapsed on the fee record
Jul 2022
Jul 2022
US 7,630,946Lapsed on the fee record
Dec 2021
Dec 2021
US 7,664,718Lapsed on the fee record
Feb 2022
Feb 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.
RecordedAssignorAssigneeConveyance
Jul 25, 2006
reel/frame not recorded
Ohwa, TsunayukiSony CorporationAssignment of Assignor's Interest
Jul 25, 2006
reel/frame not recorded
Ohwa, TsunayukiSony Electronics Inc.Assignment of Assignor's Interest
Jul 25, 2006
Reel 17994, frame 823
Ohwa, TsunayukiSony Corporation; Sony Electronics Inc.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.

The Patent Finder CompaniesExpirationsCalculatorWatchlistPricing MethodologyCorrectionsLegalPrivacysupport@thepatentfinder.com Updated Nov 14, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 14, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) Part of 137 Finder · © 2026 137 Finder LLC · Sources cited