Term ends no later than Jul 28, 2028 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Feb 9, 2026
In force on USPTO's status record and by its fee record. A terminal disclaimer on file may shorten this term, possibly to a date already past; its reference document is unresolved, so the date above is an upper bound and no earlier date is guessed.
Held by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Filed Nov 13, 2006 as application 11/559,192 · Granted Mar 1, 2011
Base term plus 900 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2006
2028
Clock starts
Feb 9, 2006
Feb 9, 2006
Ends no later than
Jul 28, 2028
Jul 28, 2028
Granted
Mar 1, 2011
Mar 1, 2011
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
900
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.
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.
11
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 900 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer is on file with no resolved reference, so no cap is applied and none is guessed. All three maintenance fees are recorded paid; no more fees are due. 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 Feb 9, 2006, when application 11/351,070, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Nov 13, 2006) | Feb 9, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +900 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jul 28, 2028 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer on file (filed), reference document not resolved | no cap applied, and none guessed | Medium 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 | no later than Jul 28, 2028 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,516,274 | Term ended Sep 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| US 7,412,570 | In force Feb 2027 | Feb 2027 |
| US 7,533,242 | In force Feb 2027 | Feb 2027 |
| US 7,904,659 | In force Jul 2028 | Jul 2028 |
| US 7,899,990 | this patent no later than Jul 2028 | no later than Jul 2028 |
| US 7,958,312 | In force no later than Nov 2028 | no later than Nov 2028 |
| US 7,443,759 | In force Apr 2027 | Apr 2027 |
| US 7,663,961 | In force Aug 2028 | Aug 2028 |
8 of 11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 2007 Reel 19355, frame 223 | Moll, Laurent R.; Song, Seungyoon P.; Glaskowsky, Peter N.; Cheng, Yu Q. | Montalvo Systems, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| May 16, 2008 Reel 20957, frame 434 | Montalvo Systems, Inc. | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 23, 2011 Reel 26794, frame 962 | Montalvo Systems, Inc. | Sun Microsystems, Inc.; Sun Microsystems Technology Ltd. | Corrective Assignment to Correct the Assignee Previously Recorded on Reel 020957 Frame 0434. Assignor(S) Hereby Confirms the Correct Assignees Are Sun Microsystems, Inc. and Sun Microsystems Technology LTD. |
| Aug 23, 2011 reel/frame not recorded | Montalvo Systems, Inc. | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | Corrective Assignment to Correct the Assignee Previously Recorded on Reel 020957 Frame 0434. Assignor(S) Hereby Confirms the Correct Assignees Are Sun Microsystems, Inc. and Sun Microsystems Technology LTD. |
| Aug 23, 2011 reel/frame not recorded | Montalvo Systems, Inc. | Sun Microsystems Technology Ltd. | Corrective Assignment to Correct the Assignee Previously Recorded on Reel 020957 Frame 0434. Assignor(S) Hereby Confirms the Correct Assignees Are Sun Microsystems, Inc. and Sun Microsystems Technology LTD. |
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
Jul 2028
Term ends no later than Jul 28, 2028. No further fees fall due before then
Note
A terminal disclaimer is on file and its reference is not resolved. No cap is applied and none is guessed
Note
The 900 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 (filed) and its reference document is not resolved. A disclaimer would cap the term earlier than Jul 28, 2028. We will not guess the cap.
Citations
83
later US patents cite this one
That is top 10% of utility patents granted in 2011 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
This computed term ends no later than the date shown; an unresolved terminal disclaimer may end it earlier. 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.