Term ends no later than Mar 28, 2029 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ends Jun 3, 2028
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.
Filed Dec 4, 2008 as application 12/328,285 · Granted Mar 22, 2011
Base term plus 298 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2008
2029
Clock starts
Jun 3, 2008
Jun 3, 2008
Ends no later than
Mar 28, 2029
Mar 28, 2029
Granted
Mar 22, 2011
Mar 22, 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
298
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.
2
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 298 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 Jun 3, 2008, when application 12/132,232, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Dec 4, 2008) | Jun 3, 2028 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +298 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Mar 28, 2029 | 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 | 3 of 3 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | no later than Mar 28, 2029 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,926,455 | In force no later than Oct 2029 | no later than Oct 2029 |
| US 7,909,007 | this patent no later than Mar 2029 | no later than Mar 2029 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 16, 2009 Reel 22121, frame 913 | Manther, Debora; Liu, Yunshan; Strehlau, Anna; Best, Richard; Ma, Xiaopo | Schaeffler KG | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 10, 2012 Reel 28523, frame 790 | Schaeffler KG | Schaeffler Technologies GmbH & Co. KG | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 11, 2012 Reel 28533, frame 36 | Schaeffler Technologies GmbH & Co. KG | Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG | Change of Name |
| Feb 5, 2016 Reel 37732, frame 228 | Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG; Schaeffler Verwaltungs 5 GmbH | Schaeffler Technologies GmbH & Co. KG | Merger and Change of Name |
| Feb 5, 2016 Reel 37732, frame 347 | Schaeffler Technologies GmbH & Co. KG | Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG | Change of Name |
| Oct 11, 2016 Reel 40404, frame 530 | Schaeffler Technologies GmbH & Co. KG | Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG | Corrective Assignment to Correct the Property Numbers Previously Recorded on Reel 037732 Frame 0347. Assignor(S) Hereby Confirms the App. No. 14/553248 Should Be App. No. 14/553258. |
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
Mar 2029
Term ends no later than Mar 28, 2029. 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 298 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 Mar 28, 2029. We will not guess the cap.
Citations
24
later US patents cite this one
That is top 25% 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.