Lapsed Jul 12, 2023 on the fee record · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Jun 17, 2025
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 Covidien LP
Filed Oct 16, 2008 as application 12/252,893 · Granted Jul 12, 2011
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 236 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Jul 12, 2023
2005
2026
Clock starts
Jun 17, 2005
Jun 17, 2005
No longer in force
Jul 12, 2023
Jul 12, 2023
Granted
Jul 12, 2011
Jul 12, 2011
Term would have run to
Feb 8, 2026
Feb 8, 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
236
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.
2
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 Feb 8, 2026: its 20-year base term plus 236 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 Jun 17, 2005, when application 11/156,047, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Oct 16, 2008) | Jun 17, 2025 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +236 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Feb 8, 2026 | 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 Jul 12, 2023 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Jul 12, 2023 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,455,063 | In force Nov 2026 | Nov 2026 |
| US 7,975,693 | this patent Jul 2023 | Jul 2023 |
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 2, 2010 Reel 24929, frame 675 | Geiselhart, Ed; Houghton, Chris; Holverson, Erik; Woodard, Brian; Sun, Benjamin K. | Nellcor Puritan Bennett Incorporated | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Oct 19, 2010 Reel 25162, frame 666 | Geiselhart, Ed; Houghton, Chris; Holverson, Erik; Woodard, Brian; Sun, Benjamin K. | Nellcor Puritan Bennett Incorporated | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Oct 19, 2010 Reel 25162, frame 945 | Nellcor Puritan Bennett Incorporated | Nellcor Puritan Bennett LLC | Change of Name |
| Nov 30, 2012 Reel 29380, frame 18 | Nellcor Puritan Bennett LLC | Covidien LP | 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 236 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 Jul 12, 2023. We will not guess the cap.
Citations
7
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median 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
Computed patent terms end on the dates shown. Related patents and pending applications may cover overlapping subject matter.