Term ends Dec 6, 2026 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Jun 6, 2025
Held by Spintech, LLC
Filed Dec 15, 2006 as application 11/611,184 · Granted Jul 19, 2011
Base term plus 1224 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) · capped by a resolved terminal disclaimer
Today
2005
2026
Clock starts
Jun 6, 2005
Jun 6, 2005
Term ends
Dec 6, 2026
Dec 6, 2026
Granted
Jul 19, 2011
Jul 19, 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
1,224
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
Capped
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,938,923.
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.
8
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 1224 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document caps it earlier. All three maintenance fees are recorded paid; no more fees are due. 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 Jun 6, 2005, when application PCT/US2005/019842, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Dec 15, 2006) | Jun 6, 2025 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +1224 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Oct 12, 2028 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 7,938,923) | capped to Dec 6, 2026 | High 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 | Dec 6, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| Application PCT/US2005/019842 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 7,981,229 | this patent Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
| US 8,101,689 | In force no later than Aug 2027 | no later than Aug 2027 |
| US 7,938,923 | In force Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
| Application 12/719,197 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 12/755,868 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,808,479 | Term ended no later than Feb 2026 | no later than Feb 2026 |
7 of 8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2011 Reel 26466, frame 878 | Cornerstone Research Group, Inc. | Nasa | Confirmatory License |
| Jan 11, 2018 Reel 44595, frame 144 | Cornerstone Research Group Inc. | Spintech, LLC | 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.
What's changing
Dec 2026
Term ends Dec 6, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 1224 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Disclaimer cap
This term is capped by a terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,938,923.
Citations
8
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.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.