Term ends no later than May 26, 2030 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Sep 26, 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 VB Spine LLC
Filed Sep 26, 2006 as application 11/535,432 · Granted Jul 26, 2011
Base term plus 1338 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2006
2030
Clock starts
Sep 26, 2006
Sep 26, 2006
Ends no later than
May 26, 2030
May 26, 2030
Granted
Jul 26, 2011
Jul 26, 2011
base term
patent term adjustment
fee events
Updated Nov 15, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 15, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) · how we know
1,338
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.
10
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 1338 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 Sep 26, 2006, when this application, 11/535,432, was filed | Sep 26, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +1338 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | May 26, 2030 | 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 May 26, 2030 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,985,256 | this patent no later than May 2030 | no later than May 2030 |
| US 8,070,813 | Lapsed on the fee record Dec 2023 | Dec 2023 |
| Application 11/981,452 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,394,143 | In force Apr 2030 | Apr 2030 |
| US 8,454,695 | Term ended Sep 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| US 8,480,741 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2025 | Jul 2025 |
| US 9,028,550 | Term ended Sep 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| US 9,814,600 | Term ended Sep 2026 | Sep 2026 |
8 of 10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 7, 2006 Reel 18491, frame 952 | Grotz, Thomas; Pretti, Rudy | Innvotec Surgical, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 14, 2010 Reel 24686, frame 21 | Innvotec Surgical, Inc. | Coalign Innovations, Inc. | Change of Name |
| May 19, 2015 Reel 35667, frame 165 | Coalign Innovations, Inc. | Howmedica Osteonics Corp. | Merger |
| May 8, 2025 Reel 71224, frame 768 | Howmedica Osteonics Corp. | VB Spine US Opco LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 16, 2025 Reel 71682, frame 116 | K2M, Inc.; VB Spine US Opco LLC; VB Spine LLC | Ankura Trust Company, LLC, as Collateral Agent | Patent Security Agreement |
| Aug 8, 2025 Reel 72340, frame 397 | K2M, Inc.; VB Spine US Opco LLC | Texas Capital Bank, As Collateral Agent | Security Interest |
| Jun 23, 2026 Reel 75812, frame 865 | VB Spine US Opco LLC | VB Spine 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
May 2030
Term ends no later than May 26, 2030. 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 1338 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 May 26, 2030. We will not guess the cap.
Citations
551
later US patents cite this one
That is top 1% 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.