Also listed on Syntheon, LLC, an earlier holder on the record. The recorded assignments below show how it moved.
Term ends Nov 21, 2026 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Jul 24, 2026
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by Cilag GmbH International
Filed Dec 8, 2009 as application 12/633,292 · Granted Oct 11, 2011
Base term plus 120 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2006
2026
Clock starts
Jul 24, 2006
Jul 24, 2006
Term ends
Nov 21, 2026
Nov 21, 2026
Granted
Oct 11, 2011
Oct 11, 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
120
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
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.
68
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 120 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. 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 Jul 24, 2006, when application 11/491,626, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Dec 8, 2009); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Jul 24, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | A parent in the chain could not be resolved | dated from this application's own claim | Medium confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +120 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Nov 21, 2026 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | None on record | no cap applied | 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 | Nov 21, 2026 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 8,579,176 | In force Feb 2030 | Feb 2030 |
| Application PCT/US2006/028752 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| Application 11/541,105 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,404,508 | Term ended no later than Jul 2026 | no later than Jul 2026 |
| US 7,936,210 | Lapsed on the fee record May 2023 | May 2023 |
| US 8,028,885 | In force Feb 2027 | Feb 2027 |
| US 8,573,462 | In force Apr 2030 | Apr 2030 |
| US 8,038,046 | In force Jul 2027 | Jul 2027 |
8 of 68 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 1, 2010 Reel 23876, frame 826 | Smith, Kevin W.; Palmer, Matthew A.; Kline, Korey R.; Deville, Derek Dee | Syntheon, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 17, 2010 Reel 23944, frame 917 | Syntheon, LLC | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 6, 2015 Reel 37220, frame 212 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 28, 2017 Reel 41825, frame 651 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Ethicon LLC | Change of Name |
| Apr 27, 2021 Reel 56601, frame 339 | Ethicon LLC | Cilag GmbH International | 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
Nov 2026
Term ends Nov 21, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 120 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
2,008
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
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.