Term ended Dec 30, 2023 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Nov 14, 2023
Why Medium: The disclaimer's references carry disclaimers of their own not yet read (US 7,834,170), so the cap could be lower.
USPTO later recorded it as expired for non-payment on Feb 5, 2024.
Held by Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
Filed Nov 14, 2003 as application 10/714,333 · Granted Jan 3, 2012
Base term plus 46 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Term ended Dec 30, 2023
2003
2026
Clock starts
Nov 14, 2003
Nov 14, 2003
Term ended
Dec 30, 2023
Dec 30, 2023
Granted
Jan 3, 2012
Jan 3, 2012
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
46
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,834,170, to Dec 30, 2023. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
2 of 2
Maintenance fees paid
Two maintenance fees can end this term early, the ones due 3.5 and 7.5 years from grant; the third one's grace period runs past the term end. This counts the ones the record shows paid.
168
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 46 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer is resolved from the filed document, and it ends no earlier than this term, so it shortens nothing. 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 Nov 14, 2003, when this application, 10/714,333, was filed | Nov 14, 2023 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +46 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Dec 30, 2023 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 7,834,170) | resolves to Dec 30, 2023, no earlier than this term, so no change | Medium confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 2 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| USPTO status record | Recorded as expired for non-payment on Feb 5, 2024, after the term ended | no change | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Dec 30, 2023 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 8,090,542 | this patent Dec 2023 | Dec 2023 |
| Application PCT/US2004/014885 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| Application 10/940,892 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,820,809 | Lapsed on the fee record Oct 2022 | Oct 2022 |
| Application 11/093,832 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,834,170 | In force no later than May 2027 | no later than May 2027 |
| US 7,691,997 | Term ended Feb 2026 | Feb 2026 |
| US 7,615,541 | Lapsed on the fee record Nov 2021 | Nov 2021 |
8 of 168 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 14, 2003 Reel 14727, frame 10 | Khvorova, Anastasia; Reynolds, Angela; Leake, Devin; Marshall, William; Scaringe, Stephen | Dharmacon, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 3, 2004 Reel 15043, frame 30 | Khvorova, Anastasia; Reynolds, Angela; Leake, Devin; Marshall, Williams; Scaringe, Stephen | Dharmacon, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Mar 17, 2014 Reel 32458, frame 515 | Dharmacon, Inc. | Thermo Fisher Scientific Biosciences Inc. | Change of Name |
| Apr 21, 2014 Reel 32720, frame 846 | Thermo Fisher Scientific Biosciences Inc. | Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. | 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
Note
The 46 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,834,170, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
879
later US patents cite this one
That is top 1% of utility patents granted in 2012 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.