The Patent Finder
US

Variably Flexible Insertion Device and Method for Variably Flexing an Insertion Device

US 8,092,374 Lapsed on the fee record
OverviewFamilyAssignmentsSources & methods

Lapsed Jan 10, 2020 on the fee record · High confidence

Second maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.

Filed Mar 2, 2006 as application 11/367,607 · Granted Jan 10, 2012
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 473 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Jan 10, 2020
2006 2027
Clock starts
Mar 2, 2006
No longer in force
Jan 10, 2020
Granted
Jan 10, 2012
Term would have run to
Jun 18, 2027
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
473
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
1 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.
14
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 Jun 18, 2027: its 20-year base term plus 473 days of term adjustment for prosecution delay. 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.
StepInputDate after this stepConfidence
Base term, 20 years from filingClock starts Mar 2, 2006, when this application, 11/367,607, was filedMar 2, 2026High confidence
Continuity chainEvery parent in the chain resolvedno changeHigh confidence
Patent term adjustment+473 days, USPTO patent term adjustment recordJun 18, 2027High confidence
Terminal disclaimer capNone on recordno cap appliedHigh confidence
Patent term extensionNone on fileno changeHigh confidence
Fee events1 of 3 maintenance fees paidlapsed Jan 10, 2020High confidence
Computed term endThe steps above, in orderJan 10, 2020High confidence

This family

US 8,092,374this patent
Jan 2020
Jan 2020
US 7,988,621Lapsed on the fee record
Aug 2019
Aug 2019
US 8,556,804Lapsed on the fee record
Oct 2021
Oct 2021
US 9,814,372Lapsed on the fee record
Nov 2021
Nov 2021
Application PCT/US2008/068348PCT application
no patent term
no patent term
US 7,914,445Lapsed on the fee record
Mar 2019
Mar 2019
US 8,298,137Lapsed on the fee record
Oct 2020
Oct 2020
US 8,292,802Lapsed on the fee record
Oct 2020
Oct 2020
8 of 14 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.
RecordedAssignorAssigneeConveyance
Mar 2, 2006
Reel 17651, frame 589
Smith, Kevin; Deville, Derek; Kline, Korey; Palmer, MatthewKMS Development LLCAssignment of Assignor's Interest
Sep 1, 2009
Reel 23176, frame 343
KMS Development, LLCSyntheon, LLCAssignment 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.

The Patent Finder CompaniesExpirationsCalculatorWatchlistPricing MethodologyCorrectionsLegalPrivacysupport@thepatentfinder.com Updated Nov 14, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 14, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) Part of 137 Finder · © 2026 137 Finder LLC · Sources cited