Lapsed Feb 7, 2024 on the fee record · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Mar 17, 2023
Why Medium: A terminal disclaimer is on file (approved) with no resolved reference, so the term may end earlier.
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by C. R. Bard, Inc.
Filed Apr 6, 2005 as application 10/500,522 · Granted Feb 7, 2012
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 1405 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Feb 7, 2024
2003
2027
Clock starts
Mar 17, 2003
Mar 17, 2003
No longer in force
Feb 7, 2024
Feb 7, 2024
Granted
Feb 7, 2012
Feb 7, 2012
Term would have run to
Jan 20, 2027
Jan 20, 2027
base term
patent term adjustment
after the term ends
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
1,405
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.
2 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.
205
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 Jan 20, 2027: its 20-year base term plus 1405 days of term adjustment for prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer is on file with no resolved reference, so no cap is applied and none is guessed. 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 Mar 17, 2003, when application PCT/DE2003/000844, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Apr 6, 2005) | Mar 17, 2023 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +1405 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jan 20, 2027 | 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 | 2 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Feb 7, 2024 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Feb 7, 2024 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,331,992 | Term ended Feb 2022 | Feb 2022 |
| US 6,878,162 | Term ended Mar 2023 | Mar 2023 |
| Application 10/275,425 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,704,267 | Term ended Dec 2025 | Dec 2025 |
| US 7,476,246 | Term ended Jun 2026 | Jun 2026 |
| US 7,517,321 | Term ended Oct 2025 | Oct 2025 |
| US 8,109,885 | this patent Feb 2024 | Feb 2024 |
| Application 60/689,034 | Provisional application no patent term | no patent term |
8 of 205 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 6, 2005 Reel 16023, frame 426 | Heske, Norbert; Heske, Thomas | C. R. Bard, 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.
Free plan: 3 watched companies. Pro: unlimited.
Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Note
A terminal disclaimer is on file and its reference is not resolved. No cap is applied and none is guessed
Note
The 1405 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 Feb 7, 2024. We will not guess the cap.
Citations
252
later US patents cite this one
That is top 5% 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.