Term ended Mar 20, 2026 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Sep 8, 2024
Held by Meta Platforms, Inc.
Filed Feb 13, 2009 as application 11/574,831 · Granted Feb 21, 2012
Base term plus 558 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Term ended Mar 20, 2026
2004
2026
Clock starts
Sep 8, 2004
Sep 8, 2004
Term ended
Mar 20, 2026
Mar 20, 2026
Granted
Feb 21, 2012
Feb 21, 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
558
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.
18
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 558 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. All three maintenance fees were paid, so no fee lapse ended it. 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.
| Step | Input | Date after this step | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base term, 20 years from filing | Clock starts Sep 8, 2004, when the earliest non-provisional application in its chain was filed (this one was filed Feb 13, 2009) | Sep 8, 2024 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +558 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Mar 20, 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 | term ended | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Mar 20, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,899,862 | In force Feb 2027 | Feb 2027 |
| US 7,653,693 | In force Nov 2026 | Nov 2026 |
| Application PCT/US2004/023382 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| Application PCT/US2004/029291 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,122,137 | this patent Mar 2026 | Mar 2026 |
| US 8,577,972 | Term ended Apr 2024 | Apr 2024 |
| US 9,647,872 | Term ended Apr 2025 | Apr 2025 |
| US 9,621,376 | Term ended Nov 2023 | Nov 2023 |
8 of 18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 2007 Reel 19296, frame 698 | Appelman, Barry; Erickson, Andrew Ivar; Lu, Larry L.; Weltman, Robert Eugene | AOL LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 14, 2009 Reel 23649, frame 61 | AOL Inc.; AOL Advertising Inc.; Bebo, Inc.; Icq LLC; Going, Inc.; Lightningcast LLC; Mapquest, Inc.; Netscape Communications Corporation; Quigo Technologies LLC; Sphere Source, Inc.; Tacoda LLC; Truveo, Inc.; Yedda, Inc. | Bank of American, N.A. as Collateral Agent | Security Agreement |
| Dec 31, 2009 Reel 23720, frame 309 | AOL LLC | AOL Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Nov 16, 2010 Reel 25323, frame 416 | Bank Of America, N A | AOL Inc.; AOL Advertising Inc.; Going Inc.; Lightningcast LLC; Mapquest, Inc.; Netscape Communications Corporation; Quigo Technologies LLC; Sphere Source, Inc.; Tacoda LLC; Truveo, Inc.; Yedda, Inc. | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patent Rights |
| Nov 16, 2010 reel/frame not recorded | Bank Of America, N A | AOL Inc. | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patent Rights |
| Nov 16, 2010 reel/frame not recorded | Bank Of America, N A | AOL Advertising Inc. | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patent Rights |
| Nov 16, 2010 reel/frame not recorded | Bank Of America, N A | Going Inc. | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patent Rights |
| Nov 16, 2010 reel/frame not recorded | Bank Of America, N A | Lightningcast LLC | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patent Rights |
| Nov 16, 2010 reel/frame not recorded | Bank Of America, N A | Mapquest, Inc. | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patent Rights |
| Nov 16, 2010 reel/frame not recorded | Bank Of America, N A | Netscape Communications Corporation | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patent Rights |
| Nov 16, 2010 reel/frame not recorded | Bank Of America, N A | Quigo Technologies LLC | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patent Rights |
| Nov 16, 2010 reel/frame not recorded | Bank Of America, N A | Sphere Source, Inc. | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patent Rights |
| Nov 16, 2010 reel/frame not recorded | Bank Of America, N A | Tacoda LLC | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patent Rights |
| Nov 16, 2010 reel/frame not recorded | Bank Of America, N A | Truveo, Inc. | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patent Rights |
| Nov 16, 2010 reel/frame not recorded | Bank Of America, N A | Yedda, Inc. | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patent Rights |
| Jul 3, 2012 Reel 28487, frame 304 | AOL Inc. | Facebook, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 20, 2021 Reel 58961, frame 436 | Facebook, Inc. | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Change of Name |
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.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Note
The 558 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
114
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.