Term ends Dec 23, 2026 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Jul 7, 2025
Held by Shutterfly, LLC
Filed Mar 18, 2009 as application 12/406,873 · Granted Mar 6, 2012
Base term plus 534 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2005
2026
Clock starts
Jul 7, 2005
Jul 7, 2005
Term ends
Dec 23, 2026
Dec 23, 2026
Granted
Mar 6, 2012
Mar 6, 2012
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
534
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 8,036,489, to Dec 23, 2026. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
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.
36
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 534 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. All three maintenance fees are recorded paid; no more fees are due. 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 Jul 7, 2005, when application 11/176,049, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Mar 18, 2009) | Jul 7, 2025 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +534 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Dec 23, 2026 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 8,036,489) | resolves to Dec 23, 2026, no earlier than this term, so no change | 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 | Dec 23, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,474,801 | In force Jan 2027 | Jan 2027 |
| US 8,036,489 | In force Mar 2027 | Mar 2027 |
| US 8,555,154 | In force Jan 2027 | Jan 2027 |
| US 8,131,114 | this patent Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
| US 8,363,888 | Term ended Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
| US 8,437,575 | Term ended Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
| Application PCT/US2011/034843 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,155,481 | Term ended Jul 2025 | Jul 2025 |
8 of 36 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 7, 2011 Reel 27333, frame 161 | Shutterfly, Inc. | JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as Administrative Agent | Security Agreement |
| Sep 10, 2014 Reel 33714, frame 315 | Wang, Wiley H; Muzzolini, Russ Ennio; Dean, Jennifer Marie; Chen, Eugene; Miller, Trynne Anne; Quek, Su Mien | Shutterfly, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 15, 2016 Reel 39024, frame 761 | Shutterfly, Inc. | JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as Administrative Agent | Security Agreement |
| Aug 17, 2017 Reel 43542, frame 693 | JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as Administrative Agent | Shutterfly, Inc. | Release of Security Interest |
| Aug 18, 2017 Reel 43601, frame 955 | Shutterfly, Inc. | Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., as Collateral Agent | Security Interest |
| May 23, 2018 Reel 46216, frame 396 | Shutterfly, Inc.; Lifetouch Inc.; Lifetouch National School Studios Inc. | Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., as Collateral Agent | Security Interest |
| Sep 26, 2019 Reel 50527, frame 868 | Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. | Shutterfly, Inc.; Lifetouch Inc.; Lifetouch National School Studios Inc. | Release of Security Interest |
| Sep 26, 2019 reel/frame not recorded | Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. | Shutterfly, Inc. | Release of Security Interest |
| Sep 26, 2019 reel/frame not recorded | Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. | Lifetouch Inc. | Release of Security Interest |
| Sep 26, 2019 reel/frame not recorded | Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. | Lifetouch National School Studios Inc. | Release of Security Interest |
| Sep 27, 2019 Reel 50572, frame 508 | Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. | Shutterfly Inc. | Release of Security Interest |
| Sep 27, 2019 Reel 50574, frame 865 | Shutterfly, Inc. | Wilmington Trust, National Association | First Lien Security Agreement |
| Nov 22, 2019 Reel 51095, frame 172 | Shutterfly, Inc. | Shutterfly, LLC | Change of Name |
| Dec 11, 2024 Reel 69881, frame 862 | Wang, Wiley H.; Muzzolini, Russ Ennio; Dean, Jennifer Marie; Chen, Eugene; Miller, Trynne Anne; Quek, Su Mien | Shutterfly, Inc. | Corrective Assignment to Correct the the Assignee Name Previously Recorded at Reel: 33714 Frame: 315. Assignor(S) Hereby Confirms the Assignment. |
| Jun 22, 2026 Reel 75873, frame 501 | Snapfish, LLC; Shutterfly, LLC | Wilmington Trust, National Association, as Collateral Agent | Security Interest |
| Jun 23, 2026 Reel 75813, frame 795 | Wilmington Trust, National Association, as Collateral Agent | Shutterfly, Inc. | Release of Security Interest at Reel/Frame 50574/0865 |
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
Dec 2026
Term ends Dec 23, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 534 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 8,036,489, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
31
later US patents cite this one
That is top 25% 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.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.