Term ends Dec 6, 2026 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Dec 1, 2025
Filed Jan 28, 2009 as application 12/361,301 · Granted May 1, 2012
Base term plus 370 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2005
2026
Clock starts
Dec 1, 2005
Dec 1, 2005
Term ends
Dec 6, 2026
Dec 6, 2026
Granted
May 1, 2012
May 1, 2012
base term
patent term adjustment
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
370
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 7,509,463, to Dec 6, 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.
2
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 370 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 Dec 1, 2005, when application 11/291,307, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jan 28, 2009) | Dec 1, 2025 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +370 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Dec 6, 2026 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 7,509,463) | resolves to Dec 6, 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 6, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,509,463 | In force Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
| US 8,171,235 | this patent Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
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 26, 2011 Reel 27446, frame 1 | Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. | Sony Network Entertainment Platform Inc. | Change of Name |
| Dec 27, 2011 Reel 27557, frame 1 | Sony Network Entertainment Platform Inc. | Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 1, 2016 Reel 39239, frame 356 | Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. | Sony Interactive Entertainment 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.
Free plan: 3 watched companies. Pro: unlimited.
Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Dec 2026
Term ends Dec 6, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 370 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 7,509,463, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
0
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median 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.