Lapsed Jul 10, 2024 on the fee record · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Jun 1, 2025
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Cilag GmbH International
Filed Jan 29, 2010 as application 12/696,397 · Granted Jul 10, 2012
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Lapsed Jul 10, 2024
2005
2026
Clock starts
Jun 1, 2005
Jun 1, 2005
No longer in force
Jul 10, 2024
Jul 10, 2024
Granted
Jul 10, 2012
Jul 10, 2012
Term would have run to
Jun 1, 2025
Jun 1, 2025
base term
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
None
Term adjustment
No prosecution delay on this record.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,354,447, to Jun 1, 2025. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
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.
71
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 1, 2025: its 20-year base term, with no adjustment for prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer is resolved from the filed document, and it ends no earlier than this term, so it shortens nothing. 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 Jun 1, 2005, when application 11/141,753, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jan 29, 2010); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Jun 1, 2025 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | A parent in the chain could not be resolved | dated from this application's own claim | Medium confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 7,354,447) | resolves to Jun 1, 2025, no earlier than this term, so no change | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Jul 10, 2024 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Jul 10, 2024 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 6,978,921 | Term ended May 2023 | May 2023 |
| US 7,380,696 | Term ended Sep 2023 | Sep 2023 |
| US 8,905,977 | Term ended Mar 2025 | Mar 2025 |
| US 7,354,447 | Term ended Dec 2025 | Dec 2025 |
| Application 11/289,918 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 11/538,154 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 11/731,521 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,215,531 | this patent Jul 2024 | Jul 2024 |
8 of 71 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, 2010 Reel 24191, frame 925 | Shelton, Frederick E., IV; Hueil, Joseph C.; Morgan, Jerome R.; Fugikawa, Leslie M. | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 6, 2015 Reel 37220, frame 212 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 27, 2017 Reel 41821, frame 186 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Ethicon LLC | Change of Name |
| Apr 27, 2021 Reel 56601, frame 339 | Ethicon LLC | Cilag GmbH International | 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.
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,354,447, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
1,789
later US patents cite this one
That is top 1% 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.