Lapsed Jul 31, 2024 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ended Mar 13, 2026
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by SanDisk Technologies LLC
Filed Nov 9, 2009 as application 12/614,960 · Granted Jul 31, 2012
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 31 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Jul 31, 2024
2006
2026
Clock starts
Mar 13, 2006
Mar 13, 2006
No longer in force
Jul 31, 2024
Jul 31, 2024
Granted
Jul 31, 2012
Jul 31, 2012
Term would have run to
Apr 13, 2026
Apr 13, 2026
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
31
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
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.
3
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 Apr 13, 2026: its 20-year base term plus 31 days of term adjustment for prosecution delay. 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 Mar 13, 2006, when application 11/373,941, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Nov 9, 2009) | Mar 13, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +31 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Apr 13, 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 | 2 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Jul 31, 2024 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Jul 31, 2024 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,615,861 | In force Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
| US 8,232,145 | this patent Jul 2024 | Jul 2024 |
| US 8,482,139 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2025 | Jul 2025 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 9, 2009 Reel 23491, frame 70 | Chang, Che-jung; Chiu, Chin-tien; Yu, Cheeman; Takiar, Hem; Chien, Jack Chang; Liu, Ning | SanDisk Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 2, 2011 Reel 26379, frame 5 | SanDisk Corporation | SanDisk Technologies Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| May 25, 2016 Reel 38807, frame 850 | SanDisk Technologies Inc. | SanDisk Technologies LLC | 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
Note
The 31 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
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.